Vincent and EVIL

Vincent was furious. All his plans had been thwarted. Never in the wildest of his dreams had he imagined that the sword could be replaced, particularly when he believed that it was in his possession all the while. He tried to rack his brains to recollect when and where the exchange could have taken place.

He was now more than 5000 kms from home and it would take him at least half a day by flight to reach Cochin. From there he needed another hour to reach home to trace the happenings on his closed circuit camera. He had a deadline to meet. Anubis was to meet him the following day and Vincent had to hand over the radiation generating plant to him in exchange for 2 million Egyptian Pounds. Vincent had already made a fortune by cheating Anthony and now with this deal he had hoped to be lord and master of all that he surveyed.

Suddenly a thought struck him. He immediately called Abraham, his assistant in Cochin intending to request him to send the video clip of the CC TV camera to him through whatsapp. At first the call did not materialise. When he tried a second time, he picked up the phone but seemed totally inebriated that he was in no condition to answer it. Vincent heard some voices in the background and tried to understand what was being discussed. He heard a very familiar voice exclaim: ”Abby, now you’ll be the richest person here – never forget us old friends! - That Vincent if he hears us will not hesitate to chop our heads off! What a dud was he – he trusted you so much and never realised that you swapped the replica of the sword with the real one!” Vincent heard laughter and jeering and it took a while for the facts to sink in.

So Abby was behind this! Vincent then started planning how he could remedy the situation now that he knew who the culprit was. He first contacted Anubis and bought some time citing some technical glitch. Sitting here in Egypt would not do him any good and so he had his flight tickets for the very next morning.

In the meanwhile news of Yuvaan’s murder had already reached his ears. His gut feeling told him that Charu was in danger. For the very first time, he thought to help her out of this situation.

After going through the papers Yuvaan had sent to her through courier, Charu was determined to get to the bottom of this all, Once again the pleading voice asking her to do it for Granny and Achhan kept ringing in her ears. “Yes, I will. The first thing after breakfast!” – she promised herself.

The next morning Charu set out on her scooter with the bloodstained key secure in her handbag. Little did she know that Abraham, Vincent’s aide was on her trail all the while. The gleam in his eye while caressing the original sword reappeared when he saw Charu. Charu was the golden goose for him! Quietly, unnoticed he had a few of his men follow her while he himself followed her at a decent distance. Soon enough he caught up with her and tiptoed behind. 

He and his men were well armed and were ready to strike her down if they thought that she would recognise them. By then, Charu had reached the spot where the box was kept and had opened it with the blood stained key. When she caught sight of the shadows, she turned to look behind but Abby and his men being very quick, hid themselves. Charu then peered into the box to find a scroll with a diamond pin.

As she started reading it, she experienced a rush of adrenaline as it was the will of her father, bequeathing all the property to her! She again felt someone was behind her and when she turned, she caught sight of none other than Vincent!

Was he the EVIL, Yuvaan had cautioned her about? Even as this thought struck her, there was a commotion and Vincent and Abby came face to face in a combat.

Vincent shouted to her to run home as Abby would otherwise kill her. In the present circumstance, she thought it prudent to listen to him and clutching the box, made her way home.

Vincent had his score to settle with Abby. He had come prepared with a few more men to tackle the situation. Soon Abby was overpowered and Vincent got back the original Khopesh from him.

Charu was sweating profusely. She could scarcely understand how Vincent appeared on the scene! Her thoughts went back to Yuvaan. He must have put up a brave fight before laying down his life. Grief welled up within her and she forgot all about the will which was in the box!

Hearing footsteps, she turned to face Vincent. She had many questions to ask him, if only he would care to answer.......

She was upset with all the goings on. She wished she had never come from New York. Everything was so unsettling, mysterious, weird and scary. She did not know how to open the topic with Vincent but he seemed to understand and started, "Look Charu - it is like this....Your Dad and I had a contract and the sword was given to me by him. I came to know that Abby had stolen it from me and that was why I came in search of it....

Charu was too shocked and could not hear him further. "Please Uncle, spare me the story. I am too shaken - what with Yuvaan's death and myself being in a fix. Let us hear this tomorrow