Kill or Die for Love

(The nature of love is to kill for it, or to die. – Maanza Mengiste)

Abhay, Ruth and Darana sat in the submarine den pondering what their next moves should be. Ruth who listened more to his boss, Darana than provide advice to him, went to the Bar counter and poured a couple of drinks for him and his boss. He looked at Abhay to inquire if he needed one. Abhay shook his head.

‘Thank you, Ruth. You are ever so loyal and courteous. Remind me to increase your remuneration and a huge incentive once this bloody business is dealt with,’ said Darana sipping on his drink.

‘Darana, we have to move quickly on this one. My subordinates will soon get suspicious, given my continuous absence from duty in recent days. We know that Bloody Yuvaan has the sword, let’s grab him, take whatever you need from the vault, kill him and get this done with. You give me what we’ve agreed and let’s carry on our own paths. We’ll try to never cross each other’s paths again,’ said Abhay who seemed to have utmost clarity on their further course of action.

‘Hey, Abhay. I thought this is the beginning of a lang lasting friendship with you. I could always use someone like you from the Police department. Anyways, first things first. You are right, let’s get to this scum, Yuvaan tonight and hit the vault,’ said Darana and winked at Ruth.

‘Understood, Boss. I’ll get the Jeep right away,’ said Ruth who always understood what his Boss wanted.

                                     ~

Yuvaan was deep in sleep when he felt his body being shaken up.

‘Wake up boy, it’s time to go to work.’

Yuvaan woke up with a start and saw Darana, Ruth & Abhay at his bed side. Ruth was pointing a gun to him.

‘How did you guys get in? What do you want?’

‘Silly questions, my boy. You know exactly what we are here for. Get up and grab that damn sword. We are going to the vault. Don’t think or try anything stupid if you value your life at all,’ said Darana menacingly.

‘I… I have the sword, but I don’t know where the vault lies, I swear,’ mumbled Yuvaan still reeling from the shock.

‘Oh, so you swear… Is it? I have a couple of henchmen outside Charu’s home. One phone call from me and they’ll knock her out in her sleep. I too swear, my boy. Stop playing games with me,’ said Darana and landed a tight slap on Yuvaan.

The slap seemed to be an indication of things to come, and it did the trick. Yuvaan led the way and all four of them were finally at the vault.

‘Ha, Ha…Behind that lies the secret, I’ve been pursuing all my life. Open it up,’ said Darana.

Ruth did the honours and opened the vault by sliding the sword in it. ‘Boss, this bloody thing’s empty! Not a thing in it…’

‘What the hell… How’s it possible? Oh… Unless this bloody boy and his girl emptied it before hand,’ shouted out Darana and starting kicking and punching Yuvaan in a burst of hysteria.

‘Stop it, Darana. You might kill him. We need him alive for leverage,’ said Abhay and pulled Darana away from Yuvaan.

‘Ruth, put him in the back. Let’s see how he won’t pass the information once we use our methods in the den,’ said Darana and lit a cigarette.

                                    ~

Charu was repeatedly dialing Yuvaan’s number but couldn’t get hold of him. She started getting anxious. She knew if wasn’t long before the Don and his henchmen caught up with them. Did they already catch Yuvaan and taken him as hostage? In the midst of this ordeal, she received an unexpected visitor.

‘Hello Charu, how are you holding up?’

‘Martha… How are you? What brings you here?’ asked Charu quite surprised.

‘Charu, I am worried about Mr.Vincent and my son, Ruth. Ruth has gone totally rogue and become that evil Don’s puppet. If anything happens to them both, I’ll be never able to forgive myself. Please let me help you in this matter,’ pleaded Martha.

‘Oh, Martha. I understand what you’re going through, but this could be quite dangerous,’ explained Charu.

‘I don’t care, Charu. I don’t have anyone else in my life and I owe Mr.Vincent a lot. I can’t live while he’s in danger. Trust me, I’ll be able to convince Ruth to turn a new leaf.’

Charu was about to respond when she received a call from an unknown number. Martha noticed Charu’s face turn a deadly red as she listened to the voice at the other end.

‘Ok, I’ll get you what you want. But promise me, you won’t harm Yuvaan or Uncle Vincent,’ said Charu sternly.

