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Thriller: The Ultimate Choice

Discussion in 'Stories (Fiction)' started by Tamrakshar, Jan 25, 2020.

  1. Tamrakshar

    Tamrakshar Platinum IL'ite

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    Episode 14

    Archana had no feeling of hunger, all she wanted was to sleep early. She knew sleep was a great temporary escape from troubles and tensions. She wished to switch off the single fluorescent light, and throw herself onto the bed. But, strangely there was no manual switch in this room. Everything in this room, or may be in this entire 10 storied building, was remote controlled by the Joker.

    So, Archana went to the bathroom to clean her face before going to bed even with the lights on. Just when she was getting up on the bed, the door opened. The strange thing about door was that it had no inside lock or latch. Archana had no control over the door. Like every thing in this mansion like building, this door, too, obeyed the Joker's orders.

    A masked steward with a stainless steel mobile centre table entered the room. He shifted the food items from that table to the glass table on Archana's room. This had been a routine exercise since her shifting into this room. She would be given half an hour to finish the food. The steward would again come and take the leftovers.

    So far, the food had been super boring for a foodie like Archana. Waking up at 6 AM, followed by 2 hours of workout at the first floor gym and then came the heavy breakfast with 4 slices of bread with butter, 2 half-boiled eggs, 1 glass of milk and plenty of fruits. None of the items was favourite of Archana. Breakfast for her meant mouth-watering, lip-smacking puri or idli or dhosa.

    Archana would have withstood that had the lunch been good. But, the lunch, which was served at 1-30 PM without fail everyday, was even more disappointing. A sandwich and a cup of coffee were all that she got for lunch.

    In the afternoon, she again had to go for 1 hour of yoga and pranayam session. The lady masked instructor was the only one who spoke to her, that too in Hindi. She never spoke any extra word other than giving her necessary instructions, though. But still, this 1 hour was the only time that Archana could enjoy during the whole day. Especially, during the 10 minute meditation session.

    The instructor for some strange reason would tell her to think very queer things during this period. For example, one day she told Archana to think that Archana was engulfed in a fire, and she was burning. Another day, Archana was told to think that she was thrown in the sea with her hands and legs tied to rope, and she was drowning slowly. But, Archana never thought those things. Instead, she thought of her pleasant past, when she lived a very happy life with Rajan and the two children.

    She was served a cup of tea and 2 biscuits as supper at 6 PM. At her room, she was forced to watch tv programmes and movies, all of torture and horror types. She was forced to watch abominable pornographic movies, and the type was always BDSM. This mental torture would end at 8-30 PM.

    The dinner was served at 9PM on dot. Unfortunately, the dinner was the most disappointing: baked chicken breast with the minimum oil, boiled veggies and plenty of salads. The cook seemed to be heartless guy, as he not only didn't give any seasonings in the chicken item, but also had always been heavily economic with salt.

    So when the steward entered the room with the mobile table, she expected another boring dinner. But, when she looked at the table, she saw 6 slices of pizza, 3 bottles of different sauces and many packets of seasonings. Despite her pathetic condition, she felt the appearing of water in her mouth.

    Then appeared the Joker on the television monitor.

    "Let's celebrate your success Honey! You have successfully passed your second test. So, you got this chicken golden delight as the prize. Enjoy your dinner, and don't forget to see a chit pasted on the back of your plate when you finish the dinner. The monitor went blank, and by that time the masked steward had already left the room. The door closed immediately.


    The sense of refreshment that she got after watching new tasty food didn't last long. A sense of fear again gripped her mind. Would that be the the third test? What kind of torture would that be? What if she didn't pass it? Would the Joker kill her husband, or would he kill her? How could she escape from this hell? These questions started reverbating in her mind like a swarm of angry bees, and tears started to roll down her cheeks.

