The House Fan Fiction Archive

Home

Quicksearch
Search Engine
Random Story

Upload Story
 

Crocodiles


by Govind




CROCODILES

A short story by Govind Nair.

DISCLAIMER: All the characters in the story are fictitious. All the main characters are named after characters of my favourite tv shows and films. For instance Stella the heroine of the story has been named after Stella Malone , a character played by British actress, Chelsea Staub in Disney channel comedy 'The Jonas Brothers' and Raj Koothrapally the story's hero is the named after Indian american actor Kunal Nayyar's character in NBC comedy series 'The Big Bang Theory'.

It was late in the night but Stella was not feeling sleepy. She just got engaged today and was feeling both excited and nervous. Lying in the bed she wondered at the manner in which her life had changed ,from being an orphan in St.Catherine orphanage to being the fiancee of Raj Koothrapally son of Anil Koothrapally, head of Goa Democratic Front(GDF) a prominent political party in the state and the chief minister. Raj also had recently joined politics and was currently the general secretary of the party.The next assembly election was soon to be held and he was being projected as the next CM candidate. Stella smiled to herself as she thought about Raj and remembered the first time they had met.

It was an early morning Stella was returning from work. She worked as a bartender in Elite Casino a well known after hrs. spot in southwest Panaji. It was dark and silence seemed to scream out loud in her ears. Anyone in her place would have been freaked out but not Stella. She was used to being alone. She did not know her parents as she was raised in an orphanage. She didnt many friends either and was not very close to the ones she had and she kind of liked it that way. She was walking slowly reminsicing her day when suddenly out of the darkness two figures lunged at her brandishing knives.She backed out and tried to run when another guy jumped out of the alleyway blocking her. She was trapped. One of them came forward caught her by her neck and whispered in her ear. "Honey , we dont wanna hurt u,so just give me your purse and quietly walk away. Normally her purse wud have nothing except her cell and few make up items but today was her payday so she had Rs.10,000 in crisp notes, het only source of sustenance since she had moved out of orphanage and was was living alone. Also she had to pay college fees next week.She wud struggle without the money for the rest of month but here her life was on line so she decided to hand the purse over and walk away. Just when she was contemplating her action two bikes came by. Seeing them she started to scream for help and the bikes stopped and turned around. The snatchers were probably first timers because just when they saw the bikes they forgot about the purse and ran away. Raj was one of the guys on the bike "Are u all right miss?"he asked. "Yeah"replied Stella as she struggled to come into terms with the events that happened over the past few moments. "Come , let me drop u home"Raj offered. Seeing her hesitate he further added "Dont be afraid miss . I m no goon. I m Raj Koothrapally . U must have seen me in t.v. and papers. It was then Stella actually noticed who her saviour was. "Sorry , I cudn't recognise u in the dim light." "No ,no need to apologise .Let me just drop you at your place." Feeling assured and worried should those snatchers decided to show up again she climbed behind him. "So where do u live" "Just a liittle away from here. Go staight and take the first right." After a five minute ride they were at Stella's place. "So u live alone "Raj enquired seeing take out keys from her purse. "Yeah" "Your parents" "I'm an orphan" "Oh sorry." "Yeah me too" "By the way what were u doing out so late in the night" "I was on my way back from work. I m a bartender at the Elite Casino" "Oh ok then.See u again . Good night" "Yeah gud nite and thanks for the lift" "No worries miss ahh.. sorry i didnt get your name " "Its Stella" "Bye stella . Take care."

