A Friday night story
Part I: The Girl
‘Hey Viswa..! It’s already late..! Work tomorrow yaar, I have been waiting for more than twenty minutes..!’, that was Vardhan shouting into his blue tooth headset. He’s our usual S/w engineer who works 14 hours on all days and roams around the city every Friday night.
Vardhan Vasudev.. Smart looking.. Charming smile.. Absolutely adorable.. a typical boy next door.. surely, the sweetest guy around. Aged just 23 with more than two years of experience in the industry, the guy really was moving on with life. As carefree as a person could be, taking life as it came with no hard feelings.
‘Sorry mate, Client meeting. Let’s go.. let’s go.. let’s go’, came Viswa, Vardhan’s colleague, running down the stairs with no time to wait for the lift.
‘The show is at 09:45 and we are still here at 09:00..! I think we are going to miss a chunk of the story’, Vardhan said, with his usual sarcasm. He was ready with his trademark Yamaha jacket zipped to the neck.
His R15 roared to life with Viswa taking the rear seat, holding as cautiously as ever. Off they went for their Friday night errands, the usual Friday night errands. That was a routine. J Of course, what else can S/W engineers do to keep themselves within the limits of sanity after a hefty work all during the week? J
Vardhan was skilled in two things. First, he talked at such a pace that no one understood. Second, he drove at such a pace that no one could ever catch up.
‘I will never ride with you..! You seriously spoil my hairstyle’, his best friend usually said and so did almost everyone else. To Vardhan, it was always a compliment. He loved his R15, his first love.
Viswa kept his eyes closed when riding with Vardhan. ‘That’s a precaution’, he always said. To much of his relief, they hit a traffic signal. The traffic was huge and very unusual for a Friday night. Vardhan tried his best to skim through but at last came to a point where he could move no further.
‘What in the world is happening?’, Vardhan was losing patience and it was quite sure that they were going to miss the first few minutes of the movie.
‘Hey buddy, cool it..!’, Viswa said. ‘We will reach in time.’
‘No way, probably we will have to change plans. I hate watching movies after losing a few minutes.’
‘Don’t you ever relax in traffic?’, Viswa began in interesting note.
‘Ever.. What? Relax?’, to Vardhan, that was the last thing he could think of in traffic.
‘Look at the people around you mate..! Each one will have a story; take a glimpse at a part of their life. Its always interesting, isn’t it?’, Viswa asked with the usual poetic touch of his.
‘I seriously don’t understand what you are talking about.’, Vardhan said.
‘Look at the interesting scenarios man..! That little kid in the car, look how he is enjoying the chocolate in his hand. Look at the pair in the bike next to us, fighting as ever. Those college guys crossing the road, as if there are no worries in this world. ’, Viswa continued.
To Vardhan, it was boring stuff. Some thing more boring than the blogs he wrote. Why should he care to think about others on the road? Imagine their lives and situations just to while away time? Wow, he was not interested.
‘..the girl crying in the cab behind. The cab driver who looks amused.’, Viswa was continuing without a stop.
‘Which girl?’, asked Vardhan out of nowhere, suddenly interested.
‘You got to be kidding me. Dude..! Are you listening to me at all?’, asked Viswa.
‘Yeah yeah, I am. Eh, a crying girl, did you say?’, asked Vardhan, curiously.
‘Oooohh..! Yeah..! look into your rear view mirror, in the cab behind’, said Viswa.
Vardhan swiftly adjusted his rear view mirror to see who it was. She was in the cab behind them talking into her phone, with loads of tears rolling down her cheeks. Someone crying and why should he care, that was what Vardhan felt at the start. But, some thing made him look at her again and again.
‘Probably she is fighting with her boy friend.’, said Viswa.
‘Maybe..’, said Vardhan, half hearted and more interested in looking at her. She looked simple but beautiful. Vardhan was wondering how she would look if she was smiling instead of crying. He smiled to himself thinking of how beautiful she would look if she smiled.
Seconds after that, the traffic got moving.
Vardhan thought for a second whether to follow the cab or to go to the theatre. He felt stupid at the thought of following the cab for no reason. Back to his best of driving and zipping through the traffic they were on time for the movie.
‘Wow..! grab the tickets, I’ll go to park the bike’, said Vardhan and raced to the parking lot which was on the other end of the building.
After perfectly parking the bike, Vardhan was walking quickly back to the theatre entrance. When he was walking he crossed someone standing in the dark.
Slowly, Vardhan stopped walking and turned to see who it was. Well, he was unable to believe his eyes. It was the girl he was crying in the cab while they were held up in the traffic.
