Only Mine

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

I woke up to the sound of faint murmurs drifting through the cracks of the slightly ajar bedroom door. I was disoriented with my surroundings and I could feel the stirrings of a major hangover descending on me. My eyes were heavy and it took a moment before the previous nights events flooded my consciousness. The drinking, the careless idea of egging the estate office, being jerked around painfully by a darkly dressed thug and finally knifing two well built men. I jerked upright when that last thought finally slammed into me. 

Blood. My hands were covered in the dark crimson liquid that had oozed out of my captors. The shock from the previous night had worn off and the vacuum it left behind had been replaced by apprehension. Did I kill someone last night? Were my captors still alive, and if so, were they going to come after us again? Why were they after us in the first place? Why were they speaking in French? Did anyone else witness this crime? I was terrified. I was shivering at the thought of going to prison or being held at trial over defending myself. These thoughts were only adding fuel to the already raging fire inside my head from last nights alcohol. 

I was fortunately distracted from these morbid thoughts in my head by the familiar hushed murmurs that had woken me up moments ago. I was seized with panic. Had the police finally been contacted to come get Anna and I? I got out of the bed slowly and carefully peered through the cracks. I couldn't notice any figures, only their shadows, as the unknown voices were coming from the other side of the living room that was situated on the far east side of the apartment. I strained to hear what the murmurs were about, when I heard a clear and crisp male voice, in perfect English, say, "You were supposed to protect her. What the fuck happened?'

The voice had a deep baritone and was a little scratchy, as if a lifetime of smoking had damaged the perfect timbre. His command was authoritative and his question was meant not to illicit a response but to fill shame and fear within whomever this was aimed at. It sent a tiny shiver down my spine when I imagined myself being on the receiving end of this carefully restrained tongue lashing. 

"Stop it! We can figure out the logistics of this later. What's important right now is to know whether the cover has been blown? Is it safe here anymore, Jean? "The voice that replied belonged to Anna's. 

I was confused by her phrase -- 'cover has been blown'. I had no idea whose cover she was referring to, or who the man that she kept referring to as 'Jean' was. The name sounded vaguely familiar and I tried wracking my memory for who he might be. I faintly remembered Anna referring to her brother as Jean during our first few brief conversations about her family. Did this voice belong to her elder brother? If it did, how did he arrive in Delhi this quick from Paris? Unlike Anna, I was very interested in these benign logistics.

"It's not safe here anymore. We need to leave. Now." Jean replied with finality that brooked no arguments whatsoever. The answer seemed to stun Anna into silence as there was nothing but the sounds of my pounding heart filling my ears.

"But what about my friend? We can't just leave her here," Anna said.

Friend -- she was referring to me. Did Anna plan to leave suddenly because of the two men? From the above exchanges, it wasn't hard to connect the dots that the men who had restrained us were people from Anna's world, and they were dangerous if it were causing Anna to uproot her life from Delhi.