Next day Raj dropped by at the casino.He was wearing a fake moustache , a cooling glass and a baseball cap. He walked up to the counter were Stella was serving. "Hi stella remember me from yesterday " Stella looked at the stranger . It took her a moment for her to recognise him. "Oh its you. Why r u wearing a fake moustache and being all secretive" "I m famous u know . If i was seen here by any of those freaking journos . I'll be labelled as drunkard and a gambler by media " "Oh. I didn't realize that. Anyway what'll you have" "A root beer float please" "Ok.One root beer float right up." "By the way when does your shift end today. I'll drop u home in case those freaks from yesterday decide to show up again." "No worries onthat count as today my shift ends at seven o'clock . Yesterday i was filling in for a coworker that's why i was late." "In that case after the shift ends lets go and grab a coffee" Stella intially refused but eventually gave away to Raj's repeated insistences. Also she felt some sort of strange connection to Raj. So the coffee dates became a regular affair and after dating for a year when Raj dropped the marriage proposal. She was a bit reluctant at first but after Raj assured her that difference in their societal status wud never never be an issue in their relationship she agreed. Today they decided to go and see the blessings of the two people they valued the most .For Raj it was his father and for Stella it was Sister Rose who ran St.Catherine's orphange where she grew up.They first met Anil Koothrapally who was getting ready to go to attend assembly session and could give them only 10 minutes . He said he was happy for them and gave them his blessings. Sister Rose on the other hand seemed a little unnerved by the fact that her Stella was an orphan her fiance,the son of the most powerful man in the state.Still she gave them her blessings and also accepted the task of arranging a priest who would conduct the ceremony . After a busy day Raj had dropped Stella home and was going to meet his friends when his cell rang . "Hello" "Hello Raj . This is Sister Rose from Stella's orphanage." "Sorry Sister Stella is not with me now .I just dropped her home." " I was sort of hoping he same . I actually wanted to talk to u alone. Can u come to my house now. Its right next to the orphanage. Raj was caught a bit offguard by the this strange request . What i the world wud the good sister wanted to tell Raj which she didn't want Stella to know. Anyway Raj decided to go to her house and find out. "I'll be there in 10 mins sister." "ok" Exactly ten minutes later when Raj reached Sister Rose's home he found her striding nervously in the courtyard. As soon as she saw him she usherd him inside. "Do u want tea,coffee anything " "No thanks sister.What did you wan't to talk to me about . Is isn't something about Stella" "Yes" "What is it" "Ok. here's the thing.. Do u know Stella is older than u ?" "Oh , thats what you wanted to talk about "said Raj sounding relieved "Yeah its only a couple of yrs. So its no big deal." "No,no thats not the issue.Years ago your father was in college he fell in love with a young lady called Tracy, daughter of a the Jacob who ran a small store in the same street where your family bungalow is situated. When Tracy was in her teens Jacob met with an accident and was paralysed neck down and Tracy took over the responsibility of the shop . Your father used to visit the shop frequently and he and Tracy fell i love and secretly got married without the knowledge of either of the parents. Out of this marriage, Stella was born,"Sister Rose cud seet'he looks of horror in Raj's face as he tried to absorb the information but continued her tale"Your grandpa, Benjamin Koothrapally a famous liquor baron in the state had just launched GDF and wanted his son to marry the daughter of Mr. Anand Kumar a top political leader of the state and the cofounders and the president of GDF .So he planned to get rid of Tracy and her child.He sent your father to US on some pretext and took Tracy to the crocodile farm he owned and fed her to the crocodiles. He couldn't kill Stella as she was just an infant and handed him to his driver Jose and asked her to leave her at an orphanage . Jose who happened to be a distant relative of mine so he bought her to St.Catherines and that's how she ended up here. The Sister then took her purse and from it produce a faded black and white photo. "This is the proof to my claims. Jose got this photo and asked me to give to Stella when she grow old enough but I couldn't do that. I was afraid that if Stella knew about her father and came to your father claiming to be his daughter she would meet the same fate as her mother. " Raj took the photo , his hands shaking . It had his father with a beautiful young girl whose face bore a marked resemblence with Stella . "How did dad react to Tracy's death and Stella's disappearance ?"asked Raj handing back the photo to the nun. "His reaction was the reason why i never told Stella the truth. Jose told me that your father was