The Hunt

by Sourav Deka

  “I know what the world is,” I said in a heavy voice. “It’s full of bad people, believe me I know. But there are good people too. We just have to believe in them.”

  “Are you saying that I should believe you all?” She scoffed and crossed her arms. “Let’s say for instance you get the seeds, what then? You will help people?”

  “Yeah,” I said confidently.

  “If someone steals that from you and tries to be god? Then what?”

  “I will stop him.”

  “Stop them?” she laughed. All the Aivors and Sam laughed with her. “Can you explain? How?” she asked.

  “I will do everything I can, I will take help. We will build an organization which can take actions in those types of situations.”

  She scoffed. “Don’t you get it? Whoever gets it will become invincible, you can’t stop them. No matter how much help you get.”

  I shook my head. “No, it can be done.”

  “Anyone who gets the seeds can grow saplings from it. It will never end. People are going to kill each other for it. The world will face a huge overpopulation problem. More people will cause scarcity of resources. It would be catastrophic.”

  “No, that can be prevented. You believe that because you are only imagining the bad things.”

  “Bad things?” she chuckled. “Kid, check out the history of the world. Every person craves for power, and when he achieves that. He becomes the greatest villain. There should be a balance in nature.”

  “No, there must be a way, there is always a way.”

  She sighed. “You are not seeing the bigger picture.”

  “Did you just show up to give me a lecture?”

  “I am here to make you understand,” she took a step forward. “Because you will have to choose a group, and I want you to choose us.”

  “I already understand. I will choose Savor. I guess Aaron will do the same.”

  “I will choose Savor too,” Aaron said. “Choosing you people won’t do any good to the world.”

  She tightened her cheeks. “You don’t know what you are stepping into, kid.”

  “It’s our choice,” I said.

  “Why do you think you are still alive? We could have killed you in the very first second because of your deeds,” she said in a heavy voice. “But you boys are rare to find. You share parents of opposite groups. You boys are special.”

  “Special?” I scoffed. “I heard everyone who shared parents of different groups dies while choosing.”

  “Why do you think they die?” her face reddened. “Because when a rare child chooses a group, the other group kills the child.”

  “Well, that never solved anything,” Aaron said. “That’s why the seeds are never unlocked as you end up killing the rare child.”

  “We know that,” Sam said. “But this time it will be different.” He blew his smoke. “Ah, all because of that witch. She could have made it easier but no, nothing is easy with her.”

  “Witch? What witch?” I asked.

  Bristy smiled at Sam. “You didn’t tell them why they are special?”

  “I was planning to tell them but,” Sam pressed his lips. “I died.”

  “Tell us what?” Aaron asked.

  Bristy looked at us. “Centuries ago, the witch who helped Nibshaw to create the seeds locked the seeds with magic,” she said. “She had doubts about Nibshaw. In case if Nibshaw kills her or hurts her, no one will be able to unlock the seeds, she made sure of that. It was like no one can touch the seeds, whoever tries they get burned.”

  “Then how Nibshaw unlocked it?” I said. “I heard he cured many people with the seeds.”

  “He was smart. He already knew that the witch was planning to lock the seeds by a spell. So he stole her spell book and prepared a reverse spell.”

  “Then use the reverse spell.”

  She shook her head. “That’s the problem. He didn’t share the reverse spell with anyone and later that book was lost. No one found it. But a century later one of our witches found a solution. We found out that the Nibshaw’s witch used some people’s blood to lock the cure. Those people were Aivors first but later became members of Savors.”

  “What?”

  “Yes, that’s why a person who shares half Aivor’s bloodline and half of Savor’s bloodline can unlock the cure.”

  I raised my chin. “So that’s why we are important. We are the key to the seeds.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, you are descendent of both groups, Savor and Aivor. Rare child like you two are very hard to come by.”

  “Can’t you just find another rare child or make one?”

