AvNeil: Chase Against Time

Chapter Twelve

The moment Neil heard the lady officer deny the presence of Ananya in the restroom, he stilled for a fraction of second. He didn't wait any further and bolted towards the exit of the CCTV room. Throwing commands at DD and the manager of the club, his eyes settled onto the commotion that erupted in the lobby. He glanced around at his team who along with the security team of the club were trying to control the situation. Tipping his head to DD, he rushed to the direction from which the gun shot was heard. He didn't have time to waste.

Cutting through the crowd, he moved towards the wooden door that was left slightly ajar. He pulled out his service pistol. A kick to the door and it fell wide open to Neil. Nothing could have prepared him for what he witnessed. Ananya was trying hard to keep her eyes wide open while she had her head planted against the wall. His eyes glued at her. She was in pain. It was only when she managed to aim the back of the pistol onto the murderer's right leg while it took off, did he realize that the murderer was slipping out of his reach.

The murderer turned to spare a glance at Neil, without faltering its footsteps. The eyes that met Neil's were the sarcastically laughing ones. As though laughing off at his attempts that were nothing but futile. Neil wanted to wipe that smirk off of its face. He wanted to chase the murderer but the thought of an injured Ananya disturbed him.

Letting out a curse in frustration, he padded towards where Ananya lay. He pulled her closer into his arms with her face gently placed onto his chest. He examined her and was relieved to have no sign of blood or external injury. They still had to get a proper medical examination done.

"Ananya," he gently tapped onto her cheeks in an attempt to make her eyes flutter open. "Damnit, open your eyes," She wasn't responding. He looked around to find no one else. Turning on the bluetooth device, he called for DD.

In no time, DD appeared through the door with medical help in tow. Only when she was to be examined did he reluctantly let go off of her. By the looks of it, he could make out that there wasn't much damage done to her. She had a bruised forehead and probably had gotten her head banged. That must have been due to the fight she must've put in, he concluded.

His eyes drifted apart from her to settle onto his team. They had been waiting for his orders. All the guests were already shifted to a waiting room on another floor of the building, while the footage was seized. He had asked them to obtain each and every CCTV footage they could get their hands on in the premise, no excuses entertained.

About to shoot orders at his team, he opened his mouth only to have it zipped with the sudden buzz of his cell phone. He shoved his cell phone out of his trousers and looked at the notification tab that read:

1 new message from Ananya.

His eyes widened and he turned his gaze to where she lay, almost lifeless. He glanced back at the screen of the device he held. He opened the message only to have his assumptions proved right.

'She was lucky tonight to have survived. But for how long?'