A dilapidated mud hut was well camouflaged behind the wild outgrowths and the giant palm leaves on the outskirts of Oshpalli, Dwija's village. Half an hour had passed since Gagan had abandoned the car in a secluded corner at the village entrance. Now both father and son marched side by side, quite vigilant to even the slightest of noise and movement in the surrounding with Dwija safely cocooned in Avinash's arms.
As they reached closer, Gagan jogged ahead clearing the path for Avinash to pass. Now perfectly hidden from prying eyes, Gagan lit the flash from his mobile and looked around in the trash heap in front of the hut. He immediately pulled out an old, rusty kerosene lamp. He opened the door allowing Avinash to enter with Dwija. Avinash did not put Dwija down until the room was flooded with the faint light from the kerosene lamp. The damp air of the room was intruded by the smell of spilled kerosene. Avinash looked around to find metal clamps, rods, chains placed neatly in one corner.
"Well done!", his tone was that of appreciation.
Gagan was staring at the floor, at complete loss for words. He had not forgotten that look on Dwija's face earlier, her searching eyes. How he had lied to the innocent girl! He was ashamed. He opened his mouth to say something, but his throat felt choked. He pictured the iron clamps getting secured around his throat, arms and feet. Before any of his picturesque imagination could transform into reality he turned around and left the room, his heard reverberating with tons of apology for the events about to unfold.
Avinash put Dwija on the four-poster leaning her against the wall. As much as Dwija would have loved to enjoy extended moments of peace, Avinash's plans were nowhere close to that. He threw away the coat he had covered around her limp body. The torn pieces of clothing, not-at-all decent pieces were almost falling away. He did not shy away from assessing her body again in a way he was not able to do earlier on the forest ground. His hands reached out to her shoulders moving like a snake along her skin. Dwija's senses were not hundred percent off as earlier. Her skin bore goosebumps under his touch, she wanted to flinch, but lacked energy to do so. Her eyelids felt too heavy to open. Avinash caught the movement beneath the shut eyelids. He quit his play immediately and yanked one arm after the other over her head and clamped them to iron loops above. He moved away and pulled her legs apart while clamping them to the ends of an iron rod. As he moved to the edge of the bed and stood facing Dwija, a sick smile crept on his face.
Dwija's arms hurt from the pressure. She pulled down with all her might to break free from the bondages, but what seemed like horsepower strength to her, was a mere rattle of metal here and there around her, so weak she had become. Avinash laughed. Dwija forced her eyes open to tiny slits. Her vision was clouded. She could make out Avinash's form but was not able to recognize him. She tried to blink but only saw shadows behind him.
"Who…are….you?"
"Oh, don't worry baby girl! You need not know! Enjoy your personal slumber party, I don't intend to bother you."
"Water!" she licked her lips.
The smile on Avinash's face vanished. His eyes followed the movement of her tongue.
"Sure!"
Avinash was sitting next to her in no time and his lips were on hers. He was sucking at them, pinching out blood from the torn tissues on the lips. He then licked with his tongue and gradually began to push it into her mouth. Dwija internally threw up as his moist tongue grazed against her lips. She moved her head as violently as she could manage to, but Avinash firmly gripped her to continue the torture. She sat still for a while, enough to gather much strength and with a jerk, moved her head back once and then forward hitting him hard on his eye with her forehead. He was taken off-guard. Her head was dizzy and through the dizziness she spat on her face and looked at him through her clouded vision, with victory in it.
Rubbing the spit off his face, Avinash laughed out loud. "You bitch! Rough huh! I was kind of missing this side. You should have looked at yourself half an hour ago, clinging on to me all the while as I brought you away from those monsters. I could have…. No, no in fact I should have done much more than that, don't you think?" He went on mocking. Dwija simply tried to keep her eyes open and her senses intact, which she failed miserably at. Her throat and lips were too dry to lend her any voice to seek help. Avinash got up from the bed and moved towards an old trunk in the corner of the hut. He started spilling the clothes in it on the floor, around him.
"You deserve to be punished, don't you? Now let's see what we can do for you!"
After looking around, he brought up a pair of old, stinky socks from the trunk and walked towards Dwija.
"You know, I had thought of letting you loose for a while, but....." he pried her mouth open while gripping her cheeks tight between his thumb and index "this holy trap works wonders. It won't rest." And as her mouth opened up, he bundled the socks and stuffed it in there up to the very back of her voice box. Stench and dirt filled up Dwija's senses. She could barely move in protest to his actions. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at him.
"Stay put baby girl! You are a lioness. You will get through this." He patted her disheveled and greasy hair like he was patting a pet. Looking satisfied, he turned around to leave. The kerosene lamp was left burning. Dwija breathed finally. Even after Avinash had crossed the threshold, she saw that the shadows kept standing. He must have left them behind to keep an eye on her. She blamed her blurred vision for not being able to recognize the people. She closed her eyes once and when she opened them Avinash had left having closed the door behind him. She could see the shadows advancing in her direction. A chill crept up her spine.