Still reeling with several possibilities, Amyra opened the door. It was Dhruv, as expected. He looked at her with the slightest hint of impatience and the first thing he spoke confused her.

"Amyra, you're still in your bathrobe."

"What?" At first, it was confusion, and then the realisation that hit her. "Oh! I'm sorry, just give me a minute." Dhruv sighed and nodded as Amyra ran inside with a tinge of embarrassment which finally brought her back to the present.

As she entered the room, she spared a single glance at the thing lying on her bed and she narrowed her eyes in a set determination. She needed to think through this well. She was definitely in some trouble and in need of help, but right now, her main concern was her friend Riya. Amyra knew very well that Riya didn't go to meet her aunt. Who was it, then? She couldn't tell, she had no idea at all. She did have her suspicions about some secret person in Riya's life, maybe a boyfriend, but she still didn't know that for sure.

As she put her clothes on and took out her purse, she struggled with the decision whether to take the doll with her or not. It was most likely a piece of important evidence if this was anywhere related to Riya, but there could be repercussions of this situation. She didn't want those things back in her life, and definitely couldn't afford the involvement of Police into something like that. She could already imagine what kind of gruelling session it would be every day. She stood there for a minute when Dhruv called in from the hall. Pursing her lips, she took her decision. It was time to toughen up. She couldn't the important facts from the Police.

She went into the living room and Dhruv looked up at her and then frowned looking at the box she carried in her bare hands and stood up.

"What is it?" He asked.

Amyra didn't look down at the box again when she replied. "Found this in my closet. Just lying there among million other things." She paused for a minute and then added with a deep breath, "And this isn't mine. I think someone left it there."

Dhruv was dumbfounded for a minute and then spoke with slight apprehension. "What exactly are you trying to say Amyra?"

From the way he looked again at the box, it seemed as if he knew exactly what she was saying but didn't want to acknowledge it. He looked like he was almost daring her to say it.

"Dhruv neither am I trying to say anything nor am I assuming anything. But I don't think we can afford to ignore even slightest out-of-place things at the moment, no matter how insignificant they may seem."

He sighed as if unwillingly accepting the obvious possibility. He seemed extremely concerned.

"No, you're right. We really can't afford that. Okay then," he said looking at the box first and then at her, "let's go. The sooner we get this done, the better."

Amyra nodded, completely agreeing with him. "Let's go."

***

Varun received the call, still half asleep and totally frustrated. He should take extra money for receiving calls every now and then. Everything, every single thing with this particular assignment was going as per the plans of someone else, and not his. He might lose his mind if he kept dancing to the rhythm of someone else. He has never faced such a situation before. Being cool-minded was something he had always been proud of, but he was slipping now.

"What now?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"Amyra went to the police." He barked.

"Yeah so? Should I go and help her lodge the complaint? It was inevitable anyway. What were you even expecting her to do?" He heard a sigh of frustration on the other side and his own irritation skyrocketed but he kept quiet.

"Look here. I'm paying you for this. Got me? I don't want any trouble. I just want the girl alive and scared as hell. I want her so traumatised that as soon as she comes here she-" He stopped in the middle and Varun heard the man grit his teeth.

"Listen to me, okay? I kill- because it's my own personal nirvana. And unlike most of the pathetic humans roaming around the earth, I managed to turn my hobby successfully into a business. But that doesn't mean you own me. When you tell me this person needs to die then that person will die. But how I want, not you." Varun tried to sound as intimidating as he could, but he wasn't sure if this would work. This man was giving him a tough competition in being insane.

"You agreed. You agreed to do it as per my wishes and instructions." The man seethed.

Varun took a deep breath and spoke calmly, wanting this call to end. "Okay. What do you want me to do now?"

He heard the person on the other end sigh, as if tired. "Actually I just wanted to ask you if you are sure you left nothing unsettled about that girl. And also to warn you about the Police."

"If you are so scared of Police, why are you even bothering to play hide and seek with her?" He really didn't understand this man. Man, I'm caught in a wrong place, he thought, but then a smile crept up his lips. This can actually be turned into quite a game.

