Dusk was approaching soon as the daylight slowly faded. Pandian was exhausted but happy to be returning to the brothel. Everything at Kasipuram was quiet and peaceful.

The main door led to a small hall which housed a three-piece sofa set. One of the seats was occupied by the Madame of the brothel, Madame Roja. She was beyond her working years. Her cheeks were full of wrinkles and sagged while having gained considerable amount of weight in the last few years. Yet she never hesitated to dress up every night like she was ready to welcome a customer to a room.

Pandian walked in to see Madame tinkering with a necklace from one of the girls. She glanced at her guest without lifting her head before returning to the necklace. Pandian, meanwhile, flopped on to the seat across the glass tea table from her.

‘What Pandian? Working a lot nowadays?’ she asked him.

‘Had to deal with a psycho. Cutup one of our girls and left her to die.’

‘Nirmala?’ she inquired.

‘No. You don’t know her.’

‘Good. I would hate to lose out on one of my girls… speaking of which, you promised to bring me back that girl. I hope you haven’t forgotten.’ Her eyes gazed at him coldly.

‘If you have any problems, deal with Mallesh. He was responsible for your loss.’

‘I don’t care Pandian. I paid a nice fee for her and I ain’t getting that money back.’

‘She is good as gone. In the past month she has travelled far beyond to just put her in the back of a car and come. We told you to cut your losses from our pay anyways,’ Pandian said.

‘Sounds like you are afraid of this girl.’

‘I am and you should be too,’ he said. ‘Don’t be deceived by her small size. Steel windows aren’t the only thing she has broken.’

‘What are you trying to say?’ she asked. there was a quiver in her voice.

‘Let’s just say, the more I learnt about her, the more reason I found to not mess with her. I don’t know where she is, but I hope she stays far away from me.’

Kasipuram is a small town. Standing a top its many three-story tall buildings, you could see the edges of the town with your naked eye. Yet, this small town houses a base of operations for one of the more infamous syndicates in the country, Irumani. At the east edge of the town is a railway station where no passenger train runs through. However, the passengers that do come here, arrive on cargo trains and most often than not, they are the cargo. Surrounding it is a neighbourhood of cut throats and sex workers working for brothels owned by the syndicate.

At the end of the platform stood a large building resembling a warehouse. It was nearly two-stories tall and about half the size of a football field. The inside was segmented into small sections, separated by large empty cartons. Each of these sections housed goods of various kind. The one that sat closest to the entrance had about fifteen women sitting inside. Many of them looked young but all were there for the same reason.

‘Where are they taking us?’ asked the youngest woman of the lot.

‘Don’t know,’ said the woman sitting next to her. ‘They have brothels all over the country.’

Another woman looked at the young one and said, ‘you look new. How long have you been here?’

The woman looked down and said, ‘I don’t know.’

The other smiled and said, ‘right. You lose track of time in there. Eventually you will get used to it.’

Tears formed around the young one’s eyes, but she held back for she knew they meant nothing.

Outside, men walked in and out of the warehouse as they prepared for the train to arrive. It was last one for the day and it was already loaded with tons of cargo to shift. They cleared out much of the sections, except for a few. One of the men walked to where the ladies were. They all looked at him with fearful eyes. He stood at the entrance and quietly took a count and left.

The older lady saw the drops of tears fall on the dusty floor and said, ‘wipe them away or they will beat us.’

The young one did so before sniffling, trying to contain her sadness.

‘Where are you from?’ asked the older one.

‘Turpu Loya,’ she said.

‘A village girl? No wonder you look so pretty,’ commented the elder one with a smile.

‘Stop it!’ said another seething through her teeth.

‘Get used to it girl, after a year, you wouldn’t even want to show your face back at home,’ said the elder.

A top of the building behind the warehouse stood a woman, watching a brown rusty train rolling into the station before coming to a stop. No one in the town knew she was there, watching over their every move. But every one of them would recognise her by the white mask covering her face. She was clad in a matte white suit, with black accents running all over her suit.

Arora, the lady in white, was very patient till now. She had to make sure the memory of Monica and her antics were forgotten by the people, yet she couldn’t contain herself for too long. The longer she waited, the more people she would have left in the hands of fate.

She jotted across the terrace before leaping off the edge. She spun around like a top before dropping down through the skylight of the warehouse below. The glass of the skylight shattered in one blow, showering the floor beneath with sparkling glass pieces as Arora landed in middle of a large empty land with a dull thud.

