#2 Ashlok Dark FF - My Ransacked Heart/UPDATED/ Chapter 24 /(Pg-127) - Page 59

                                                Chapter 19

                                   Downfall Of Master Player

                         For I've waged brutal war that has cost far too much

                                 For my sin was pride and for that sin I'll die

                                 For I tried oh so hard but I could not prevail

                                 For deception and trickery mothers now cry 

                                 My kingdom now burning under a new rule

                                 My people all slain, it foretold of my fate

                                 My effort counts for nothing, its all over now

                    the last piece falls in place and they call out checkmate 

                            You cannot play at Chess ~ if you are kind-hearted ~

There were four of them, sitting in the shadows, silently, waiting for someone's arrival. The two of them seemed calm, while one of them was impatient, drumming his fingers constantly on the wooden table in front of him, and the other one looked nervous, it was cold in the atmosphere, but sweat was gathering on his forhead, which he was wiping with his handkerchief, time after time.

The trio was silently watching the fourth person in the room, the impatient one, who had ended his drumming on the table by now and was looking towards his wrist watch. He made an impatient clicking noise with his tongue, which seemed to increase the nervousness of the person who was already perspiring in this cold weather.

The door to their room banged open, causing the nervous one to jump and the impatient one to hurry towards the elderly man who was now entering in the room, with a bundle clutched tightly in his hands.

The other two persons, who were calm until now, also lost their composure after seeing the new entry.

"Ramlal, did you find anything about him and what is this thing that you are holding, the impatient one asked, his eyes going suspiciously towards the bundle. "Yes boss he is alive, Ramlal declared in a trembling voice. There were collective gasps in the room at his announcement. Avdhoot staggered back, his eyes mirroring shock and fear. The nervous one stood up from his chair and shouted hysterically, "I told you to stop, but you weren't listening to me then, now he has come back to take revenge on us, and not one of us will be spared from his wrath...

"Oh shut up Ankush, don't try to tell me that you are a saint, you were with me all the way, when did you tried to stop me?", Avdhoot snapped at his best friend. "And he has my daughter, my only daughter, God knows what horrific acts will he be doing to her now, I don't even know if she is still alive or not", Avdhoot said bitterly , pain evident in his every feature. "You don't even have a family, so you can shut the hell up and let me deal with this", he bit out. Ankush's face showed a streak of color, which indicated anger but he pursed his lips and sat back on the chair with a thud.

Avdhoot turned towards Ramlal, who was standing as a silent spectator until now, his sweaty and trembling hands still clutched around the package.

"Yes Ramlal, what were you saying before you got interrupted", Avdhoot asked from Ramlal, indirectly showing his irritation towards his best friend. Ankush made a disapproving sound in his throat but Avdhoot ignored it.

"Boss I asked from the neighbors and they told me that they have seen a young man of about thirty who visits the house once a month, but they knew nothing about him, who he is and from where did he come from, because he isn't friendly and doesn't like to speak with others, but when I asked if he has any family, an old man blabbered out to me that although no family member has yet arrived, or lived with that young man, but he looks just like Niranjan Agnihotri used to look in his younger days", Ramlal explained in a low voice...

Avdhoot paled completely and Ankush again stood up from the chair. "What did I tell you Avdhoot, it's his kid, he has come back to get his pound of flesh, I shouldn't have listened to you, I ought to get out from here", he blabbered fearfully and went out of the door, hurriedly, banging it shut behind him with such force that it made the occupants of the room put their hands on their ears...

Avdhoot tried to compose himself by swallowing the bile that had produced in his throat due to fear and then taking a dreep breath asked again from Ramlal in a somewhat calm voice, "So you found out nothing about him, other than that he might be Niranjan's son, his name maybe".

"Boss that old man was about to tell me, but his daughter-in-law was becoming suspicious of my inquiry, she told me that the old man was not right in his mind since the incident and she too didn't know much about it as she was recently married to his son, I should leave. And before I could ask her, to atleast tell me the son's name she closed the door on my face.

Avdhoot leaned heavily on the table, rubbing his forhead, his head had begun to ache quite badly which indicated that a bout of migraine was about to hit it.

Ramlal hesitated, seeing his condition then after a momentary pause continued his explanation. "But boss I waited for the night and then surreptitiously sneaked in the house, by breaking the front lock. I searched the whole damned house, but found nothing, no clue, except this", Ramlal said tiredly and extended the bundle towards Avdhoot, who moved forward and caught it in his hands looking questioningly towards him...

The bundle was wrapped in some sort of cloth, his hands trembling with an unknown fear Avdhoot opened it slowly and what he saw made his knees buckle, sending him staggering to the ground.

The bundle contained the remains of Astha's clothes, torn, and bloodied...

Astha squeezed her eyes closed, when she saw Shlok's lips coming closer to her own. She expected some sort of assault, just like his past savage kisses, but when the onslaught came it was nothing but a slight salute to her parted lips.

Bewildered, she opened her eyes to see him, smiling mockingly on her predicament...

"What did you think princess, that I can't control myself?", he delivered sardonically, his lips curling at seeing her disbelief.

"You have no idea what you have done, have you, making a deal with the devil", he twisted a stray curl of her hair around his finger...

"Is that your idea of telling me that I am stupid", Astha shook her head, to break his hold on her hair, but winced, when he didn't release his hold. Angry color was now streaking across her cheekbones. What did the jackass thought of himself, she thought angrily and tried to get up from the bed, her arms were aching, due to being twisted behind her back, for a long time...