She was still crying and talking into her phone. For a few seconds Vardhan was unsure of what to do. He felt absurd and he started moving towards the theatre. He would have taken a few steps, he stopped. Turned towards the girl and started walking to her.
‘..I can’t do this..! please..! please..! why don’t you leave me?’, she was saying into her phone highly emotional.
Vardhan walked swiftly to her. With a bit of hesitation he said, ‘Excuse me?’, but she did not respond.
‘..no..! leave me..! please..! I can’t do it..!’, she was continuing into her phone without even minding Vardhan
He felt a bit stupid but continued, ‘Excuse me? Are you alright?’
This time she turned to Vardhan and stared at him as if she was going to burn him.
‘WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM..! MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS..!’, she shouted.
Vardhan just stood there shocked to the core by the sudden outburst. A few people who were walking back to the theatre stopped for a second to see what was happening. Vardhan felt really insulted and didn’t know how to hide from the stares of the people there. He cursed himself for having talked to her.
‘It was a crap thing to do. Why should you worry about some crap girl..? Man you really are stupid’, he was talking to himself while walking to the theatre.
‘Will you ever worry about someone else again in your life..? What if she is crying..? Who is she..? Why should you worry about her?’, he was continuing to himself not being able to digest what had happened just now.
‘What in the world happened to you?’, asked Viswa, curiously waiting with the tickets.
‘Eh.. nothing, just a bit tired, maybe.’, Vardhan tried to manage.
Viswa knew that it was not the truth but he didn’t try to press to much, ‘Oh ok.. Run in mate, its time for the movie.’
‘Give me a few minutes buddy, will come in.’, Vardhan needed some fresh air.
‘You are crap mate, why did you drive like hell then?’, said Viswa pushing the ticket into his hands. ‘Come whenever you want, I am going in.’
Vardhan really need some fresh air. He really needed to cool down from the insult in public from a literally unknown person.
‘You should be crazy to help strangers’, Vardhan was talking to himself like a retard. Even after fifteen horrible minutes he really didn’t know how to vent the anger and insult. He let the late night’s darkness and breeze take over him for sometime.
‘I am sorry’, said someone all of a sudden.
Vardhan was startled when someone spoke abruptly out of nowhere.
‘My word..! you gave me a fright’, he said turning to see the ‘crying’ girl standing behind him.
Vardhan was staring blank at her for a couple of seconds with his anger disappearing without a trace.
‘Eh.. I said.. I am sorry..’, she reminded him.
‘Eh.. that’s.. that’s ok.. that’s fine..’, Vardhan said like an idiot.
‘It was really bad to have shouted like that’, she said sad and apologetic.
‘Oh that, well.. not a problem, I forgot it that minute itself’, he said looking more stupid than ever.
‘Thanks for that’, she said with a blank face and started walking away.
She would have walked about ten paces when Vardhan called out, ‘Excuse me..!’ which made her turn around in flash.
‘Won’t you ever smile?’, he asked with the usual sweetness of his, a sweetness which noone could refuse.
She stood there for a couple of seconds with the same blank face unsure of what to do. Vardhan stood there looking at her, ‘Just one smile.. eh.. please?.’ He asked with a childish grin.
Slowly, very slowly, very faint to begin with, a smile, a bright smile appeared on her, till then, dull and blank face. She just stood there and smiled as if she had placed a big burden down.
Vardhan felt happy to see her smile. She smiled exactly in the same way he had imagined her while looking at her in the traffic signal. She, indeed, looked like an angel. Her simple look made her smile look even more radiant. But, one thing looked totally out of place. It was the bright red dot on her forehead which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
Vardhan felt that it was totally out of place and too bright. Something didn’t seem right and to the shock of his life, the dot moved down right across her face to her neck. He wasn’t sure what it was until a couple of seconds later.
The dot stayed on her neck for not more than two seconds and there was a snap as if she was stabbed in the neck by an invisible knife. She took a strong deep breath and started suffocating. Her face looked traumatised and her eyes budged out wide. A second later blood spurt out of her neck like a rush of water in a stream. She was shot..!
Part II: The innocent Guy
Vardhan didn’t understand what was happening till she fell down like a cloak off a hook. At first he did not recognize the blood. He thought she had fainted or fallen down, he ran to help her. He was scared to death when he saw the blood running out.
‘Oh my God..! Oh..! My..! God..!’, he shouted without knowing what to do. She was struggling to breathe.
‘Help..! Some body help..!’, he shouted
‘Is anyone there..! Somebody help..!’, he kept shouting but in vain. He took her onto his lap unsure of what to do. He tried to press down the bullet wound to stop the bleeding but it didn’t help.
With Vardhan shouting, the girl was lying there in horrible pool of blood trying to grasp the last of her breath. But she still was smiling, as if this world was a horrible place to be.
