by Sourav Deka
“But…………”
“It’s for the greater good,” he said softly.
“What kind of father are you?” I raised my voice. “You are telling me to kill people.”
“I don’t want this for you Ross,” he shrugged. “But we don’t have any other option. You and Aaron are the only rare child. Aaron is not in good condition,” he put his hand on my shoulder. “Only you can do this.”
“I never killed anyone,” I shook my head. “I can’t take a life.”
“You will son, you will. You just have to say yes.”
Martin entered the room. He was back with a bruise on his face. I thought I was never going to see him again.
“You came back? What happened?” Mark asked.
“I didn’t come back. I was brought back, forcefully,” Martin said.
“Who forced you?” I asked.
“Michael, he said I can’t leave as I know about the seeds.”
“Is it a rule or something?”
Martin shrugged. “Kind of, they think I am going to tell somebody about it.”
“Then you are stuck with us boy,” Mark patted his back.
“When will this end?” Martin sighed. “I want to get out of this as soon as I can.”
“It will end,” Dad said. “Now Savors are on our side. They showed up. We are close.”
He sighed and sat on a nearby chair. “Just end it man, just end it.”
“We should let Ross rest, let’s go outside,” dad looked at me. “Think about it, son. Now it depends on you.”
I nodded.
Everyone went outside, but Andrea stayed. She pulled a chair and sat beside me.
“Are you really going to join Savor?” Andrea asked.
“Looks like I don’t have a choice,” I said.
“You once told me everyone should do the right thing until their last breath,” she stared into my eyes. “What do you think? Ask yourself, are you doing the right thing?”
“From the beginning I thought Savors are the good one, but they also kill people. Aivor also does the same. It doesn’t matter whom I choose, the descendants would have to die in order to unlock the seeds. No matter, which group I choose, I will have to kill,” I lowered my head. “If I don’t find the seeds, Aaron will stay like that forever,” I sighed. “Now I wish that I shouldn’t have chosen to find the seeds in the first place. I shouldn’t have accepted the Nibshaw’s diary from your mother, I messed it up Andrea,” my eyes became wet.
Andrea held my hands. “You didn’t know, what’s going to happen.”
“I just want it to be over. I just thought to do the right thing but it doesn’t matter how much I try, situations will always force me to do something bad.”
“That’s the real world, Ross. To do something good, we have to fight every day in it.”
“What about doing a bad thing for greater good?”
“You are asking about killing the descendants, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“I know it’s bad, but if you don’t do it. They will kill every one of us and wait until they find the next rare child shows up. It doesn’t matter if you do it or not,” she pressed her lips together. “If you don’t do it, sooner or later, someone else will do it in the future. It’s inevitable.”
I nodded.
She was right. I can’t control it. If I don’t do this, someone else will when another rare child shows up. That will happen for sure. The descendants would die. I guess this is my destiny. I have to do this. I have to change. I know it will be hard and I won’t stay the same but I don’t have a choice.
I glanced at Andrea. She was looking at me. We stayed silent for some seconds, and then I asked, “Do you remember what I asked you in the magical forest?”
“Yeah I remember,” she said.
“So will you go out with me after all this is over? Have you thought about it? You said, you will think about it.”
She smiled. “Well, I meant thinking about it, after all this ends.”
“Who knows about the future? Think about the present,” I gazed into her eyes. “The kind of situation we are in now, it’s very hard to guess what will happen in the next moment.”
She kept staring at me for a few seconds, then leaned down and kissed me. A shiver ran through my body, her soft lips felt like strawberry. It was my first kiss. I pulled her back towards me and kissed her again.
“A kiss before a date?” I smiled.
She smiled back. “I thought I should do it,” she gulped. “We have to survive this, Ross. Promise me that we will survive.”
I held her hand gently. “I will, for you. I promise.”
CHAPTER 16
I healed up after a couple of weeks. Dad and Andrea took me to the place where Michael was keeping every one. He provided them all the facilities so that they can comfortably stay. It was a big mansion with two paths which edges were surrounded by colorful flowers. In the middle of those paths, there was a big fountain in front pumping out a jet of water. The mansion had many doors, and there were five men wearing white suits guarding it. Tanner was outside eating a bunch of fruits.
“How are you?” Tanner took out a couple of oranges from his mouth.
“I am okay now,” I replied.
“When are you going to think about fixing my problem? Look, I can’t even get into a house, no matter how big it is.” He threw some oranges. “I am just eating this bunch of fruits.”
“Aaron stabbed me. I have to fix him first. Then I will think about you.”
He stood up. “I can’t stay like this for that long, Ross.”
“I can’t focus on that now. I have enough problems already.”
Tanner came towards me and growled. “You know I can kill you right now.”
I chuckled. “I know, but you won’t. Don’t you want the seeds? You are powerful now, you can easily knock out someone. You staying as a hulk is helping. So stay like that until we find the seeds.”
He growled. “But it’s difficult to stay like this.”
“I know. Just have patience. We will find something to fix you.”
Tanner stepped back with a depressed look and went back to eating his fruits. We followed the left path into one of the mansion’s doors and knocked on it. Contessa opened the door and took us inside. Michael was in the hall talking to everyone.
