This isn't my story.My husband, Mr. Krishnakumar K,is the author of this story.We were discussing a story for Times of India WRITE INDIA CAMPAIGN -Chetan Bhagat, that's when he narrated this entire story in a matter of few minutes to me.A story was ready in no time.I insisted that he should write down the story in his own words. So, here it is, his very first story.

I sat alone at the Starbucks coffee shop, enjoying the tasty coffee sip by sip. I never noticed that the interiors of the café was so beautiful. The room was dim lit with yellow lamps, wooden tables shined underneath those lights. My table was clean with a cup of coffee & a knife stained with blood wrapped in my blue silk scarf.

I am neither a criminal nor a psycho, but I committed a crime today, I killed a person. I am a murderer now. I have no regrets for what I have done. I know that I have very less time before I get caught. I don’t want to run away from the cops. I am ready to accept the consequences of my action. But, I must tell the world how I became a murderer; I may not get a chance later.

I still remember it was a rainy day when I came to Mumbai a month ago for my new assignment. Being a freelance journalist, I always travelled several places for my articles or projects. I was doing an article on modern women- change in lifestyles. I had travelled most of the states in India for the past 6 months and eventually reached Mumbai in Maharashtra where I felt I could conclude my article. I was so happy that I easily got a room in a working women’s hostel. My joy was doubled when I got a journalist as my roommate. I felt relieved that I could discuss my article with her and include her experiences too. Her name was Sunitha and she was single like me and her parents too had given her a deadline of one year to accept any one of the marriage proposals. Our thoughts were similar and therefore we became very close in no time. Starbucks was our favorite outing spot and we went there every once in a while.

Sunitha left for her job on her scooty every morning at 8. I didn’t have a perfect routine, first 2 weeks of my stay at Mumbai was dedicated for research. I went roaming around in the city and the interior areas searching for any clue about women lifestyles. The garden near my hostel was my favorite spot. Every evening I used to go there & sit on a bench under a tree in the farthest corner of the ground. Sitting there, I could see almost everyone in the garden. There were people who rigorously followed their routine but there were some who had no specific routine, especially the kids who came for playing. They continued playing till their mothers came looking for them.

One evening, I was sitting on the bench and reading a report on abduction of a school kid from a place nearby. According to the report, the kid had gone to school in the morning but had not returned back home in the evening. The parents went searching for the kid at the school and got the information that he had left from school as usual. I felt in my mind that the abduction must have occurred during his way home and someone would have been watching him and his routines. Just when I finished reading, a school boy, of age around 11-12 came to me with a box of chocolates. He gave me an éclair and said that it was his birthday. I wished him “Happy birthday” and before I could say anything else, he ran away with the mission of giving chocolate to others. His name was Naveen and I used to see him daily in his uniform, returning from school with his grey oversized school bag. He was a kid with full of energy and enthusiasm. He then ran towards a middle aged guy sitting on a bench a bit away from me. The guy was new to the park. I had not seen him before. The guy on the bench gave him a chocolate in return for the éclair which Naveen gave him. Naveen then ran to his home and was soon out of my sight. It was getting dark, so I too returned to my hostel.

Next day, I woke up with the thought of the kidnapping story running in my mind. Suddenly my phone rang, it was my friend Vignesh, he told me that he had reached Mumbai and to my surprise, he told me that he was doing a story on the recent child abductions happening in Mumbai. We discussed about the story that I had read the previous day. I promised to meet him within 2 days. From morning, I was disturbed with story of child abduction, I couldn’t concentrate on my work. Time flew like a jumbo jet & it was evening. I went to my favorite bench in the park. Once I reached the park I saw Naveen talking to the stranger and the stranger again offered him a chocolate. They were walking away from me and I kept looking at them till they disappeared from my sight. My mobile rang. It was a message from Vignesh. “ I just found out the location where these new gang of kidnappers are hiding the kids. I am sharing the GPS location with you. Please inform the police and bring them with you”. Instantaneously, I called Sunitha and told her to come to me. She knew the police officers in town. On our way to the location, we went to the police station and the police officers followed us to the location. The location was an old abandoned warehouse within the city premises. We reached there but couldn’t find anyone. Vignesh’s phone was switched off. We returned disappointed.

I couldn’t sleep properly that night. I was worried about the kids and Vignesh. Next day, I woke up before my alarm bell rang. I tried Vignesh’s number & he picked up the phone. He told me that our move was somehow leaked out and the kidnappers changed their location.He told me that he was following them a that he will call me back later. Sunitha left for her work and I sat down at the table for my breakfast. Suddenly, I received a message from Vignesh and it had a new location of the kidnappers. I called Sunitha and we rushed to the spot with the police. But we had no luck. They had already left the spot before we could reach there. The police officers advised me to confirm the genuineness of the information. I knew they were a bit angry. We returned back and I was disturbed. My mind was full of thoughts and questions. Vignesh’s number was switched off. I went to the park and sat on the bench thinking about the kids. I found an unusual gathering at the other end of the ground. I decided to go and find out what it was. Once I reached there I could see Naveen’s mother and father with a police officer, talking to the people in the park. I came to know that Naveen went missing from last evening. Suddenly, the thought of the stranger giving chocolate to Naveen and the view of them walking away rushed into my mind. I went and interrupted the police officer and told him about my doubts. He gave me his phone number and told me to call him if I see the stranger again.

