Seven days had passed since the raid at Kasipuram while the nation has been buzzing like never before. In the seven days, Monica has been city hopping during the day while strategically popping up as Arora to keep the buzz going about her at night. Arora has now been appearing all over the country and not just in the district of Kollum, making a few rather anxious.

She arrived at the city of Karnoor on a Sunday morning, with just enough time stretch her legs before having to visit the office for her work. It was a beautiful day outside, with a clear blue sky accompanied by cool autumn winds. But Monica decided to spend the day in her hotel room. It was well furnished with a queen-sized bed occupying much of the carpet space. Monica, however, didn’t care much for amenities this time around. Her mind had been occupied by more important thoughts.

She had ordered herself a light breakfast, brought to her room, while settling down before the television. Her hands shivered with anxiety as she proceeded to switch on the television and navigating to the news channel.

She has been observing the news with a close eye for the past week, well aware that every action of hers is going to have a ripple effect on the entire country. So far, it appears as though the media agrees. Everyone from journalists to political commentators to self-proclaimed progressive critics have been talking about her alter-ego without a break.

News of the raid set the nation ablaze the same night. No one knew for sure if Arora aka the lady in white had really returned or if it was just a rumour.

‘No way she is back. She has no right to show her face after what she has done,’ said a stranger’s comment.

‘I knew she wasn’t dead! Suck it you keyboard warriors!’ said another.

‘No way she is back. It is a cover up for something worse. The criminals and police have joined hands and are doing this!’ read a comment.

‘What a way to mark your return! Wreck a human trafficking ring that has been operating in the open for ages! Welcome back mam. We missed you!’ read another.

‘If only the dead could talk. They would tell you how ridiculous this whole idea sounds,’ said a news anchor.

‘But why would someone want to lie about her?’ asked his co-host.

‘Because it is easier to pin the blame on a dead person than on a living person,’ he replied.

‘What do you think Sir? Is she back?’ another news anchor asked her guest.

‘I don’t think it is a question of if she is back. What we should be asking is do we want her back? Because if you ask me, the country was running just fine without this murderer running the street,’ her guest replied.

Over the next few days, Arora began to appear in the public eye more and more. With that the discussion slowly shifted away from the question of her existence to whether she should return or not.

‘She is a warrior. What happened wasn’t her fault! It was just the fault of a few fanatics!’ a woman told the news reporter on the sidewalk.

‘Yes. But she should take responsibility of those following her, doesn’t she? She is supposed to set an example,’ said another pedestrian.

‘We, sitting in our comfort of our homes, have no right to comment on someone who is going out of their way to fight crime,’ read a comment.

‘Her actions affect everyone, including us. We have every right to criticize her actions!’ read another.

‘People are telling that criminals became more cautious when she was around. But where is the proof? From what I remember, the riots alone contributed to a massive upsurge of crime when she was around,’ commented a news anchor.

‘She is a beacon of hope for the women of this country. She makes us women feel safe and feel like we are looked after,’ said another news anchor.

‘What has she done for us?’ asked a woman, ‘I didn’t feel any different between when she was around and when she wasn’t.’

‘I don’t know about others but personally I face less harassment than I did before she was there,’ said another woman.

‘I do not understand why people want to glorify a criminal?’ said a news anchor.

‘But she is not a criminal, is she?’ said her co-host.

‘A person running around in mask, beating up people in middle of the night, sounds like a criminal to me.’

‘But she is taking down the criminals.’

‘Just because your target is a criminal, doesn’t make you a hero. Criminals fight each other all the time. If she really wanted to do good, maybe she should join the police. We have a system in place for a reason,’ the news anchor replied.

‘Frankly, I trust a vigilante more than the police. I would take my chances with someone who I know has a moral compass, than with a system that we know has been corrupted for ages,’ said a commentor.

‘People willing to put the safety of this country in the hands of a stranger is exactly why we are doomed to fail,’ said another commentor.

‘Is she ever going to answer for the riots she had caused?’ asked a stranger on the internet.

‘Does she really think she can just comeback and expect us to accept her?’ asked another stranger.

‘So many people were hurt, some have lost their lives and she like to pretend like nothing happened? And we have to support such a vile human.’

‘It disgusts me to think that people can support such people. We live in a truly pathetic country,’ wrote a commentor.

‘Of course, she won’t answer for them. And of course, this is just going to repeat. Just watch as this country implodes in a few months,’ said a person.

‘… we already know she condemns the riots,’ a news anchor said.

‘Wait a second. How do we know that? I don’t remember anything like that happening,’ his female co-host asked.

‘Well… she didn’t come out into the open and say it out loud. But the repeated attempts by her to disperse mobs, the time she saved several criminals from their death in the mobs... actions speak louder than words,’ he replied.

‘Okay, so let us assume this was her way to condemning the violence. I then ask you, what did that accomplish? The riots did not disappear until she faked her own death. Does she have an answer if that were ever to happen again?’ she asked.

Despite many looking at her return with hopeful eyes, people can’t stop talking about the time when her actions led to chaos. Monica, however, knew very well that they were right. She still remembers the day when things began to go awry. It was all over the news. She remembered that evening to be a lot darker than it was.