  “We hate each other,” Bristy said. “It rarely happens. That’s why it’s called a rare child,” she sighed. “Whenever we find rare children, they end up dead as both groups want them.”

  “So it happened many times before.”

  She nodded. “Yes, the rare child has to kill the descendants or else the seeds won’t be unlocked. You two need to live.”

  “But we can’t kill,” Aaron said.

  “You have to. The blood should be on their hands or else the seeds won’t unlock.”

  I shook my head. “We aren’t killers. We will join Savor, they are good. They will find a better way.”

  “There is no better way, Ross,” she raised her voice. “Even if you choose Savor you would have to kill. Without killing the descendant you can’t unlock the seeds.”

  “No, I can’t,” I gulped. “I believe that Savor will find another way.”

  “You think, Savor is the good one,” she scoffed. “They aren’t, they are the worst, Ross. They are ruthless. They kill anyone who comes in their way. You are not seeing it because you haven’t met anyone apart from your father.”

  “Don’t you kill people?” I said. “I am pretty sure I have seen Sam killing one of my friends a few days ago.”

  “We are doing it to save the world. It’s important,” Bristy inhaled deeply. “The cure must be destroyed. You are not seeing the bigger picture. Join us. We will make you realize the truth.”

  “Well, I made up my mind. I am with Savor. Maybe Savors are ruthless, but at least Savor’s goal is to save people unlike you trying to destroy it.”

  “Save people?” she laughed and the rest of the Aivors laughed with her. “They are not going to save people, Ross. They will destroy humanity. The earth will be overcrowded. They will end everything. We are the ones who are trying to save everyone.”

  “No, you are wrong. There is always a way, the problem of overpopulation can be solved.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I had enough of this. I tried being nice, now I will go the hard way.”

  Bristy signaled her men in black suits. They came towards Aaron, grabbed him and put some cloth on his mouth. He tried to protest, but couldn’t as they did it forcefully. The cloth had some chemical which made him faint. He was going to fall, but the Aivors caught him.

  “Hey, hey, what are you doing?” I came towards them. “I made the decision, so whatever you want to do, do with me,” I shouted.

  “He also made the decision, Ross,” she said.

  “No, I am the elder one. Take me.”

  Dad was standing in his spot watching. He finally broke his silence. “They are not going to listen, Ross,” he said. “I saw this happen before.”

  “Tell him Richard,” Bristy said. “Tell him to change his decision or else you know how this can end.”

  “No, please,” I begged.

  “I am not going to kill him, Ross. This is just to make you rethink your decision. I give you twenty four hours to change your decision. We will meet here. Choose us or else things will go bad, very bad.”

  They took Aaron in their car while he was lying unconscious. I tried to stop them but one of the guards took a shot at me. I dodged the bullet but it hit dad’s leg.

  “Dad!” I turned around and shouted.

  I took out my handkerchief and wrapped it around dad’s leg to stop the bleeding.

&n
bsp; “Choose wisely Ross,” Sam said. “Make the right choice.”

  “I am not going to join you,” I said in a heavy voice.

  He half smiled. “We will see.”

  They left with Aaron in their cars. After they are gone, Dave, Martin and Mark showed up. They were worried about us as we didn’t go back to our rendezvous place and came looking for us.

  “What happened?” Mark came running towards us. “Who shot him? Where is Aaron?”

  My temples throbbed with rage. “Sam showed up with his boss,” I said.

  “Sam?” Martin raised his eyebrows. “Wasn’t he dead?”

  “No, he had his body spelled. He heals even if he gets lethal injuries.”

  “And the boss?” Dave asked.

  “She was Aivor’s leader, showed up with her black suit minions.”

  He nodded and looked at dad’s leg. “Let’s take him to the hospital.”

  We took dad to the hospital. The doctors took out the bullet and stitched him up. We knew the cops would come to investigate, so we made up a fake story to stay out of trouble. The next day when the cops showed up, we told them that we came across some thieves and they shot him to get away. They asked us for the thieves’ physical descriptions. We just made up some random physical description and told them. Fortunately, they believed us and left to catch the thieves which didn’t even exist.