‘Prepare yourself, Martha. We are going to the Submarine Den.’

                                     ~

Face Off

In the Den, Ruth, Abhay & Darana were seated comfortably while Yuvaan who was beaten up badly and bruised lay on the floor along with Uncle Vincent who wasn’t in a good shape either; both of them were tied up. Darana had given strict instructions to his henchmen to stay on guard outside and not enter the main room in the submarine den when the deal took place. He didn’t want anyone to catch a hint about what the deal was about, lest someone turned traitor.

‘What are we doing here?’ asked Abhay quite confused about the whole set-up.

‘We are expecting guests for a party,’ mocked Darana.

Ruth was serving drinks to his boss when the door opened and Charu and Martha stepped in.

‘WHY DID YOU COME???’ shouted out Ruth, Abhay and Yuvaan simultaneously; Of course, the question was pointed at Charu by Abhay and Yuvaan and to Martha by Ruth!

‘Well, be courteous, boys. They are our esteemed guests for the day,’ laughed Darana.

‘What have you done to him? You promised that you won’t hurt him,’ cried out Charu looking at Yuvaan’s pitiful condition.

‘I promised, I won’t kill him. He’s still alive, isn’t he?’ answered Darana sternly.

‘Why are you doing this Darana? You know that I am your sister, after all,’ pleaded Charu.

‘Half-sister… Half-sister, my dear. Don’t kid yourself, that I’d fall for any emotions after these years down this path,’ said Darana sipping on his drink.

‘Ruth, I don’t know what has gotten to you. I feel ashamed, that you’ve stooped to this level after all the upbringing by me and Uncle Vincent. I don’t know if I’ll make it out of here alive. So, let me tell you a truth, I’ve been keeping a secret all these years. Anthony Delsworth was a monster, a womanizer & a pervert. He preyed on women for fun. I was one of his victims and you were the result of a terrible endeavour, I had to face. If not for Uncle Vincent, he would have killed me, and you wouldn’t have seen the face of the Earth. Uncle Vincent saved me, gave me shelter and protected us from that terrible person. Now, you want to repay this noble person to whom we owe our life, in this way. If I had envisaged this situation, I wouldn’t have brought you in this world,’ cried Martha.

‘Oh… Oh… Oh…This seems to be an Anthony Delsworth’s Family gathering, after all,’ laughed Darana hysterically. ‘I wonder how many more kins, I have in this world from my dear dad’s side. They seem to be popping up from everywhere all the time!’

Ruth stood stone-still in shock while Uncle Vincent looked to the ground and started crying.

‘Enough of this nonsense. Ruth don’t believe a word she’s saying. Maybe she and Charu cooked up this wild story to unnerve us. Don’t fall for this. Half-sister, Half-brother…My foot. Nothing changes a thing. Charu, give me the document and we’ll get done with this family drama,’ said Darana wondering where this was going.

Charu looked at Yuvaan & Uncle Vincent and slowly handed the document to Darana.

‘Well, finally… The great research by the Enigmatic Sheryl finally in my hands,’ said Darana gleefully and started turning the pages. ‘Wait…What the hell! Why are some points struck out? You damn bitch, you erased the important points. How the hell, will I be able to prepare this mind control drug without the complete information?’

‘Do you take me for a fool, brother? Oh, sorry… Half-brother! That information is safely etched in my mind and you’ll need me alive to prepare that drug. If anything happens to me, your plan goes for a toss,’ replied Charu with sharp tone in her voice and utmost confidence in her body language.

Darana stood speechless and was about to react when they heard some commotion outside, and gunshots being fired.

‘Well, looks like the cops have arrived. Did you think we’ll walk in just like that, right at your mercy,’ said Charu.

‘You are your bloody Mum’s replica! No wonder my Dad killed her. I will kill you just as my Dad killed your Mum even if it’s the last thing I’ll do. I won’t let you get away with it,’ cursed Darana and pointed his gun at Charu.

‘Drop it, Darana! You kill the rest of them for all I care; If you lay a finger on Charu, I’ll knock your brains out,’ said Abhay pointing his gun at Darana.

‘You stupid fool, is this the time to play Cupid. My half-sister surely seems to have done the trick on you both, you soft love-stricken idiots. Ruth, take this idiot down, will you?’ shouted Darana.

