PRESENT TIME
The air inside the abandoned mall was thick with dust and despair. Flickering fluorescent lights cast eerie shadows on cracked tiles and shattered glass. The silence was heavy until it was shattered by the tense breathing of those trapped within. Rishit's nerves were fraying. His patience worn thin. He paced back and forth with his fists clenched and tight jaw. His silent eyes darted between Samaira's trembling figure and Kanishk's helpless gaze. The silence from Samaira wasn't just quiet. It was a wall. It was a refusal that gnawed at his sanity. Suddenly Rishit snapped. "Why won't you say anything?" he growled under his breath. His voice low and dangerous. His frustration boiled over as he grabbed Samaira roughly by the arm, yanking her closer. She winced but said nothing. "Enough of this silence," he hissed, voice dripping with venom. Without warning he struck her shoulder hard. Samaira stumbled back with a painful thick and slurred groan escaping her lips. The sound seemed to echo through the empty corridors. Rishit's eyes darkened with a cruel smirk curling at the corner of his mouth. "You know," Rishit murmured. His husky and condescending voice rumbled, "the most killed animal in the world is the chicken. Because anyone who tries to awaken the world…gets killed." His words hung in the air like a sinister prophecy. He shoved Samaira again but harder this time. She fell to the ground with a thud clutching her shoulder with her ragged breath. Rishit's gaze shifted to Kanishk who was frozen in place. His eyes wide with horror.
Without hesitation Rishit began to strip Samaira's clothes. His movements were harsh and unyielding. The cold air bit at her skin but Rishit didn't care. His eyes were fixed on Kanishk as if daring him to intervene. Meanwhile inspector Kadam who was standing a few feet away seemed indifferent to the suffering unfolding before him. He stepped outside the room and lit a cigar. The glow of the ember briefly illuminating his impassive face. He took a long drag exhaling smoke lazily as if this grotesque scene was nothing more than background noise. Back inside Rishit forced himself onto Samaira. Her body trembled, her mind reeling in shock and pain. She tried to resist but his strength was overwhelming. Her cries were muffled slurry and broken and each sob a desperate plea for mercy. "Please… stop…" she whimpered but her feeble voice was barely audible. Kadam's chuckle drifted back into the room as a cruel accompaniment to Samaira's wails. "Keep going, Rishit," Kadam said with a twisted grin. "Let her scream. It's music to my ears." Kanishk's heart pounded in his chest. He wanted to scream and fight. He wanted to do anything but he was powerless. All he could do was curse himself silently for failing her. Hours passed like this. Samaira's agonized cries echoed through the dark and empty mall bouncing off the walls, and rising up to the broken crystal chandeliers hanging precariously from the ceilings. The sound stirred the pigeons roosting above sending them fluttering wildly across the vacant floors. Around them, mannequins which were once pristine and lifelike stood battered and broken. Their cracked faces frozen in eternal silence like grim sentinels watching over the nightmare below. Kanishk sank to the cold floor. His tears streaming down his face. The weight of helplessness crushed him. He whispered to himself, "I'm so sorry, Samaira… I'm so sorry."