All the people in the warehouse stopped mid motion as they watched a woman standing up after having fallen nearly thirty feet from the air. They all knew who she was, they all recognized her mask, and they all knew all hell was going to break loose.

‘Oh shit!’ exclaimed one of the men. He didn’t a move muscle, unable to tell if she was real or a fake, but the thirty-foot jump should have been a dead giveaway.

Arora looked around to see a brave few men surround her. Each one held a blunt weapon in their hands. ‘Gutsy,’ she thought to herself as one of them ran towards her swinging a metal rod with full force. She stopped it with her barehand, leaving him speech less. Seizing an opportunity, the other three pounced on her. One with a bat, went for the head, the other tried to pierce her suit with a knife, and the last one went directly for the face. She twisted the rod down and pulled its owner towards her, throwing him in the way of the others. Two were thrown back by the body while other jumped away in the nick of time. He tightened his grip on his knife and charged at her but was dealt with a swift front kick to his chest.

‘Shoot her down, damnit!’ shouted one of the men at the entrance.

The sound of loud firearms echoed through the large empty warehouse. They sent a chill down the spines of the women hiding in the corner. They were shielded from the section by a wall of wooden carton which was immediately punched through by a man flying through it. He landed on the other side, in another stack of boxes, where he laid motionless. The women looked through the hole to see the silhouette of a woman taking down full-grown men. The young one’s eyes glowed bright at the sight of the lady in white.

Shockwaves of Arora’s actions could be felt through the entire town. Men began to flee from the platform as they watched her exit the warehouse without a scratch. Six men entered the building with fully loaded firearms, not one managed to hit her let alone leave a mark.

‘Warn the others! Warn the others!’ shouted one of them as a group of them tried to enter a car parked just outside the platform.

Arora began to fight her way through the dozen or so men lining the platform next to the train. They were armed with anything they could get their hands on, but some had pistols aimed at her head. She punched down the men that came at her swinging a weapon, while throwing the same blunt weapons back at the men with firearms.

The car began to move in reverse when the driver heard a dull thud. He looked up at the roof when suddenly an arm punched through the windshield and grabbed the steering wheel. In a blind panic, the driver slammed the throttle pulling the car in reverse at full speed. The passengers began to scream in fear as they tried to jump out. Arora turned the wheel of the car, sending it straight into the front porch of a nearby building.

‘What the hell is happening out there?’ Madame asked.

Suddenly one of her men bursted through the door and stopped in the hall, panting. ‘She is here.’

‘Who the hell is she?’ she asked.

‘The lady in white!’ he replied.

‘Are you drunk?’ she said angrily.

Pandian said nothing. He instead ran out of the brothel leaving Madame confused. ‘Pandian! Where are you going?!’

Outside he saw the people running away from the station and without a second thought he did the same. Just as he pulled out his phone, it began to ring.

‘Where are you?’ he shouted at the person at the other end.

‘Come to the main road,’ said the caller.

He ran like his life depended on it. Just as he was about to reach the road, the rusty car rode in and stopped before him. He quickly hoped in when someone screamed, ‘wait! I am almost there!’ It was Gana.

Several others tried to force their way in but were easily thrown out. Gana jumped into the backseat as Nayar hit the throttle. The crowd in front of them were forced to part way as Nayar made no attempt to slow down. In under thirty seconds they were out of the town.

‘Where are we going?’ Gana asked as he picked himself up.

‘Nayar, drive to Sethu’s house,’ Pandian ordered.

‘To him? He is going to kill us if he knew that we ran from here,’ Nayar replied.

‘Not if he knows that we know who she is,’ Pandian argued.

‘That again?’

‘Trust me. I am right. You will see,’ Pandian replied.

Madame Roja was left stumped. In two short minutes, all her men had fled, leaving her alone with the girls, most of whom had locked themselves in their room. She walked up and down the corridors shouting out names of her men, but none responded. She began to curse vehemently as she walked back to the hall where she saw a figure at the door that made her heart stop. Her eyes widened in horror as Arora walked in and up to her.

‘Please don’t hurt me. I just take care of these girls. I don’t do business with these people,’ she said pleading.

Arora rolled her eyes and replied, ’really?’

Roja smiled awkwardly as Arora delivered a tight slap across her face. She screamed out loud as she fell onto the floor before losing consciousness.

