It was shortly after midnight
when an SUV with its headlights turned off approached slowly and stopped on the
dark alley behind Stellar County Society in Greater Noida West. A shadow in a hoodie
emerged from the car and swiftly walked towards the broken portion of the
society’s boundary wall. The wall had collapsed owing to severe rains some time
ago and was awaiting repair and restoration, which had been delayed due to an
ongoing RWA funds dispute.
The hooded and masked entity,
whose face was completely covered except the eyes, carefully removed the
makeshift barrier created by a fiber sheet in the damaged part of the wall to
keep stray animals and jaywalkers at bay and entered the premises on all fours.
It was late in the night, so there was no one around to notice the unexpected
entry. As he entered, he turned around and replaced the fiber sheet back into
its place.
Taking advantage of the dark
and unattended area, He tiptoed to the tower where Anirudh and Pankti lived and
hid himself in a corner from where he could keep an eye on the lobby guard. He
seemed to be well versed with the society premises dimensions and the camera
installed.
The guard on duty was fast
asleep in his chair. He quickly sneaked past him and took the lift to the 17th
floor, where Pankti lived. Her iron door was latched from outside, indicating
that she had gone to the terrace as usual after dinner.
He then took the stairway and
slowly climbed to the top floor where Anirudh lived. His door was latched from
the inside, indicating he was inside.
The hooded entity then walked
up towards the terrace and hid behind the door that led to it.
Meanwhile, Pankti was alone on
the terrace, taking a walk after dinner and humming a Kishore-Lata popular song
that she was listening to on her phone over Bluetooth. Of late, she had
developed a special liking for the 60s and 70s Bollywood songs after learning
that Anirudh enjoyed listening to them, which is a sure sign of a woman
hopelessly in love. A cold, gentle breeze was flowing across and the atmosphere
was serene, making Pankti feel both relaxed and contended.
She walked for a while before
stopping by the railing at the far end of the terrace, to look at the high
rises in front and the lights on the road below. She was humming along to the
music in her ear and couldn’t hear that somebody had come up behind her.
She turned around just in time
to see a masked shadow standing extremely close to her. “Tum kon ho?” She was startled.
What the shadow did next was
unthinkable. It pushed Pankti right over the railing.
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