never told that Tracy was killed.Instead he was was made to understand that Tracy and Stella were sent away to some other state and it was in everyone's interest. Your father was a consummate politician and understood that marrying your mother, daughter of a one of the big politicians of the state will help him achive his political ambitions and he wasn't ready to sacrifice that for anything. Look Raj i know it is difficult for u to understand let alone accept all this and i would have never told you this but i had to as u and Stella were about to get married and you know i couldn't allow that knowing that......" "my half sister" said Raj finishing the sentence for the nun. "Ah yes" "So what do i do know ? I tell her that the wedding's off because the we are siblings" "No never tell that to her . Stella came to many times as all orphans do asking about her parents but i never told her the truth as i feared the repurcussions if she comes to know tht truth. So for Heaven's sake find some other way " "Ok let me think about about some way.Now may I take your leave." "Ok then" As she watched Raj leave Sister Rose questioned herself whether she had done the right thing by telling Raj the truth. After all he had a lot at stake and she had witnessed earlier the extent to which politicians can go to protect their interest. All she could hope for that Raj would be better man than his father and grandfather. Meanwhile Raj was having conflicts of his own. How's he gonna call of the wedding? He had to find an excuse that would satisfy no only Stella and her father but also the local media. It was just a matter of time before some pesky journalist got a whiff of the forthcoming marriage of the crown prince of Goa. If he told Stellla the truth he feared how she would react. If she decided to go public with the information just few months before the election it could virtually destroy the party. Also he couldn't marry her knowing that she was his sister. Also he couldn't any reason to call it off either. So there was only one way left, even thinking about it made him shudder,he had to get rid of her. But how'll he do that without anyone getting to know about it. He suddenly knew it. Crocodiles ,they would make her go away without leaving any evidence. It took him a couple of weeks for him to get a plan in place. It was all the more difficult as had to work alone. Also now ,as he feared media had finally got the news of the engagement. and local dailies and channels carried news items on Stella portraying her as some sort of modern day cindrella . Anyway finally he was ready to carry out the deed. It made him nervous having to kill somebody but he had no other option. There was a lot at stake and it was his responsibility to ensure tha both the dignity of his father and the foundations of GDF remain intact. Coincidentally the next day was Stella's Birthday. They had already planned to celebrate it at their farmhouse. He just had to make a few changes in it. Finally he got everything ready. He had met with the guy who supplied medicines to their crocodile farm and arranged morphine. The idea was to drug Stella in her sleep and throw her to the crocs. Same way his grandfather and father used to get rid of anyway who seemed like a threat to their position of power. A missing person report would be filed,media would go overboard formulating wild and even bizzare theories about the mysterious dissappearances until eventually everyone got bored and forgot about it while the missing persons rested in peace in crocodiles bellies. So the plan was finally in place and ready for execution. Stella came to the farmhouse at around 9 o'clock at nite and was to stay overnight . Raj had planned to go on with the celebrating the birthday and the inject the morphine while she slept. That way she would be unconcious and thus would have a painless exit from the world. They decided to watch a film to pass time till 12 o'clock. While the film was on Stella said she was feeling sleepy and said she was going to make coffee. Ten minutes later she later came with two coffee mugs.As Raj was having the coffee he felt his head spin and it seemed to him as if he was loing his conciousness . After what seemed like a long time he woke up and found himself in the centre of a huge hall , his hands and legs bound. The hall didn't have any floor. Instead it had five feet wide platform running along the circumference of the hall. In one of the ends a ramp was built connecting the platform to the centre of the hall where a circular platform was built were Raj lay. This circular platform could be lowered on the pull of a lever to the bottom of the hall which looked like some kind of indoor pond but was the connecting point between the farmhouse and the adjoining crocodile farm. As the effects of the drug began to wear off Raj realised that he was in the crocodile chamber where his grandfather and father had punished innumerable political opponents. This was the place were stella's mom had met her end. And it was the same place where he had planned