Arora continued through the corridor, which was empty throughout. She walked up the stairs and onto the first floor, whose hallways had left a deep scar in her mind. She took a right and another left to reach a long hallway that was filled with the girls from the brothel. She saw their eyes filled with fear, looking at her as though she was their bad guy. They were all thin and crunched over with saggy eyes. Arora’s heart raced looking at their sorry state, but she maintained an expressionless face.

‘What are doing here?’ one of them asked.

‘What do you think?’ Arora retorted.

‘Think you are here to save us?’ she asked.

‘Not like you are hoping for,’ Arora replied as she shook her head.

‘So, it is just about beating them up, isn’t it? To stroke your own ego.’

‘I am not a politician or a policewoman or even a lawyer. I don’t have the power to make your problems go away. But I can just do one thing, create a door for you.’

‘A door? For what?’

‘To save yourself.’

‘That is not enough!’ shouted one of them.

‘I cannot make false promises anymore. Look at what that has gotten us. These hands can’t save everyone, but it will certainly help those who are willing to try.’

The girls fell quiet. They looked at Arora with misty eyes, but they also knew she couldn’t save them all.

The loud blaring of the train engine cut through the air. Arora looked past the girls and through the window at the end of the hallway, to the brown behemoth jerking forward.

‘Dammit! They just won’t give up!’ Arora cursed.

The girls parted, giving a clear path for Arora to walk through. She looked at them with hopeful eyes one last time before dashing towards the window at full speed.

The steel caged window snapped like a twig as Arora kicked her way out of the brothel.

‘She is coming!’ one of them screamed.

‘Get the damn thing moving!’ screamed another.

Streaks of blue lights formed along the streets of the town as an unstoppable force sped through towards the train. The engine exited the station, slowly but steadily picking up speed, pulling the tons of trailers behind it with great effort. The conductor did his best to push the engine but even it had its limit. He felt the train shake as it began to move forward.

He felt a great sense of relief. ‘It is moving! She will have to bring down the whole train to stop it now,’ he told himself.

A loud clank, like the snapping of metal, shook the compartment. Suddenly the engine began to pick up speed, it was accelerating abnormally fast. He looked at the gauges confused and heard men shouting outside but couldn’t make any sense of it. But it didn’t take long for him to realize what had happened. He popped his head out to see the trail of compartment still at the station, while the engine continued towards its destination all alone.

Arora walked along the platform, looking calm as the sea, as the remaining men fled the scene. Loud siren filled the air of the town which put a big smile on her face.

***

His mother had warned him not to go anywhere near the station, so instead he decided to climb to the terrace of his building. He felt a great deal of excitement but also was very anxious. He wasn’t sure what to expect next. But he knew, if what he heard was right, times were going to change fast.

The door to the terrace was bolt shut. He stopped himself as he held onto the bolt and took in a deep breath. Pulling the bolt, he pushed the door open and bursted out, only to see a woman clad in a white suit standing on the parapet. She stood stiff with her arms folded up, looking at the chaos at the train station. Manoj approached behind her very carefully.

‘You work for them?’ Arora asked.

‘No… my mother did. Once upon a time,’ he replied.

‘I am sorry,’ Arora responded. She turned back to see a young boy, about as young as Mallesh was. He was thin and wear with shabby hair and equally shabby clothes. ‘Know your father?’

He shook his head.

‘Do you think what I did there today made any difference?’ Arora asked.

‘What did you do?’ he asked back.

Arora smiled softly and said, ‘wrecked as much of their property as I could. Let the police do the rest.’

‘Then probably not.’

‘Really?’ Arora asked, her smile had vanished.

‘No matter how many times the police came, nothing changed,’ he said.

Monica remained silent.

‘But… maybe things will change if you are around,’ he added.

‘How so?’

‘They say the others will think twice if they want to do anything when you are around. I too believe that’ he said.

‘That is a good place to start,’ Arora replied. ‘Take care.’

She leapt off the building and vanished into thin air, leaving Manoj behind. He looked down at the police escorting people into the cars, most of whom were women. He wondered how many were really being saved before deciding that even if it was one, it might have been worth it.