Vardhan wildly search around to see if he was able to see anyone. But the world around him was silent. He was not able to see any one, anyone who would have shot.
She was trying to say something to Vardhan but he was not able to understand. She slowly let her hand out to him. She was giving him something which he was not able to see. She thrust it into his palm.
She slowly, gathered a bit of air and said, ‘Save.. them..’. Then, she was dead.
‘Hey..?’
‘Wake up..!’
‘Oh no..! Wake up..!’, Vardhan kept shouting. But she was dead. She was dead for sure.
Vardhan closed his eyes tight for a few seconds frightened to the core. He didn’t know what to do. He opened his eyes to see if he was dreaming, unfortunately not. He was sitting there near a dead girl in a pool of blood.
He opened his palm to see what she had given him. He didn’t know what it was. A small rectangular thing? She said something? To save them? He didn’t know who to save? He didn’t know what to do with what she had given him.
Just then he noticed it. The bright red dot again. This time it crossed his hands and moved across to his chest. It stayed there for a couple of second and Vardhan started breathing hard. He knew what was going to happen.
Adrenalin rushed through him in a flash and it made him react to the instincts. He rolled aside as fast as he could and then came the shot. Thank God, he had moved just in time, the bullet just hit the edge of his sleeve.
In an instant he got up on his feet. His eyes search widely again, but he could not seem any one. Then, he started running, running for his life.
‘Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh..!!!’, some one screamed behind him. It was someone who had come out of the theatre. Vardhan didn’t know whether to keep running. Vardhan stood there and was confused if he would be able to get some help. Another silent shot was aimed at him. And that made him run without any doubts in his minds to stop.
He reached his bike and drove at a reckless pace, faster than usual. He wanted to be far away, far away from what had happened. He was unsure of the consequences. Who was she? Who killed her and why? Why did someone shoot at him? Will someone link it to him? What about the Cops? He was going mad with the questions.
He would have driven like mad for not more than five minutes. He heard it for the first time. He thought he it was just his imagination. But it was coming closer to him. It made him drive faster.
The sound of the siren grew louder and louder. He looked into his rear view mirror. A few hours before, Vardhan had seen the girl in the same mirror. Now, he could see the cops chasing him.
He drove as fast as he could. Of course, he was skilled in driving but not now. Not having witnessed a murder and being shot at. Not now when he was being chased by the cops.
He could see that he was being chased by at least four police vehicles. The sound of the siren was getting closer and closer. The police were gaining on him every second. Vardhan didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know if he could stop and shout at the peak of his voice, ‘I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING..! I DIDN’T KILL HER..!’. But no one would believe. Not with all the blood on him and his finger prints on her.
He thought about the distance and quickly hit the disc brake. The bike came to a skidding stop and turned straight at the cops. He rushed his bike onto full throttle and whisked like a rocket towards the vehicles chasing him. Just when he was close enough, he hit the brakes again and steered into a small road deviation leaving the cop vehicles very less time to make the turn.
He drove having a look back to see that he had gained a lead from the cops. He reached the end of the street on to the main road. Just when he raised his speed on the road, a car bumped onto the road out of nowhere.
He did his best to handle the situation but it had happened too quickly. He hit the brakes hard but the bike skidded at such a pace that it was uncontrollable. It collided with the car and Vardhan jumped of the bike leaving it tumble like Jill did from the hill.
Vardhan fell hard on the road and rolled onto the side over and over. He was trembling with shock of the accident. He was unable to move for a few minutes with pain and shiver all over his body. Too many things were happening in a few minutes, just too many things.
The cops were nearing him. He got on to his feet, still shivering. He started running from the cops. Things were going in vain. He was not able to run fast. The cops caught up with him.
The vehicles came to a skidding stop around him and the cops were quick to jump out with their guns in their hand, aimed right at him.
‘Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze..!’, shouted a cop but Vardhan was furious to get away.
‘I warn you..! Freeze right there..! Don’t get shot..!’, the cop commanded again. Vardhan had no choice, he had to stop right there. He had run like mad to avoid get shot by an unknown person and he surely didn’t want to get shot by the cops.
Vardhan was breathing heavily. He was hurt, shocked and shivering, all at the same unfortunate moment. He was bleeding and sweating. He was surrounded by atleast ten cops, all of their guns aimed at him.
‘Hands in air..!’, it was the cop.
‘I didn’t do anything’, said Vardhan.
‘Hands in the air..!’, shouted the cop again.
Vardhan did as he was commanded to. ‘I didn’t do anything..! I didn’t kill her..!’
‘Take out your weapons and place them on the ground’, he commanded to Vardhan.
