Bulbu

Present

His hips were moving in motion with hers, it was a dance, tension filled. She slowly held his arms as he guided her with his motion. It was 11.30 and the whole city was going to sleep, but not these two. Breathing a sigh of breath, he went and sat down on the nearby chair, he let her go as she settled into a comfortable position of her own. He lit his cigar and relaxed his arms taking in the dark humid night from his roof less terrace.

She called him to come back and he did with a smile. Holding her from the back he pulled her arms and uttered something in her ears, only the dark skies and the warm air would know.

Tearing the warm air, an Arrow pierced its targets with precision. The archer didn’t even try to move. He was standing there in the same position, feeling proud at how the arrow went through both the targets, its tip now dripping red.

He slowly let his compound bow down to the floor. It hit with a “thud”.

Earlier that day

El was furious. El had stomped out of the meeting hall after threatening to kill Yu if he didn’t sign the merger as agreed before. In a battle of the wits Yu managed to outwit El in a deal by simply changing a clause which might lead to a major loss for El’s firm. Graduating out of the same university, they met a few years after their graduation in a business meeting. Yu fell in love with El’s sexy secretary, Bea. But Bea had been rejecting El’s offers for a date. Long story short, Bea and Yu are now engaged and El is enraged.

Added to his anger for their relationship he was humiliated when Yu pointed out the clause which ruled out the shares in the favour of his firm.

Off late, El was seen in his archery ranch practicing his shots with visible anger. And that argument in the meeting had sparked off his rage and he stormed off threatening to kill Yu.

Present

He revelled at how his aim did not miss the target. He suddenly sat down in the pranayama pose and began to meditate. From nowhere, a projectile hit his head. He slumped to the floor.

20 floors above and 2 blocks away, two bodies were dancing in the midnight sky. Yu was holding her from behind, putting her in posture. She was holding the slender hard thing in her hand. A slight jerk and Yu jumped.

“Hold the putt properly Bea”

“What a weird game golf is!” Bea exclaimed as she let guide Yu guide her in swinging the golf putt. She swung it, her shot was powerful enough to launch the ball to the moon, but she almost let the golf putt slip away.

Next Day Morning

“Fuck off Bea, I’ll sue you both for this”, Yu banged on his hands on the table and motioned Bea to get away from his room.

He had caught her trying to steal some files from his cabinet.

Yu’s phone rang and his face was a mix of emotions. “El is dead”, he said to Bea, coldly.

Later that day

Though Yu’s plan didn’t go as he had planned, he was happy that El was gone for good. The sip of whiskey he took a slightly stung his chest, ignoring it he swung his putt. An explosion was heard. The explosion maimed Yu and he fell to the floor.

Hearing the blast, the killer hid himself and made sure that his gun’s safety was on. He did not want it to misfire like last time. He saw a disfigured Yu and breathed a sigh of relief, though both his plans had flopped, they both are dead now.

He called Bea to inform his success.

10 kilometres away Bea’s phone was ringing and she was convulsing and crawling on the floor towards the phone, but in vain. A diabetes injection lay there on the table.

CSI statements

Bea’s death

Though it might seem like Bea died from poison in her diabetes medicine, she didn’t actually die of poisoning. In anxiousness and urgency of taking her injection, she injected a rather large bubble into her system and it caused air embolism which gave her a heart attack.

El’s death It is weird how El died, His arrows were laced with poison and if not for his gloves he would have been dead long before the golf ball hit him. He was poisoned anyway.

His shoes had been primed to inject a poison into his feet.

But that’s not it. The golf ball is a modified grenade that didn’t go off like it was supposed to. One interesting factor is that this golf ball was dented hard, though golf balls are not dented buy putts, considering the situation I would say the person has a great swing.

The surprising thing is the golf ball didn’t kill him. He had a heart attack. Medical records state that it was his 3rd attack.

Yu’s Death

Yet another case where the victim was poisoned. Though unsure of why and the how, his drinking glasses and his gloves had trace amounts of poison.

An astonishing fact it that at the place of crime there was only one explosion heard but there are two points of explosion. One is his mouth where he must have had his cigar, and the second one was near the edge of the open terrace. The fantastic thing about this golf ball that hit him was a similar one from El’s death; It was a golf ball that was modified to explode on contact.

Unconvinced about his mode of death, I dug in deeper and found out that he was having a heart attack before/during the time of the simultaneous explosions. On doing biopsy I found out that the Cigar didn’t have enough power to kill him but only disfigure his face and the golf ball explosion was too far to have affected him, so he died of Heart attack.

Only thing I’m not able to explain is the hole in the glass window.

Killer’s Night out.

Buu was a Nepalese Bea had hired to kill El and Yu. She had instructed him to stage a kidnapping when she was with Yu so that she can use the staging to get the files she needed. Buu was also instructed to plant poison in El’s shoes.

But as fate planned something Else for them, he dropped his phone onto the floor in the dark and his gun silenced went off when he accidentally banged his hand on the table. The same call made Bea jerk and give more power than intended, making the ball float into the dark skies.

Buu who was two floors below fired the shot. The explosive yet defective golf ball didn’t burst when the bullet hit it. Rather it travelled in El’s direction with the help of physics.

1853

H.Gustav Magnus sees the effect of a ball curving due to difference in pressure around the ball.

With blessings from Isaac Newton’s ghost, the effect is named as Magnus effect.

#BULBU

 

Condle

He followed her through dawn,
Unknown, unseen, hidden from sight,
The world figured, “its love”,
But he seemed alone always,
None accompanied, none around him,

His window was a door,
A door to her place,
He sat watching, drawing, Planning
Often lost in adoring her,
He needed to be reminded,

The headquarters did that often,
A voice said, “concentrate, concentrate!”
But her beauty was captivating,
Her curvaceous lips call seductively,
To join her, join her lust,

Clearing his head, he focussed,
He was here for brilliance,
A brilliance that created energy,
Unlimited energy, for my employer,
I was sent to steal,
But I lost my heart,
Called infinite candle, My target,
She had made unquenchable light,
A Wax maker by profession,
Scientist by passion, a shadow,

Infinite Candle was right there,
A bright white light glowing,
Unlike conventional candles, a scintillation,
Confused looking at the window,
Infinite Candle or Infinite Love?

Three months of courting her,
only a number I found,
a week passed, with love,
she seemed to have noticed,
Me following her, but unaware,
Unaware that of my intentions,
We fell in love, digitally,
Forgetting my task, I fell,
A date was due, inevitable,
We couldn’t wait, I knocked,

No one answered, creaked open,
There it was, the candle,
But something felt wrong here,
No Candle, nothing infinite, Led,
A single LED was glowing,

Eyes froze, stunned by fear,
A Call broke my shock,
the gruff voice said, “Window”
peeking, I found a face,
a Familiar face, her face,
Removing her wig, He smiled,
Holding my Laptop, he Mouthed,
But I didn’t understand, confused,
His writing mocked me, hilariously,
It said, “I love You”
A creep passed through me,
His files read, “Con, Rapist”

The Marriage

In an event of rare occurrence a Swami and a Nun we’re engaged to each other. The best man of the wedding was their best friend, a Fakir.