  I was worried about Aaron. They took him. What should I do now? What if they hurt him to change my mind? I can’t let that happen, he isn’t going to suffer for my decision. I had to think of something. I was strolling outside dad’s ward waiting, trying to come up with a solution. How can I save him? I just got twenty four hours.

  “What should we do now?” Dave asked.

  “I don’t know,” I rubbed my temples. “They gave me 24 hours to change my decision, to choose their group.”

  “Why do they need to make you choose?” Martin said. “They are like evil. They can force you to choose them.”

  I shook my head and put my hands on my waist. “No, they can’t. They need me, they won’t harm me. That’s why they took Aaron, so that they can threaten him and make me change my decision.”

  “What are you going to do?” Mark asked.

  “I guess I will have to change my decision,” I said in a low voice.

  Mark’s eyes widened. “What? No, if you say yes. They will find and destroy the seeds. You can’t let them win, Ross.”

  “I don’t have a choice,” I lowered my head.

  Martin stared at Mark. “The seeds can cause overpopulation. They may be right you know.”

  “Are you crazy?” Mark yelled. “They are Aivors. They are not right. They want to destroy the seeds, kid.”

  “I know, but what if they are right? Maybe the seeds should be destroyed.”

  “No, we are not giving up the seeds.” He pointed his finger at Martin. “Don’t forget you also suffered in the magical forest with us. At least think of something to get in return for that, kid.”

  “I know you all worked hard for it, but Aivor has a point. What if it falls in wrong hands? What if it makes the overpopulation problem worse? You haven’t thought about that.”

  “We won’t let that happen,” Mark said. “We are already dealing with overpopulation, we can deal with it. We will find a solution.”

  Martin scoffed. “Yeah, you are so sure of that?”

  “Yeah, it can be the greatest medicine…………….”

  Martin interrupted him. “Yeah, yeah, greatest medicine,” he rolled his eyes. “I know that crap. You want to do good things.”

  “Yes, the seeds can save lives. How can the people who want to destroy it are right?”

  He chuckled. “Don’t you get it, Mark? Many people killed each other to find the seeds. What will happen if it is really discovered?”

  Mark frowned. “To do great things, sometimes bad things happen in the process.”

  “Oh, really? Then what makes you different from them? You are the same.”

  Mark’s blood boiled. “You are saying this because you weren’t looking for the seeds your whole life, kid. You just got caught up in the middle,” he tapped his chest. “I know how hard I worked for it.”

  Martin nodded lightly and jammed his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, I wasn’t looking for the seeds. At least I am not obsessed with it like you are. You are not trying to see the bigger picture.”

  “Enough of you two, shut up!” I said with frustration.

  I walked away from them and went to the washroom. I splashed some water on my face to get refreshed and looked at myself in the mirror. What should I do? Am I making the wrong decisions every time? Aaron is kidnapped because of me. Have I really become obsessed with the seeds? Maybe in a way, I am, but destroying it won’t do any good. It is a great discovery, a medicine which can cure any disease, but like Martin said Aivor had a point. If people start becoming immortal, there would be an overpopulation problem. But it can be controlled, we can set rules. People who want to be immortal won’t be allowed to procreate. If the immortal ones don’t reproduce, there won’t be any problem. A law can be created and the population will be maintained. There is a way, it can be done. I took a deep breath, washed my face with my handkerchief and came out of the washroom. Mark and Martin stopped arguing. They were checking out some magazines to pass the time. I went to dad’s ward to speak to him alone. He was lying on the hospital bed.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked.

  “The pain is still there, but I think I healed a little,” Dad said softly.

  I sat beside him. “Can I ask you something?”

  He nodded.

  “What do you think? What should I do?” I bit my lower lip. “I know, you are from Savor, but if you would have been in my position, where you need to choose? Which one you would have chosen?”