‘What do you mean? You got to be kidding me..! I am not armed..!’, said Vardhan.
‘Do as we command..! Take out your weapons and place them on the ground’, said the cop.
‘I don’t have anything with me! I am not armed..! I don’t have any weapons..!’
None of them spoke for a few seconds with the noise of the sirens settling in. The situation was getting tensed every second with a few more cops joining in. The last man who arrived was clearly in command. Vardhan could not even ease himself for a second.
‘Sir, he says he is not armed.’, the copy said into the headset.
‘I know... I know… let’s cut the crap..’, said the man in command.
‘Are you part of the group?’, he asked.
‘Group? Which group?’, asked Vardhan confused and almost in tears.
‘Are you from the same group as the dead girl?’
‘I don’t know what you are talking about..!’, Vardhan cried out loud.
‘The dead girl is a sought after terrorist. How are you related to her?’, the cop shouted.
To Vardhan, it was like a nightmare. A Dead Terrorist. Chasing Cops. A perfect nightmare and he was right in the middle of it.
‘I am not a terrorist’, Vardhan cried aloud.
‘Why did you kill her..?!’
‘I didn’t kill her..! I was there that’s all..!’
‘Who killed her then?’
‘I don’t know..! I just don’t know..! I am not a T..e..r..r..o..r..i..s..t’
‘I.. I.. was just there..! just talked to her..! That.. That was all..!’, pleaded Vardhan.
‘They.. he.. they.. I don’t know.. I couldn’t see who did it.. they even tried to shoot me..!’, he added.
‘Do you think we are a bunch of clowns here? What was your group trying to do in the theatre? Bomb? Mass Destruction?’, asked the cop irritated by the non-stop talk from Vardhan.
‘I know nothing about her.. nothing.. nothing..!’
‘Why did you try to escape?’
‘What do you expect me to do? I don’t know the girl.. She was shot.. someone killed her. Some one shot at me.. I was running for my life..! To hell, I was scared.. Scared to death..!’, Vardhan broke down. ‘I.. was.. I was scared..!’
‘I just tried to help a crying girl. Just tried to.. help.. I never expected that she would be a terrorist.. I never expected she would be killed.. She just gave me some stupid thing.. and said ‘Save them’. That’s all she said.’
‘What did she give you?’, the cop asked.
‘I don’t know. It was a small rectangular piece of.. a piece of something. I don’t know.’, Vardhan said.
‘Was she killed for that? The thing that she gave you?’
‘I don’t know..!!! I just don’t know anything..!!!’
Just then one of the cops noticed it. He noticed the Lazer marker, the red dot move across Vardhan. The marker rested on Vardhan’s forehead. The cop grasped what it was.
‘Sir, he is being aimed at..!’, the cop warned into his microphone.
‘Bloody.. hell..!’, said another cop.
The cop ran out of his position and jumped at Vardhan. He had reacted in time pushing Vardhan off his position and covering him. The shot landed on the cop’s arm. The cop shouted in pain.
It made all of them to take cover and reconsider their aims. Someone was firing from the buildings around but no one knew from where. It was dark and no one could see who had fired.
‘Take cover..! Open Fire..!’, shouted the man in charge. Everyone fired a series of shots in to the dark the wounded cop pulled Vardhan to safety behind one of the vehicles.
‘Take him away..! Take them to safety..!’, another cop was ordered.
Two of the cops ran in for help. One helped the wounded cop away from the place while the other helped Vardhan out of there.
‘Drive him out of here..!’, came in the command while the firing continued.
‘Yes sir.’, said the cop.
‘Run to one of the vehicles, they will drive you out of here’, he said to Vardhan.
Vardhan moved out of cover and started running to one of the vans. As in sync, the van started moving and he ran as fast as he could. The van door opened and Vardhan was pulled into the moving van.
Having run like hell for his life, Vardhan stuffed himself into van and was breathing heavily. He was grasping every bit of air he could and the adrenalin rush was at its peak. Too many things had happened and it was going to take a long time to calm down.
‘Where is the thing she gave you?’, he was asked.
‘Its in.. Its in my jacket pocket.. it has been there right from the moment I started running..’, Vardhan said amidst his hard breathing ‘.. in the right pocket..’
He was still breathing heavily but felt safe. Safe after a long and horrid time, ‘Thank you.. thanks for saving my life.’
The guy who had pulled Vardhan in to the van looked sharply and through the darkness an enigmatic smile appeared on his face.
Vardhan slowly noticed that the man was smiling at him.
‘What are you smiling at?’, Vardhan managed to ask.
He continued to smile and asked a bizarre question, ‘Who do you think I am?’.
And his smile grew broader.