But the Nun’s followers didn’t want him to get married, so they deviced a plan to stop the marriage. Some big shots manipulated the fakir to plant another woman’s inner wear in the Swami’s room so that his fiancé thinks he is cheating on her.

The Nun knew there was a conspiracy going on from her followers and was very alert. They gave him multiple items to plant on the bed that the Swami was sleeping in. But the fakir being Swamiji’s best friend had a last minute change of mind so he made a plan. The fakir didn’t notice the Nun who was hiding in the balcony and her brother, a Pastor, who was hiding inside. He tiptoed silently up to Swami’s bed and began placing the clothes and a paper hidden inside telling all the details. They both caught him red handed, but he confessed. At that time The Swami woke up and saw the clothes and misunderstood the situation. Angrily, he attacked his best friend. The fakir now irritated, stopped Swami and showed him the note which explained everything. Now the followers who were waiting outside from outside the room were ashamed and asked for their forgiveness. The Swami directed them to his Fiancé but she didn’t forgive them and told them the Lord will take care.

A writer was was seeing all this from the next building. He was sleepy but his deaf wife wanted to know what happened. So he shortened the whole climax and said in his own comical way,
“You fakir! She Swami!, I ran Pastor”
The wife asked about the woman, he replied
“Fucks given: Nun”

Red Wet Bed

Aishu was excited, because she going to meet him after 4 months. Vijay, her love, her husband. She was finding it hard to hold her excitement about surprising him. She was laughing about how Vijay was complaining about his hotel neighbour being a noisy one. When she arrived there, She told the hotel staff of her surprise plan and waited for him in his room. It was beginning to get late and she texted him as if she wasn’t in his place. Vijay said that he won’t be going to hotel cause he was staying at one of his colleagues place nearby for the night. In thoughts of surprising him early morning, she went to bed smiling. The bed was peculiar and felt like it had pebbles under it. Midst her sleep her dress began to become cold and wet. Opening her eyes she saw a figure dancing above her, two arms falling and making soft tapping noises. Her heart jumped and she adjusted her eyes only to see a khaki colored shirt that was hung near her bead. It’s buttons were tapping against the wood.

Composing herself she, sat up right and rolled the shirt and threw it into a corner. The scarlett draped bed wasn’t wet anywhere but her dress was changing into fresh clothes she went back to sleep again to be woken by a screeching noise and keys jingling.

It was Vijay!

She acted as if she was sleeping and waited for him to come to bed. She waited and waited and dozed off. During her sleep she felt his arms playing over her skin but didn’t say anything. It was so typical of Vijay… But throughout the night, she felt as if something was dripping somewhere near here. She even felt something drop on her often.

She woke up startled early morning, Vijay wasn’t there. She open the main room door, to find Vijay coming out of the opposite room. He seemed surprise and said that he didn’t know that Aishu was there to visit him. At the exact moment the concierge came in running and said ‘I gave the wrong key, ma’am, this room is off the limits’. The concierge was breathing up and down, Vijay had a fear that was evident in his eyes.

Before we could ask him more questions, He continued, “Two years ago, there was a serial killer who stayed in this room. He killed his victims dug out their eyes and skinned them alive.”
Vijay’s Jaw dropped and Aishu’s legs began to tremble. Vijay started to say something, but the Concierge interrupted and continued.
“He has killed hundreds of people and has done the same modus operandi of skinning them alive and removing their eyeballs using kitchen knife only. He hid the eyeballs in his bed and hung the skins over the bed. The police told us that he enjoyed getting soaked by his victims’ blood as it dripped on him.”
“H..h…aa…has he been caught?” blurted Aishu.
“Oh yes, he was caught.”
Vijay and Aishu sighed in union
“ ‘was’… but he escaped…”
“ The police also found out that he often disguised himself as a Hotel staff”
The Concierge Smiled.

We know

Short horror

I shouldn’t have survived! I SHOULDN'T HAVE SURVIVED! 
I lost my twin daughters to a frozen lake 8 months ago. 
I write this in hopes that my death will be a release from this torturous 
life. 
- With maximum guilt, Ria.

“Riaaaaa! What are you doing in there! Open the door! We can talk about this! Don’t do this. Please don’t leave me alone here. Please!”. Ravi was screaming and banging on the door frantically.

“Sheesh! Such a drama queen you’re!”, I let Ravi inside hesitantly. Though I was mad at him for coming late on my birthday, I couldn’t be completely angry at him. It was 3 months since I tried killing myself, I could not finish it. I had to pick myself up and get back to life. I met him 2 months ago and he knows everything about Anitha and Anisha and my previous relationship.

Ravi was dressed handsome and he reminded me of my Ex-Husband.

I pulled him inside and planted a kiss. Ravi surprised by my change of mind presented me with a pretty box, wrapped in gift paper. I opened it eagerly to find two bundles of bubble wrap.

“Wait before you open the wrap let me tell you a story.”, Ravi held my arms ever so softly.

The lights flickered and banging noises were heard from the floor above. Ignoring it Ravi started.

“In a faraway land there lives a hag, she was given a peculiar curse. She was immortal but she will keep ageing like a normal human and lose all her health and beauty like everyone else. She lives in the outskirts since everyone was creeped out by her and the only company she has are the dolls that resemble her kids. The whereabouts of her family are unknown. It is said that she sees faces beneath surfaces, faces of people who ask her for help. One can hear her screaming now and then when they pass by her shack- ”

“Honey why are you telling me this story? I don’t understand. You haven’t even wished me happy birthday”, I said a bit confused.

“Let me finish darling. She is often seen sitting in the old car holding the rusty steering wheel in one hand and the other holding her nose.” The smile from Ravi’s face didn’t change.

“Ravi, get out! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!”

“Wait my dear, it is said that the car and her old house has messages written all over but they all are inverted, like this.” Ravi didn’t stop but his smile faded.

His pupils went behind his head and he lifted his T-shirt. And some words began to appear on his stomach and chest. They were inverted. He began to say something slowly, “….”

“Ravi…?”

A voice of multiple personalities boomed, “We know”.

Ravi fell to the floor like a log.

Ria’s heart pounded, she slipped from the sofa and sat on the floor. Her mind raced back to a year back.

“Everything was set, The final task that needed to be executed was for her to kill him and the immortality serum will be hers” All she had to do was court him for a few months and get the codes into his lab. Though it took 2 years, a marriage and looking after his twin daughters, she did that flawlessly. She found the codes to his lab. But it’s the killing part Ria had messed up. Unaware that the kids were hiding in the boot space of the car, she drove the car into a frozen pond. Kids were not a part of her plan.

Narrowly escaping from the prickly cold water, she stood there watching the car drown slowly.

For some reason her heart decided not to budge when one of the twins banged from underneath the transparent sheet of ice. Even she doesn’t know if it was for the raging desire to achieve the immortal serum or if her heart was stone cold.

