15 minutes already passed and the doctor was still examining Lakshman, all were extremely worried about his health condition, then after a minute, the doctor assured them that Lakshman was fine now, he just had a panic attack at the moment due to witnessing/hearing some unnerving news, so he just needs a little rest before he returns to his duty.
Dhansi ji stayed at Vidyut's sir house until Lakshman woke up from unconsciousness while Kritaka and Kimaya retreated to the police station and on the way, Kimaya explained the whole theory and plans that she discussed with Lakshman.
When they reached the police station, they attended the meeting as the notice had already been circulated early morning at every police station branch by Lakshman. At the last hour of the meeting, the Chief police informed Kimaya that since Officer Vidyut's chances of coming out alive were negligible, he had to make a tough decision about making Officer Kimaya's position permanent in place of Officer Vidyut's position.
Kimaya politely denied his proposal and carefully explained to The Chief that She couldn't accept this offer and take Vidyut sir's place when he was fighting for himself between threads of death and life and even though this offer might secure her place, career, and promotion still it isn't important at the moment.
The Head Officer was impressed by her undying loyalty and respect towards her colleagues, he offered her instead a permanent new position in the police department that is equal to the position of Officer Vidyut's post. Later, Lakshman and Dhansi ji arrived, and as soon as they stepped inside, Lakshman went straight away to the Interrogation chamber alongside Kimaya, Dhansi ji, Kritak, and a few other trained officers also joined them to avoid the same mistake this time.
Hrida's parents were brought inside the chamber while they were wrapped with a straight jacket to prevent them from harming themselves or the police officers, they were seated on metal chairs with belts tied across their torso. Lakshman started the investigation right away because he couldn't waste a single second with these criminals.
In contrast, Hrida's parents were acting as if they were on some holiday visit, and not a single shadow of sadness or guilt trespassed on their faces, Kimaya was baffled and disgusted at the thought of how they treated Hrida within all these years.
Lakshman kept his emotions aside and notified with a neutral tone," Mr. and Mrs. Chand, your daughter was ill, mentally tormented, bruised, and was missing for more than two–three weeks till we found her in extremely worn condition. We thought you deserved to know about her even though you are the reason for the painful state she had undergone."
Kimaya, Kritak, and Dhansi ji especially Lakshman are observing their faces, waiting for their reactions, but they remain still, which means two things whether they are concerned or just don't care about Hrida.
Hrida's mother expresses her reaction with a concerned tone, " Oh my God! My pretty little doll had been bruised, worn, torn, and missing for such a long time. Oh no, this is not at all good. What you police officers have been doing, you should not have let her escape and if even she did escape, you should have caught her soon."
Kimaya let out a deep relieved sigh and others were glad that at least she was concerned about her a little bit but then the next moment, she uttered something which they didn't expect at all.
Hrida's mother mutters with a regal venomous tone, " Total waste! A worn doll is no longer useable or sellable. I feel pity for my daughter. My pretty little doll is no longer pretty, she is just a throwaway doll and it's best to discard her before it stinks."
Hrida's father agreed with his wife although his eyes looked gloomy and dull for a second but then suddenly both of them were smiling like as if they shared some good news. Kimaya couldn't believe what she heard from a mother about her daughter, she felt like giving this woman a tight slap for considering throwing away her daughter. According to Hrida's story, her parents were willing to sell their daughter to that disgusting mid-20s pervert guy.
Kritak, who never got angry at anyone, was bubbling in anger, he couldn't control himself and shouted at them with a raging tone, " You both are insane! How could you trade a human being and that too your own daughter to a sick-minded pervert guy, whose motives were clearly not saint?
You put the Devil to shame by your inhuman actions. aAghhh...I never felt disgusted and angry in my whole life more than I am feeling at the moment. "
Lakshman's nerves snapped when he heard Hrida's mother's heartless statement but his fury increased when he remembered how Hrida had to suffer because of their heart-breaking betrayal and still, Hrida doesn't hate them.
He closed in on Hrida's father who supported his wife's insane whims, he grabbed his collar and was going to punch him but Kimaya's serious glare halted his move and he controlled himself and hit the table instead, his knuckles red.
Lakshman stayed silent instead Kimaya and Dhansi ji interrogated them with calm demeanor and their answers were unbearable to hear but they had to keep their head cool to inspect whether they were in contact with Kali; ' The Shadow King'.
During the interrogation, Kritak and Lakshman observed their facial expression and features to ensure there was no hint of demonic features but they did remark their cryptic smiles, enlarged sharp fang-like teeth, elongated nose length, and the white of the eye seemed more grayish and lastly, their skin complexion had a faint grayish shade.
Later after the interrogation, Dhansi ji and Kimaya ji revealed the details about what they grasped from their statements and Lakshman pointed out the changes that Kritak and he remarked while they both were busy in interrogating Hrida's parents.