to make Stella meet her maker.But instead how did he end up here?. Just then Stella's voice came interrupting his thoughts "Hello Little brother" He was shocked to hear address him like that "Stella , u knew? "he muttered his drug affected voice still managing to find its way to Stella due to the sound magnifying effect of the hall . "Yeah , I know" " So sister Rose told u. she told me that she didn't" "Oh no Sister never told me despite my repeated requests. It was Jose who told me. He was a family. friend . He rescued me from the clutches of your grandfather and bought me to Sister Rose. I used to ask Sister about my parents but she always maintained she didn't know them. But Jose's wife used to work at our orphanage and once she heard a conversation between me and Sister and took pity on me.Once when Sister was out of town she took me to meet her husband and told me the truth aboutf my parents. From that day I was thinking about the ways to avenge my mum's death. "But dad didn't know that your mom was killed" "Maybe it is true but it doesn't take away the fact he didn't try to find us when your grandfather told he was missing" Raj didn't have an answer to that ,so he kept quiet while Stella continued her monologue "So since when i met you. I started to put a plan in place to get rid off you. This birthday was also an excuse to gain access to this farmhouse so i could eliminate you in the same way in your grandfather eliminated my mother. It was then Raj realised he was in deep trouble. He tried to struggle free but his hands and feet where tightly bound. There was no escape. "Adios brother. Believe me I would have mourned your death if i hadn't found out that you had similar plan for me ."said Stella taking out the syringe filled with morphine from her pocket and waving it a hif face. At the same time she pulled the lever and the platform where Raj lay started to lower itself till it reached the water level. The last thing he saw was a great jaw full of sharp, shiny teeth closing in on him. Now the mysterious disappearance of one of the important faces in Goan politics caused a huge uproar. As expected the print and electronic media went overboard with their conspiracy theories some even getting it right to the extent of linking this disappearance to the earlier ones. Stella played the role of distraught fiancee in front of the media and the cops very well . Anil Koothrapally , Raj's father and the state CM was shocked at his son's disappearance and went into mourning. Later on another news came which sent shockwaves throughout the state ,the passing away of the CM as a result of a massive heart attack. The party president and the late Cm's Father in Law Mr.Anand Kumar took over as the interim CM. One morning when Stella was sitting in her front porch ,reading the newspaper wondering about the chain of events which she had set off she received a call from Jose. "Can u come to meet Mr.Kumar now . A driver will come to your place in an hour to pick you . " "Has he found anything about Raj."she asked sounding nervous. "No dear its nothing like that. Just come and Mr.Kumar will explain everything to you." Despite the reasssurance from Jose Stella felt nervous but assured herself by saying that as it was Jose who had actually helped her to execute her plan to kill Raj he won't betray her. Also the most powerful man of the state had commanded her presence and she couldn't just ignore it. The driver arrived in time and within half an hour of his arrival Stella found herself standing in front of Goa's CM. "Hello Stella, please take a seat"said Mr.Kumar smiling and pointing to a chair placed right in front of him. "Thanks"replied Stella taking the seat her voice betraying a hint of nervousness she felt . Jose was also sitting in a chair on one sid of Mr.Kumar and having a familiar face around was of little assurance. "So Stella i know all about you including your little incident with my grandson Raj." Stella gasped . She couldn't tell what shocked her more the fact that Mr.Kumar knew that she killed his grandson or that he refered it as 'a little incident' "Don't worry dear i do not hold the fact that u killed Raj against you in any way.Anyone in your place would have done the same." "What?" said Stella her shock turning into surprise. "Look dear, Jose helped you to plan the Raj's murder.He did so in my instructions.All this events which are happening now are a part of a plan ,my plan in which you were also involved albeit without your knowledge for which i truly apologise . I didn't know how would you react if i told you everything from the start . So i decided not to risk it and wait until the time is right. Now is the right time, I'll tell you everything from the start. Raj's grandfather Benjamin Koothrapally and me were the co founders of GDF. He was a ruthless man but an excellent leader . Except the first election since our inception we won every other election we faced and have been ruling the state for ladt 25 years, a terrific achievement by any standards. The reason behind our victories