Her perfect set up to do a Suicide in front of the Billionaire Ravi worked perfectly. Her plans were working flawlessly, until this moment.

The lights went off.

“We know, WE KNOW!” Multiple voices bellowed through the room.

Ria laughed maniacally.

“You can’t kill me you idiots! I’m immortal now! I will have eternal youth, beauty and strength! No one can kill me!”

“We know” random inverted words were appearing all over the house.

“You can’t do anything to me! You can’t hurt me or do anything to me! I’m a God on earth!”, Ria screamed psychotically at the house.

“We know”

A paper flew from somewhere and landed near her. It had something written over it, it was inverted. She turned the paper and read. “The serum only makes people immortal, but people age naturally”

Ria’s heart stopped.

“the only company she had was the dolls she had from her youth…”

“We know”, It was a man’s voice.

The bubble wrap popped from inside and a little doll’s hand came out.

“We know” mouthed the dolls as they crawled slowly towards Ria.

In Between

Aathi was narrating the whole story to the new-born twins, as they listened intently as if they understood everything, “I was dodging. My eyes were on the analogue clock that seemed to be counting down to 2 minutes eternally. 70 more seconds to the next time out, it was only the 6th round but I was already blacking out. Blocking the opponent’s punches against your face isn’t an easy thing, you know?”

This is not how Aathi intended the match would go. The Opponent better known as ““The Russian”” was leading the round with 4 points.

“This is exactly the opposite of what I had in mind. I was supposed to breeze through the Finals. Being the Reigning champion and considering that “The Russian” was inside the ring, only because another challenger got disqualified after the referee was “accidentally” punched during the Semis should make me the obvious winner, but fate had other ideas. In that fraction of blackout, I had let down my guard. A Red boxing glove was floating towards my face. I tried my very best to dodge and move my head. Time slowed down at that moment, a moment every boxer fears. I see the red glove’s shining fist travelling towards my face, my cheek, in fact, in slow-motion.”

Aathi stares into the microcosm, paralysed with shock. The whole crowd pauses as “The Russian” delivers an astounding blow.

“The red glove transforms into fingers. A soft hand whose palm felt like the softest cloth you’ve ever felt. The thin Silver ring felt like an Icy Kiss planted on my cheeks, the caress of the fingers felt warm. It was the most confusingly comforting feeling. It was as if the hand was asking me to lie on its palms and to take all the rest I need”

Everyone including Aathi’s coach was gasping loud. The punch had sent the mouth guard flying into the crowd. The Super welterweight champion’s face had taken one of the strongest punches ever witnessed. No one expected a punch so hard from “The Russian”. Aathi fell like a log on the ring floor. The crowd erupted as the referee began the knockout count.

Ishi continued the flip side of the story, “I was on the other end of the city, I was tapping my feet frantically, my final chance to prove myself to the world was right beyond that curtain. It was the showdown between Myself and Bharathi, Ishi “the Drumming Barista” and Bharathi “the Ballet”. I’ve always wanted to be a drummer, my whole family was disapproving, even my sisters whom I thought I was close to, didn’t support me when I told them I’m going to take part in, “Are you ‘The One’?”. But here I was, a simple coffee shop assistant, in an international stage against one of the best drummers in the world. I will win this.”

The crowd was booing when the host announced Ishi’s name. It was because of ruckus that happened during the previous round. Ishi had challenged last year’s winner of “Are you ‘The One’?” and it had ended in an exchange of harsh words. The screen lifted and the competition officially had begun.

“A.R. Rahman was in the front row and he gave me the warmest of smiles. It reminded me of Aathi’s. The Judge struck the gong, the sound of which took me back to the first time I saw Aathi. The boxing ring was echoing of grunts and moans, of people getting punched in face. But inside the ring was a dancer, the most graceful dancer I’ve ever seen. A dancer whose eyes showed me myself. Dodging the opponent’s jabs and punches with such elegance was Aathi. As Rahman’s Jeans theme ran through my head, I began to fall in love with Aathi’s movement. I must say that I’ve never seen someone so charming and powerful at the same time. Little butterflies popped up in my stomach and my feet and fingers began drumming some random music. For some reason, boxing became my favourite sport at that moment. And something inside told me that I had to get to know more of this person, or else my head will burst. Right after the match, I asked Aathi out. Yes, I did ask that boxer out for dinner. It was a positive answer.”

Ishi’s thoughts were disturbed by a countdown from the crowd, Bharathi would always start her piece after a countdown of 10, and the crowd followed her. She was called ‘The Ballet’ because her fingers in close-up would look as if they we’re dancing over the Drum.

One.

“It was unexpected, but that caressing touch was what I needed at that moment. Though it was the first date, and I’ve never let anyone touch me, I loved the feel of Ishi’s palm on my face.”

Oneeee! Echoed into the crowd.

Twoooo! Crowd followed again.

Aathi’s Coach was screaming, “Aathi! Get up, get up Aathi!”

“My head was spinning from the punch I had just received. I was trying my best to push myself up. It was as if the world was moving faster around me. I put my gloves to the ground and pushed myself up, I was not able to. My body had no strength. I blamed myself; I was too pompous and too distracted to do the training. But how would I be able to forget my darling Ishi? That baby face, those glowing eyes and the quivering lips, I was not able to get that face out of my mind. I was reeling inside my mind; my body did not have the strength my Mind had. How I wished Ishi was here, cheering”

Threeeeee!

Four!

The counting stopped abruptly

“I got up and adjusted myself and my position on the stool. Distracted by my sudden move, Bharathi continued her counting, now I could see a little stress on her face now. I was thanking Aathi for this. ‘Boxing isn’t only about physical strength and fitness, it is also about psyche, every movement of yours will affect the opponent’s psychology babe. Something as simple as a sneeze would put the opposite party out of function momentarily. Use it.’ “

Fiveeeee!

“I got up. Somehow pushed myself up, I stood”

Noticing that Aathi’s mouth guard missing, referee declared a timeout.

“Yes coach, I just got Distracted, yes coach, I will concentrate”

Only Aathi’s body was there, soul wasn’t.

“Gritting the guard between my teeth, I charged forward towards “The Russian”. Landing three solid punches on the face, I proceed to do a pseudo-jab. But I was surprised by a lower hook that landed on my chin out of nowhere and time slowed down again. I saw the glove pull away from my face as I began to fall back and my reflex kicked in”

The red glove turned into a red rose pulling away from Aathi’s nose. Ishi appeared in sight sitting in front of me, giggling like a little girl.

“Ishi used the rose again to rub it in my chin because it tickled me. Ishi blushing, “Those are the most beautiful pair of eyes I’ve seen. Makes me want to keep staring into them.”

Aathi interjecting, put a finger on Ishi’s lips, and kissed.

“It was the most soulful kiss ever, we’d forgotten we were in a restaurant and we were lost in the warmth of each other’s lips.”

