I have made an attempt at a murder mystery this time. Thought it is somewhat a long story, . Hope you enjoy reading it and that I can keep you engaged till the mystery is revealed:

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The cars honked beside her as she gracefully wiped the sweat from her brow and swiftly adjusted her hair when her cell phone blared loudly…..

Exasperated Maya received her call. He had been calling for the 12^th time since morning but she had kept on avoiding him. However, she knew she could not avoid him now, it was time she learnt what he had to say!

A heavy burly voice with apparent brisk and adroit spoke back, “The boss wants to meet you today in an hour, at our headquarters. Be there or…..”, his voice trailed off and she timorously shut the receiver.

She had been expecting it…what else could she do! She instructed the taxi driver to turn left into a deserted alley. She got down and paid him hastily, letting him keep the change. She then made her way towards a huge bungalow with a sprawling mansion.

She etched the door and heard her footsteps dangerously echo behind her as she made her way to the second floor and entered a dark hallway which led into a small stuffy room high on the smell of cigar.

A man sat on a plush seat with his hat falling low over his face and a long coat adorning his thin yet strong body. He motioned her towards another chair nearby.

After she was seated, he said, “You are needed again. And as the contract said…this will be the 20^th and the last murder and if you deny you know how you will find Ryan…….”

Cutting him short she said, “I know! What do I do this time?” she asked reluctantly.

The man smiled derisively and handed her an envelope saying, “The photo and necessary instructions are inside. The job should be done with an hour and you will be escorted back then. Leave immediately!”

She departed hurriedly in no mood whatsoever to see another innocent man who was a father to someone, a husband to another and a son of someone else…another innocent man was going to be killed and she was compelled to do it.

Walking back to the desolate alley way and then on the main street at 45 Welkins road, she saw her old house and of a happy life flooded her…

She remembered the day when she had happily wed Ryan, the love of her life to lead a happy and prosperous life ahead. But her life became devastated after the death of her parents which had been termed as a murder and their bodies had not yet been found. During this difficult phase, Ryan had always been there for her. Consoling and soothing her worried heart at all times..

But life changed a week later. Ryan did not reach back home after work and Maya got worried. At around nine, an anonymous caller addressed her giving her an address and telling her that they had kidnapped Ryan! Maya wept tears of agony and worry for the whole night.

After a sleepless night, she visited the mansion she was supposed to. A man with a black hat held low, stood in front of her. She asked him about Ryan and he told her that she could see Ryan after a month if she completed her assignments. When asked what the assignments were and why she had to do it, he said that she had to kill 20 people without giving any more apparent information.

And after her 19^th cold blooded murder….she couldn’t so it! She wanted him back, Ryan! She remembered the happy time - parents…she was tied …no she couldn’t do it…how could she kill another man when she knew what agony the family of such people faced? How could she kill someone?

“How life has changed,” she wondered. Sometime back she could not even kill the little ants but now…now she went around murdering people, “Destiny”, she muttered and armed with a small sharp knife, she walked towards the place mentioned in the elevator……


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As Maya entered the ornate hall, she cautiously stepped into the elevator. She pressed the button with number one on it. As the door slid open silently, a man entered the lift. With a single glance at him, Maya knew it was him…But when she glanced at him once again, she thought she could recognize him…yes, she had seen him before, but where??

She couldn’t waste a single moment with this task at hand. The man pressed the button with number 11 on it. Maya moved in closer….and then with a swift action, she had his neck in her hands and then her knife adroitly slit open his neck in half…..while the man flabbergasted, couldn’t even utter a terrified scream….

Maya swiftly pressed for the basement, which she had been informed was her escape route…Without glancing back at the dead body, she stepped out as the door slid open. A black posh car, stood nearby with a red dressed man at the driver’s seat. She hastily made her way towards the car, and opened the door and sat down..

She finally stopped trembling and composed herself. She wiped her hands with a wet tissue until they were pale white. Pictures of the red blood, the mourning people and the crying children, flashed in her head…She was on the verge of breaking down when the driver, stopped the car and slid open the door for her.

She stepped out and noticed that it was a different location this time. There was an exorbitant mansion before her, but the surroundings were all aloof from humans. She quietly entered the place and walked into the ornately adorned hallway, which echoed with every footstep…

She then noticed a small door which stood ajar, at her left. She silently went in. There she saw him again; he sat in the same way with a hat and black suit covering his face and body and when he saw her, a fleeting smile crossed his face…

“So, you are done? And now it’s about time I let you meet Ryan!” the man mocked.

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A sense of immense bliss and eagerness filled Maya and she waited breathlessly as a door nearby screeched and a well built handsome man entered, accompanied by an old couple….

Maya watched in surprise as Ryan and her presumed dead, mother and father entered the room with sarcastic smiles on their faces. Maya was mind boggled at the happenings that she couldn’t even demand an answer.

The man at the chair quietly left the small reunion alone as Maya stared at the threesome.

And then Ryan said, “As you are not needed anymore, it’s about time you died too and we inherited your wealth!”

“But…but…you were kidnapped…and mom and dad…you…you…am I dreaming?” she staggered..

Laughing…Ryan explained the whole circumstances to her. “These people you call mom and dad are my real parents and you were adopted. You are the daughter of the King of Crotia, a small kingdom near Soviet Russia. Mom and Dad were the caretakers for the King. After his death and the demolishment of the kingdom, mom and dad fled with you to New York City. They adopted you while I lived alone and aloof from them. They were having a happy life until last year, when they received an anonymous phone call which told them that you had inherited a fortune from your dad worth more than thousand million dollars and the caller also warned them that he knew who we all were. He asked us to leave you and let you inherit the fortune…

Ryan’s dad continued. “But how could we let that happen?? After all, we had cared for you since fifteen long years! We then plotted this plan and as we knew, that no one except your close relatives knew our secret. We then made Ryan marry you and become your successor. After marriage, we kidnapped him and in ransom, we demanded the murder of twenty of your relatives and friends during the King’s period who were supposed to have known the secret…Now that the anonymous caller is dead, Ryan will inherit your money after your death and we will all live happily…”, and the old man’s laughter echoed in the room…

Maya knew not what to say and she had no time too as Ryan took out his revolver and aimed at her..and she stared into his mesmerizing blue eyes……

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Wow! My long long story has now ended with the mystery revealed! I would love to know what you think!

The story was posted in my blog recently - in 3 series of parts, which I have combined and put it here.