have always been good and corruption free governace and of course owning some stake in almost every media house and the largest crocodile farm in the state also helped.Also the fact that Goa simply adored him." "Thats because the public didn't know that he was in fact a ruthless murderer who was behind the death of many people including my mother."said Stella , her tone accusatory. "No they didn't" said Mr. Kumar but didn't add anything to it. "Where were you when my mom was killed." "I don't know exactly when your mom was killed. Its true me and Benjamin were close friends but this whole incident was kept a secret from me. Anil feared that if i came to know about the incident i would not only back away from the alliance between his son and my daughter but also leave his fledgling political party. It was only 10 years ago after death of GJose told me the entire story. As you know Jose was the one who rescued you and had you sent to St.Catherine's. After Benjamin died , his son retired Jose and got himself a new driver. It was then Jose came to work for me. Benjamin and I have a habit of drinking which no one knew and it was Jose who used arrange liquor and sometimes even join us in our sessions. This continued even after Benjamin's death and it was in one such session Jose told me you story. Intially i found it hard to believe but i did some background check of my own and found out it was true. I was shocked but decided to keep it to myself and never use it. But after a couple of years after Benjamin's death things started to change for worse. Benjamin's son Anil took over as the CM of the state. Anil unlike his father was corrupt and a weak leader and as a result massive scams started to break out. For the first time since we started our political journey the credibilty of our party was being questioned. First 5 yrs. we tried to keep things under wraps using all our strength and clout but in the past few years things reall started to go out of control. Things reached its breaking point when a couple of month's ago a newspaper came out with a revelation that a government contract worth millions was awarded to a company owned by Anil's cousin at a much higher price than it was quoted by some other companies who bid for the tender. The central govt. had ordered an anti corruption bureau investigation to the involvement of the CM's office in this case. This was when i realised things have gone totally out of control and something had to be done to save the party. Our 25 year reign in the state cannot simply come to a end. When you have been in politics as long as i have you will realise that in this field power is the only thing that matters. Nothing and no one else matters here. So i came up with a plan and collected all the details about you and came to know that you were waiting for an opportunity to avenge you mum's death. So idecide to help you with your endeavor and set up a meeting between you and Raj. I know Raj loved playing hero and also that he used to race bikes during early mornings and also he used to take the same route u take while going home from work. So all i had t do was to alter your shift for a day and send some of my boys to "rob" you so Raj got a chance to rescue you. After that rest of the things i left to Raj's weakness for beautiful girls , your hunger for revenge along with occassional triggers from Jose so that things remained under control . It was I who suggestedthe plan to get rid of Raj. It was one of my boys who arranged who arranged drugs which Jose gave to you mix in Raj's coffee. It was i who ensured that investigation of Raj's disappearance was closed before it reached anywhere near you and Anil Koothrapally didn't die of a heart failure he was killed in his sleep using diemethalphine an illegal drug use to induce heart attacks." Stella let out a gasp as she tried to get a grip of the enormity of the information the old man sitting in front of her was telling . It dawned upon her thatMr.Anand Kumar not only the one of the most respected leaders in the state but commanded huge respect even at the national level was actually a ruthless man who had scant respect of human life and relations. " I understand why you killed Raj's father but why help me kill Raj?" "Raj was of the same mould as his father. He had friendship with many industriallists and used his position as general secretary of the ruling party to dole out many undue benefits to them. It has only been a coupl e of years since he joined the party but he already had amassed millions. It was only apparent that he would only continue his father's legacy . So we had to take him out of the picture too. An unfortunate but neccessary act." "I got one more question. why tell me all this?" "Now that's an excellent question. The reason i told you all this is because the next state elections are going to be held in 2 months and i want you to be the next CM. Jose told me you are currently pursuing Masters iin political science and also that you wanted to join politics." " Yeah i wanted to do it so that i get