A flame in the Storm

Prologue

"I can't wait to get into the water" said Ravi hopping down from the jeep. He stood with his arms wide open and breathed in the fresh air coming from the forest. "I love this."

"I don't understand, why do you guys have to swim deep in wilderness?" whined Vijay getting down. "There are so many swimming pools in the city."

"They don't give you the adrenaline rush" explained Salman, already getting ready to dive into the lake beneath them.

"And they are crowded" added Ravi patting Vijay's back, who was annoyed at his best friends for forcing him to come with them. Water scared him even more when no one could come to rescue for a while. May be, not even find them if the necessity arise. This time Salman had out did himself. He managed to find this lake which nearly took them an hour to reach after they had left the road. The way was bad, in fact there was no way, they had to make it on their own.

Salman and Ravi were ready to dive in and Vijay had not made up his mind yet if he wanted to swim. He heard a splash and saw Salman already in water.

Salman swam back on the ground and climbed a higher rock than the previous one. The blazing Sun made water drops on his tanned muscular physique shine. He loved swimming and often found himself searching for new swimming holes in the city to boost his adrenaline. He had discovered this lake a week ago and decided to swim here with his friends. Salman readied himself for another dive when his eyes fell on something.

A white cloth floated on the surface at a distance with bubbles coming from beneath. When he swam near it, it was a girl with her hands and legs tied, being pulled below by the water.  Encircling his hand around her waist, he brought her to the surface. Placing a finger at her nostrils, he checked for her breath, it was barely there. He shouted to Ravi who was still busy convincing Vijay to swim. Seeing Salman holding a body, Ravi swam to his friend in haste and helped him to get her to the edge of the lake. Vijay panicked at the site which increased his heart rate. 

"What are you guys doing?" 

"Take her out" Ravi shouted after coming to the edge.

"No! you guys are creating a problem for us. Who is she?" he retorted.

"She is a girl in need of help!" Salman shouted "Now stop being a jerk and help us"

With shaky legs and trembling hands, Vijay took hold of the girl's hands and pulled her from the water and his friends followed suit.

"Is she dead ?" Ravi asked.

"Not yet, there is still pulse. We need to act fast, otherwise she will be" said Salman placing his hand on the girl's wrist.

"Ravi, start the jeep" he ordered untying her hands and legs. Vijay took all their items and hopped onto the jeep. Salman carried the girl in his arms and laid her on the back seat.

"Fast" he urged climbing beside her. Ravi pulled out the jeep with a jerk, leaving a huge cloud of smoke behind and started driving as fast as he could.

"I will inform my uncle" said Vijay dialing a number. "If there is any problem he will help us out."

The ringing from the cell phone brought Prakash back from his thinking. He was still worried about the girl who went missing without a trace three months ago. Her parents didn't have any doubt on anyone. There was no lover involved. Her friends seemed to be genuine. That case had left Prakash baffled. There was not even a single suspect; the kidnapper had left no clue behind. His heart went out for the parents who came daily asking whether something was found about their only daughter. And daily he had to send them away disappointed. There was never a case Prakash had not solved but this case seemed to have no end.

"Hey uncle, it's Vijay".

He then briefed Prakash about the girl and asked him to come to the hospital. Prakash was there before them making the doctors ready and completing the formalities. Every life was precious to him whether he knew them or not.

When they arrived,  Prakash exclaimed both in surprise and shock seeing the innocent face of the girl bruised severely as if she had been assaulted multiple times before she was left to die, "It's the same girl "

Prakash gestured the doctors to take her into the emergency and dialed a number

"We have found your daughter."

This story isn't about how she was destroyed. Its about how she built herself again.

A/N: Hey guys, please do vote and comment your thoughts on it so that I can get feedback.Thanks a ton already.