Part I: The Girl
‘Hey Viswa..! It’s already late..! Work tomorrow yaar, I have been waiting for more than twenty minutes..!’, that was Vardhan shouting into his blue tooth headset. He’s our usual S/w engineer who works 14 hours on all days and roams around the city every Friday night.
Vardhan Vasudev.. Smart looking.. Charming smile.. Absolutely adorable.. a typical boy next door.. surely, the sweetest guy around. Aged just 23 with more than two years of experience in the industry, the guy really was moving on with life. As carefree as a person could be, taking life as it came with no hard feelings.
‘Sorry mate, Client meeting. Let’s go.. let’s go.. let’s go’, came Viswa, Vardhan’s colleague, running down the stairs with no time to wait for the lift.
‘The show is at 09:45 and we are still here at 09:00..! I think we are going to miss a chunk of the story’, Vardhan said, with his usual sarcasm. He was ready with his trademark Yamaha jacket zipped to the neck.
His R15 roared to life with Viswa taking the rear seat, holding as cautiously as ever. Off they went for their Friday night errands, the usual Friday night errands. That was a routine. J Of course, what else can S/W engineers do to keep themselves within the limits of sanity after a hefty work all during the week? J
Vardhan was skilled in two things. First, he talked at such a pace that no one understood. Second, he drove at such a pace that no one could ever catch up.
‘I will never ride with you..! You seriously spoil my hairstyle’, his best friend usually said and so did almost everyone else. To Vardhan, it was always a compliment. He loved his R15, his first love.
Viswa kept his eyes closed when riding with Vardhan. ‘That’s a precaution’, he always said. To much of his relief, they hit a traffic signal. The traffic was huge and very unusual for a Friday night. Vardhan tried his best to skim through but at last came to a point where he could move no further.
‘What in the world is happening?’, Vardhan was losing patience and it was quite sure that they were going to miss the first few minutes of the movie.
‘Hey buddy, cool it..!’, Viswa said. ‘We will reach in time.’
‘No way, probably we will have to change plans. I hate watching movies after losing a few minutes.’
‘Don’t you ever relax in traffic?’, Viswa began in interesting note.
‘Ever.. What? Relax?’, to Vardhan, that was the last thing he could think of in traffic.
‘Look at the people around you mate..! Each one will have a story; take a glimpse at a part of their life. Its always interesting, isn’t it?’, Viswa asked with the usual poetic touch of his.
‘I seriously don’t understand what you are talking about.’, Vardhan said.
‘Look at the interesting scenarios man..! That little kid in the car, look how he is enjoying the chocolate in his hand. Look at the pair in the bike next to us, fighting as ever. Those college guys crossing the road, as if there are no worries in this world. ’, Viswa continued.
To Vardhan, it was boring stuff. Some thing more boring than the blogs he wrote. Why should he care to think about others on the road? Imagine their lives and situations just to while away time? Wow, he was not interested.
‘..the girl crying in the cab behind. The cab driver who looks amused.’, Viswa was continuing without a stop.
‘Which girl?’, asked Vardhan out of nowhere, suddenly interested.
‘You got to be kidding me. Dude..! Are you listening to me at all?’, asked Viswa.
‘Yeah yeah, I am. Eh, a crying girl, did you say?’, asked Vardhan, curiously.
‘Oooohh..! Yeah..! look into your rear view mirror, in the cab behind’, said Viswa.
Vardhan swiftly adjusted his rear view mirror to see who it was. She was in the cab behind them talking into her phone, with loads of tears rolling down her cheeks. Someone crying and why should he care, that was what Vardhan felt at the start. But, some thing made him look at her again and again.
‘Probably she is fighting with her boy friend.’, said Viswa.
‘Maybe..’, said Vardhan, half hearted and more interested in looking at her. She looked simple but beautiful. Vardhan was wondering how she would look if she was smiling instead of crying. He smiled to himself thinking of how beautiful she would look if she smiled.
Seconds after that, the traffic got moving.
Vardhan thought for a second whether to follow the cab or to go to the theatre. He felt stupid at the thought of following the cab for no reason. Back to his best of driving and zipping through the traffic they were on time for the movie.
‘Wow..! grab the tickets, I’ll go to park the bike’, said Vardhan and raced to the parking lot which was on the other end of the building.
After perfectly parking the bike, Vardhan was walking quickly back to the theatre entrance. When he was walking he crossed someone standing in the dark.
Slowly, Vardhan stopped walking and turned to see who it was. Well, he was unable to believe his eyes. It was the girl he was crying in the cab while they were held up in the traffic.