a platform to voice my opposition against all those people who were responsible for thee death of my mother." "Well i helped to you avenge your mother.Now its your turn to help me ressurect my party. Look you are the fiancee of the missing heir of GDF. The disappearance of Raj and death of his father has already attracted the sympathy of the voters, You a woman, a bereaved fiancee,leading tthe party can help us cash on it and the scam stories will be forgotton and we can start again from the scratch." "But to become the chief minister i have to be a MLA first and for that i need a constituency from where my victory is assured." "Yeah we had cosidered that matter too. You being a first timer there is always a possibility that an experienced opponent could defeat you. So in order to avoid that we did some research and found out St.Aden the smallest constituency in the state with only 8 voters. And we have ensured that all of them vote for GDF. You'll be our candidate frm St,Aden. I hope this clears all your doubts.. "Yes" "Ok. So you can go home now. Take rest.Tommorow we file the nomination papers and within a week our election campaign begins. You have to deliver speeches. So day after tommorrow we meet up with our campaign directors and discuss the strategy. Jose has shown me the videos of your debates and speeches in college and i must admit that you are a very good orator." "Thanks"said Stella managing a weak smile as she got up to leave. After Stella was gone Mr.Kumar thanked Jose for giving him the perfect puppet who'll enable him to excercise absolute control over the party he cofoundedfor the first time. "U know Jose having Stella as a the face of the party will serve dual purpose. One get the attention of the voters away from the corruption cases and also prevent Stella from exposing the truth about her parents to public as she is now herself is the custodian of the organisation whose image will be affected by her revelations. Thus we have effectively bought her silence. With your help i studied Stella quiet a bit during last few months and i came to understand that like her grandfather whom she so much despises power is her biggest weakness." FOUR MONTHS LATER...... Stella was sitting in her bedroom of her new house, Goa CM's official residence reading the day's newspaper. She was just back from the day's work and was waiting for dinner to be served, when her secretary Sarah came running. She was out of breath and her face looked as if she was about to cry. "What's wrong Sarah?" "I have some bad news Ma'm. There's been an accident." With those words Sarah took the remote control lying in the table beside her and switched on the t.v. and selected a news channel.There were airing a breaking news. Mr.Anand Kumar , president of the ruling party of the state the Goa Democractic Front has met with a severe accident when the car in which he was travelling collided with a trailer. Mr. Kumar and his driver were taken to a nearby hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival. "I'm so sorry Ma'm but i think we have to go to the hospital . Also reporters are waiting outside waiting for the your reaction." "Yes , yes Sarah just go down and send the reporters away . Tell them that there won't be any press conferences until i have visited the hospital.And give me some time to organise my thoughts. I'll be right down." "OK ma'm" After Sarah had gone Stella closed the door of her room, opened the locker and took out a simcard replaced the sim in her cell with it and dialled a private number. After two rings a gruff voice answered,"I was waiting for your call madam.Hope you heard the news " "Yes . I saw it on tv. Good job." "Ok . What about the remuneration ?" "It will be wired to your account at the Cayman Islands within 48 hrs." " All right then . It was a pleasure dealing with you."and then the line went dead. Stella then took out the sim , broke it into half threw it in the toilet and flushed it. As she was getting ready to go to the hospital the tv was still running and news channel was now showing the various videos of Mr. Kumar and she remembered his words she heard over the microphone which she had discreetly placed under her chair when she had went to visit Mr. Kumar the first time."I'm nobody's puppet old man"she said loudly to the picture of Mr.Kumar that was being shown on tv "If you try to pupteer me . You die"

THE END

  Please post a comment on this story.


Legal Disclaimer: The authors published here make no claims on the ownership of Dr. Gregory House and the other fictional residents of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Like the television show House (and quite possibly Dr. Wilson's pocket protector), they are the property of NBC/Universal, David Shore and undoubtedly other individuals of whom I am only peripherally aware. The fan fiction authors published here receive no monetary benefit from their work and intend no copyright infringement nor slight to the actual owners. We love the characters and we love the show, otherwise we wouldn't be here.