Kartik Khandelwal

“Yesterday…” I was standing in front of my desk with my butts on the table to give me support. My arms were folded on the chest and I had my head tilted downwards. “… was one of the worst days in the history of India.”

My companions--Mukesh, Richa, Sonia and Prakash--had their eyes on me with a sense of seriousness and justice on their faces. They looked at me with that same sense as I continued, “A hundred men, or even more, were on the streets of Delhi with rifles hung on their backs. India’s never seen a bigger terrorist attack than this, but the case was completely under the shadows because of zero casualties in the process.” I looked at them and turned my face up and asked, “Three attacks… Three dreadful attacks on a single day--that’s what marked the ‘Black Day of India’, Twenty-eighth December of Twenty-Eighteen. And, they were not just any simple attacks; they all tested the growth and power of the police throughout the years.”

“They were executed perfectly. The Jail was attacked to free Shahnawaz, the mall was attacked to ‘make their voices heard’ and in between the chaos, our officers and lead suspects of this case, Mr. Vivek Virohan and Mr. Anuj, and one other unidentified officer, were found dead in their respective homes,” Mr. Mukesh narrated. “I guess that it all was done for the sole two purposes to kill the officers and free Shahnawaz. But, we still can’t decipher what the message ‘our voices should be heard’ meant.”

“Moreover,” Kartik stated, “When I was kept as a hostage, a man, who looked like their leader or something, came up to me and said something like--‘just make sure no innocent goes to jail.’”

“That’s mysterious,” Sonia commented. “According to me, they all are either trying to play games with us or something of civil war is going on in the underworld, where TES is included.”

“Not gonna lie, but, this all is now giving me something of Hollywood-movie vibes,” Mukesh said. “As the case is going deeper and deeper, it’s becoming more and more mysterious.”

“Not just that, but the case is even giving some bad vibes to me,” Richa said. “I mean, the underworld, mafia, wars, such things become scary when you witness them in real life, right?” Richa pointed out at Kartik and said, “See our leader, who’s been in such cases for like three years.”

“Anyways,” Kartik said. “I must tell you to continue with your assignments. But, just be safe, ‘kay? That attack is a warning to us too. They had taken over the city for thirty minutes. For those thirty minutes, the government was not the one to rule, but it was The Eye of Suicide.” The four nodded. I turned towards my desk and started collecting my papers as I said, “Dismissed.”

They all stood up and started walking towards the gate. I was taking up my bag and hanging it on my right shoulder as I turned back and saw Prakash glaring at me. “Hey, Kartik.”

“What happened, Prash?”

“Well, you know, I guess you needa take a break. You’re getting stressed. We’re gonna get some new men in no time, Kartik, now that TES has attacked the city once. The case is going all right as it should, and--”

“The case ain’t going as it should, Prakash,” I replied seriously. “If it were going on all right, we could have stopped the attacks for sure. We were so close, can’t you see? Shahnawaz was just in front of us. If only I’d ordered someone to beat him to pulp that I could get the intelligence early and all this could have been prevented.”

“C’mon, Kartik. It was not your fault, was it? Even the police were unable to figure out about the attacks.”

“It’s because they were not the ones working on this case, Prakash. It was my duty to warn, and I was not able to live up to the expectations.” I walked past him and said, “Complete your assignment, Kartik, and start thinking about the city, not me.”

I left the room in anger. “He’s certainly changed since the attacks. He must be in trauma that he can’t save the city, and Shahnawaz is on loose, but it’s not his fault.”

I was walking on the corridor beside which I was able to see the grand entrance cemented hall. “It looks just like the entrance of City-walk,” I whispered. I, then, turned left towards a door and opened it. I entered and found Ms. Yashika working on her laptop.

“Oh, welcome, Mr. Khandelwal.”

“I had a plea here to increase the number of people working in The Suiciders Defense Group. I guess you must reconsider it because of the ‘Black Day Attacks’ yesterday, which is supposed to be the work of The Suiciders, or The Eye of Suicide, as they’re called.”

“I would have loved to give you some extra hands on such a case, Mr. Khandelwal, but the fact is, the government officials superior to me have turned down the decision in order to save some money on the next attacks.”

“What?” I squeaked. “It-It’s a completely lame and irrational decision, Ms. Malhotra. They should spend on getting more intel so that the attacks can be stopped, or at least minimized!”

“I know, that’s why I said that I would have loved to provide you manpower, but you know the conditions of state soldiers in the country, right?”

“If you know what the consequences can be, please plead to the government for some support, ma’am.”

“I can’t. They turned me down without even listening. And you know it’s just my job, and no one pays heeds to jobs.”

“Bu--” Suddenly her telephone started to ring and she picked it up. “Hello,” She said as I got up from the seat and turned back dejectedly.

I walked out of the room dejectedly. “The plea’s been turned down,” I thought. “No one pays heeds to this case.” Suddenly, I saw Ms. Malhotra dashing down the corridor and speeding past me. I had just come out of her room, and now she was running. I instantly knew that something was wrong as I started following her too. “What happened, Ms. Malhotra?” I shouted at her as she ran down the stairs. She didn’t reply, so I kept following her.

At the basement, she turned right and started dashing inside. “Wait, she’s running towards where Ayush works,” I thought as I turned right behind her too. I saw her breathing hard, looking inside towards the Security Room. Her eyes were bulging out in shock and she looked very frightened. “W-Wha--”

I ran towards her and saw the dead body of a man on the floor, covered with a pool of blood. “What the hell--” I exclaimed as I looked at the face. “A-Ayush?!”