Kyra

The alarm woke me at 7:00am. But when I finally rolled off the bed and got ready for the day, I realised that I was late and I had to get to the office asap. I had a very important meeting scheduled with a potential client from the USA - Mr John Alex, who was the CEO of a Multi-Billion dollar empire and onboarding him as a client would be a true achievement and would significantly increase our wealth.

As, I was leaving the house all sorts of crazy things were happening, like my most expensive and favourite pair of heels broke, I almost forgot my important documents, and I tripped again, it's almost as if the universe was warning me that something bad was going to happen or that maybe I shouldn't leave the house today.

But I decided to ignore the superstitious side of my brain and focused on my upcoming meeting and it's significance. As I was getting into the special edition Mercedes, my most luxurious and expensive car, I realised that it was Holi today and the streets would be jam packed.

But, I had to go to the office nonetheless, as I had forgotten my encrypted and secure laptop in the office, which I absolutely required for my meeting, another bad omen, as I was usually better organised than this.

As we drove onto the beautiful streets, I saw people enjoying and playing Holi. Huge areas had been cordoned off and tents were put up for people to play.

While waiting at one particularly long traffic signal, I saw a young couple chasing each other to put colour on the other. The guy finally caught up to his girl and swung her around before putting purple colour all over her face. She jumped out of his hold and quickly reached for the nearby bucket of water balloons which she flung on him and he was immediately drenched.

Without realising I laughed out loud at the sight, my driver looked shocked at my sudden outburst. I immediately sobered down, though I felt a pang in my chest. I wanted someone to celebrate the festival with, my family treated this day like just another day but it wasn't, it was special day and I wanted to enjoy this like everyone else. One day, I would.

I eventually started focusing on the talking points and important aspects of my upcoming meeting. After a while, my EA who was travelling along with my security team in the car behind us, called and informed me that there was an unexpected car issue and all of a sudden, all the tyres of the car went flat, and it stopped in the middle of the road. They were no longer behind us.

My personal security head asked me to return back to the house, as it was not safe and it was a very strange coincidence that all the tyres got punctured simultaneously. He told me that I was required to wait for the back-up security team as per the protocol, we strictly always followed.

But I knew that he was overly cautious and took his job way too seriously, plus I was already running late for my meeting. So, I falsely told him that we would wait by the main junction, but in actuality after cutting the call I informed my driver to take the shortest route possible and make sure I reach the office asap.

The driver nodded and started driving while I was re-examining my documents, when all of a sudden the car came to an abrupt stop in a narrow alley. When I looked up, I saw that two cars were blocking us, one from the entrance and one from the exit of the back alley and that is when I realised my mistake and wished that I had waited like I had been told to.

6 scary looking big guys in masks, with guns and metal rods got down from the car and approached our vehicle. Abruptly, 4 of them started banging on the doors and windows of our car. While 1 surly guy stood in the middle and creepily stared directly at me, and the last guy stood behind him.

Amit, my driver started panicking and hyperventilating, I asked him to calm down, while I was trying to get a signal to contact my security team for help. But for some strange and scary reason I had no signal at all and nor did the driver's phone have a signal either. Surprisingly, even the car's emergency assistance was disabled and that's when I realised that all of this was part of some sinister plot and not a series of unfortunate coincidences.

But, I decided to not lose courage and was going to wait for Backup in my highly secure car, because I was confident my security team would find me soon enough.

The 4 scary guys with masks started screaming and were trying to force me to get out of the vehicle, saying that I should face them if I had guts and were taunting me, but I was a woman and not a man. Therefore, I would not let my ego make this decision for me.

The 1st guy screamed, "COWARD."

The 2nd guy ordered, "Bitch, get the fuck out of the car."

The 3rd guy threatened, "Whore, if you don't get out in the next 60 seconds, we are going to pull you out."

The 4th guy shouted, "Get down from the car."

The 5th guy was merely a shadow of the 6th guy - who seemed like their leader and he said in a firm voice, "Amit, open the car door and give us the keys, we have your little brother and his life will be in serious danger, if you don't listen to me and do as I say, right now."

He walked closer to the bonnet of the car and through the windshield, he showed a picture on his phone of Amit's small and scared brother with a scary looking guy behind him.

Amit started sobbing uncontrollably and I knew that a child's life is more important and that my security team would be coming soon.

I said, "Show us proof, this could be an old picture. I want to see a live video call and ensure that his little brother is okay before I come out."

The leader said, "The only proof I can show you would be his dead body if you don't come out now. Do you want an innocent little kid's life on your hands, Kyra?"

He was very clearly baiting me but these guys seemed deranged and serious, I couldn't let anything happen to that sweet looking innocent kid.

So, I asked Amit to unlock the door.

The alleged leader of this gang smirked and said, "Good Choice, now get out of the car and hand me the car key."

We both cautiously got out and Amit gave him the car key, I told the leader, "Now, tell your guy to let Amit's brother go, this instant."

Surprisingly, he nodded with a cruel smile and made the call. After which he asked Amit to step forward and all of a sudden, one of his goons steeped forward and punched Amit in the face, he fell unconsciously to the ground.

I got startled and bent down to check on him, when 2 goons grabbed my hands and pulled me up. While 2 others, went ahead and started destroying the car, from inside out.

I struggled to get free and screamed at them to "Let me go", and I told the leader, "You are messing with the wrong person, I am Kyra Oberoi of the Oberoi family. You are seriously going to regret the consequences of ambushing and attacking me, but you still have a chance to walk away unscathed, if you let me go, right now."

At the end of my threat, the leader laughed cunningly and started to approach me with a sinister smile on his face, and that's when a sudden jolt of courage struck me and I kicked him, with all my strength. The leader not expecting this, screamed when my heel connected with his groin and he bent down with the intensity of the pain.

But surprisingly, he quickly recovered and got up with a roar and smacked me across the face, so hard. That I hit the ground with full force, I could feel a severe throbbing in my head and blood leaking from an unknown cut, when I fell on the unpaved and uneven road. Then, I heard my dress rip, before I could feel the cool air hit my skin, because I was very disoriented. There was a tear in my dress where the leader grabbed me to make me stand.

By now, I was completely panicking, my ears were ringing and I felt like I was going to faint from the concussion, I surely had. My life started flashing before my eyes, when all of a sudden, bright lights of a car zoomed in the alley and an angelic looking guy got down from the car. I thought I was dead, because an angel had come to take me, to heaven.

....