I woke up the sound of splashing water. When I tilt my head to adjust to the dimly lit room, I could see the boy beside me, drenched in water- a hooded figure had made him completely wet and now he was approaching me. Before I could protest a bucket of cold water hit me in the face-wonderful wakeup call!

I groaned in sudden pain when I realised the knots that tied me were turning my wrists sour.

"Wh-Why am I here?" I mumble unconsciously.

"You speak English?" the hooded man spoke in Hindi.

In fear of my identity being discovered, I immediately switched to Hindi- although my Hindi wasn't too good- it could still mask my identity.

"Please, why did you capture me?" I whimpered at the man.

He let out a maniac laugh like we were sharing some sort of an inside joke.

"Obviously, you are the girl that the boy was going to meet up with to escape, don't play games with me!" he gleamed, like it was the simplest thing.

Meeting who? Escape from what? My mind clouded with random thoughts.

"I don't even know who this boy is! He just bumped into me!" I yelled in annoyance.

The man frowned at me like he tasted something bitter.

"That can't be true- people don't just walk around the outskirts of Nagaville without a purpose!" he spoke matter-of-factly, like my word were a pathetic lie.

"I swear I don't-" I started.

"Enough! This pathetic kid was trying to escape from us with YOUR help!" he commanded, "And there will be grave price to pay!"

He stomped out the door, making the peeled wall crack under pressure.

My gaze fixed on the moving figure beside me, he stared at me with an apology written on his face but before he could speak, I spoke.

"how dare you get me into this mess!" I thundered at him with frustration, yelling curses at his direction in English.

"Please, these men want to keep me as a slave," the boy spoke in pure English-I gawked at him. This... I did not expect.

"You can speak English?" I questioned.

"Yep, I was kidnapped by these men 2 months ago during vacation- all I wanted to do is escape-I am so sorry I dragged you in to this!" he pleaded.

"What are you doing anyway- near Nagaville?" He questioned. Why does everyone talk about Nagaville like it was an ill omen?

I knew telling him would be a bad idea but my guts told me otherwise, "I got lost from my dad on our way to his hometown."

He nodded his head like that was such a simple thing to take in.

'Don't tell them that you got lost." He finally said matter-of-factly.

"They would use you like a slave, promising you a chance to see you family..." he said bitterly, hatred lacing every word. Just like that, we were left with an awkward silence.

The boy was around my age and he wore ragged cloths and torn shoes, his tanned skin- marked with a whip. The only lively thing about the scrawny boy was his livid grey eyes. They had a glint of mischief in them that the hideous men hadn't managed to steal from him.

"Let's team up!" I suggest, my voice a little up-beat.

He looks at me in shock before warning me that its dangerous.

"Oh come on, you seemed to have escaped them once, maybe you can do it again-or do you want be stuck here as a slave?" I persist.

He looks at me before giving a sinister smirk. I had a felling we were going to get out of the grasp of these nasty men.

"What's your name?" I ask, finally a normal question.

"Kareem, call me Kareem. You?"

"Maya, that my name."