    An evanescent thought of not eating the dinner appeared in mind. But, she knew if she tried to do such thing, the Joker's face would immediately appear on the television monitor, and she would be again subjected to mental torture. So, she ate the dinner very fast, and without waiting for the steward got onto her bed.

    The pizza might have been prepared well, but her unwilling, terrified tastebuds didn't enjoy it. There was a digital multipurpose meter on the wall. It showed date, time, voltage, temperature, humidity and few other parameters that Archana didn't understand. The time showed 8-50 PM and the date showed first February. That meant she had been in the Joker's captivity for the last 15 days. She wondered in which state this place might be! How come no one was coming to rescue her! Very tired, she slept immediately.

    The next episode will be published on Saturday night
     
  2. Caughtinbetween

    Caughtinbetween Gold IL'ite

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    I have been reading all the episodes since the beginning and thoroughly enjoying each one .
     
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  3. Mistt

    Mistt IL Hall of Fame

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    @Tamrakshar I think this joker/villain is preparing Archana physically and mentally for next terrible 3rd test. You have been making story so interesting with your awesome narration and you are very good at hiding clues. So, I stopped guessing on what will happen next and just enjoying suspense in the story.
     
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  4. Tamrakshar

    Tamrakshar Platinum IL'ite

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    Nice to see you here! I hope you will enjoy the rest of the story.
     
  5. Tamrakshar

    Tamrakshar Platinum IL'ite

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    Yes, the Joker definitely has a plan.
     
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  6. katchibinanda

    katchibinanda New IL'ite

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    Why are all the people masked in the house? A case of corona virus?
     
  7. Riverstream

    Riverstream Bronze IL'ite

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    Good going. There should be some one to rescue the poor guys. I hope you introduce the rescuer soon.
     
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  8. Tamrakshar

    Tamrakshar Platinum IL'ite

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    Thanks Riverstream for your comment! Yes, I am sure, there will be some good person who can defeat the evil designs of the Joker.
     
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  9. Tamrakshar

    Tamrakshar Platinum IL'ite

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    Episode 15

    5 AM was the time he had been waking in the morning since his arrival at this hell of a place. By nature, he was fond of sleep and a late riser. In his office days, he never woke up before 6-45 AM, and the holidays? He loved the holidays simply for one reason: sleep. He slept till 8-30 AM in holidays, and after having lunch, he indulged himself in the pleasure called noon siesta.



    But here, he had no option but to wake up at 5 AM. A very rhythmic, not-so-loud alarm bell started at 4-50 AM on its own. There was no alarm clock in the entire room, but there was a multipurpose meter on the western wall of the room. Rajan had never seen that kind of an electronic device in his entire life. The meter read the temperature, humidity, time, date, voltage, current, altitude and pressure. But, that was not all. It had many buttons embedded on its body. Rajan was sure it could measure some other parameters as well. It was planted on the higher side of the western wall so that no human being can reach it even by jumping. But, Rajan was sure the rhythmic sound didn't come from that.



    Rajan could clearly understand that the sound was coming from top of the adjacent northern wall. But he could detect nothing from his naked eyes. Anyway, the sound lasted for only 5 minutes. That sound was not good enough to wake Rajan from his deep slumber. On his first day in this room, he had pretended not to hear it at all. But, he couldn't enjoy the coziness of his warm blanket anymore. Suddenly, the blanket seemed to have thickened. Rajan never tolerated anything coming between him and his love, sleep. So, he had immediately thrown out the blanket.



    But that didn't help. The warmness of the room increased in every ten seconds. Rajan never opened his eyes to check the temperature of the room. But, when he started sweating heavily, and suffered from shortness of breathing, he could not ignore it any more. He immediately woke up, and saw that the time was 4-58 AM, and the temperature was as high as 40° C. Then appeared the frigging face of the Joker on the television monitor.



    "Good morning Rajan! This is my house, and you are nothing more than a captive here. The value of your life is nothing more than a cockroach's life in my view. You have to obey everything I tell you. Take me seriously, otherwise you may even lose your life."



