by Anmol Batra
Swati laughs, hearing Arjun taunt her. “So, has he told you about his abilities?” Asks Swati, looking at Ankita who still has a bruise near her eye.
“I am still confused. How did he know everything and how he could do all this?” Replies Ankita with a bewildered look on her face.
Swati looks at Ankita. “Your brother is a prodigy. I am aware of a few abilities he has but…” She looks back at Arjun and asks curiously, “Hey, even I don’t know how you managed to dodge the cannon shells, find the SUV keys or even build a circuit to blow up those gas cylinders!”
“Remember Howrang, the soul guiding me?” Asks Arjun.
“Yes, I do,” replies Swati.
“Howrang taught me to over-clock my subjective experience. It’s like the world slows down for me and I experience it more quickly than anyone else. When I woke up after being unconscious, I over-clocked myself to look for events in future. Then I spent time looking for answers across the past, present and future. Thirteen Cannon shells, six darts, a wrench, parts of a broken alarm bell, I knew everything in advance. I knew the exact seconds; the places the shells would land. When and where Zaffar would fire his darts. I even knew the time of the water rushing into the canal. When things were happening, I left my body and overclocked myself several times to observe the environment and to understand Zaffar’s next move. The only mistake they made was leaving my wrist watch with me,” explains Arjun.
“Everything was pre-written, I simply made sure of the way it happened. And yes, it did happen the same way. For the two of you, it was just a few hours, but I have lived those hours like it was a year. And just like the five envelopes, the idea of building the copper wire circuit, deflating the tires or baiting Zaffar to venture into the canal; they weren’t mine,” continues Arjun.
Ankita remains puzzled and Swati remains spell-bound, listening to Arjun.
“Swati, it’s time I honour my word. Sorry for being blunt with this question,” asks Arjun, seeing Swati lost in her imagination. “When and where did your parents die?”
Swati’s eyes well up for a second but she keeps her tears in check. “They died near Chopta in Uttarakhand on 12th December 2004. I don’t know the exact time of the accident, but it happened between 5 PM and 11 PM.”
Arjun tries to recall if he has heard the name of the place. He connects with Howrang’s words quickly but ignores them, seeing them as a coincidence.
“Give me a minute!” asks Arjun, closes his eyes and leans back on the sofa.
Swati continues to sip tea as if everything is normal. Ankita remains confused and scared.
A minute passes by. Arjun opens his eyes with a shocked look on his face.
Arjun had remained calm and composed even until the last hour in Pakistan, and Swati had observed it. Seeing a shocked Arjun was something she never expected anymore.
“What happened?” Asks Swati in a low worried voice.
“Your parents never had an accident,” Replies Arjun, with sweat running down his face.
“I am not sure who killed them but he … or rather…it… was surely not a living human being,” explains Arjun.
9th January 2013 4:30 PM | Chopta, Uttarakhand
The sun hides itself behind the dark clouds and throws a little light on the snow-covered mountain along the path ending at Tungnath temple. An amber light from a cottage takes the shape of the window on the wet pathway. Rahul stands outside a cottage, worriedly looking here and there.
“Sahaab, she is not in any of the cottages!” Shouts a mining labourer on the look-out for Maya at Tungnath.
“Is there any place where you haven’t checked?” Asks Rahul.
“On the mountain top. She often goes uphill all alone,” says a worker, pointing a finger up the hill.
Rahul pulls out his gloves from his pocket. “Continue searching for her; I’ll go and check up the hill,” instructs Rahul as he slides his right hand into one of the gloves. “I hope it doesn’t rain or snow,” murmurs Rahul, looking at the cloudy weather.
Rahul starts trekking uphill. “Maya might have run out of breath in the freezing winter.” He thinks and continues to walk up the wet pathway. He crosses Tungnath temple and treks towards the mountain top.
After 30 minutes of trekking, he reaches the point where the tip of the temple pops up in his view. Rahul rushes uphill looking for Maya. The narrow area on the tip of the mountain is covered with broken rocks and rubble. The flat ground ends at a four-foot high temple painted in white, with an orange flag placed next to it. Rahul takes a second to look at the view. Shocked, he finds a fur coat among the scattered rocks on the ground. Rahul rushes towards the fur coat. He could now also smell perfume. He finds Maya unconscious on the ground. He takes a step closer to her when a giant vulture lands on the stone between Maya and Rahul. It squawks at Rahul with ferocious eyes.
“Get away!” Shouts Rahul, swinging his stick towards the vulture.
“Stop!” Shouts the Vulture.
Stunned, Rahul blinks twice. He can’t believe his ears.
“You don’t know the power of the relic you seek to possess,” warns the bird.
Rahul is now convinced about the bird’s ability to talk, but fear grips his mind. He questions, “You… You can talk….What… I mean…” stammers Rahul in a gibberish tone “How?? And who are you?”
“I am Java, descendent of Jatayu and guardian of the black morsel,” replies the vulture, with anger in its eyes.
9th January 2013 | 6:00 PM Rajiv Chowk Station, New Delhi
At the entry to the underground station, a young man in his early 20s eats a steaming hot Samosa with tamarind sauce and holds a cup of tea in the other hand.
He finishes and wipes his hands and lips with a newspaper. He walks downstairs into the metro station. He passes through the entry points and waits for the blue-line train heading towards Vaishali Station.
He steps near the yellow strip marked on the platform and leans forward to look inside the tunnel. He swiftly leans back, pulls out his cell phone and drops a message to a contact saved with the name ‘Mummy’.
“I have decided. I am ready for drug rehab.”
Howrang stands alongside him. Deep inside, he feels good about the young man and his mother.
The train arrives on the station and people rush past Howrang to enter the carriage. Soon, the station is half empty. The metro moves into the tunnel, leaving a red trail of light
Howrang takes a minute to look at the moving train and the red light on its rear. The red light eventually disappears into the darkness, but Howrang can now see a slight purple glow in the tunnel. He looks at other people on the station but sadly no one seems to observe it.
Cautious, he hovers over the track and glides towards the darkness inside the tunnel. The smoke becomes dense. Next, the purple smoke quickly takes the shape of a man, ten feet tall, wearing a cloak covering his head. Howrang can’t see his face. Only his eyes glow.
Howrang stops a few feet from him.
“Finally, we meet again… thief,” says the ghost.
“I knew you will pay me a visit some day, Hirath” replies Howrang.
To be continued….
Time Guard II - Reborn