During bedtime, Lakshman read the book that Hrida gave him after finishing his dinner, he read the whole book within half an hour, he then took out a pocket diary and wrote the specific interesting details from the book and also prepared himself for tomorrow's urgent meeting regarding the current big issue that is soon going to unfold in its influential chaotic messy form in their city.
The next day, in the early morning hour, the meeting between their police department and the Additional Director of General; Lakshman represented his police station branch since he is the Senior Inspector of his police station branch. He presented all the details and also displayed the book in sort of presentation form with logical calculation and pieces of evidence and surprisingly the Chief and Director of General were convinced and agreed with his theory.
The Director of General commanded Lakshman to secretly carry out his plan and he expected promising outcomes for all of them. Most importantly, the safety of civilians must be carried out with guaranteed success as it's their first and last duty to protect civilians and prevent those criminals from reaching out to innocent civilians.
After two days, Hrida is fully recovered but still she needs rest. Hrida calls via home phone to Shashi and then Soma to visit her current homestay as she is strictly restricted from moving out of the house until she is fully relaxed and safe from that Shadow King.
Hrida closed the door, and then Soma, Shashi, and she had a serious meeting about hatching a plan to trap the 'Shadow King; Kali' and numb him down to limit him within his boundary. But Shashi and Soma asked her to not be involved in this physically but rather be their mental player while they are physical players of their plan and she would manage her part from home.
Hrida refuses at first with a pout, " Why? That's not fair. I want to also be there with you two, I can't rest still when you two are outside in the risky zone. I would also come. I would come, I don't know, I have to."
Soma mutters with a baby-like tone," Ummm...Hrida, see, we don't want to present him with what he is waiting for although you would be easy bait, and none of us want you to go through that pain again. Not happening in my…..our presence. So, listen to your friend and chill here in the room. Okay? "
Hrida chuckles," Soma, you are quite stubborn just like me, pffft. Since you are my friend, I will obey your word, My lord. Hehe.."
Shashi grins with a playful tone, " My majesty, please always grant us peasants with genius advice, right, Hrida? "
Hrida playful nods her head and they both burst into laughter meanwhile Soma ponders with a dreamy tone, " If I am so-called Majesty then I would have made you a queen, that's for sure."
Shashi reminds them with a strict tone," This plan would be secret between us four; you, me, Hrida, and Tapish. We can't let any adult be involved in this cause then they wouldn't allow us and exclude us from this matter by saying we are just kids.
But we are not, we are the growing youth of the current era and we can't just sit at home when we can capture the Shadow mastermind. We can do this! Let's win this game and I am confident about it since I have Hrida and Soma with me." Hrida feels enthusiastic by his words and Soma too is ready for the battle to begin.
On the other hand, Navya, Lakshman, and the police department had weaved their own strategy to trap this shadow king in his own woven web and they had already started the preparation of the plan but they hadn't revealed their plan to the civilians yet.
Kali was as confident and relaxed as ever since he had already woven complicated delicate trails of his web around the lives of civilians without their notice and currently it seems he is 4 steps ahead of his enemy. And the game had already begun way back but the effect is being amplified now.
At a random street, a gang of dogs ganged up against an innocent puppy who held a piece of sandwich offered by a kind couple, who were smitten by his cuteness. The dogs' fangs sharpened, elongated teeth, and their colored fur transformed into a more neutral grayish shade. The puppy's fear heightened when he saw with his own eyes, how their mass size increased and their claws grew larger, he tried to scoot away but they didn't let the chance of letting their prey go.
The whole gang pranced upon him, scratching, bruising him to death, the puppy's lifeless body was deformed in weird positions, if one saw it, he/she might faint. The sky howls with grey clouds hovering, clouding the hopeful stars and preventing those kind stars from seeing this horrifying scene to save their light from dimming. The dogs were wagging their tail and staring at the enlarged shadow on the creased and worn wall.
Somewhere, at some random company, the employees were performing their daily office chores but one of the employees in the conference meeting presented a wrong presentation. In addition, his eyes were lost and rage-filled when his boss cut off his sentence, so he insulted his boss, and then he also humiliated clients with offensive language though his drunken state was to blame for this mess. The boss lost the biggest deal for their company, so he got fired by the company's manager as per the boss's order.
Nevertheless, the employee wasn't bothered by his loss, he just creepily smiled, which made them uncomfortable, still, his nonchalance irked bothersome to the boss to such a degree that he ordered his manager to make that employee stay overnight in the office and complete the incomplete files and after that, he can leave this job tomorrow. He just giggled and made faces at his boss, a few co-workers couldn't help but giggle at the situation, which worsened the boss's mood. To worsen the mess, the employee vomited on his boos, his horns could be seen protruding from his head, and a maddening gleam burning in his eyes was clearly visible to everyone, they were praying for that drunk employee.