“Welcome Ross, we were waiting for you,” Michael came towards me and forwarded his hand for a handshake.
I shook his hand. “It’s a beautiful mansion,” I said.
“Glad you like it, come sit,” Michael pulled out a chair for me.
“Where is Aaron?”
“We kept him tied up. You know, he tries to attack every time.”
I sighed. “What did that witch do to him?”
“He doesn’t say anything, Ross,” Dave said. “Just keeps on looking at us in anger and protests to break the ropes.”
“I want to see him,” I said.
“He just stabbed you a few days ago,” Michael said. “It’s not a good idea.”
“Don’t worry. He can see him,” Mark said. “He is tightly tied up with the rope. He can’t harm him.”
We went to the room where Aaron was kept. He was tied up to a steel chair staring straight at his front. He looked more skinny and dehydrated than the last time I saw him. I guess he wasn’t eating well. The moment I entered the room, his eyes turned red and protested against the ropes. He didn’t utter a single word, just groaned protesting against the ropes trying to break free with every ounce of energy he had. He had the killer look in his eyes wanting to finish me off, like I was his biggest enemy.
“Isn’t he eating or drinking?” I asked.
“He is eating very less,” Dave sighed. “Only drinks a glass of water in a day and a little bit of food. That’s why he became so skinny. If this goes on, his situation will become worse.”
Michael came towards me and touched my shoulder. “You can fix this, Ross. See what your brother has
become.”
I nodded and gulped. “I want to finish this fast. When do we start?”
“I found the first one, Liv Branson’s descendant, Jules Branson. She lives in this country.”
“Yeah, but where?”
“Liverpool.”
I inhaled deeply. “Let’s go, then.”
“You can’t go now? Dad said. “You should at least take a day. You are just back from the hospital.”
“I can’t waste more time, dad,” I looked at Aaron. “Aaron is suffering because of me. We need the seeds as soon as we can.”
Michael nodded lightly, “Yeah he is right,” he turned to everyone. “Anyone, who wants to join us?”
Mark, Dave and dad stepped up.
“No you stay,” Michael pointed his finger towards dad. “You were shot in the leg.”
“But I am perfectly fine now,” dad said, showing off his leg by shaking it. “I can walk and run. My son is going with you. I am not going to sit here and do nothing.”
“Dad, you don’t need another injury,” I said.
He shook his head. “I am going. It’s my choice, no discussions.”
“Okay, then let’s go,” Michael said. “I won’t waste more time to convince you to stay. Just don’t get another bullet in your leg and definitely not in your head,” he signaled his men to take out the cars.
We went outside. Three black Mercedes were waiting for us. My heart was pounding in fear. I was going to commit a crime. I was going to murder someone. My mind kept telling me to stop myself, but I had no choice. I knew I needed to do this and kept telling myself that it is for greater good, they need to die. I have to get the seeds and fix Aaron. I can’t be the same person I was before. I have to become a killer. There is no turning back now.
*****************
We drove for hours and reached Jules’s apartment. She lived on the ground floor. We parked our cars and went to peek through the window. She was a woman in her thirties with two small kids, and was feeding them in the living room. I grabbed Michael’s elbow and dragged him to our car.
“This lady? Are you crazy?” I said.
“Why? What happened?” he said.
“She is a mother.”
“Everyone is someone’s mother, brother, sister or father. Forget about that. Think about the seeds.”
My forehead furrowed. “Yeah? Do you have any idea what will happen to the kids?”
“We will provide them with a good foster family. They will live a happy life.”
I shook my head and put my hands on the waist. “No, I can’t do this. Isn’t there someone else from Liv Branson’s bloodline?”
“Only Jules and her kids. She had a brother but he died three years ago in an accident. You can kill the kids but that will be a much worse thing to do,” He pressed his lips. “So kill the mother.”
“How is that supposed to make me comfortable?” I raised my voice.
He grabbed my shoulders tightly and gazed into my eyes. “I know it’s wrong, Ross. But we have to do this, it’s for the greater good,” he tapped my chest. “We want the seeds, you want the seeds. Keep your humanity aside for now.”
I looked towards dad, Dave, and Mark. They were standing outside the car listening to our conversation.
“Don’t you want to stop me?” I said. “What the hell happened to you?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong or right now in this situation,” Dad said.
“She is the mother of those two kids, dad. He wants me to kill her and you don’t know what’s right and wrong?” I raised my voice.
“You don’t have to shout at them, Ross,” Michael said. “They looked for the seeds their whole life. They risked their life at every point. They understand that it needs to be done. You should understand that too,” he grabbed my shoulders. “You have also worked hard for it.”
My eyes became wet. “I didn’t know that I had to kill innocent people when I started looking for the seeds.”
“Its destiny, you are taking their lives. But the seeds will save millions. Think about the future. A bright future is ahead of us and only you can help us achieve it.”
