"Where is what?", Dwija questioned back while staring back into his eyes directly.
The man didn't reply. Dwija imagined, if not for the mask, she would have seen jaws clenching, teeth grinding out of fury. If only eyes could shoot daggers, she would have perished then and there. Dwija feigned innocence and he oozed calamity through his eyes for an eternity.
"The Paper, Bitch!", he said through clenched teeth.
"I don't know what paper you are talking about." Saying so she tried to rise from the ground, "I got to leave before its dark".
He grabbed her hand and pulled her hard towards the ground. She landed with a thud.
"The white paper with a thumbprint! You do not know? Are you sure?"
Dwija laughed. "That has got nothing to do with you, that's mine."
"Who has got what to do with it is a matter of later discussion baby girl! For now, hand over the paper to me. Its for your own good!"
"Are you doing some sort of social service or what? For my good?" Dwija scoffed. "I will do what is for my good and that does not involve handing over the paper to you. For sure!."
The man laughed but his laughter not reaching his eyes. He slowly sat on the ground before Dwija, his hands at the back touching the grass and supporting his frame, and his legs extended. He sat leisurely and looked at his men. "Did you find her bag?"
"Yes, I had checked it earlier, but nothing was in there.", one of them replied.
He now gestured his men pointing towards Dwija. They came running up behind her and while pulling her up they secured her hand at the back and stood guard against her in case she tried to free.
"Now see this baby girl, we did not find the paper in your bag, that means it is with you here. So, tell us where it is, and we will let you go!"
"I don't have it with me"
"Then where is it?"
Dwija thought of her mother back at home and about Gagan who had left to fetch the paper. If she took any of their names both of them would be troubled. She preferred to keep quiet. For a moment she wondered if it would have been better, if she had been devoured by that creature.
The man rose to his feet and pulled out a small pocketknife from inside his coat. While looking at her, he slowly traced the edge of the blade with his naked fingers and at one point nicked the skin to draw blood. He did not blink or wince, he simply went on tracing the blade. Dwija trembled internally. The blade although small looked sharp.
He closed the distance between them and once closer to her, the cold steel of the knife touched her face. He slowly traced the outline of her facial features with the knife, he bent down close to her ears and breathed, "Where Is It?"
His breath from the gaps in his mask fanned her neck and ears. The cold silicone touched her cheeks. She shivered. Her heart was pounding fast, and her eyes were welled up.
"I… don't….. know….!" She sobbed, "Ahh…."
The knife had grazed deep into her cheeks now, blood trickled down her face.
The man did not care as to what happened. He grabbed a fistful of hair at the back of her neck and pulled hard, making her look forcefully into his eyes. His other hand with the knife continued moving along her chin, then neck - hovering near her delicate veins. Dwija swallowed. Tears streamed down her eyes and glided down the cut on her cheek. It burned. Yet she did not back off and neither did he. His knife kept going down and came to a halt at the swell of her breasts. Dwija clenched her jaws. He smirked. "Is… It…. Here?" He muttered and slowly and efficiently moved the knife across the material of her top, from her cleavage to her belly button. Her skin tore open at random places, but her top fell apart completely, leaving her exposed to eyes of hungry lustful beasts.
His eyes left her face and he looked down to admire his masterpiece. "Tsk…Tsk…. So, It's not here!" The longer his eyes stayed on her naked frame, the more they ravaged her dignity. The more she tried to jerk those dirty hands off her to cover herself, the harder they restrained her in their grip.
His knife then hovered along her belly button and touched the edge of her pant. He moved the knife randomly along the pocket, "Then… It… Must… Be… Here!" and he slashed open her pants along the pockets and in the way slit her stomach and thighs.
Her clothes fell apart completely leaving her only in her underwear. She was bleeding. She was crying and shivering badly. Embarrassing and disgusting feelings washing over her. She wanted to hide, she wanted to run away, she wanted to end everything.
Having found nothing on her, the man was frustrated. He threw the knife on the ground and slapped her hard across her face. He continued twice, thrice and more until her face was red, her lips were bruised and until she lost her sense and her head hung to her neck, lifeless. He slapped one last time.
"Where is it!", he roared.