“That mixture of lipstick and bubble-gum flavour was still lingering in my mind. Bharathi had begun her bout with elegant tricks on the cymbal alone. I was unsure of how I was going to perform in the final round. 3 more minutes for her to finish her performance and It would be my turn to prove myself to the world. But my mind kept drumming that tune I picked up from Aathi’s box training rhythm, ‘thup-thup thup-thup thup-thup’. Now-disturbed by Bharathi’s mix of mridangam and Tabla, I began losing my confidence, beat per beat, as her fingers drummed, “tapa tapa tapa tapa”, my mind was empty, only the sound of a mridangam was echoing in my mind. “tapa tapa tapa tapa…”, reminding her of that day.

“‘Ishi, come here, I met Aathi today.’ I hear a ringing noise in my ears. Aathi had met my Dad, a martial arts instructor now, The Ex-Major General from Indian Special Ops. The person I fear & respect the most had met my spouse. Aathi had done it. Aathi had spoken to my dad, and I was standing in front of him, looking at his mouth moving, but only a ringing sound in my ears.

“We shall talk about the marriage if Aathi retains the title, and you, get a job or win that competition if you need my permission.”

Ishi knew that dad did not care about the title, but only about his child’s life. But Aathi, wanted to show him that the title won’t be lost. Aathi wanted to win the match only to show Ishi’s father that he was wrong in judging their love as infatuation.

The mridangam vidvan was on a roll, playing the most difficult piece in the raga. “tapa tapa tapa thuppa thup thup”

Aathi’s lips were bleeding.

“Missing a beat had almost costed my teeth and lips, I had to win this, this is my only chance to prove myself to Ishi’s father”.

Only 30 seconds was remaining, and If Aathi somehow manages those 30 seconds of “The Russian” barrage, the timeout would help to recuperate.

“I breathed a sigh of relief when the gong went off. I sat on my stool, waiting”

The crowd’s loud cheering drowned the gong.

The crowd’s loud cheering was stopped by the gong.

“Done waiting, I stood up from my stool, I could feel breathing becoming heavier after the gong went off”

I threw up left drum stick in the air, and struck the cymbal with the right one”

. . . .

“I saw Ishi. Standing there on the other side of the signal, the person I loved the most. The person I was ready to share my pizza with, the person whom I can cook for.”

“I saw Aathi too, standing on the other side like a dumb human, looking for someone; that someone was me. I tell you kids, I was very much ready to wash this human’s dirty under(you mean underwear?) for eternity. And I still do.

They both went running towards each other, and hugged. But the sentence they uttered to each other at the exact same moment was the most confusing one, even for me, the narrator.

“I won but I lost, Aathi”

“I lost but I won, Ishi”

As the Narrator, I rewound back to the part after the gong went off at Ishi’s competition.

Announcer: “The Judges have decided a contestant and Winner of “Are you ‘The One’?” Title, a house at OMR in Bustancia and a fully funded scholarship at KM College of Music goes to…. Bharathi “The Ballet”!!”

Amidst the celebrations, AR. Rahman Requests for the Mic, “I Would also like to offer a fully funded scholarship to KM College of Music and a position of drummer in my crew…”

“…Ringing sound again…”

“…My ears were ringing too… My opponent’s jab had landed on my left ear which left bees singing in my ears. Another punch, and I was Disoriented and was blocking my way into the corner. Referee broke us and started again. I decided to finish it and I sneezed. A Fraction later my punch knocked out Irvina Sokolov, “The Russian”.

Something as simple as a sneeze would put the opposite party out of function momentarily. Use it.

Or so I thought, she got up in the 9th count and won straight”

“Aww, that’s alright, but what did you win, darling?”

“We both did not make the required weights prior to the Match and the match was declared as a Non-title match, I still have my Championship title”

“Oh, you Devil”

They hugged the longest ever and walked with their fingers entwined.

Their Marriage Invitation read

“Ishant weds Aathira”

After this long story, the twins were fast asleep unaware that their Mother was a 5-time World Boxing Federation Champion and Father was regarded as the best drummer in the millennia.

Refer: WEIGHT AND WEIGH-IN CEREMONY * If both the World Boxing Federation Champion and the Challenger fail to make weight, the championship shall not be vacated at the scales and the contest will go forward as a non-title contest and the World Boxing Federation Champion shall retain the title, regardless of the result of the contest.

Achu!

Ashwin’s home
“Achu! dei Achu, inga konjam vaayen, ammaku help pannu”

“….”

“Dei Ashwin! inga vaada”.

“Yes ma, coming, iruu”, Ashwin walked lankily into kitchen to find his mother holding a karandi in one hand and a recipe book in another.

Ashwin was confused, she kept on motioning her eyes towards something but he didn’t get it. He didn’t understand why his mom didn’t use her mouth to tell it out loud. Before he could ask something-

“Dei antha thatla maavu vechiruken paaru, atha eduthu inga mela vei, paathu edu”,

Ashwin picked up the plate obediently and looked at it for a moment, small red ants were crawling over it, “Maa erumbu maa”, before he could finish his sentence a glare distracted his sight, and he sneezed and immediately shielded his eyes.

Amma was standing there with maavu all over her face and hair, she sneezed quite a few times too, but it was an angry sneeze.

 

Ashok’s residence

Ashok, the Area inspector’s son, was laughing from the opposite house. He threw his binocular on the bed and was rolling on the floor laughing.

The feather from his hand flew outside the widow and landed on Ramya’s house 5 houses away.

Ramya’s Place

Her mother was tearing and Ramya was trying to console her. Though Ramya was sad, she was a strong girl. She knew how to handle grief.

 

 

Donald’s Mortuary

Mr.Donald, the illegal organ butcher, was removing internal organs of a brain dead patient whom he declared dead in front of his friends and family a moment ago.

 

2 days later

Mr.Donald was driving his Mini Cooper patiently, but the excitement made him speed up, he hit 90. A puppy came out of nowhere before his car stood there frightened. Trying to avoid the pupper, he turned his steering wheel to the right. A momentary lapse.

The puppy crossed the other side and started brushing itself around the owner’s leg. It felt loved.

Ramya started walking towards Ashok with a smile.

Ashwin stood there confused.

 

Today
Ashwin stood there, paavama, His mother’s archanai was not new to him, but the thing was he was not able to withhold his laughter. His mother’s scolding was harsh and she called him all kinds of animal names, but it waqs her flour covered face and hair that made him snigger externally and rofl internally. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he used this escape from kazhuvi oothings.

It was a message from Ramya, she had replied “Yes”

He was very happy that she had accepted and replied yes. But he really wished that this yes was also for another thing he wanted from, “One by one da achu, one by one”, he thought. But he was happy with the current situation. He felt as if his life was settled. He wanted to run straight to her home and hug her. But decency prevented him from doing so. Ashwin started waiting for 5 o’clock evening.