  “I don’t know, both have a good point.” He paused for a second. “But one thing I know for sure, both are ruthless. They kill anyone who gets in their way. Even if you pick one, the other one won’t let you walk alive.”

  “I am scared, dad. I am worried about Aaron.”

  “I know. I am worried too. But he is a rare child like you. They won’t kill him.”

  I nodded. Even though I knew Aaron was in danger, dad’s words made me feel a bit relieved. “I want to choose Savor. But if they kill to get what they want, I guess they aren’t different from Aivor.”

  “Everyone searching for the seeds becomes a killer, Ross.”

  I gulped. “I am not a killer.”

  “You would be.”

  I shook my head. “No, I………”

  He grabbed my hand. “Son, you heard what Bristy said. You would have to kill the descendants, or else the seeds won’t unlock.”

  “But I am not a killer, dad.”

  “I know, son,” he coughed. “The Savors should have shown up till now. Maybe they can help us.”

  “Yeah, they can help us save Aaron. Where are they? You should know. You are a Savor.”

  “I don’t know where they are but I know they are watching us. If I am not wrong they already know that Bristy has spoken to you.”

  “So why haven’t they showed up yet?” I said in a deep voice. “We need them now.”

  “They will show up at some point of time.”

  “You are from Savor. Contact them, ask for help.”

  “I am afraid it doesn’t work that way, son. They contact us. Only the superiors can talk and take decisions. I just get orders from my superiors.”

  I sighed. “So what should I do? They took Aaron,” I massaged my forehead. “I don’t want to choose them but I guess I won’t have a choice.”

  “You can choose Aivor to save Aaron.”

  “But that won’t solve the problem. Choosing Aivor will make me and Aaron Savor’s biggest enemy.” A tear ran down my cheek. “But I can’t let anything happen to Aaron, dad. They took him because of me.”

  “I know, son. It’s your choice now. Do w
hat you think is right.”

  I wiped my tears and came out of the room. Martin and Dave were waiting while Mark went to buy some medicines that doctors prescribed for dad.

  “Is he ok?” Dave asked.

  I nodded.

  “What are you going to do?” Martin asked.

  “I won’t choose Aivor, but I will lie to them. I have to get Aaron back,” I said.

  “Dude, they are very dangerous,” Martin said. “What do you think? It’s going to be that easy? These two groups have been fighting each other for centuries. They are smart, that’s why they stayed secret for centuries.”

  “I know it’s hard, but what can I do? If I choose Aivor, Savor kills me, if I choose Savor, Aivor kills me,” I sighed. “So now I just want to focus on getting back Aaron.”

  “Nothing will happen to Aaron, Ross,” Dave said. “Let’s kill the boss and her minions.”

  Martin gave a sarcastic smile. “How Einstein?”

  “Let’s fight them. Let’s kill all the Aivors.”

  Martin laughed out loud. “You idiots! You want to commit suicide?”

  “We can do this,” Dave said. “We can prepare ourselves. We will need guns and ammunition.”

  “Guns! Wow!” Martin clapped. “What a plan, a bunch of idiots going to get themselves killed.”

  Dave gazed at Martin’s eyes. “I am serious. We can fight them. They are just guys in black suits. Now we also have Tanner on our side.”

  Martin looked at me. “Ross, don’t listen to him. You are all going to get killed.”

  “I don’t care,” I said. “I have to take the chance. I have to save Aaron.”

  Mark arrived with the medicines and went to dad’s room. After a minute he came to us.

  “Ross, they are old secret groups,” Martin said. “These are not street thugs you are going to deal with. We can’t defeat them.”

  “We can,” Dave said. “I know it won’t be easy. But it can be done,” He looked at me. “It’s your decision now. What will you do, Ross?”

  I clenched my jaw. “I am going to fight them,” I said. “I can’t join them and I have to save Aaron. This is the only choice I have.”