She was still crying and talking into her phone. For a few seconds Vardhan was unsure of what to do. He felt absurd and he started moving towards the theatre. He would have taken a few steps, he stopped. Turned towards the girl and started walking to her.
‘..I can’t do this..! please..! please..! why don’t you leave me?’, she was saying into her phone highly emotional.
Vardhan walked swiftly to her. With a bit of hesitation he said, ‘Excuse me?’, but she did not respond.
‘..no..! leave me..! please..! I can’t do it..!’, she was continuing into her phone without even minding Vardhan
He felt a bit stupid but continued, ‘Excuse me? Are you alright?’
This time she turned to Vardhan and stared at him as if she was going to burn him.
‘WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM..! MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS..!’, she shouted.
Vardhan just stood there shocked to the core by the sudden outburst. A few people who were walking back to the theatre stopped for a second to see what was happening. Vardhan felt really insulted and didn’t know how to hide from the stares of the people there. He cursed himself for having talked to her.
‘It was a crap thing to do. Why should you worry about some crap girl..? Man you really are stupid’, he was talking to himself while walking to the theatre.
‘Will you ever worry about someone else again in your life..? What if she is crying..? Who is she..? Why should you worry about her?’, he was continuing to himself not being able to digest what had happened just now.
‘What in the world happened to you?’, asked Viswa, curiously waiting with the tickets.
‘Eh.. nothing, just a bit tired, maybe.’, Vardhan tried to manage.
Viswa knew that it was not the truth but he didn’t try to press to much, ‘Oh ok.. Run in mate, its time for the movie.’
‘Give me a few minutes buddy, will come in.’, Vardhan needed some fresh air.
‘You are crap mate, why did you drive like hell then?’, said Viswa pushing the ticket into his hands. ‘Come whenever you want, I am going in.’
Vardhan really need some fresh air. He really needed to cool down from the insult in public from a literally unknown person.
‘You should be crazy to help strangers’, Vardhan was talking to himself like a retard. Even after fifteen horrible minutes he really didn’t know how to vent the anger and insult. He let the late night’s darkness and breeze take over him for sometime.
‘I am sorry’, said someone all of a sudden.
Vardhan was startled when someone spoke abruptly out of nowhere.
‘My word..! you gave me a fright’, he said turning to see the ‘crying’ girl standing behind him.
Vardhan was staring blank at her for a couple of seconds with his anger disappearing without a trace.
‘Eh.. I said.. I am sorry..’, she reminded him.
‘Eh.. that’s.. that’s ok.. that’s fine..’, Vardhan said like an idiot.
‘It was really bad to have shouted like that’, she said sad and apologetic.
‘Oh that, well.. not a problem, I forgot it that minute itself’, he said looking more stupid than ever.
‘Thanks for that’, she said with a blank face and started walking away.
She would have walked about ten paces when Vardhan called out, ‘Excuse me..!’ which made her turn around in flash.
‘Won’t you ever smile?’, he asked with the usual sweetness of his, a sweetness which noone could refuse.
She stood there for a couple of seconds with the same blank face unsure of what to do. Vardhan stood there looking at her, ‘Just one smile.. eh.. please?.’ He asked with a childish grin.
Slowly, very slowly, very faint to begin with, a smile, a bright smile appeared on her, till then, dull and blank face. She just stood there and smiled as if she had placed a big burden down.
Vardhan felt happy to see her smile. She smiled exactly in the same way he had imagined her while looking at her in the traffic signal. She, indeed, looked like an angel. Her simple look made her smile look even more radiant. But, one thing looked totally out of place. It was the bright red dot on her forehead which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
Vardhan felt that it was totally out of place and too bright. Something didn’t seem right and to the shock of his life, the dot moved down right across her face to her neck. He wasn’t sure what it was until a couple of seconds later.
The dot stayed on her neck for not more than two seconds and there was a snap as if she was stabbed in the neck by an invisible knife. She took a strong deep breath and started suffocating. Her face looked traumatised and her eyes budged out wide. A second later blood spurt out of her neck like a rush of water in a stream. She was shot..!
Part II: The innocent Guy
Vardhan didn’t understand what was happening till she fell down like a cloak off a hook. At first he did not recognize the blood. He thought she had fainted or fallen down, he ran to help her. He was scared to death when he saw the blood running out.
‘Oh my God..! Oh..! My..! God..!’, he shouted without knowing what to do. She was struggling to breathe.
‘Help..! Some body help..!’, he shouted
‘Is anyone there..! Somebody help..!’, he kept shouting but in vain. He took her onto his lap unsure of what to do. He tried to press down the bullet wound to stop the bleeding but it didn’t help.
With Vardhan shouting, the girl was lying there in horrible pool of blood trying to grasp the last of her breath. But she still was smiling, as if this world was a horrible place to be.
