Page 3 of Empowered

Shutting the door, I locked the ghosts of the past inside. My focus now was to get her body back here to give her the proper burial she deserved. Funeral rites were important in my culture because we believed they were needed for a person’s soul to be at peace and to move on to the next life. Amelia and I hadn’t ever discussed religion or her beliefs about the afterworld. However, Amelia’s mother deserved to bury her child and mourn her loss. I had decided on waiting to break the news to her mother until we found her body. It would be easier on her that way, rather than causing her more heartbreak over her daughter’s missing body.

The office wasn’t the place to have a breakdown, so I kept walking and shut my grief into a tightly closed compartment.

Jai was already waiting inside of my office. “Hey,” he said patiently seated across from my desk.

“Hey,” I said, unbuttoning my jacket before sitting down. “You’re here early.” I cocked an eyebrow unable to hide my surprise.

He smirked. “Oh, you know. I’ve gotta keep these developers in line.”

Ignoring his attempt to lighten my mood, I placed my hands on my desk, ready to get to work. “What did I miss?”

We spent the whole morning discussing how Tarun’s network of distributors had grown even more. More of our shipments had been destroyed during transit. Many of the distributors that remained with us were furious. Jai tried to appease them, but since we couldn’t deliver our product successfully, they eventually defected to Tarun’s side. We were losing millions of dollars at an astounding rate.

Nearly one hundred of our men had been moved undercover to Jaipur to search for Tarun. They had been questioning people to find out if they had seen someone who looked like him or Amelia. She would have easily stood out with her red hair, European features, and American accent. The men were careful so as not to raise suspicion, but the trail was cold.

Our most trusted man, Zayn, was overseeing the search. He had been by our side since we were kids. His father had worked for ours, so we grew up together, and I knew I could trust him.

Zayn had updated Jai daily while I was gone. He also knew what Salena looked like, so he kept his eyes open for her. We were lucky that we had a recent image of her and some sort of resemblance of Tarun for reference. Amelia’s facial recognition software had proven to be even more helpful than we originally thought it would be. Even from the grave, myjaanwas helping us.

Chapter IV

Amelia

Aloud noise snapped me awake. Somehow, I had managed to get sleep, maybe even for a few hours. There was no way to tell how long without a clock. I lay on my mattress fully awake but didn’t move to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. Maybe, if they thought I was asleep, the guards would leave me alone.

Instead of a lone pair of footsteps echoing in the hall, I heard two. The steps stopped outside of my cell right before the gate creaked. The footsteps sounded again, but this time they moved away from me. Whoever it was must have entered Salena’s cell. I slowly angled my head to get a better look at what was happening. There was only one person who dressed as ostentatiously as the figure across the hall.

Decked out in a shimmery orange jacket that reached his knees, Tarun entered her cell as the guard locked it from the outside. I noticed a pile of white cloth in the guard’s hands while he waited for his boss.

Tarun’s bald head glistened with sweat in the stuffy dungeon. His short stature didn’t make him seem threatening at first glance, but there was something in his eyes that drew out my fear. I could see from how Salena cowered in the corner of her cell that she shared my reaction.

“What? No kiss for your soon-to-be husband?” he sneered. Salena looked up at him, frozen to her spot. Tarun knelt in front of her and licked his lips like he was a hyena, and she was a carcass free for the taking.

He stroked a lock of her hair between his fingers. “You need a bath, my love. Any wife of mine must be in pristine condition.”As if she could take a bath without your consent. She was his doll to dress up and parade around at his whim.

Grabbing her head with his stubby fingers, he shoved his mouth onto hers and took what she didn’t want to give. He held her in place for far too long, raping her mouth.

“That’s better,” he said, letting her go. Her shoulders shook, but still, no sound escaped her.

“Soon enough, you’ll take everything I give you on our wedding night,” He said moving his hands down her neck and to the curve of her full chest. “You should consider yourself lucky to be engaged to a king like me.” He pulled on her breasts like they were squeeze toys, yanking so hard that she flinched from the pain.

I shifted on my mattress anxiously. The coils squeaked under my weight, attracting the attention of the nightmare in jewels across the hall.

“Well, look who’s awake!” he said with a flourish. “Perfect, I was just coming to have a meeting with you. Guard, allow me to consult with our computer prodigy.” His motions resembled those of a circus ringmaster.

The guard unlocked Salena’s gate and granted him entrance to mine. Tarun took the pile of off-white cloth from the guard and approached my mattress, sashaying his hips as he moved. I sat upright, unsure of the safest position to be in. Lying on the floor while he hovered over me probably wasn’t the optimal way to face this monster.

“I brought you some new clothes,” he said, placing them onto the bench attached to the wall as if he really cared about me. He made a face as he inspected my current outfit. “As beautiful as your current dress is, these would be moreappropriatefor your position here.” He eyed my now filthy dress, a rag of its former self. Rips and holes covered the fabric, which was nearly black from being holed up in a dingy cell.

I didn’t satisfy him with the thank-you that he sought, yet I was grateful for something clean and hopefully less revealing to wear.

He grabbed my wrists and unlocked the handcuffs around them. My skin there was raw from the metal pressing into it for so long and it stung as the air hit it.

“It’s such a shame that your life took this path. It wasn’t too long ago that you had a promising future, but then you had to get yourself mixed up with those dreadful Sethi brothers.” He clicked his tongue in pity.

“How do you know so much about me?” I asked, willing my voice to stay steady and not show my true fear.

“I have my ways,” he said, brushing over my question. “I know that you are quite the computer developer who specializes in facial-recognition software,” he continued. “You were able to crack my riddle from the email that I sent your former bosses to figure out that I was here in Jaipur. How you figured out my encryption technique amazes me, especially when that idiot Jai couldn’t figure it out on his own.”

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