Charu and Plethora of Uncertainties

Charu walked through the woods and it seemed endless. The sun looked muted in the bleak sky overhead. She trudged over the black earth as soft and gentle raindrops began to fall on her shoulder. She felt powerless and lost, the world was dying and everything was frozen or rotten. She felt bitterly cold and tears flowed down her puffy eyes uncontrollably. Through the thicket of trees she trampled through a dusty web of twisted and gnarled branches to reach a clearing in the middle. There it lay on the ground, the mysterious box. She took out the blood stained key…

Before: At Kochi..

After having looked out at the blueprints she got from Yuvaan her childhood friend whose help she had asked. The blueprints gave her a clue about an entrance that was near the city mall. She knew a plumber friend of her father who once said on his visit to their house that he had taken up the plumbing contract for the city mall and had dropped out due to uncertain circumstances. She made out a plan to have a chat with him. She spoke to him over phone and made her way out.

She took Yuvaan’s words of caution that she might be watched and equipped herself with her dad’s pistol. She always felt someone lurking in the shadows, observing and following her from the day she came to Kochi. The night was darker than usual and as she stepped down outside, a light flashed on her face. It made her disoriented for a second; she blinked furiously trying to see past the heavy beam. When her vision adjusted and as it came back to normal she caught a glimpse of someone climbing over the railing near her front yard power room. She saw another three of them coming towards her. Before she could plan what to do, they had her surrounded.

Charu observed the exact position of her opponents because it is needed to approach any of them when the need arises as defense alone was not possible. She tried to avoid herself being triangulated as it is the worst mistake especially when you have multiple attackers. She decided to use the pistol if it becomes inevitable. She was alone except her sick grandmother and her caretaker. Charu did not want to trouble them. She tried backing away to have her opponents in a line before her. This had another advantage of attacking one person without the risk of her being exposed to others. She noticed a chair three steps to her right. She started her attack by delivering a side kick to the first opponent’s temple. As she attacked the first opponent she positioned herself to give an elbow hit to her second opponent in the left. She moved back to avoid getting flanked by the other two. She reached for the chair and gave the other two few incisive blows on the head with the chair.

In around 15 minutes she had the fight settled and she took the car to reach the plumber’s place. She got to know that the place she was searching on the map was more like a tunnel that was barricaded on the other end. She thanked him for his help and returned home. She tried to reach out to Yuvaan to have him briefed about the recent updates but he didn’t pick the call. Yuvaan grew up as an orphan and was two years elder to her and stayed all alone by himself in his uncle’s house who has settled abroad.

Before: At Egypt:

Sitting in the center of the room surrounded with screens staring at him he was enshrouded in his thoughts. The line between the past and present is very thin. He heard those voices begging. Begging to tell them his story. The voices were furious and pressed him deeper. He felt uncomfortable and he didn’t expect the voices to come this soon. One of the voices reached out to him and started questioning about his past. His face turned red and his lips tightened as he cursed himself. The anger was inevitable but he was weak to fight back. He closed his eyes hiding away the anguish and pain.

Vincent sir… the voice came from the adjacent lab.

Vincent slowly opened his eyes and looked in that direction. “We have successfully splitted the atoms and generated the signature radiations. Waiting for your authentication sir”, his assistant called out. Slowly he moved from his place to the secure chamber where he had Anthony’s sword. After tapping the 8-digit code and placing his left thumb for fingerprint he took the sword out with extreme care. He inserted the sword into the activation chamber and waited. Nothing happened… He tried once again nothing… He observed the sword with his powerful microscope and to his astonishment it was a replica. The sapphire blue gloss was not visible rather it had a bronze shade on closer observation…….

Next day…

Three buildings adjacent to her house was Yuvaan’s house. Charu couldn’t understand what was happening. Police vehicle was stationed outside and the place was crowded with people from the neighborhood. Few reporters were busy taking snaps and doing a video coverage of the surrounding. She tried to move past the crowd to have a look at what was happening. The hall was well lit but had red stains of blood all over the floor and at a distance she saw Yuvaan’s body lying on the floor. She stood there motionless with overwhelming grief and shock. She tried to move past to have one last look but the police blocked her way. Soon Charu’s father came and held her back from going inside, consoling her. She let out silent whimpers in pain and grief. Soon the paramedics carried his body for autopsy.

Present..

It was a week since Yuvaan’s funeral got over. Charu spent her nights sleepless and crying to herself. She came to know that Yuvaan was shot in the head with an expandable bullet. The exit wound was much larger and he had died instantaneously on impact. She received a courier that had a package that morning. She undid the package and it had a letter and a bloodstained key with few other papers. The letter was from Yuvaan mentioning her to follow the details on the papers to reach a place where he had kept a box. Further, he had instructed them to use the key to open it and cautioned her to be on the alert as anytime EVIL will approach her. She went again the text on the letter and she wondered what it really meant. She felt that the box had her way to reach Yuvaan’s killer and the details to the mystery she was behind.

The man who preferred to be called EVIL was busy watching her from the opposite balcony of the mansion. He smiled to himself and he went inside to have a look at the sword in hand. “You are really beautiful”, he exclaimed and kissed the sword gently.

She made her way through the woods and reached the clearing where the box was laid on the ground. She inserted the key and rotated it clockwise. Clank.Clank.. It was about to open as she saw the shadows from behind. She turned back cautiously…

…………

Charu woke up out of the hospital bed in a startle shouting the name EVIL. Her face turned pale red and she shivered in fright. Hearing the noise the hospital staffs rushed to her room and the nurse sedated her immediately….