Vardhan wildly search around to see if he was able to see anyone. But the world around him was silent. He was not able to see any one, anyone who would have shot.
She was trying to say something to Vardhan but he was not able to understand. She slowly let her hand out to him. She was giving him something which he was not able to see. She thrust it into his palm.
She slowly, gathered a bit of air and said, ‘Save.. them..’. Then, she was dead.
‘Hey..?’
‘Wake up..!’
‘Oh no..! Wake up..!’, Vardhan kept shouting. But she was dead. She was dead for sure.
Vardhan closed his eyes tight for a few seconds frightened to the core. He didn’t know what to do. He opened his eyes to see if he was dreaming, unfortunately not. He was sitting there near a dead girl in a pool of blood.
He opened his palm to see what she had given him. He didn’t know what it was. A small rectangular thing? She said something? To save them? He didn’t know who to save? He didn’t know what to do with what she had given him.
Just then he noticed it. The bright red dot again. This time it crossed his hands and moved across to his chest. It stayed there for a couple of second and Vardhan started breathing hard. He knew what was going to happen.
Adrenalin rushed through him in a flash and it made him react to the instincts. He rolled aside as fast as he could and then came the shot. Thank God, he had moved just in time, the bullet just hit the edge of his sleeve.
In an instant he got up on his feet. His eyes search widely again, but he could not seem any one. Then, he started running, running for his life.
‘Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh..!!!’, some one screamed behind him. It was someone who had come out of the theatre. Vardhan didn’t know whether to keep running. Vardhan stood there and was confused if he would be able to get some help. Another silent shot was aimed at him. And that made him run without any doubts in his minds to stop.
He reached his bike and drove at a reckless pace, faster than usual. He wanted to be far away, far away from what had happened. He was unsure of the consequences. Who was she? Who killed her and why? Why did someone shoot at him? Will someone link it to him? What about the Cops? He was going mad with the questions.
He would have driven like mad for not more than five minutes. He heard it for the first time. He thought he it was just his imagination. But it was coming closer to him. It made him drive faster.
The sound of the siren grew louder and louder. He looked into his rear view mirror. A few hours before, Vardhan had seen the girl in the same mirror. Now, he could see the cops chasing him.
He drove as fast as he could. Of course, he was skilled in driving but not now. Not having witnessed a murder and being shot at. Not now when he was being chased by the cops.
He could see that he was being chased by at least four police vehicles. The sound of the siren was getting closer and closer. The police were gaining on him every second. Vardhan didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know if he could stop and shout at the peak of his voice, ‘I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING..! I DIDN’T KILL HER..!’. But no one would believe. Not with all the blood on him and his finger prints on her.
He thought about the distance and quickly hit the disc brake. The bike came to a skidding stop and turned straight at the cops. He rushed his bike onto full throttle and whisked like a rocket towards the vehicles chasing him. Just when he was close enough, he hit the brakes again and steered into a small road deviation leaving the cop vehicles very less time to make the turn.
He drove having a look back to see that he had gained a lead from the cops. He reached the end of the street on to the main road. Just when he raised his speed on the road, a car bumped onto the road out of nowhere.
He did his best to handle the situation but it had happened too quickly. He hit the brakes hard but the bike skidded at such a pace that it was uncontrollable. It collided with the car and Vardhan jumped of the bike leaving it tumble like Jill did from the hill.
Vardhan fell hard on the road and rolled onto the side over and over. He was trembling with shock of the accident. He was unable to move for a few minutes with pain and shiver all over his body. Too many things were happening in a few minutes, just too many things.
The cops were nearing him. He got on to his feet, still shivering. He started running from the cops. Things were going in vain. He was not able to run fast. The cops caught up with him.
The vehicles came to a skidding stop around him and the cops were quick to jump out with their guns in their hand, aimed right at him.
‘Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze..!’, shouted a cop but Vardhan was furious to get away.
‘I warn you..! Freeze right there..! Don’t get shot..!’, the cop commanded again. Vardhan had no choice, he had to stop right there. He had run like mad to avoid get shot by an unknown person and he surely didn’t want to get shot by the cops.
Vardhan was breathing heavily. He was hurt, shocked and shivering, all at the same unfortunate moment. He was bleeding and sweating. He was surrounded by atleast ten cops, all of their guns aimed at him.
‘Hands in air..!’, it was the cop.
‘I didn’t do anything’, said Vardhan.
‘Hands in the air..!’, shouted the cop again.
Vardhan did as he was commanded to. ‘I didn’t do anything..! I didn’t kill her..!’
‘Take out your weapons and place them on the ground’, he commanded to Vardhan.