I went to the window, took out my gun and aimed it at Jules. She was laughing and feeding her kids pressing their cheeks. My hand was shaking and a tear ran down my cheek. I felt weak inside, but my mind said to do it. My heart began to beat so fast that it felt like it was going to stop. I pretended to be strong for a second and pulled the trigger. The bullet passed through her brain splashing blood on the walls. She fell on the floor with a hole in her brain. The kids screamed and started crying their eyes out. It was done, I was a killer now. I just killed an innocent lady and made her children orphans.
Michael went inside and took some of Jules’s blood in a cup while the children cried on the couch. His men took the kids in their cars. Some people came outside hearing the gunshot, so we quickly got in our car and left before they could see us.
Jules’s dying image was flashing in front of me. I haven’t hated myself so much in my life. I felt disgusted. I should have never come looking for the seeds, it made me a killer. My old life was better than this, I was normal and now I had someone’s blood on my hands. This will stay with my whole life. I will have to live with this. I will never be able to forget this and forgive myself. It will always haunt me. We all looked at each other but didn’t say a word. We stayed silent the whole way and Michael’s men drove us back to the mansion.
Michael got out of the car. “Tomorrow we will leave for Rome, our next descendant is there,” he said.
I went to my room and took a shower. Someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” I said.
“It’s Me, Andrea.”
I grabbed my towel, wore it and opened the door. “Come in.”
We sat on the bed. I grabbed my red t-shirt and wore it.
“Are you okay?” she asked, putting her hand on my shoulder.
“No, I am not,” my face became colorless.
“It’s okay, you will get over it,” she said softly.
“I killed an innocent woman, Andrea. No one gets over that.”
She hugged me tightly. “Sometimes really bad things happen to amazing people.”
“Her dying face keeps on flashing in front of me,” a tear ran down my cheek.
“It will stop at one time,” she kissed my forehead.
“How could you say that?”
“When my dad was tortured, his image haunted me for years.”
“Did it stop?”
She nodded. “Yes, after a long time,” she inhaled deeply. “The pain stays but it’s on you how much you want to keep suffering. Pain will always be there, Ross but suffering is optional. Try to fight it, every minute, every second of your life.”
I hugged her again and kissed her passionately. She came over me and continued kissing me. My hands went towards her waist. I pulled her strongly towards me and then pushed her down towards the bed.
She removed my t-shirt. “Wait, we shouldn’t do this now,” I said. She pulled me towards her and kissed again. I stopped and said, “Are you really sure?” She nodded and kissed me again. My finger dipped into her navel and I began to unbutton her jeans. We began to make love to each other.
CHAPTER 17
Andrea was sleeping holding my arm. I was relaxing, but awake. I was watching her sleep remembering her words. It made me feel better but still it wasn’t enough. I took a life, I became something else. I will need time to get over this. This was not a time to think about it. I have to control my emotions as I have to kill another one. I needed to be strong.
Suddenly I heard a loud explosion which startled us.
Andrea woke up instantly. “What was that?” she said.
“I don’t know, wait I will check it out,” I got off the bed and wore my t-shirt.
“I am coming too. Let me put my clothes back on,” she began to dress up.
We wore my clothes and came outside. We heard gun firing. Andrea
and I followed the noise. Some black suit people were firing at the white suit ones. We hid behind a wall and watched them. They didn’t see us as they were busy fighting each other. Dad, Mark and every one showed up behind us.
“What is happening?” I whispered.
“Don’t know, where is Michael?” Dad whispered back.
Michael showed up. He was in a hurry. “Guys, follow me. Come, quick. It’s not safe here now,” he said gesturing his hand.
“Wait we have to bring Aaron,” I said.
Michael turned to Mark and Dave. “You two go and bring Aaron outside. We will meet you there. Please be quick,” he pointed his finger at us. “And you all, follow me.”
We followed him. Mark and Dave went to bring Aaron. He took us to his cars and threw a key towards me. I caught it.
“Take four of your friends, and drive. I will take the rest and drive in another car,” Michael said.
“Wait! What is happening?” I asked, widening my hands.
“Didn’t you see? Aivor is attacking us. They want to kill you now as you have joined us.”
“Okay, but where are we going?”
“Just follow my car, and speed up, okay.”
I nodded.
“What should I do?” Tanner said. He was waiting outside.
“You don’t need any vehicle, fly around. As long as Bristy doesn’t show up you can easily knock them out,” Michael said. “Stay clear of that bitch, she can really kill you.”
He nodded. “I will follow your cars.”
Mark and Dave came with Aaron. They kept him tied with the ropes so that he doesn’t hurt anyone. He was trying to move and break the ropes but the ropes were too strong for him. Mark, Dave, dad and Andrea came in my car and the rest went with Michael.
I started the car. A bunch of Aivor members saw us and started firing at us. Luckily, no one got hurt, the bullets hit the back of the car.
“Go, go, go,” Andrea shouted.
It was the middle of the night, so the roads were empty. I followed Michael’s car. Seven Aivor cars followed us and kept shooting. Tanner crashed four of them with his huge fists. I kept following Michael’s car trying to keep up, he was driving like a lunatic. After a couple of minutes I lost control and hit a street light. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. I tried to start the car but it didn’t start. Aivors were closing in on us.