Chapter 9 - Part C

Her body twitched as her mind made the effort to come out of the deep unconsciousness. Her head was heavy and her neck sprained with lying on the hard floor. Her brows knitted together, eyes still closed, mind replaying the last few hours. With a gasp, she opened her eyes, hoping the images that flashed in her mind were nothing but a nightmare. But, the only thing that awaited her was darkness. She shut her eyes again, heart beating hard against her ribs. Several tears escaped her as she took a deep breath, only to flinch as the stale air around her made its way into her nostrils. With a shudder she gave in to the impending dizziness again.

She didn't know for how long she laid on that dirty concrete, but then she was being moved again. She could hear a door opening and closing around her. And then she was carelessly being dropped on the floor, only this time she felt a cloth like material beneath her. Slowly, with lot of efforts, she opened her eyes but immediately closed it shut as the yellow light hanging on top of her head pierced her orbs. Bracing herself, she blinked her eyes open yet again, giving herself time to gather her bearings. She took in the small room she was in now. The walls around her looking worn out and dirty. There was a old, barely able to stand, small table and two chairs on the far end of the room. She then looked up, the ceiling was in no different condition than the rest of the room. Black mould growing every where, and the corners looking damp. Suddenly she heard a faint sound coming from a distance. It almost sounded like a foghorn.

Frowning, she pulled herself in sitting position, flinching as her spine groaned in pain. And that's when she saw a digital clock sitting on an old dirty green coloured refrigerator in the room, that she missed lying down. Her eyes widened in shock and terror, 'I have been here for two days'. With wobbly legs, she stood and shakily walked up to the small window in the room - the sound that she heard getting louder as she inched toward it. The window was tinted, but she found a small area that, like everything else in that room, was worn out and the colour peeled off, allowing her to get a peak outside.

Her palms came on her mouth to stop herself from screaming in shock. Moon light fell on the dark waves in front, where she could see several anchored large container ships swaying, and at the shoreline she could see pulleys pushing and pulling cargos in and out of some of the docked ships.

She stopped breathing for a while. Was she in some port? But which one? Was she back to Mumbai? None of it made sense to Khushi, her mind going haywire with thoughts. She turned away from the window hoping to find some way out the room and that's when she saw Ashok making her way toward her, with two men at his toes.

A loud gasp escaped her lips, and she stumbled with her words, "What is going on? Why am I here? Why are you doing this? Please... please let me go”

The more Khushi pleaded, the more he laughed. He then pulled her hair painfully and brought his mouth close to her and spoke, “How can I let you go sweetheart. Do you know how much they are paying me for you? And I don’t think changing men every night should be difficult for you, after all you have it in your blood”

He then ran his tongue across her cheek and she screamed with disgust. With other animalistic laugh, he pulled her back toward the corner she was dumped before and pushed her down roughly. He then turned toward his men and without bothering to keep his voice low, instructed them to keep an eye on her until the ship was ready to depart. Khushi's eyes widened as the realisation of what was going on settled in the pit of her stomach. She was about to be shipped somewhere via those ships she saw outside. The conversation she overheard some time back between Ashok and Shashi came screaming back at her. She collapsed against the wall behind her. A sudden clarity dawning in her mind. She had to get away from here. No one was coming to get her. No one was coming to save her. She had to save herself. She drew her knees toward her chest, her arms going around to hug herself, as she closed her eyes to think.

Several minutes ticked away. Khushi pulled her face from her knees, and looked up toward the chairs where Ashok's men sat and that's when she noticed them - almost asleep, empty bottles of alcohol discarded on the table. Hope filled her mind. Slowly she raised herself up the floor and looked around, taking in every single detail of the room. She then noticed a small creak on the wooden wall beneath the window. Being near the sea coast, due to the humid conditions, the wood of the wall looked green and damp, and was almost on the verge of falling. Hunching down she tip toed across the room, looking for any signs of movement from the two men who were now snoring softly.

Slowly, very slowly she then pushed against the damp wood, widening the gap it already had. After extending it to its limit she looked back again toward the sleeping men, and then she started squeezing her body out through the hole. The gap was still very narrow for an adult body, but she knew that it was now or never. The departing time she heard Ashok telling his men was hardly 2 hours away. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins as she uncaringly continued to push herself out, all the while her eyes trained on the sleeping men. Edge of the rough wood scratched her skin as her body made its way through the hole. But she didn't feel the pain, her only goal to get away.

Then she was running, still hunching, eyes darting behind, she kept running until she reached the back side of the cottage she was kept in. There was a highway running parallel to where she was. Light from a small petrol station shined in the darkness where she could see few lorries lining behind each other. Hopeful that one of those lorries could be her salvation, she took a deep breath to move toward them. But before she could make a run for it, she heard something - a voice, or was it several voices rolled as one. She turned her head confused and she saw a small hole in the wall behind her. Against her better judgment she made her way towards it and gasped. There were around 20-25 girls, all looking very young drugged and lying on the floor. Some of them were sleeping, and the ones who were awake had glassy eyes with no understanding of their surroundings. There were few who seemed to be crying but were not loud enough to attract any attention from the barely there traffic on the highway at that time of night.

Khushi felt bile rise in her throat as the realisation hit her like tons of bricks - the man she considered like her father was not just selling her, he was most probably involved in human trafficking. This is what they were talking about. They were sending all of them including her to different countries. She started shaking with fear and panic. Her first thought was to knock on the wall and alert the girls, but then she remembered their state. They were not in their senses and even if she tried to warn them, they wouldn't understand. Painfully she withdrew her steps and selfishly ran towards the highway, hiding from the men who were now standing near the coast, looking for her.

