Chapter 49

The moment Sabari got a clue that the cops were not real, his mind went blank. His eyes were glued on the two cops. The other cop was waiting with a sarcastic smile.

The cops who was chatting with Sabari said, “I can guess what is running in your mind. We are not the real cops”

The confession from the cops gave him another tremor.

“What do you guys want?”

“You made our job simple… Appreciate it…Here is what you need to do. Get out of your car and walk backwards. There is a van parked to your right across road. You need to get into the van without throwing any tantrums.”

“For what?”

While the guy stared Sabari, in seconds, the other one came forward and gave a punch on his face. The blow landed on Sabari’s right corner of the mouth. For a moment, his eyes went blank and when he opened the eyes, his vision gradually became normal. His saliva tasted salty and he understood that it was the blood.

Sabari wiped his mouth with his fingers to find blood in his hands. He decided to oblige to their demands without speaking out of his mind.

The guy asked, “Any more questions?”

Sabari opened the car door and got out. He saw a Van across the road. When he was about to walk across, one of the stopped him.

“I need your car key”

Sabari handed the key to him.

“And your mobile phone too”. Sabari gave the phone.

“You are all set now… Don’t be crazy enough to do anything other than what is instructed”

Sabari walked towards the backside of the van. He pulled the door handle and it opened. The lights in the van were dim and he could see a lady seated inside. She was busy with her mobile phone. The moment she saw Sabari, she smiled and said, “Welcome Sabari”

Sabari maintained his silence and he was sure that he had heard that voice before. The lady understood his silence and said, “That’s right.. We have spoken before over the phone. I’m Prasanna’s sister Pranitha..”

After getting inside the van, he looked around to check whether there are anyone else.

“None other than you and myself.”

Pranitha locked her mobile and kept it aside. She looked at Sabari with a smile and asked, “Whats up? Seems like you and Inspector Mahadev will soon turn to close buddies”

Sabari maintained his silence.

“You are permitted to speak.. “

“Where is my wife Ananya?”

“She is safe and we will meet her in sometime”

“Tell me something… What are you guys expecting from me?”

“Ok.. Relax… Before I answer, can you check this one?”

Pranitha gave him a tiny glass container closed with a lid. Sabari asked, “What is this?”

“Check it… I cannot hold this for long… “

Sabari took the glass container in his hand. It looked like a perfume bottle.

“Open it…”

Sabari hesitated for a couple of seconds and decided to open it. He opened the lid and it had some liquid.  He could smell and it almost smelled like a perfume. He got thrilled by the smell and he inhaled it once again.

The fragrance entered his nostrils and went it. While Sabari was wondering what it could be, the chemical in the liquid acted swiftly. He gradually lost his consciousness and fainted on the seat.

 

When Sabari was back to his conscious, the cool air from the air-conditioner welcomed him. He opened his eyes and looked around. The room was bright with two LED lights and he was on the floor. His head was aching, his eyes were irritating and he felt uncomfortable whenever he respired.

He heard the voice from behind. “Good Morning”

Sabari turned around to check. There were two people seated on a couch. He strained his eyes a little to check who they were. It was Prasanna and his sister Pranitha. Sabari tried to get up but his effort failed.

Prasanna looked at him and said, “Don’t be in a hurry. You are not normal yet. The ‘Neutrolite’ is still active in your blood stream and might take another 30 minutes to get to normal. Do you like to have any drinks? Tea, coffee?”

“No…”

Sabari’s eyes wandered around the room looking for Ananya.

“Your wife Ananya is safe… “

“I need to talk to see her”

“Sure you can… But right now, all we can do is to prove she is alive. That will bring you some cheer for you.”

“May be… What should I do?”

“You will find a remote on your left… Switch on the wall mounted LED TV with the remote.”

Sabari switched on the TV with the help of remote. The screen displayed eight CCTV images spread across.

Pranitha said, “These are live video stream of CCTV images of this house. Now, press 5”. Sabari pressed ‘5’ in the remote.

The screen displayed a single video stream of a room. There was a cot on which Ananya was in a deep slumber.

Pranitha continued, “You may doubt whether she is alive… You can zoom the video closer to her. You will be able to see her body movements while she breathe”

Sabari zoomed and image using the remote. After seconds of analyzing the image, his mind said that she was alive.

Sabari said, “I need to talk to her right now. Only then, I can believe you.”

“Sorry… Not at this point of time… You will be allowed to talk only after we are done with you“

“What ??”

“We need all the details of your Bionic Project”

Sabari looked at Pranitha and Prasanna for a couple of seconds in silence. He turned his eyes away from them nd the unexpected incident happened. Sabari threw the remote that he was holding straight towards Pranitha.

The remote hit the right spot on Pranitha’s forehead. As the remote was slightly heavy, it gave an immense pain. With serious pain, Pranitha held her head and bent down. Prasanna was shocked at Sabari’s action and his attention diverted towards her.

Using the situation in his favour, Sabari used all his strength and crawled towards a small table a few feet away. There was a metal flower vase on the table. He picked it up in his hand and stood on his legs. Though he was not steady, he pushed his body and thrusted it towards Prasanna. Prasanna, who did not expect such an attack, couldn’t stop Sabari.

Sabari dashed on him and Prasanna was pushed on the floor. He fell on his back. Sabari gripped the flower vase tight in his hand to bash him.When Sabari he was about to bring down his arm harder, he heard a voice from behind.

“Hold on Sabari… “

Sabari froze instantaneously, as the voice was familiar.