Ram moved through the hoard of boys muttering as they lay with their eyes closed on the floor. As he reached the stairs, he could see Piyush's silhouette in front of him. Each hasty step made the floor creek. As soon as he reached the clearance, the dance floor, his feet came to a holt. Piyush who was just a few steps ahead of him had widened his eyes as he took in the scene in front of him.

An middle aged woman wrapped in cheap glittery blue saree with a bold red lipstick held her flabby arm over her head. Her fingers were wrapped around a wine bottle that now lacked a base. Meghna's hair was matted together as the purple liquid flowed down her face. With her eyes shut, her fingernails bit into the palm of her hand.

Piyush's strides screamed as his eyes turned a deep shade of red. Ram ran in front of him and with his one hand grabbed a hold of Meghna's wrists. Slowly his feet edged backwards. The siblings had their eyes trained on the woman yet their bodies did not resist as Ram lead them away. " Smart choice kid. Smart choice," the woman yelled as they moved away. Another look at the men standing guard by the doors and Ram knew he had made the right choice.

Huddled in a corner behind the staircase, Piyush's head was faced down. He said, "If you hadn't dragged us away.. we would have been dead by now." Ram wrapped his arms around both of them. As they let tears calm them down, Meghna spoke up. "We can't lose one another. We have to get out of here. Soon."

That night, they slept there. Amongst the spider webs, mosquitoes and insects they lay with their arms across one another. Their bodies were curled as the holes on the thatched wall brought in sunlight.

As soon as Meghna's eyes fluttered open, she shook the other two awake. As they smoothly slipped out of the building, the boys were still rubbing the sleep off their eyes. They dragged their feet to a banyan tree. Settling under it's shade, Meghna said, "How are we leaving this place? I have had enough. We have to get out today."

Piyush's eyes widened, the sleep that once clouded his eyes was nowhere to be seen. "Meghna, are you crazy? You know Atul right? He spent a whole month devising a plan to get out. He is the only one who has been successful and that is because he didn't rush it."

" I'm confused. So this Atul guy actually escaped. How did he do it. Did he bribe the guards at the railway station or bus stop?"

"No Ram. That has been done so many times. It has never been successful. The guards take the bribe and just go ahead and report. You know that many of the kids don't even try because these people take their parent's properties when they do. Atul was different," said Piyush.

Meghna's eyes twinkled as she continued the story, the story that represented hope. "One day, Atul went out pick pocketing, he didn't return. People were sent out to look for the boy. His cropped black hair and light brown eyes with red torn clothes was the description these people were given. Atul was seventeen back then. With a lean body, and a wide smile, he was the one who took us under his wings two years ago. It had been mere days since he had met us yet he told us of his plan, asked us if we wanted to join in. That would've increased his risks quite a bit yet he wanted us to come. We were naive back then. We still believed that our mother was under treatment, that these people were helping us. We refused to join him."

Piyush shook his head as he once again saw Atul's brown eyes. His fingers as they scratched a number on a torn piece of paper. They could call him anytime. Piyush continued. "Two dozen grown men were looking for him. Looking for a tall boy with short black hair and brown eyes. He changed this very thing about himself. Atul had been planning this for a long time. He had used all the extra cash he had summed up over the years. He bought the cheapest phone on the market, a black wig that gave extra length to his hair and green eye contacts. He befriended a makeup artist in town who helped him change his other features. He roamed the streets in broad daylight for weeks, hidden in plain sight. And then when the search loosened up, he went to the railway station and was off."

Ram's fingers were clasped together as his head moved up and down. He had just figured out a plan. A plan that would not just be their escape route but      could also but an end to the brothel. He said, "I have a plan."

Ram pulled out the black binder notebook he always had on him. Pulling out his pen he said, "We can escape day after tomorrow. The old man who sells newspapers once told us that something about people as he observed them remember."

Piyush cut him off. "Ram, that guy had just made some observations. What are you getting at?"

"That day we met him, he told us exactly who the guards were. And you confirmed that he was right. He was always willing to help us out, considering that he saw his grandchildren in us or something. We will ask him to get us information on the guards. To just casually listen in on their conversations. He can tell us if one of them has a family. I can sneak out after the targets are handed over and follow him back home."

"Ram, I hope you have taken the risks into account cause I am afraid of where this is going," said Meghna.

"Tomorrow I will befriend the kid, that is the guard's child. Once we get some details on him, we can call the guard and threaten him. He will distract the others while we catch a train to..I haven't decided that yet but I guess we will go to Dhwaraka. I wish we could get to know Atul somehow though."

Piyush looked into Ram's eyes as he said, "I have Atul's number, we can probably get through to him. Why are we going there in the first place? How will you take the kid hostage if all three of us are escaping?"

Ram smiled. He had it all thought out. "We will pull a bluff. When the child is at the playground alone, his mother cannot be sure as to whether he is safe. The guard will call his wife only to know that the kid is not at home. He will follow our orders."

"Ram, there is a slight chance that none of them have families or kids. I mean kids they care about."

Ram smiled again. He had been eyeing a guard for months now. Just out of curiosity, he could watch the man chuckle as he spoke through his phone, he had seen the man's face relax and his legs brush against each other. He had watch him crack bad jokes and even seen his kid as he reached the station with a tiffin in hand. He had seen the man's eyes widen as he took the kid out of the view of his fellow guards. Ram was perhaps sure yet he wanted his beliefs to be confirmed.

"Trust me," said Ram.

**My dear reader, I love writing stories because they have the power to bring out emotions from people I miles and miles away from me. These words are my happiness and to know that it brought out the slightest emotion out of you would mean the world to me. Maybe it just lifted you lip a tiny bit or made lines appear on your forehead, please let me know for that is the sole purpose of these words. Leave a comment, your thoughts, anything. A vote would mean that you enjoyed reading it. It takes seconds and yet means the world to me, the teenager behind the keyboard