The Tranquil Predator ✔️

Chapter 25

Author's Pov

It was morning. The sun was up in the sky. The clouds were pure white and the day felt hopeful. It was the day when everything was finally about to end. They were going to catch the suspect, make him confess to all the crimes he had committed.

Menon was going through a rough time. He was overwhelmed by all the emotions he felt. Vengeance, sadness, fatigue, joy, surprise, disgust, fury all attacked him at the same time.

"I know how you feel right now. But remember, we can't kill him. We are supposed to put him behind bars. So don't let your emotions take over", Arjun said without looking at him. He caught the senior officer by surprise.

"Yes sir", Menon whispered in a soft voice.

There were two jeeps full of officers. Detective Arjun Malhotra, Inspector Prakash Menon, Investigative Assistant Anand Bhatt, and five other officers. All had their guns attached to their waist. No matter how cheerful the day was, there was still a feeling of uneasiness in the jeeps.

When they finally reached the colony where Raghu lived all jumped out of their vehicles in an instant. People stared at these officers in awe. Children stopped playing only to look at all the tall men in police uniforms and guns strapped around their waists. The women who were drawing water from nearby wells started gossiping amongst themselves immediately. But the officers didn't even bother to look at these reactions. They were only here for one mission.

As they reached Raghu's house, Menon knocked on the door. "Raghu! It's Inspector Menon here, open the door", he said in an authoritative tone.

No answer.

"Raghu! If you don't open the door, we will have to force ourselves in!"

Still no answer.

"Raghu, this is your last warning. Come out peacefully or we will barge in", this time Arjun was the one who talked. His voice had a serene yet dangerous tone.

On receiving no response, Arjun motioned his officers to pull out their guns and in seconds they pulled out the weapons and got ready. Arjun banged his shoulders against the door resulting in a loud thud sound.

The door shook a little due to impact. Arjun repeated his action. This time the door shook a little more. With all his strength directed towards his shoulders, Arjun banged them against the door one last time and the door finally opened.

In a split second, Arjun pointed his gun to an empty void in front of him. There was no one in the drawing-room apart from stuffed heads of wild animals hanging on the walls, probably his or his father's kills. The officers entered the house one by one. Menon motioned them to stay alert and inspect all the rooms.

People, presumably Raghu's neighbours crowded outside the house out of curiosity. They were confused as hell and wanted to know what was happening. But still, not a single one of them dared to enter the house.

Inside, the officers inspected all the rooms, but Raghu was nowhere to be found. Frustrated as he could be Arjun violently banged his fist against the table and released a long and strained breath to calm himself down. When suddenly one officer called out,

"Sir! He is running! Look, over there!"

Angrily Arjun looked towards the direction the officer pointed. There he was, Raghu, running away like a coward. Without thinking, Arjun leapt out of the window and sprinted after him. And thus started the second chase. "Not gonna let you get away this time", Arjun muttered under his breath, eyes not leaving Raghu even once.

Raghu already had the upper hand and he knew his way around his neighbourhood. He was panting hard but he still kept running. He went through the cowsheds and crossed the horse stables. He deliberately took these routes to slow Arjun down.

And it was working, for Arjun who was not familiar with these places kept bumping into the wooden barriers that were made to keep the animals in. He even slipped twice because of the muddy ground. But he didn't give up. He kept chasing. His intense training at the academy and strong determination to catch criminals were the reasons why he didn't lose his stamina.

Raghu, on the other hand, was getting tired. He was old and could feel his legs slowing down not to mention the wound on his leg was barring him from running faster. Seeing Raghu finally slow down, Arjun increased his speed and the distance between them reduced.

And finally, they reached a dead end. There was a tall wall in front of Raghu and an angry, growling detective right behind him. Under normal circumstances, Raghu could have easily climbed up but this time he was too tired. His legs were stiff due to exhaustion and he was having trouble breathing. Arjun didn't walk up to him. No, he kept his distance this time so that he doesn't get stabbed again because he noticed Raghu was armed. He had a knife strapped around his waist.

Raghu pulled out the knife and pointed it towards Arjun with a menacing look. "Don't come near me, else I will stab you. AGAIN!", he spat out.

"Drop your weapon and give up. You have nowhere to run. Co-operate now, and there can be chances of the punishment being lenient", Arjun said nonchalantly. It wasn't the first time he was threatened, he was used to it. So it did not scare him anymore.

"Punishment? Punishment for what? Removing the weaklings of the society?", Raghu stuttered.

"Don't make it sound like you were doing this town a favour. You are a murderer. You killed people. People who had families."

"Well, they should have been stronger then! This world is cruel. You have to fight to survive. Only the strongest make it to the end. My mother was weak. That is why she gave up and eventually died! If she had been strong she would have fought back."

"Your mother was abused by her psychotic husband. Just because you grew up seeing your father behaving like a moron doesn't mean you have to be one. Drop your weapon and turn yourself in. You might help the souls of the deceased to finally rest in peace", Arjun said pointing the gun at him.

Suddenly, Raghu broke into tears, "But, it's not us! It's this world! If I want to be taken seriously, not be thrown around like garbage, then I need to show my strength! I need to show them how strong I am so that they don't hurt me again! That is what I have learnt and that is what I will teach! But maybe it's too late to undo anything now."

With that, the knife that was pointed towards Arjun suddenly turned around. Before Arjun could stop him. With one swift move, Raghu slashed his throat. The dark red liquid spurted out and he fell on the ground, blood pooling around him. Arjun ran and grabbed him. He tried to wrap a rag cloth around the wound to stop it from bleeding. But it was of no use. Raghu writhed and choked in pain for a couple of seconds and finally became motionless.

Arjun looked at the dead body helplessly and slouched next to him in defeat. He was going to have a hard time explaining this to the higher authorities. 

A/N:

The story isn't finished. Not yet. Please vote and comment your thoughts though. I would love to read them!