Ruth pointed his gun at Abhay. It was a Triangular Checkmate!

‘Ruth, please don’t listen to him. He’s as evil as his father,’ cried Martha.

Outside, there were a lot of rounds of fire still being exchanged. Just then, one of Darana’s main henchmen stepped in. He was wounded and he had come in to notify his Boss about the situation outside. As soon as he stepped in, he saw Abhay pointing his gun at his Boss. Instinctively, he raised his gun to shoot Abhay and his action set off a chain of deadly events that lasted just a few seconds. Upon seeing the henchman taking an aim at him, Abhay immediately shot him and in that split second, Darana turned around and shot Abhay. He put on a wide grin and looked at Ruth when the bullet fired by Ruth entered his forehead and exited at the back of the skull leaving a bloody gaping hole.

With tears in his eyes, Ruth threw down the gun and hugged Martha. Charu rushed towards Abhay who was shot in the shoulder. He was barely conscious and in terrible pain in a pool of blood.

Yuvaan gathered himself and came near her, ‘Charu, quickly go out and look out somewhere for some first-aid kit. We’ll try to stop the bleeding, till help arrives.’ Charu immediately rushed out.

‘Martha, you take Uncle Vincent out and stay somewhere safe till the cops come in. Ruth, you check the situation outside and try to get some help. We have to rush him to a hospital,’ said Yuvaan trying to get the situation under control.

Everyone went to carry out their errands as directed by Yuvaan. ‘Nice work sending everyone out, Yuvaan. Last men standing, do what you intend to do. I am not kidding myself,’ muttered Abhay who knew exactly what Yuvaan was planning on.

‘You leave me no choice. All you care about is Charu and with you around, we can’t be at peace. Your obsession for her won’t keep us safe even if we are married. I am killing for my love for Charu; You better die for your love for Charu! Good-bye Abhay Sirrr….’ said Yuvaan in a ghostly tone in Abhay’s ears.

‘Sirrr…Huh, the last bloody thing I get to hear before I die,’ said Abhay in a feeble voice as he slowly felt Yuvaan’s index and middle fingers pressing on the sides of his nose closing his nostrils and the bottom of Yuvaan’s palm pushing his jaw upwards shutting his mouth. He had lost a lot of blood and hadn’t any strength to resist Yuvaan from strangulating him.

After a few minutes, Charu rushed in with a couple of cops with her and saw Abhay’s head resting in Yuvaan’s lap.

‘We lost him, Charu.’

                               ~

SICPR (Sheryl Institute of Cognitive Psychology Research)

A few days later…

Martha, Ruth, Yuvaan, Uncle Vincent, Mr.Oomen were all seated in the front row dressed in their best attire. There were a lot of honorary dignitaries on the dais including the local MLA and the DIG of police.

‘It’s with great pleasure and pride that I announce the opening of the SICPR which will set a benchmark in the study of Cognitive psychology. I sincerely thank Uncle Vincent for donating a major part in funding and setting up this research institute. I also thank our DIG and local police for their valiant efforts in saving our lives from the deadly gangsters who wreaked havoc on Fort Kochi. Thanks to them, we now have Fort Kochi’s prized possession, ‘The Khopesh’ sword restored to its rightful place in our local Museum. I thank our local MLA who has promised all the cooperation this institute needs from the Government. I hope this institute will bring laurels not only to Fort Kochi but the entire country and lots of needy people benefit from it’s research and studies,’ said Charu finishing her speech to a thunderous round of applause.

Later in the evening, Yuvaan took Charu for a stroll in the park hand in hand.

‘So, Charu. What next? Quite an adventurous trip for you this time, hey?’

Charu stopped and turned to face Yuvaan. She gently held Yuvaan’s face and looked at him lovingly, ‘Mr. Yuvaan, it’s been quite an adventure, you bet. What say, let’s begin another adventure; An adventure where we’ll get to fight each other daily!’ and closed her lips around his.

‘What sort of adventure?’ asked Yuvaan quite confused.

‘Oh, you can be such a cute idiot sometimes. What’s the only way, we get to fight each other daily? Let’s get married, my Love.’

Yuvaan looked at her in a delightful shock and this time he closed his lips around hers.

**************************The End***************************************