‘What do you mean? You got to be kidding me..! I am not armed..!’, said Vardhan.
‘Do as we command..! Take out your weapons and place them on the ground’, said the cop.
‘I don’t have anything with me! I am not armed..! I don’t have any weapons..!’
None of them spoke for a few seconds with the noise of the sirens settling in. The situation was getting tensed every second with a few more cops joining in. The last man who arrived was clearly in command. Vardhan could not even ease himself for a second.
‘Sir, he says he is not armed.’, the copy said into the headset.
‘I know... I know… let’s cut the crap..’, said the man in command.
‘Are you part of the group?’, he asked.
‘Group? Which group?’, asked Vardhan confused and almost in tears.
‘Are you from the same group as the dead girl?’
‘I don’t know what you are talking about..!’, Vardhan cried out loud.
‘The dead girl is a sought after terrorist. How are you related to her?’, the cop shouted.
To Vardhan, it was like a nightmare. A Dead Terrorist. Chasing Cops. A perfect nightmare and he was right in the middle of it.
‘I am not a terrorist’, Vardhan cried aloud.
‘Why did you kill her..?!’
‘I didn’t kill her..! I was there that’s all..!’
‘Who killed her then?’
‘I don’t know..! I just don’t know..! I am not a T..e..r..r..o..r..i..s..t’
‘I.. I.. was just there..! just talked to her..! That.. That was all..!’, pleaded Vardhan.
‘They.. he.. they.. I don’t know.. I couldn’t see who did it.. they even tried to shoot me..!’, he added.
‘Do you think we are a bunch of clowns here? What was your group trying to do in the theatre? Bomb? Mass Destruction?’, asked the cop irritated by the non-stop talk from Vardhan.
‘I know nothing about her.. nothing.. nothing..!’
‘Why did you try to escape?’
‘What do you expect me to do? I don’t know the girl.. She was shot.. someone killed her. Some one shot at me.. I was running for my life..! To hell, I was scared.. Scared to death..!’, Vardhan broke down. ‘I.. was.. I was scared..!’
‘I just tried to help a crying girl. Just tried to.. help.. I never expected that she would be a terrorist.. I never expected she would be killed.. She just gave me some stupid thing.. and said ‘Save them’. That’s all she said.’
‘What did she give you?’, the cop asked.
‘I don’t know. It was a small rectangular piece of.. a piece of something. I don’t know.’, Vardhan said.
‘Was she killed for that? The thing that she gave you?’
‘I don’t know..!!! I just don’t know anything..!!!’
Just then one of the cops noticed it. He noticed the Lazer marker, the red dot move across Vardhan. The marker rested on Vardhan’s forehead. The cop grasped what it was.
‘Sir, he is being aimed at..!’, the cop warned into his microphone.
‘Bloody.. hell..!’, said another cop.
The cop ran out of his position and jumped at Vardhan. He had reacted in time pushing Vardhan off his position and covering him. The shot landed on the cop’s arm. The cop shouted in pain.
It made all of them to take cover and reconsider their aims. Someone was firing from the buildings around but no one knew from where. It was dark and no one could see who had fired.
‘Take cover..! Open Fire..!’, shouted the man in charge. Everyone fired a series of shots in to the dark the wounded cop pulled Vardhan to safety behind one of the vehicles.
‘Take him away..! Take them to safety..!’, another cop was ordered.
Two of the cops ran in for help. One helped the wounded cop away from the place while the other helped Vardhan out of there.
‘Drive him out of here..!’, came in the command while the firing continued.
‘Yes sir.’, said the cop.
‘Run to one of the vehicles, they will drive you out of here’, he said to Vardhan.
Vardhan moved out of cover and started running to one of the vans. As in sync, the van started moving and he ran as fast as he could. The van door opened and Vardhan was pulled into the moving van.
Having run like hell for his life, Vardhan stuffed himself into van and was breathing heavily. He was grasping every bit of air he could and the adrenalin rush was at its peak. Too many things had happened and it was going to take a long time to calm down.
‘Where is the thing she gave you?’, he was asked.
‘Its in.. Its in my jacket pocket.. it has been there right from the moment I started running..’, Vardhan said amidst his hard breathing ‘.. in the right pocket..’
He was still breathing heavily but felt safe. Safe after a long and horrid time, ‘Thank you.. thanks for saving my life.’
The guy who had pulled Vardhan in to the van looked sharply and through the darkness an enigmatic smile appeared on his face.
Vardhan slowly noticed that the man was smiling at him.
‘What are you smiling at?’, Vardhan managed to ask.
He continued to smile and asked a bizarre question, ‘Who do you think I am?’.
And his smile grew broader.