She found a truck that was parked, getting ready to get out of the petrol station. The shutter at the back of the truck was half open. Realizing she had no other option, she looked around her to make sure no one was looking and then pulled herself up using the steel chains hanging to the side of the truck and got inside it. She could hear the men from the cottage outside. They were looking for her - asking the truck drivers standing outside. She then heard the shutter of the truck she was in, opening. After few excruciatingly long minutes of checking around, someone yelled, "She is not here".

She exhaled as finally the truck moved, hoping this was the end of the terrible night. She prayed that this truck might take her someplace from where she will be able to contact Payal and Madhumati. But after some time the truck came to a screeching halt and then she heard the drivers making their way towards the back of the truck, and they pulled the shutter open again. She closed her eyes, hoping that they don't see her. But, her fate ran out. She felt a rough hand on her hair, pulling her up, looking at her face and shouting, “Boss you must come and see what I found here”

Then Khushi was being dragged again, this time out of the truck and being thrown on the road. She stood up stumbling on her foot, as she saw one of the men coming towards her with a dirty smile.

“Please let me go. Please, do not come near me”, She begged helplessly but the next thing she felt was a slap on her face and then he was grabbing her, trying to bite her, trying to tear her clothes. She kept screaming but he didn’t stop. Then from the corner of her eyes, she saw a broken bottle lying next to her. And then few things happened simultaneously. Her fingers closed around the neck of the bottle and rammed it to his sides making him scream with pain. On reflex he pushed her away, his hands now clutching his sides which now had blood sputtering out. Khushi lost her balance due to the sheer force he pushed her and before she could stop herself, she slipped from the small cliff the truck was parked on. Her body rolled down the ditch and got engulfed by the scattered leaves and branches.

"Shiitttt". Other man exclaimed as he frantically tried to locate her body. But the darkness around them made it impossible for him to do so.

"Did you kill her you idiot", he shouted

"Who cares. She almost killed me. Lets get out of here"

"But I can't find her"

"Then we have nothing to worry about. Lets go. I need hospital". Giving one last look to the ditch, they both then ran into the truck and drove it away.

She didn’t know for how long she laid in her own pool of blood. As she regained her consciousness, she looked around. Leaves and dirt were all over her body, Sun was shining on her head, and she could hear loud sound of vehicles moving. With lot of effort she pulled herself up and clawing her fingers through the sand she finally made her way out the ditch she was in. Vehicles swished next to her as she walked on the side of the highway. She didn't know for how long she walked when she finally located a small restaurant on the side of the road. She found a family getting out their car to get into the restaurant. She rushed toward the woman among the lot and begged her for her phone.

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15 days later Khushi finally opened her eyes in City Hospital, Delhi. Madhumati and Payal were sitting next to her with their faces constricted with pain. She croaked with dry throat, not able to remember much about what happened after she called Madhumati that ill fated day. Clearing her throat, she repeated exactly what she said on the phone to them 15 days back, “Don’t tell about this to Garima Ma or to her husband” and then she blacked out again.

After 5 days she was discharged and was moved in to live with Madhumati. But, Khushi had changed. She went into clinical depression, she stopped speaking, she stopped eating and drinking. It took almost 6 months, and several different psychiatrists to finally make Khushi talk. Madhumati and Payal were devastated by the time Khushi finished telling them everything. Madhumati confided in Garima and told her to maintain her story in front of Shashi that no one knew where Khushi was. It was as if ground opened up beneath Garima. She couldn't believe her husband was capable of something so heinous. But she still agreed to do what Madhumati asked her to.

Amidst all this, the only thing Khushi did was study. Her only goal to find a way to get away from everything and everyone. Her hard work finally paid off when she got admission in one of the renowned university in States. It was 2 days before Khushi had to leave for New York when there was a knock on her door and as she opened it, she saw Garima standing in front of her with tears in her eyes and guilt on her face. But Khushi couldn't bring herself to hug her. She knew that Garima had nothing to do with whatever happened, but she still couldn't bring herself to go near her. That night, she overheard Garima telling Madhumati that Shashi had started abusing her. He brought home different women every night and insulted her. Khushi still couldn’t understand why after everything that had happened, her ma could still be ok living with such an animal under one roof. That day she lost her faith from the institution of marriage.

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Khushi completed her graduation as summa cum laude. With her reputation and intelligence, she, almost immediately got admission in Wharton University to pursue MBA. She felt that may be her life would finally change, but then she got the final blow of her life when she got a call from Madhumati one day. Shashi had run away, clearing all their bank accounts and selling their house in Lucknow to someone. Garima broke down completely this time and when she couldn’t take the pain anymore, she hanged herself.

Khushi stepped her foot in Lucknow again, this time to say her final good byes to her Garima ma. She stayed in Delhi for 4 days and rushed back to States without another word. After few months they came to know that Shashi was found dead on a railway crossing. But the reasons behind the death remained unknown.

In last 10 years, Khushi immersed herself into her work. She spoke to Madhumati and Payal once in a while but never ever the topic of her past was brought up. Being alone in States, she had managed to build a fortress around herself with a moat and a drawbridge, where no one was allowed.

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“She hasn’t reacted to anyone, to anything in last 10 years. Yesterday was the first time she broke down. We still don’t know for better or for worse”.

Payal was wailing by now, her body shaking with pain. As another powerful thunder ripped through the sky outside, Arnav who had his head in his hands blinked his eyes which were bloodshot with unshed tears. He looked at Payal, trying to say something, to do something, to comfort her in some way, but his body and voice, which were still trying to grasp everything she revealed in last 2 hours, refused to cooperate.

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Note to Readers:

Phew! here comes the end to the recap of the sad past of Khushi. Please don't forget to tell me what you thought of these parts.

In these tough times, hope you and your families are all staying safe. Take care my lovelies! Until next time! ❤️

To everyone who commented & liked my last chapters - thank you so much! 🥰

See you all next time!