The man answered in his slightly metallic voice, and it sounded as if he spoke through a smile. "Oh, trust me. That will not be a problem. The only problem was that Riya was not part of the plan, and that bothers me slightly."

"Well, you sound confident enough about Amyra and I'm confident about Riya. Police won't find a trace of her and no piece of evidence is there that might lead her disappearance to me, and in turn to you. So if you will allow me, I'd like to go back to sleep now."

"Okay, but pay attention, I want the girl. And that too before the end of this month. I don't care how you do it, just don't get caught. " He grunted and hung up.

As soon as the call disconnected, Varun sat up and started thinking about how he first got acquainted with this man and that was the last he breathed peacefully.

It was merely a small phone call. That's how he always received his assignments. No one ever wanted to meet him in person and mostly they talked through the phone. Somehow, this secret world of killers and murderers had its own way of helping them find one another. One thing was always agreed upon though- they don't ever meet. Most of the conversation was carried out through phones that were later disposed of- at least by him. And most of these were bought on fake IDs. Money, he scoffed, things it's capable of doing.

Varun wasn't completely sure what the mystery-man wanted from this girl, Amyra, but he was hell-bent on following through a procedure. There was extra money involved, so he agreed. But now this nameless man's metallic, tonsillitis affected voice and his jittery nerves were making him lose his patience. The man was being too careful, almost to the level of suffocation. There was definitely something that this girl has to offer but what, he could never know. Anyway, his only job was to do the work and then get the hell out of this weird case. He breathed in deeply and lied back on his bed, legs hanging down.

***

Amyra and Dhruv sat facing the Police Inspector, the box lying on the table as they told everything in detail about what had happened. The Sub-Inspector, his name was Vipul Parmar, was listening everything through the streaks of red paan almost leaking out of his mouth, threatening to spill out any second now. When Amyra looked at him, she immediately decided that this man had about 5000 bucks stacked away in his wallet that he received as a bribe from some shopkeeper, along with a packet of stale cigarettes. He was lying back on the chair, his eyes half-closed as if he were listening to a story instead of a missing complaint. Amyra felt a wave of disgust rise in her and she looked sideways at Dhruv, who seemed even more disgusted than she was.

"So, your friend didn't return?" He asked, repeating it for a god forbidden hundredth time.

Amyra took a deep breath to calm herself down before speaking and she didn't say more than a single word this time, "Yes."

"Hmm." He replied, again with that satisfying streak of getting the desired ending of a story.

Dhruv couldn't take it anymore. He said with a hint of impatience in his voice, "I had called Inspector Ravish Samthan earlier. He said we could directly meet him. Could you tell us where he is?" 

Dhruv had told Amyra that Inspector Ravish Samthan was a friend of his elder brother. He had called the man earlier when he was on his way to pick Amyra up. It was a great stroke of luck that the man had received the call, Dhruv had said. It wasn't too much of a connection but he said that even this much works enough for these things sometimes. Inspector Ravish Samthan had a great record in dealing with criminal cases and was known for his good work among his peers as well in public. Amyra didn't know how much the good works could really be trusted but guessed she was about to find out soon.

"You don't know how this field works, kid. He must have gotten held up somewhere. Either you could wait here or-" He paused quickly as his eyes fell on someone behind him. He quickly sat up straight in his chair as Amyra and Dhruv turned around to see Inspector Ravish Samthan entering the station. "Sir is here," Parmar said.

Inspector Samthan looked at Dhruv, a look of recognition passing through his handsome face. 

"Sir," Dhruv said, but the Inspector nodded before he could say anything else. "Come inside and we'll talk then." He didn't spare more than a glance at Amyra before dashing inside.

"Come on," Dhruv said. Amyra nodded and bent down to pick up the box carrying the doll from the table but Sub-Inspector Vipul Parmar stopped her. "You go inside. Don't touch it again. This will reach sir whenever necessary."

Not knowing what else to do, Amyra nodded and went inside the cabin with Dhruv.