Ashok, Ramya’s best friend, received a message saying that she was going to meet Ashwin at Besant nagar. Ashok was infuriated. He did not like them getting close. Ever since she joined that class with him she started meeting ashwin him often and he felt that she began to ignore him. He hated the way everyone called Ashwin, “Achu, achu”. It was cute and he hated it with passion.

Ramya was ashok’s collegemate and he liked her secretly, but never got the guts to propose to her.

 

5 o’clock.

Ramya was wearing a pink saree and had a small gift in her hand. She looked decorated and pretty that evening. She was waiting at the corner of the busstand. She seemed excited and her eyes were searching for someone her and there.

Ashwin was there, He was wearing trousers and an oversized T-shirt. He had a bunch of roses in his hand and also had a small note in his hand.

“aandava, ithula than ellathayum ezhuthiruken, ava eppadiyachum ithula irukartha purinjikanum”. He approached her with a sheepish smile.

He called out to her and waved his hand. She also frantically waved his hand at him. “Hi Achu— “ , A bike came in fast and skidded in-between Ramya and Ashwin. Ashok got down and started hitting Ashwin, and Ashwin was trying hard to defend himself. Ramya was shouting at the top of her lungs asking Ashok to stop but he did not listen. As they both rolled on the road, a siren sound was heard.

Hearing this Ashok, thought it was his father’s rounds he got on his bike. He warned him not to contact her again.

Ramya, confused now, was furious at Ashok, but she didn’t want to make a scene now tried to help Ashwin. But he refused and didn’t even look at her face.Shocked and frightened a bit, he walked back home. He threw the roses into a bin and walked back home rubbing his red cheeks.

An Ambulance whizzed through the road a few moments later towards Donald’s mortuary.

 

8 o’clock

Ashwin never replied to Ramya’s messages. Weirdly, he kept on sneezing continuously.

Ashok was uneasily pacing in his room, he regretted doing something like that 2 days before her birthday.

Ramya was scrolling through facebook, her feed was full of cats and dogs, a true pet lover she was. She hated that her pet dog was not with her now.

 

Ramya’s Birthday.

Ramya had texted Ashwin to come to the same place in besant nagar on the same time, They somehow patched things up. Ashwin glanced at that note lying on his desk.

Ashok was too excited and a bit anxious to meet her. He had bought her a puppy today morning and was going to gift it to her. She had not talked to him for the past two days. She somehow replied, “Yes” after he begged so many times to see her. Ashok wanted to tell two special things to her. About his love and about his superpower.

 

[Ashok’s backstory]

Ashok was the area inspector’s son. He was Ramya’s classmate and busmate in college, area mate too. He liked her so much but never found courage to tell it out to loud. All the four years they were best friends and he developed feelings for her somehow.

There is something special about Ashok. He has a very simple super power; he can make anyone sneeze. There are 3 conditions about the power.

1. To have control over someone’s sneeze, they must sneeze themselves.

2. They can control victim’s sneeze if it’s the only face they see. If they remember another face or see another face the control goes away for 1 hour.

3. The power can be transferred onto another when the third person touches their tongue.

Ashok often used feather to make himself sneeze.

Ashok had called one of his friends to accompany him and asked him to take video of him proposing her from a distance. He had asked him to hold the puppy until he signals him.

Ashok crossed road to the place where Ramya was standing. He was irritated and angry to see them both talk but didn’t want to make another stupid move. He saw “Achu” hand her a note, a gift and a few roses.

 

Ashwin was standing on the other end of the road. He had a note in his hand. He approached Ramya slowly with a small fear, smiling, she came forward and held out her hand, “Friends?”. He wished Ramya happy birthday and gave her gifts and the note.

“Pleasenga, konjam time kulla mudichi kudthudunga, Pona vaati maari sothapidathinga, inthanga rose.”  Ramya sniggered.

“Ammava ketenu sollu” and walked back with a smiling towards Ashok.

 

[Ashwin backstory]

“Dei Ashwin, inga va”

“Yes sir”

“Itha ezhuthunathu yaaru?”

“Naan than sir”

“enda ippadi pulugura? Firstu 30 page vera handwriting azhaga iruku, micha page ellam inkla vizhuntha karapan poochi page mela ooduna maari iruku”

“Sir… athu vanthu”

“Po, poi marubadiyum ezhuthitu vaa”

“Sir….”

“Poda!, thooki adichiruven paathuko”

*Texting Ramya*

Enga neenga nalla record ezhuthuvinga varavinganu amma sonnathunaala than unga kitta kuduthen, paathi ezhutitu mudilanu soltinga. Kaasu kooda pay panrenga, puthusa ezhuthi thaanga please! antha sotta thalaiyan saavadikiran.

 

Ramya walks towards Ashok with a smile. She slowly goes near him and gives him a hard slap.

Fazed, Ashok stands demanding an explanation.

“Enna, enna love panriya?, unna nalla friend ah thaney pathen, unaku kudutha respect ah ippadi than treat pannuviya? Avana ennamo ethuku adicha? Herova nee? Naa yaar kooda pesna unaku en erith–” before she could complete her sentence the sound of screeching tires were heard.

A puppy jumped from Ravi’s hand and was crossing the road haphazardly.

 

[Donald’s Backstory]

Donald was a what you’d call a Poli Doctor, though he studied medicine he never managed to get the degree. He failed in most of the subjects and was a drug addict too. 2 days ago he had received a request for a kidney for an elite VIP for a very high payment. But his bad time he did not get the right body or donor to steal from. Only a few moments ago, he received that message that a new brain dead body is there and he can take parts out of it. He has been doing this intelligently for years without anyone knowing.

 

He was speeding in his Mini Cooper until he, saw the small puppy wandering on the road. He slammed the brakes, and the car screeched to a halt. A moment of lapse would’ve killed the puppy. Ramya continued, seeing the Mini Cooper proceed in its way, “Engappa erantha bothu, I thought you were getting close to me out of friendship, but I never thought you’d do something stupid like this. Enaku un mooji ah paakavey pudikala.”

[Ramya’s backstory]

Ramya’s father was a painter and often took painting contract of large houses and flats. He fell from third floor while painting Ashwin’s flat and was declared dead after 3 days. Ashwin’s mother, helped Ramya and family during the grim times. Ashok came to know Ramya, when her father told that her daughter has also joined the same college

But, Ramya’s father was only brain dead. Donald waited for 3 days and declared him dead so that he could harvest the organs from him.

 

Ramya took a moment to breathe. The puppy came near Ashok’s leg and sneezed. Recognising his scent, it started playing around his leg. Ashok lifted the puppy and gave it to her explaining her that it’s her gift. But the dog refused to go to Ramya and jumped back to Ashok. Ashok hung his head in silence.

There was loud noise, as if something crashed.

A Mini Cooper was on fire at a distance and people were dragging someone out of it.

It was Donald.

[Puppy’s back story]

The puppy had lost its mother 2 days ago, from a car accident. The vehicle was unidentified, but the puppy remembered that car. It was a Mini Cooper. Someone had taken the puppies to the local Kennel and handed it to them. Ashok had picked this puppy from the Kennel. Though he loved the way it was playing, he wanted to give it to her to prove his love. It kept on licking Ashok, when he slept, when he ate, when he peed.

