Manish Murthy

“Why the hell did you leave us, Shekhar?!” She yelled at her again. “Why the hell did you…?!” Then, she tilted her head downward and exhaled some breath. Then, she looked back at the mirror and said, “I-I don’t know what to believe and what not to believe anymore. The Murdered Faction’s higher men have broken contact with him, and he’s nowhere to be seen. But, he’s led the struggle for so many years. Can-Can he really be that greedy?” She suddenly moved her hand at the tap of the sink, and twisted it. Water started flowing out. She moved her head down and sprayed water onto her face. She wiped her face after two turns, and then thought, “Stop it, Kriti. It’s better to have faith in him.”

There was a cheerful environment, and we all were talking with each other, laughing and having fun, when suddenly the door of the bathroom behind us opened and we heard her saying, “It’s not a good time to chill out! Let’s start the real deal.”

“Ah, sorry. I was unable to handle them,” Levi said.

“I knew you would not be able to do it,” She replied as she wiped her face from a blue hand-towel. “Have you told the scenario to him?”

“He has already talked about that with the leader. He pretty much knows everything for now.”

At that time, she looked at me and thought, “I-It means that he’s still with us, I suppose. Then why has he cut all the communications with us?” She then asked me, “So, do you know about ‘the time’?”

“Uh, I guess not…” I replied.

“Well, I guess he didn’t tell you everything,” She said and walked towards me. She sat in front of me and Levi and said, “So, first tell me what you know about the current situation.”

“Uh, that there’s a war of freedom going on here… how The Murdered Faction’s men were appointed at TES, and all that stuff.”

“So you don’t know about what’s ‘the time’?”

“No,” I shook my head.

“Okay, then lemme start right from the start,” She said. “The Eye of Suicide, as the legends say it, was opened because some men were… uh, not… I forgot that word. Oh, because some men were not satisfied with the work of the government.”

“Who forgets the word ‘satisfied’?” Levi asked.

“Sometimes, the word doesn’t come to your mouth for some unknown reasons.” She then continued narrating, “It was because of some disturbance in their area. I-I guess that people’s homes were taken from them, all their possessions were taken and no government official helped them.”

“That’s harsh,” I commented.

“Therefore, to take revenge by taking over the country and putting an end to democracy, this organization was opened.”

“W-What…?”

She nodded seriously. “Yeah, to take over the government.”

“You mean a coup d’etat?”

“Yep,” She replied. “And, that’s why, when we say that ‘the time’ is gonna come, that ‘time’ refers to the time to take over the country.”

“W-What is TES planning to do after that?”

“Radical changes in the working of the government,” She said. “The country would be run by a dictator, better facilities would be provided to the citizens, poverty would be diminished, and all that stuff. But, I can say one thing for sure. If TES comes to power, all this would definitely happen, because they are not saying those words for just winning votes and enjoy power. Their words have full of passion in them!”

I gulped. I was kind of afraid, but I gave a creepy smile too. “I-I’m a part of something this big now?” I thought.

Kartik Khandelwal

I was wearing a brown Pathani suit with a jacket on the top. I wore my usual black boots. Prakash, on the other hand, wore a blue one, with black formal shoes. We both were walking down a bumpy and rough metal road, and we had to move our legs some extra centimeters to walk. On both of the sides were big houses and bungalows, even though the road was so narrow. “Are you sure he lives somewhere here?” Prakash asked.

“Yeah, I got a call yesterday,” I told him as I continued walking.

“But, this place is… I don’t think someone who’d give us a tip would be living somewhere here. I mean, a tipper of a terrorist organization must be meeting us in between the darkness of the houses. Though it’s dark for the time being, we should still--”

“Shut up with your imagination, Prakash,” I scolded him and turned right, and stopped in front of a house. I said, “We’re here.”

“Good, let’s get in.”

I opened the door and walked in. Prakash said, “Hey, we should try ringing a bell.”

“I’m just following the instructions he gave me,” I replied and walked in. It was a grand hall, painted in crimson red and shiny yellow. It looked royal, and had a white sofa-set in between. “Whoa…” I murmured.

“It’s so big!” Prakash exclaimed.

“Come in, you two,” Someone from the inside called us. I looked at the corridor on the left far side of the hall. I started walking in, and Prakash was following me. I took out my pistol and took each step carefully. We walked about half a dozen steps when we entered a small room. An old man was sitting in a chair, beside a bonfire in the house. He had a white beard and hair. He looked at me and said, “You won’t need a pistol. Come sit here.” He pointed at the two chairs. I looked at him suspiciously, and then slowly walked towards the chair. I kept my pistol inside my pocket, and sat on the chair. Prakash also walked in and sat. “I’m Utkarsh Sethi, an old man who has no energy left in him. I don’t even go out of the house. I’m afraid… and scared of people, because I’m an easy target for the opponents of TES. But still, TES houses this man whose soul has long gone to sleep, just because I’m the brother of Vikram, its leader.”

“W-What? Y-You are…” I murmured.

He nodded, “Yeah, you heard it right. But, I’m tired of not being able to do anything at all.” He suddenly moved his hands slowly towards his back, and took out a book which was sandwiched between the chair and his back. He moved it to me and said, “All the answers to what TES’ plans are, and how it was formed, are in here, the memoir of our father.”

“B-But…”

“Our father, Indraprasad Sethi, opened this organization to extract revenge from the government, because he was very disappointed by them. The government… ruined his life… our life… and that’s why, he wanted to change the way it works.”

“B-But, why exactly did the government do?” I asked him.

“Ever heard of the ‘Kashmiri Pandits’ Displacement of Nineteen-Ninety’?”