By the time, she returned home, it was close to sundown. The first thing she would do was switch on the news. It was important for her to keep a track of what was happening, but even she could not have anticipated what was going on.

She watched the news about the Jalwar Massacre in horror. The lives of four families which included three men, four women, and three children went up in flames after a gang of men from the locality set fire to one of the homes in an attempt smoke out a supposed criminal. This alleged criminal turned out to be true. A common thief resided in the building with his wife and daughter. The consequence of swift justice was the lives of four families and one man left to deal with death of his family members. It broke her heart to see something happen like this so close to home. ‘If only I had been there,’ was all she could tell herself.

However, what broke her and later the world was the line of reasoning the culprits gave for their actions. To put it in simple terms, they acted in accordance with the law, they saw a criminal and tried to deliver punishment, just like the Lady in White. She should have condemned their actions in public. She should have said something, anything, wearing the white mask, which at this point had been painted red with blood of four families. But she didn’t. She was afraid and even anonymity of the mask did not help. ‘Things will get better,’ she kept telling herself, but things didn’t get any better.

What started as a gang of ten people quickly grew, compounding into crowds of people running around the cities wrecking mayhem of all kinds. They wore a made-up insignia to represent the lady in white. The weight on Monica’s chest grew and grew until she could not control anymore. People committed crimes in her name, and she could do nothing about them. She tried to stop them, stopping the crowds where they popped up, but no one listened. Her voice didn’t reach the masses anymore. They had made up their mind to this revolution and she knew she couldn’t stop them anymore.

So, she did one thing she knew would stop them. She killed their symbol. The death of Lady in White spread like wildfire. At first nothing seemed to change. But soon the opposing force grew stronger and the spirit of people using her name began to wane. Before long, the movement came to a standstill and the lady in white and the riots faded into people’s memories.

Reactions to her return sat on a wide spectrum. Some seemed genuinely happy to see her, but others felt she was better off being dead. But Monica understood everyone’s feeling. Even those opposing her had genuine reasons and Monica was not going to disagree with them in anyway. She knew her actions would speak louder than words and if she was to answer to her naysayers, she would have to do so by proving them wrong.

However, one common point that everyone seemed to agree on is the idea of rise of mob violence. Everyone knew they would arise again; the only question was how long this would take. Many officials began to talk about this with the media, talking about how they would increase security to stop the mobs from forming. Some even claimed they would bring down Arora herself as they believed her to be a criminal and not a hero.

Monica, herself, anxiously waited for any news to popup regarding this. She was certain that it was only a matter of time. She knew well that too many profited from the violence for them to stay silent. For a month before the raid, she thought long and hard on how to fightback with this ugly side effect. But she wasn’t expert on such things, so she believed it was best for her to react than to plan beforehand and execute.

***

It was getting really late and there was no sign of her cab arriving anytime soon. Jenny had been calling the driver repeatedly. Half an hour ago, he said he was around the corner, and since then he hasn’t been picking the call. She was anxious well before she had gotten out of her office for the cab, but now it was reaching a fever pitch.

Jenny was a normal working citizen of the country. Yet, when the news about the Lady in white is reached, she felt anxious rather than happiness. There was constant feeling of something bad lurking in the air when it was supposed to be the exact opposite. They were supposed to be safe now that their watchful protector was back. But Jenny did not feel that way. Her confidence in the Lady had waned. Instead, she feared the reaction of the people who can change their minds at the roll of a dice.

Lights filled the street around the corner of the building. Before long, a fairly large SUV turned around the corner before stopping in front of Jenny.

‘What is wrong with you?!’ Jenny shouted.

‘Sorry mam. We were stopped by the police,’ the driver said.

‘Don’t give me excuses,’ Jenny replied.

Inside the cab were three more people. One of the women, Malavi, turned to Jenny and said, ‘it is true Jenny. Get inside. We will tell you on the way.’

Jenny grunted angrily before hopping into the cab. The group got chatting as soon as the cab started moving.

‘Police are standing guard on all streets. And some of them are taking advantage of this,’ said, Akash, one of the passengers.

‘What did they ask?’ asked Jenny.

‘The usual things. Papers of all kinds. But if the passengers weren’t there, they would have pinned something on me and asked for a bribe,’ the driver said.

‘Even now they were stalling. Asking all kinds of questions. I told them it is a company vehicle, just ask the company. But they refused,’ said Malavi.

‘All this because the Lady is back,’ Jenny cursed.

‘Not really,’ said the driver. ‘The police are here because the people fear mobs forming. The mobs may form because the Lady is back.’

‘It is ultimately her fault, isn’t it?’ Jenny replied.

‘I guess so. But where was she till now and why return now?’ asked, Swathi, another passenger.

‘She ran away when her little revolution got out of control…,’ said Akash.

‘Wait, she didn’t start the whole thing, right?’ asked Malavi.

‘She is still responsible for it. She should be held accountable,’ said Akash.

‘She isn’t a politician. I don’t think she wanted people rallying behind her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be running around in a mask in middle of the night,’ the driver said.

Akash didn’t say anything but looked visibly upset. Jenny didn’t understand much of what was happening outside, but she just wished she could live in peace again.