Ashok never noticed that it had licked his tongue when it tried to wake him up today after noon.

He never realized his powers were gone.

Ramya walked away from the scene thinking of the guy she met two days ago, in her friend’s reception. “Of course, anyone would be impressed by that pink saree”, she thought.

 

 

The call

Year 2005.

I have already gone 5 dates with her, she is one of the best people I’ve ever known. I thank my colleague Amitha for introducing me to her best friend. On Jan 2, after the 6th date on New year’s eve and the 1st kiss, she had to move to California for her company had sent her as part of trainee crew for the new branch. She would stay there for 3 months. With California now becoming one of the important cities of technological advancement in USA, she wanted me to buy one of those camera things to do a video call of some sort. Yes, we had developed a liking towards each other and we wanted this to carry on. They had given her a Personal computer which had internet connection of 512 kbps. I was a painter by profession and I was living with my roommate Aadi.

Our relationship was growing day by day and I was going to propose marriage in august, on her birthday. During one of our calls a weird thing happened, Midway through the call, her audio would get muted and I would hear scraping sounds as if someone had dragged their dead leg across the floor. I understood she was talking but I could not make out what she was talking. This carried on for a few calls and I was too anxious and lost in her beauty to make a big deal out of it. Day by day she appeared tired told me that her work was exhausting. She began to miss calls with me. I understood it and gave her space.

Suddenly one day she didn’t come online, I called her up and no one picked up. I thought maybe she was busy or must’ve had some other work. But she did not appear for more than a week straight. Panicking, I asked Amitha but she didn’t want to meet me for some reason and kept ignoring me. As much as I wanted to visit her, I lacked the money to do so. I began to have nightmares about her where her voice was substituted by the creepy noise. I realized that her memories were haunting me and would spoil me if I let this happen. After trying hard to get over her I moved to a separate house and managed to push on every day. Suddenly after almost a year, she called my one day on the skype thing and asked me why I didn’t come yesterday. I was confused. I tried to explain her that she was the one who didn’t come online for a year and how I was broken, missing her. She kept on ignoring what I said and insisted that I didn’t like her enough. She kept on talking the same thing about how I had forgotten her. Then her voice suddenly was muted.

Then, I saw something that made me panic. There was someone behind her, black silhouette with red eyes standing behind her. I told her that she has someone standing behind her back and but she reacted as If I was muted. A chill creeped down my spine and I had goosebumps. I tried calling her and I would her the scraping noise in the call. That figure was holding a stool primed ready to hit her. Things were floating around her. It was looking straight at me and smiled. It was the most terrifying smile I have ever seen, those red teeth spooked me right out of my skin.

Her voice came back again but she seemed unaware of the things happening around her, She kept on screaming my name for some reason. I shouted at the top of my voice that someone was in her place, but she didn’t seem to understand or her what I said, I just heard echoes of my voice and nothing else. And again her voice was muted, but this time there was a difference. She was pointing something to me. It was as if she wanted me to look back, I did.

There was nothing there. She then stood up and began jumping frantically, crying. I didn’t understand why. The black figure was standing beside her and smiling creepily with its red teeth. It slowly began to approach the screen, inch by inch. It walked towards the screen until the screen was black. I was scared shitless. After a blink. It was standing behind her and had knife to her neck. She stood there crying as if she was had failed to help me somehow. I tried calling her and I jammed my fingers to the keyboard but to no use. The dark figure slowly began to slice the neck. As I fainted to the floor I heard metal clanging and a pool of blood soaked me.

As Aadi explained my death to the police and how I would often talk to myself at the mirror, Amitha, was crying over her best friend’s 1st death anniversary, unaware of my death.

The mirror painting of her face stood where my computer used to be. The painting cracked a smile, with red teeth.

Vision – Part 1

This is the first part of my mini series. Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts in the comments 😀

“Shrii, a Cop is on the hot trails of a serial murder case, counting 27 identified murders over the past 17 years, after various case studies and reports and numerous attempts to nab the killer and going through two divorces and a child and losing a partner in the process, a face was finally given to the “cone killer” by Shrii. The whole department is on their seat’s edge waiting for the Shri to catch the killer, the only information know about him was that he leaves a cone-like object in the victim’s body. The whole case does a flip when the identity of the killer comes to light…”

The Audience gave a standing ovation after the host read the book’s Synopsis. Rishi Walked in slowly with a smug look, slightly adjusting his cuff, the suit dark as night was tailored to perfection, he walked towards the center of the podium beaming with confidence and his face sporting a smile. It was a rare sight to see a man nearing 50 so dashing.

Reshika sat down on the seat reserved for her. She was clapping her hands slowly as if relishing the moment and registering it in her mind, currently in her early twenties pursuing engineering, living with her father Rishi in their estate uphill. She was the only child and her biological mother had passed away long before she could recognize her.

“It was a pleasure and my honor…” By the time her dad was finished with his speech her she might’ve been the hungriest person in the room. She usually hated these kind of ceremonies, it had a weird kind of claustrophobic effect on her. Ever since her father published his first thriller novel 7 years ago, inaugurations, ceremonies and parties had become a commonplace in her life. She put whatever she found in buffet on to her plate. As she soon as she started the first spoon, her father walked towards her smiling.

He just held her hands softly, “Why are they so cold?”, Before she could utter a word, a clang followed by a scream was heard from the far end of the room.

A man stood there clutching left side of his abdomen, blood seeping through the fingers. Multiple screams began to echo the party hall. The guy clothed in a perfect formal dress fainted on the ground like a stack of cards. Rishi’s face tightened and in quick movement he clutched Reshika’s hands and began to rush towards exit. Trying to maintain speed her speed with him, “Dad, Dad… Where are we going?”.

“Honey, I’ll explain after we reach home, do not call Mom till I tell you, do not update anything on the internet, do not speak until spoken to, do not talk with strangers, I will be back in exactly 15 minutes” it almost felt like he wanted to isolate her from the world as if nothing had happened, letting her into the car he slammed the door and mouthed, “DO. NOT. MOVE.” And rushed off.

He returned without his Vest and his shirt was bloodied. He started the car right away.

“Dad! Dad what happened? Tell me where we’re going, what happened in there?”, Rishi shot a look that would’ve made anyone silent, “Dad! Answer me. I’m calling mom right away! Why is there blood on your shirt?!”

The car screeched to a stop, Rishi held her hand with a firm grip and looked into her eyes as if trying to burn his thoughts into her mind, “you’re hurting me… Dad!”. He took a deep breath and started to speak, “The man who was murdered in the hall-”,

“Murdered?!, He is dead?!,”

”Yes, he had no pulse, he was Mr. Robin, from whom one of my character was born. In fact he was also the one who gets murdered in my book first, well chronologically, He is killed the same way in the book too.”

“I don’t get you daddy, why are you–?”