"Now now don't be a fool child, you see you are only hurting yourself", he said in a cajoling voice, underlined with a hint of mockery and pushed her right back on the bed.

"Why are you doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this", she whispered, tears beginning to fill her eyes...

"You know you are beginning to sound like a broken record now, repeating the same questions again and again", he said harshly and tugged at her lock of hair, making her wince again. 

His mocking smile, was now completely vanished from his face. "I told you I don't have to give you any explanations, about my behavior, so shut the hell up, otherwise I've got other methods to keep your tongue altogether busy in doing various acts", he delivered with a taunting smile.

Astha's whole face burned with embarrassment. "You are disgusting", she said , her lips curling with distaste. "Funny you are the first woman to say no to my provocation", he cocked his head to the side and surveyed her with a lecherous grin on his face.

"There are more kidnapped women here", she said, shocked to her core.

Shlok threw back his head and laughed, that vixen was making him do things that he had never done in the past, was awakening some sort of feelings inside him that he had long ago buried inside his heart, which had turned into a grave, the grave of his dead feelings. 

He didn't have any feelings left now to even mourn the loss of what had been that had flew away from his fingers, leaving him alone forever wandering in the dark tunnel that was his world now.

"Hello, did I say something funny", her voice brought him out of his thoughts. She was looking at him with a curious look in her eyes.

He noticed for the first time that her brown eyes had hazel tints in them, their shape a truly pagan one, slanting with hooded lids and her hair were not the dark brown that he had thought them before, but a shade lighter, with a little hint of copper in them, indicating a fiery temper. 

Her skin was golden too, not a true milky white, but a hint of sunflower combined with milky white. A truly golden fairy, from her head to her toes, with rose tinted lips, that were beckoning to be paid homage too. A pagan goddess.

No what he was thinking, Shlok jerked his head to shook off the disruptive thoughts. He must not think about her beauty. He must not forget whose daughter she was. Avdhoot. His fists curled at the thought.

 "Hello, have you gone deaf", she said, sounding completely annoyed with his changing behavior.

No he must remember what he has to do. "Nope no kidnapped woman except you, princess", he said donning his cold mask again. "Then why have you kidnapped me, you could have any woman to..to.., she stuttered to a stop when she felt him coming closer. "To what princess?", he asked, caressing her ruby lips, with the tip of his fingers. "Can you please stop doing that, and atleast get me out of those handcuffs, I promise I won't try to run", she said in a pleading voice.

"No princess I can't do that, you see I don't trust you, you'll try to run at the first chance that you'll get", he shook his head, smiling sarcastically.

"Please I have to go to the loo, please", she pleaded again. When he didn't budge from his place, she said angrily, "I swear I'll piss right here on the bed if you won't open my handcuffs", she warned him in an angry tone. That earned a glare from him, but he took out the key from his back pocket and unlocked the handcuffs. Astha rubbed her aching arms and wrists, which were now showing marks from his manhandling and from being handcuffed...

"Do you want to go to the bathroom or not?", he asked impatiently. "Yes ofcourse", she glared at him and continued massaging her arms. And before she could utter a no he hefted her in his arms, like she weighed nothing. 

"What are you doing, put me down at once", she shouted right into his ear, making him wince. "God girl, stop shouting like a fishwife, you could have made me deaf", he said in an admonishing tone. When she still glared at him he said, "Don't worry I'm only taking you to the bathroom, I am not in a mood, to get another kick from you on the best part of my anatomy", the last part about his anatomy, he mumbled to himself in a low voice.

Once he reached the bathroom door he put her down at the front, and giving her a little push inside, he locked it from outside. "Call out to me when you've finished", he said...

Now that mystery of the other locked door was solved, Astha thought bitterly. One door led to his bedroom and the other to a bathroom. What type of home he had, she thought angrily. Or was it even  a home, she frowned, pondering over how to escape from this hell hole...

That Mafioso, or Shlok whatever he called himself, she thought rolling her eyes, was too clever for her own good, he was one heck of a cool customer, never showed his emotions and was a complete and utter ba****d. What to do? and how to escape from here? Without him knowing about it, she thought.

She had made that deal with him because she had no choice then. But how to stop him from getting what he want, until she forms a better plan for her escape...

She looked around, thinking and then her gaze locked on a bar of soap. Something clicked in her mind, and her eyes lit up due to the idea that had come into her mind...

"Oeee maaa", a muffled scream came out from inside the bathroom, following the sound of thud, which indicated that something heavy had hit the floor. A startled Shlok opened the door, to find Astha lying flat on the wet floor, groaning with pain and a bar of soap lay on the floor only two feet afar from her...

Nooo, Asthuuu, Avdhoot's scream was so raw with pain, an animal sound of unending agony, that the other three persons could also feel it's pain like a knife cutting through the flesh.

In all their years doing their duty as faithful servants to their master they have never felt him losing his cool or giving in to emotions like pain or anger. They also knew he was manipulative to the last tip of his fingers and would do anything to win, even to the point of killing someone. The word, defeat, simply didn't exist in his dictionary...

But now it seemed that after his daughter had been kidnapped by his enemy, who was looking to be a worthy opponent by each passing day, Avdhoot, the master player was getting checkmated on his every move, by an even greater master player who knew about the complete turn that the game would take beforehand...

Avdhoot squeezed his eyes shut with pain, and the vision of a woman lying in the pool of herown blood rouse before him, and then Astha's image took its place, causing his heartbeat to miss for a fraction and he suddenly opened his eyes, a look of extreme fear and pain, combined with a hint of defeat, reflecting out off his dilated pupils...

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