***

Sandhanam had been travelling for close to two hours and the travel had been slowly withering away at his patience. He was an old man who was close to his eighties and the age has done a good number on his body. Despite that, he looked and acts like a man twenty years younger than him. He stood a towering six feet four inches tall with a well-built body. He had dark brown skin accompanied by grey hair. His square face has a scar running down his left cheek, that appeared to have faded into his skin, leaving a dark patch in its place. His eyes had a tinge of yellow, a reminder of his youthful days when he used to be a heavy drinker. Over time this attitude had changed. Now he runs a country wide business that has him meeting people from all walks of life. No matter who he meets, he maintains an air of fear and intimidation, making sure he always had the upper hand in his conversation. He was always seen sporting a very traditional outfit comprising mainly of a checker shirt and a veshti (Indian Sarong). A well-maintained hair and beard made sure he never looked too unruly to those who lived their lives in the concrete jungles surrounded by suits and dresses.

He finally arrived at the small town of Tharakati, home to a notorious gangster by the name Sethu, who just happens to be a very important associate in his business. His vintage sedan drove past several acres of paddy field before coming stop at a small farmhouse in the outskirts of the city. Two men quickly exited the building, arriving before Sandhanam to offer his assistance. Sandhanam simply waved them away and proceeded to walk into the house where he was greeted by three other men, seated in a dimly lit hall.

‘Made me drive for two hours, you better have something useful for me,’ he said as he sat down on a settee reserved just for him.

Along with Sethu were two other men, both of equal importance to the business as Sethu himself. One was Ponram, who ran businesses up north. He was rarely seen in the south of the country, but everyone knew to stay out of his sight if they want to keep their heads. The other was Rasu, the more modernist of the four men. He had an education that others didn’t but knows well not to show it off to them even as a joke.

‘The lady is back and has targeted one of our brothels as her first place of business,’ Rasu said.

‘You called me all the way here to tell that?’ Sandhanam asked, his face was expressionless which made Rasu twitch a little.

‘You seem rather relaxed even after knowing one of the places has been captured by the police,’ Ponram commented.

‘He isn’t relaxed. Quite the opposite actually, but let’s not waste time on chatter. The lady in white is back and she seems to be targeting Irumani for some reason,’ Sethu stated.

‘She just hit one of our places and you already assuming she is declaring war on us?’ Rasu asked.

‘This is not the first time. We have had a cockroach running around for quite some time,’ Sandhanam said.

‘What do you mean?’ Rasu asked.

‘A girl, not much else is known about her but she has been a pain in our ass for quite some time now. She has been popping up and wreaking havoc in several places,’ Sethu explained.

Rasu looked in complete shock, ‘how does nobody else know about this?’

‘It is because we do not know for sure. It is just a theory of boss and me,’ Sethu said.

‘Care to elaborate?’ Rasu asked.

‘You know what happened to Vettu, right? One day he is going about his business and the next, he finds himself in jail for killing a priest. When asked about it, he says nothing. Pretends he doesn’t know anything. His gang had fled, fearing the police and us. But we got our hands on one of them. They talked about a third person involved with whatever happened between him and the priest. All they remember of this third person was that they were a girl, a short one at that. Nala was masquerading as a shopkeeper where he almost got busted by a customer who came to buy cigarette. They beat the customer black and blue but were stopped by a person. While the customer didn’t say a thing to the police, Nala and his gang were attacked and captured a few days later. The customer described the person as a short girl,’ Sethu explained.

‘And then there is Chandra. The tsunami might have exposed our scam, but it was a stranger who captured Chandra and handed him over to the police. Chandra doesn’t have many details other than a five-foot-tall person with what he called a female voice,’ Sandhanam added.

‘And now the lady in white busted our ring in Kasipuram. Strange coincidence if you ask me,’ Sethu said.

Rasu and Ponram looked at each other dumbfounded. They had a strange smile on their face, unsure if they were scared or excited by these revelations.

‘Do we know who this girl is?’ Rasu asked.

‘No. Nobody can describe her face, not even Vettu or Nala’s men,’ Sethu said.

‘I am sure they can recognize her if they see her,’ Ponram said.

‘For that we need to catch her first,’ Rasu argued. ‘What about our friend in the police?’

‘He said he has someone investigating. Rumour has it, he is close to finding out,’ Sandhanam replied.

Rasu’s face lit up on hearing the news, ‘that is great news!’

‘Still. Can’t rely on these police dogs. Sometimes their conscious can be a hinderance. Whatever it maybe, we now need to start moving things quickly or else this white cockroach can burn our empire down,’ Sandhanam stated.