“Reshi, give me some time to process what is going on, I will tell you what is actually happening, first let us reach home, Do not call your Mother and please trust me.”

“O..Okay Dad”, was what she could utter.

. . . .

He never told her anything about what happened at the ceremony, he screamed at her and asked her to go to sleep.

Tick. Tock. Tock. Tick. Tock. It was dark with the moon doing a melancholic lighting.

“Dad? Dad? where are you ?”.

She slowly tiptoed towards the kitchen hoping to find Rishi there.

She felt a small breeze brush on her face, the back door was unlatched, and the door slowly creaked open by the winds.

She saw a shoe by the door, with a breath of relief she called out to him,” da- “, Someone held her mouth and nose with a very powerful hold. One hand cupping her face, one hand held down her hands and torso and his leg coiled around her legs, trapping her in the most efficient way.

“Honey, its dad, I will let you go, do not scream or make a noise”, Pointing to the shoe at the door he said, “There is someone standing by the door, probably holding a weapon, I heard him rustle around for a couple of minutes now, I guess he is waiting for someone,”

He released his lock hold on her and she took a slow deep breath.

Reshika was surprised at the strength and technique he used on her to hold her down. She felt as if she were in the best straightjacket.

She pointed out to the smoke that was floating in with the breeze, it felt familiar. It was Malabar Pink cigarette, one of her mum’s favorite.

Suddenly the electricity went off, Rishi held her shoulder as if trying to guard her from something. Rishi didn’t move from the place and stood there as if he was expecting something. Seconds passed by and they stood still.

There was no one at the door.

Sounds of something or someone crashing came from the upper floor, Rishi gave Reshi a kitchen knife and he had a bat in his hand. he signaled her to stay right behind him and follow him.

Trying to avoid any sound they crept up the stairs, the cold hard stairs sent a shiver up their spine.

It was their Mum, Sarika, she was drunk and trying to find her way into her room.

Dad dropped the bat and ran up to help her stand up.

He asked Reshi to go to her room and sleep, “I’ll take care of mum Reshi, you go take rest, we’ve had a long day”

He took mum put her in bed and went downstairs. The Malabar pink had died on the ashtray on the table.

Rishi’s office was completely strewn with papers, his files were thrown across the floor and the room displayed chaos. It was as if someone was searching for something specific. Rishi felt a dread spread through him, he rushed to his desk and pressed the button below the lowest drawer in the table and put in a key. It opened a Secret compartment which had a shiny hardcover book. He took the book slowly and took in the aroma of the book. He held it against his cheek and muttered something. Reshika was standing behind the door and watching all this, her face displaying an expression of shock.

Reshika was not able to sleep. She kept hearing the water drip and the clocks gears turn. The tap drip suddenly stopped, it was followed by a rush of water down the sink.

“Who’s there?”, She called out.

“It’s Mum, Reshi”, said a soft voice.

Mum opened the and entered her room and sat beside her, “Sorry Reshi, it was my boss’s daughter’s birthday, I just had too much of whiskey. I thought I’d be able to walk it off but seems like I failed.”

“It’s okay Ma”, Reshi felt a bit disappointed but she was happy that it wasn’t one of her mother’s bad case episodes.

Sarika was a lead Crime scene investigator in the police department, she wasn’t an alcoholic but every now and then when a case with intense emotional weightage comes to her lab she comes back heavily drunk trying to wash it off with alcohol. Reshika had accepted her as her mother though she knew she was not her biological mother. They both understood each other like any daughter and mother would.

. . . .

It was all over the news.

“A man was mysteriously killed… similarity to the book and the murder is uncanny…”

Paparazzi and media were buzzing their home to get a glimpse of Rishi and get a comment out of his mouth. They shut all windows and doors and stayed inside. Mum was getting restless day by day, she got irritated that she was forced to stay home.

3 days later the crowd faded.

Reshika came down drowsy and tired from her sleep. She heard them arguing over something,” …. explanation for this! Why? Who are you Rishi? It’s like I don’t….”

Mum stopped abruptly when she saw Reshika. She slapped Rishi and walked out.

Reshika was confused and didn’t understand what just happened.

“Don’t even ask.” Said dad.

. . . .

He was gagging, He was having difficulty to breath. Someone forcefully shoved his head into a bag of some sort. He also realized that his mouth was taped and his limbs were tied. His mind screamed, “Think”.

He understood he was being transported somewhere. He knew he was in a car or a vehicle of some sort. He calmed his mind and listed to his surroundings. The car felt like it wasn’t a small or a compact car, he was not in a boot space of the car or in a backseat. It felt like he was in a back of a truck, probably a 4×4.

His hands weren’t tied as he thought, they were duct taped, his fingers were taped too. Someone had planned this for a long time. He tried to move his body to a more comfortable position but it almost impossible to move from his position. After 15 minutes of struggle he sat up, the atmosphere felt cold and calm except for the sound of the moving vehicle. He felt the tarp that was covered over him slip away. It felt cold and silent, if felt like it was snowing. He heard a muffled voice say, “He is up”.

A blow to his head knocked him out.

Rishi woke up. His hands were tied to a pole and his mouth still taped. The room was dimly lit and it was icy cold. He felt cold shivers run up his skin. There was something eerie about this place. He also noticed something twig like stuff bundled up next to him, in fact the whole room was filled with bundles of those twigs.

A hooded figure emerged out of the door. “this doesn’t look like a grown adult, it’s either some young idiot or a small person”, Rishi thought. His mind was thinking up of how he could escape from this place, but he was helpless, his limbs were disabled perfectly.

A cold hard kick landed on his chin followed by several punches on his face and stomach, he was able to groan only. The muffled noises from his taped mouth showed that he was in great pain. He writhed around the pole unable to take the beating. Then the hooded figure spoke.

“How does it feel? To lose all your grip on this world and fear occupy you. How does it feel? To be helpless, to not know what is going to happen to you the next moment. HOW DOES IT FEEL?!” the voice made Rishi shudder.

The figure slapped him on his left cheek. A voice from behind bellowed, “don’t touch his face!”.

Two more punches landed on his stomach. Blood leaked from his taped mouth. Rishi spit blood as the duct tape was peeled from his mouth. “Who are you people, please let— “, the weird angle of his nose denoted that it was broken.

“Don’t mess with his face darling”, the other voice from spoke again, but now softly. Rishi saw a lit match flying above his head.

….

Rishi woke up to his watch beeping. His nostrils were attacked by fumes from something burning, the whole place was up in flames.

He understood why the twigs were kept there. He tried his best to lose the tape and free himself but it was not fruitful. He gave up hope of living and just sat there thinking about his daughter. And her face appeared in the smoke.

A firefighter came in with an axe wearing a safety mask, Rishi was bewildered for a second. The fireman cut the tape around his hand rope that was used to tie him. They broke out of the inferno and came out safe.

What looked like a stable was on fire, blazing. There was a whole squad of firemen fighting the fire with safety masks. Reshika came in from the ambulance with a mask and put it over his mouth. The sudden rush of oxygen gave him a head rush. Then Rishi fainted.