As both of them sat there facing Inspector Ravish Samthan, a whole new aura, totally opposite of Vipul Parmar was emanating out of him, although Parmar was standing behind Inspector Smthan with a pen and a notepad. The man was handsome, 40 something, and tired looking. It seemed like he might not have slept much in some days. With kind eyes and an ambitious look, he gave them a small smile before beginning. 

"So tell me everything," he said as he faced them, giving them his full attention. 

Once again, Amyra recited everything, point by point and incident by incident. Finally, after hearing everything he spoke.

"Okay, and you don't think it was really her aunt whom she went to meet. Is that right?"

"Yes. I doubt there was someone else that she didn't want to tell us about. I live with her, I know that things were a bit different for some time."

"Okay. We will look into that but at the moment what concerns me the most is that box you received which, according to you, is not yours. You think someone left it at your house, right?"

"Right," Amyra said although she didn't say another word apart from that. She knew this part was going to be a bit difficult to explain and she was ready.

"Why? I mean I do not doubt you when you say that the box isn't yours, but why do you think someone left a burnt doll in your closet? To me, it seems almost like a message meant specifically for you." As he said that, Inspector Samthan gave her a piercing, scrutinizing look.

"I honestly have no idea about it. None whatsoever." Amyra said with as much confidence as she could muster. Give the facts, only the facts to the police. Nothing else, she reminded herself.

"Hmm." He said, still looking at her piercingly.  "See, things are a bit confusing here. There's no reason to exclude the possibility that the little gift that you received could be related to the missing case of Riya. And yet, I can't seem to understand why someone would choose to hurt her and drop the box inside your closet. Unless, of course, you have a direct link with both of them."

Amyra was getting unsettled with the way he kept looking at her but tried to maintain her calm disposition and she thought she was doing a great job at that.

She replied, "Honestly sir, I have no idea at all." There was a hint of desperation in her voice which she couldn't hide.

"See Amyra, there's no need of getting scared. I'm not targeting you here. But we need to understand what exactly is happening. You did say you were feeling like someone could have been following you around. We can't ignore that." His voice was kinder now and it reminded her of a teacher promising there will be no punishment for the misconduct of the wayward student.

Amyra felt for a moment that she might cry. Damn, those kind eyes. Kindness always had a way of breaking down the toughest of demeanours and resolutions, something intimidation couldn't achieve. All those days of paranoia and fear were suddenly trying to catch up with her, threatening to spill out of her eyes in the form of tears that she blinked back. She just nodded at the inspector and took a deep breath in before speaking.

"I don't know what role I have in all of this if any. I did feel constantly paranoid. I already told you about every incident. There is nothing that I can recall at the moment. If it's because of me that Riya is probably in danger right now, then I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry about it." She spoke and her voice quivered slightly, as her eyes turned glassy due to the unshed tears. She felt a hand holding hers under and squeezed slightly as a form of assurance. She turned towards Dhruv and immediately looked away, unable to bear any more kindness. She avoided looking at Sub-Inspector Parmar at all who was seriously taking notes, not saying anything and being a totally different person from what he was a little while ago.

Inspector Samthan looked down for a moment, respectfully giving her a moment to recover herself and she was grateful for this. She might have hidden a few things from him, but her concern for Riya and her guilt for unknowingly being the reason she could be in trouble right now were not fake and that was something he seemed to have understood well.

He looked up again and said, "Amyra, you can go home now and try to relax. We will inform you as soon as we find out anything about Riya. Before going, give us a few details about her."

She nodded and stood up, without looking at Dhruv who she sensed was constantly looking at her again and again, maybe worried. 

"And listen," Inspector Samthan spoke again and she stopped to listen and looked up at him, "it'll be better if you either live with someone else for a while or call someone to stay with you at your home. And the most important thing, get all the locks of your house changed right away. Don't wait for another day or another hour. Do it as soon as possible." His tone was that of a warning and very serious.

She nodded again and turned around to leave the cabin.

About thirty minutes later, after all the necessary things were done, she was outside the Police Station, in the car with Dhruv. And now, she finally looked at him. He gave her an assuring smile, but thankfully, didn't say anything else. She smiled back at him and then laid back against the seat, closing her eyes. Tonight is going to be a long night, she thought.