Suddenly, there was lightning and thunder and the ominous voice that had haunted their nuptials was heard again. Tanmay screamed at his reflection in the mirror. It was SONJA and she had taken over his body.
The next few minutes went by like a blur. Tanmay was on the ground with Sweety’s body in his arms, lifeless. In his hands, he found the murder weapon. Sweety had been strangled by a shoelace.
***
The Banker sat in his cushioned rocking chair, smoking his pipe. The room was dark and austere, as morose as its inhabitant. The Banker looked back on his life and wondered where it all went wrong. He hadn’t always been this way. As a child, he wouldn’t have hurt a fly. But it had all changed.
It was sunny Sunday morning and the Banker was five. He had got his first set of action figures. They weren’t quite like his Barbie dolls, he mused. He would found out exactly why, later that night.
***
Gokul took the plunge. Tossing his body off the edge was the hardest thing he had ever done. He landed with a loud thud. Having survived a fall of sixty thousand feet he felt invincible. The room looked oddly familiar. It was LR 31. He heard sounds of laughter and he turned to see four women sitting in a circle, engrossed in a book.
The book was Twilight. Twilight chicks are easy, Gokul mused to himself. “Hello Ladies” he said. They turned; their faces as pale as ghosts. Gokul was scared stiff. They stood up, walked towards him and surrounded him to form a rhombus. Then in one voice they said, “We’re the world’s best predator, aren’t we? Everything about us invites you in — our voice, our faces, even our smell. As if we need any of that!”
***
Yorel was furious, how could such a small girl have escaped from his grasp? He burned with fury; he wanted them now, more than he had wanted them before. He looked through her bag and found her wallet, going through its contents, he found out where she lived.
Such a small girl ran out of the subway and into the arms of the Law. Police Officer Jagirdari looked down upon the weeping child. “What’s the matter?” she yelled. Such a small girl recounted her tale and the Officer promised to take her home. She was finally safe, she thought.
Yorel hated Powai, its rich, its flourishing and its most recent addition, Michael Jackson (as recent polls suggest). He hid behind a pillar near the elevators and waited. He didn’t have to wait long; such a small girl was there in minutes, accompanied by an officer of the law.
Yorel came out of hiding, such a small girl shrieked and hid behind the Officer. “That’s him. Arrest him.” Yorel appeared unfazed and drew closer. “Stop in the name of the Law” said the Officer and drew out her gun. In one swift motion, Yorel had overcome the Officer and now held her in a pretzel like tangle with the gun in his hand. The Officer screamed and ranted. “Don’t cross words with me” Yorel warned. But she just went on and on and on.
He couldn’t take it any longer. There was a bang. The bullet ripped through her, staining her uniform. She was finally at peace now that she was dead. So it goes.
***
When Goliath woke from troubled dreams one morning, he found that he had been transformed in his bed into a giant beaver. “What’s happened to me?” he thought. It was no dream. His room, a real room meant for human habitation lay peacefully within its four walls. He tried to call out to someone, but found his vocal cords in a tangle. He desperately tried to make a sound. He spoke through his nose. He got off his bed with great difficulty and decided to go outside. Looking in the mirror, he didn’t know what to make of himself. Was he a badger? he pondered.
Outside in the hallway, he looked at the name on his door, Goliath was scratched out and a sticker with ‘Himesh’ was pasted below it. Who was Goliath? Who was Himesh?
***
What happens next?
How will Tanmay overcome the spirits that haunt him?
What is the secret behind the Banker's urge to kill?
What terrors will the foursome unleash on Gokul?
Will such a small girl escape Yorel's clutches?
Will Goliath discover his true identity?
STAY TUNED