Rishi woke up in his room. Sarika was sitting beside him holding his hand. “Honey, Dad is up”. Reshika who was standing behind Sarika came to his side. “Hey Dad, how are you?”.

Rishi tried to open his mouth to talk but it was dry as cotton. He motioned towards the glass of water on the counter. After a glass of water, he was able to speak. “Did you get them? Did you get the two?”

“Who, Darling?”, Sarika gave a confused look.

“The people who tied me and beat me up. Look at my bruises. I was beat up by two people in a barn Sarika, then they set fire to the whole place and I was saved by a fire— “.

“Dad yes true, we found you in a barn which was burning. But only a small wood stack was on fire, it was put off with an extinguisher. The only problem was that the log that fell on your car trapped you from moving. But if it weren’t for your seatbelt— “

Rishi’s face looked like a ghost had passed through him. He tried to talk but words stopped at his throat.

“Rishi?” Sarika had to shake him violently to bring him back to reality.

“Car? No Sari darling, there was no car. I was inside that barn tied to a pole or pillar or something, I was tied with duct tape and ropes. It was planned perfectly. There were two figures, one short and one tall. I was beat up by them. I was punched in the stomach, kicked in my mouth and slapped by the short one. But I guess they were gay, one kept calling the other with endearments. Then there were these bundles of twigs around me…”

Sarika’s partner walked in with a report in his hand. ”Hey man, how are you? Good to see you up after 3 days. The wood stack that was on fire had a hallucinogen in it. Any signs of it Sarika?” Rajiv asked turning to her. Her blank stare answered his question.

“That’s okay, apparently the effects will be there for at least 60 hours.” He said with a smile. “I would like to talk to him for a minute can you guys be outside for a bit?”.

Rishi’s face still had that lost look. Reshika left the room silently and Sarika kissed her on his forehead.

. . . .

Sarika wanted to smoke and left the house to get her lighter from her car. A Shriek made Sarika jump.

She ran in and the sight made her skip a beat. Reshika was slumped on the floor holding her stomach. Blood was slowly soaking her yellow shirt. In the other corner, Rajiv was lying in a pool of blood his face lifeless. Rishi was there on his bed his hands covering his face.

As Sarika lifted Reshika from the ground Rishi could not help but notice Reshika’s smug smile. It sent Shivers up his neck.

The Twinst-3

“How did you find me?! HOW?! Where is my brother?” the screeching voice made nobody shudder. “What mistake did I do? don’t let me die here, please…”, Yo didn’t even flinch at the questions and requests thrown, and started walking towards the door.

Yin came running and hugged Yo. Yang hugged too, unaware why it happened.
“I’m sure you know we have lot of questions for you, Yo, especially me. But I’m sure you have a story, right? You always have.”
Yo began narrating the other side of the story, but the phone chimed in before they could hear it all.

Yo Came back and blurted “Mom is alive.”
Yin was staring at Yo, “Wha… What do you mean?”
“Yes I saved her that day, I was there shortly after they were beat up”

Yin gave a Yo a hard slap and hugged with tears in her eyes.
“I had left home when I saw someone in out barn carrying a dead goat and set out to investigate it. It was a short person with a raincoat over him, I followed the short shadowy figure and it was Dunky.”
Yin Gasped.
“Yes, it was him, that stinky sonovabitch did this to our limbo and other animals”

I was hit struck from behind before I could do anything to him. I heard a woman’s voice and knew instantly who it was”

Yin mouthed, “that bitch”.

“I found myself bound to a bed when I woke up and had a sack over my face. I did not know how many days had past, my body felt weak and I was Hungry.
After hours of struggle I managed to get myself untied. And came back home to see mom and dad hanging upside down. They were unconscious and alive.”

“I’ve seen you stitch me up when I had a cut in my arm, I followed the same route and stitched up all the incisions of mom and dad-”

“But the Biopsy read they were dead, how could that happen?” questioned Yin.

“Because it was not the results of a biopsy, it was what I made HER to write, you know we can make people dance when we have a leverage over them.” Yo beamed. “I was the one who administered them, styptics to stop the blood flow, but I was not able to save dad. He was already dead before all this could happen, He had had a cardiac arrest even before he was beaten up or tortured. I swapped a body double with Mom’s”

“Mom is now in the safest place-“.
“Where?!” Yin was Quick to ask.
“You’ll know soon, It was Mom a while back on phone.”
Yin had thousand questions, but Yo had left without talking a word more.

Her mind reflected how she had used Yang’s sleepwalking disorder to take revenge. To exact blood for the massacre of her pets.
The day she found her dog’s beheaded carcass, there was a note which read “Meet me at the park today, at 5. Or else hear your wife scream.” Yin had screamed so loud at the note that her parents came running.
The note was hand written and she instantly knew who it was. When she had questioned her dad, who vehemently refused to talk anything about the matter and pleaded not to tell anyone about the note.

She took the matter into her own hands, she went straight to her house and confronted about the note, to which at first she denied it was her.

But the bitch had not forgotten what happened to her Father in the mill.
*Mr.DeCruz was trapped inside mill which was on fire. Yang’s father was stuck between saving Yo and old man DeCruz. Yang’s Father Obviously Chose Yo.

That had Ignited a flame inside the DeCruzs, She and her brother had been waiting for a chance to kill them all.*

Yin had used her twin brother’s somnambulism, a sleep-walking condition he had had from his childhood, to kill the barn animals like she did to her family.

But her mind had one thought, “Is Heilen DeCruz alive? Or had Yo killed her?”

5 Blocks away in a White English house a Woman was tied to pole in the basement.
She was crying asking for her brother.

*Heilen had never left the city, she had laid out the plan so perfectly that she had booked tickets to her flight to India and made someone else travel in that ticket.
She hit Yang at the back of his head to divert the con-joined twins before she could finish her job at the Juh’s household. But she never Expected Yo to show up there. Always a nosy kid.
She barely escaped him before she was.

She never thought that her infiltration into Juh’s family and becoming their God-parent would become useless. The Triplets Never liked her anyway, it was only Chen that was compassionate to her, maybe because he was not able to save her father. But she never forgot that day.

She wondered How Yo had escaped from her house and how was he alive after that heavy dosage of poison she had given.

She never anticipated Yo in her house and threatened her to make a Fake Autopsy report.
Her knowledge as a Doctor Allowed her to write that up.
Yo had somehow switched Wu’s body with someone else*

Yin Called up Yo, “Where is mom?”
“She is at Heilen’s, Come here.”

Yang and Yin Literally ran.
Their Mother was sleeping peacefully but had painful cuts and bruises all over her.

Yang asked as if he understood something, “Where is Dunky, Yo?”
Yin added, “She probably killed him. Where is he actually? ”
“Oh, Dunky? After I untied myself, I beat up Dunky and tied him like I was.” said Yo with a wicked smile on her Pretty Face.

~thank you