    At that moment, Rajan understood one thing that here he had to divorce his love, sleep. Then onwards, he always woke up hearing the sound of the alarm bell without fail.



    Today was no exception. Rajan woke up even 10 minutes before the alarm bell rang. He quickly went into the attached toilet and freshened himself. The automatic door opened sharp at 5 AM, and Rajan followed a masked man, who seemed to be holding an important position in this mansion.



    "What's in store for me today? How can I escape from here?" These two questions were reverberating in his mind.



    Rajan contemplated thousands of time a plan to flee from here. In the last fortnight, he was taken to the garden in the morning. There was a beautiful garden, measuring not less than 1 acre of area, Rajan estimated, in front of the golf field. There were at least 100 types of flowers, and 200 types of other trees, ranging from small to big, in that garden. Naturally, maintaining this huge garden was a big task. Rajan was assigned the job of a gardener.



    It was not as if he hated this job, as he himself had had a small garden outside his house. But, initially he was in a shock to assume that he alone had to take the huge load of 5 men's job. However, he was pleasantly surprised to see 2 other men, and they were not masked, in the garden doing the same job. However, the masked man, who guided him to this place told him in heavily Bengali accented English that he was not allowed to mingle with them during the working hours.



    However, they were given a break after 3 hours of continuous and rigourous works of watering and feeding plants, trimming trees and shrubs, fertilizing and mowing, weeding and keeping green spaces and walkways clear of debris and litter. In the first day of this tedious work, the masked man was continuously present with him, guiding and rebuking him from time to time. Rajan was panting like a steam engine, his back was on the brink of breaking, and his tongue was lolling like a dog. He never knew that gardening 33 decimals of land would almost take his life. But, at 8 AM, when Rajan's arms felt like they were made of tons of stone, and his head was spinning like a teetotum, and he was sure he would fall like a felled tree, the masked man said, "Stop. Time for 15 minute of break."



    He pointed to a place 50 meter north from here with his stretched right hand and said, "That is a small refreshment centre. Go there and take rest. You can drink and eat there too. Come back here after 15 minutes." He went somewhere else, and Rajan went to the place he showed.



    The refreshment centre was a temporary structure made of bamboo and wood. Big trees, such as banyan, peepal, mango and jamun, surrounded the place. The roof of the temporary structure was covered with jute and hay to protect it from the sun and rain. There was a small wooden table where there were few glasses, a jug, and a wooden bucket full of fruits. Rajan was pleased to see the two men, whom he had previously seen from distance, were also present at that place pouring water from a wooden water keg to the jug. But, Rajan was a bit disappointed to note that none of them were Indian: one was a muscled, tall, black guy, while the other was a short, thin, effeminate South Asian man. When they saw him for the first time, there eyes became wide open in amazement or whatever that Rajan could not assess, and they accosted him stopping the work they were doing.



    The African guy grabbed his shoulder in a way that Rajan didn't like at all. The Asian guy took his hand in his hand in a way as if his hand was a flour which needed to be kneaded. Their behaviour was queer, but they were unmasked like him. That gave Rajan some hope, and ignoring their odd behaviour, Rajan asked,



    "Hi! I am Rajan. I an an Indian. They have captivated me. Who are you? How did you arrive here?"



    "I am Roger. I am an African American. I was a bouncer in a pub. One day, I was coming back to my home at late hour. Suddenly, someone clubbed me on my head with an iron rod, and I don't remember what happened next. But, when I woke up, I found myself here. I have been in solitary confinement since my arrival here." Roger spoke in English.







    The next episode will be published on Wednesday night 9 PM IST
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2020
  10. Mistt

    Mistt IL Hall of Fame

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    Oh! This joker had abducted other two men, too but no idea of what his plans behind all these abductions. I just praise your fantastic efforts to making this exciting thriller.:clapclap:
     
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