Episode 102 — "When the Storm Knelt"
The clouds didn't clear that morning. Kolkata's sky hung low, soaked with bruised grey, and the air was thick with the scent of rust, rain, and gunpowder memories.
Inside the dim safehouse, the world was too quiet.
Aria sat by the dusty window, watching the alley outside. Her hands trembled despite the blanket wrapped tight around her. The stitches on her side still burned with every movement, but it wasn't the pain she noticed—it was the absence.
Raian was out there somewhere. Alone. Shackled. And she hadn't held his hand since the day the world collapsed.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
"Just one more day," she whispered to herself. "He said he'd survive one more day."
Behind her, the old wooden door creaked.
Footsteps. Steady, but cautious.
"Ayan," she said without turning.
He moved closer, set a cup of warm broth on the table beside her, and sat in the chair across from her.
"You haven't slept," he murmured.
"I can't." Her voice was flat. "The nightmares are better when I'm awake."
Ayan hesitated. His own face was still bruised, jaw cut from the ambush three nights ago. The way Malik's men had hunted them even after Raian's capture… it hadn't stopped.
"Lina's checking the route. We'll move you tomorrow, just in case." He looked toward the rain-blurred street. "Raian wouldn't want you near this city anymore."
Aria turned sharply. "He wouldn't want me safe if it meant being apart."
Ayan met her eyes, something fierce flickering in his gaze. "Then we'll get him back."
"You really think so?"
A pause.
"I've seen Raian do things no man should survive. If he said he'd make it back to you…" Ayan's lips curled into a rare, small smile. "He will."
Just then, the door swung open again, harder this time.
Lina stumbled in, soaked and panting, her voice shaking. "They moved him."
Aria's heart stopped.
Ayan was already on his feet. "What do you mean?"
Lina flung off her wet shawl. "The prison guards—they're transferring Raian to the fortified black-site. No more visits. No more leverage. Malik ordered it himself."
Aria surged up too fast, pain flaring in her ribs. "No—no, I was supposed to see him!"
Lina rushed to steady her, voice breaking. "I'm sorry—"
"Where are they taking him?" Ayan demanded.
"The Ravinder Compound. South District. Once he goes in…" Lina trailed off.
No one came back from there.
---
In the transport van, Raian's wrists were bleeding again.
Chains looped his ankles, and two guards sat on either side of him with rifles ready, eyes cold, unmoved by his silence.
The van rattled as it hit a pothole, and his head knocked against the metal wall. But still, he didn't flinch.
Aria's face burned behind his eyes. The last words he'd heard — she's alive — were the only thing keeping him sane.
The guard across from him leaned forward. "They say she'll be gone by morning. Malik's got her marked again."
Raian's lips curled into a slow, cruel smile.
"She survived once," he murmured, blood trailing down his chin. "She'll survive you too."
The guard raised his rifle—annoyed, angry—but another gloved hand pushed the barrel down.
A whisper: "Leave him. Dead men talk bravely."
Raian only smiled harder.
You'll see, Aria. Even if the whole city turns against me—I'll crawl back to you.
---
Back at the safehouse, Aria was shaking.
"No," she said again. "We're going after him."
Ayan stared at her. "You're not even strong enough to stand."
"I don't care."
He sighed, running a hand through his drenched hair. "You think I don't want to storm the compound too? You think Lina doesn't want to set the whole damn city on fire?"
"I need to see him," she whispered.
Ayan's expression softened, but it was Lina who stepped forward this time.
"Then let's get reckless," Lina said softly. "Let's do the thing Raian would do if it were you in chains."
Ayan turned to her sharply. "You can't be serious—"
"I'm tired of hiding. Tired of running. And maybe Raian wouldn't want her to risk herself—but he'd risk everything for her. So we do the same."
There was a moment of silence.
Then Ayan sighed. "Fine. But we plan it right. I'll reach out to Dev's old contact—the one who used to smuggle in explosives."
Aria looked up, startled. "Explosives?"
Ayan shrugged. "We're not getting him out through the front gate."
Lina smirked. "Let's cause a little hell."
---
Inside the Ravinder Compound, Raian was thrown into a dark cell with no windows. His coat was gone, shirt torn. Blood streaked the floor.
The walls were soundproofed, the door solid iron. He could barely move with the weight of the chains.
His voice cracked when he spoke, barely a whisper.
"Aria…"
He had no idea how many hours passed.
No sun. No moon.
Only her memory.
The scent of her hair after rain.
The warmth of her hand on his chest.
The first time she said his name without fear.
"I'll come back to you," he whispered again.
But this time, his voice trembled.
---
Later that night, back in the alley behind the safehouse, Ayan met with a shadow in the rain.
A tall man in a tattered coat, cigarette glowing in the dark.
"You owe me one," Ayan said.
The man grinned. "You always come when it's suicide missions."
"Do you have it or not?"
"Two pounds of C4. Remote detonator. And a layout of the outer wall of Ravinder."
Ayan passed him an envelope. "No names."
The man nodded, slipping into the fog.
---
Inside, Aria was writing something on the back of a torn medical chart.
Lina peered over her shoulder.
"What's that?"
Aria kept writing. "A map of Raian's injuries. Old ones. Weak points. If they're torturing him, he'll be—"
Her hands trembled.
Lina grabbed her hand gently. "He'll hold on."
Aria looked at her. "I'm not afraid of dying, Lina. I'm afraid of him thinking I gave up on him."
---
In the dark of his cell, Raian's lips moved again.
"Don't give up on me."
---
The plan was chaos.
Three people. One chance.
Detonate the south wall. Slip in through the east blind spot. Find Raian. Get out.
No backup. No second shot.
The city was already shutting down. Military patrols on every street. Malik's orders had reached every precinct.
By the time the night deepened and sirens echoed far off in the rain…
Three shadows moved like ghosts toward the gates of the Ravinder Compound.
And the storm knelt again—this time, not to the heavens, but to love.
To madness.
To war.
---
Teaser for Episode 103
The rescue begins — bullets will fall, chains will break, and love will bleed through stone and fire. One chance. One life. Will they make it out alive?