Sleepless nights were becoming a habit now. I was worried about Naveen, Vignesh and the other kids. At around 4 am, I got a message in my mobile “They caught me and I am now in their custody. They might kill me. Please help”. It was a message from Vignesh and he had sent me his location also. I was sure that he was in big trouble. I woke up Sunitha, informed the police officer and we left to the location on her scooty.This time the location was an old wood mill. Before we could reach, they had already left the scene. The police warned me again and told me not to disturb them again. I was too sad and felt like screaming loudly. Once Sunita started her scooty to leave, I spotted a bag over there. I knew that bag. It was Naveen’s school bag. I was shocked for a second. I went and took the bag. The book inside it had a name slip with name Naveen written on it. We searched the entire place again but didn’t get any other clue. I was sure that Naveen had been there and the stranger whom I saw before might be responsible for this. We went back to the police station. Forensic specialists were available over there and we handed the bag to them. They inspected the bag and collected all the fingerprints on it. During the inspection, we had a shocking finding. The school bag was altered and a secret pouch was added to it at the bottom. It contained brown sugar. Police officer told me that they had intelligence information that kids were being used as carrier of narcotics and now they have got a proof. He then ordered for a detailed search in town for the kidnappers. The officer told me to go home and relax. Sunitha and I left the police station.

We reached our hostel room but found my stuffs thrown on the floor. Someone got inside without my permission and had done a detailed search. I was frightened to see this. No one else was there in the hostel as it was working hours and everyone had gone to their respective jobs. We both were horrified and Sunitha told me to leave the hostel. I took my stuff and left the hostel with Sunitha. She took me to her uncle’s flat nearby and told me to take rest till she came back. I couldn’t take rest. I was thinking of who might have come to my room and destroyed my stuff.

I noticed that the flat where I was had 3 rooms, out of which one room was locked. The flat was owned by Sunitha’s uncle and he was out of town. I couldn’t calm down myself in the room. I thought of walking within the flat and I suddenly saw a photo album lying on the table. I opened it and saw Sunitha and her uncle in it. It was their family album. The uncle seemed very familiar but I couldn’t recollect where I had seen him. I took a bath and the time was almost 4pm. My phone rang!!!! Vignesh was calling me. I took the phone. I could feel from his voice that he was very tired. He gave me the new location. I dashed off to the location. On the way I called the police and informed them about the call. I reached the destination and Vignesh was correct. I saw the kidnappers. I took their photos in my mobile by hiding behind a tree. They were not aware of my presence over there. I saw Vignesh. He was tied up to a pole and was heavily injured. The police reached the scene. They told me to step back and wait in their vehicle. Finally,they managed to rescue the children and Vignesh. The kidnappers tried to escape but the police caught them all. We freed the children and police took them to the hospital as most of the children were drugged. Among them, I saw Naveen. He was weak and drugged. He could barely stand. But I was happy now that I could save them all. They all thanked me and I headed back to Sunitha's unce's flat.

On the way, I thought of having a coffee. I called Sunitha and told her to come to Starbucks. Sunitha reached Starbucks before I could. From a distance, I saw someone talking to her inside the café . I had seen that person somewhere but I couldn’t recollect. Once I got in, he left. I asked her who that person was. She told me that he was her uncle. We sat at the table and ordered the coffee. Sunitha congratulated me for finding the kids and rescuing them. She was little upset for not informing her before going to the rescue. But she was happy that I finally rescued the kids. I told her the details of the kids kidnapped and for what purposes were they used. I told her that the police have found out that they have even sold girls to wealthy merchants. The coffee was taking some time. She told me she wanted to use the rest room and got up from the chair. I watched her taking her mobile along with her to the rest room. My hand was soiled. So, I got up and went to the rest room after her.

Once I reached there, I saw that Sunitha had locked her inside one of the toilets & was talking to someone on the phone. I ignored the conversation initially and started to wash my hands. During the conversation, she was talking about some kids, it made be curious and I listened to the conversation. “See, she has already understood our plans. It’s no longer safe to do our business here. We have to finish her and should take the rest of the stuffs and leave this town as soon as we can. Kill the rest of the girls in your room. It’s better to clear all evidences.”

“Oh my God! Is she a part of this kidnapping gang? “,I almost fainted. I was shocked to know that my friend was part of the whole kidnapping plan. I suddenly recognized her uncle’s face in my mind. He was the stranger who talked to Naveen in the park. It was their plan to bring me to that flat and kill me. I realized why one of the rooms was locked in the flat and previous 3 attempts to catch the kidnappers failed… I could barely stand there. I didn’t know what to do. I rushed out of the washroom and was walking towards my table. I couldn’t walk properly and I was about to fall, I suddenly got hold of a table to balance me. I saw a knife on the table. I took the knife in my hand. I didn’t know what I was thinking. I walked into the washroom. Sunitha was standing right in front of me. There was no one else in the room. I took out the knife and stabbed her in the stomach. I pushed her towards the corner of a bathroom. She screamed but nobody heard because of the loud music playing inside the cafe. I removed the knife out of her stomach and pushed it though her neck. She died. I pulled out the knife and closed the door.

I went back to my table. I wrapped the knife in my blue scarf and kept it on the table. Our coffees were ready. The bearer asked me whether to keep the other coffee on my table… I told him the second coffee has been cancelled as she left !!!!!