Rajiv had been a troubled man. He was only twenty years old but ever since the days of the riot, he often looked disturbed and depressed. His friends and family had spent a long time trying to comfort him and make him feel normal again. It was only time that had helped heal the scars left behind by the events of one night.

The riots were at peak, and everyone were staying inside their homes. Yet circumstances forced Rajiv to leave home and to make matters worse, it was late at night. He remembered how deserted the streets of his small town were that night. It was only nine o’clock and many had shut their shops and went home. A few groups of people, mostly men, were scattered about. All of them had a look of terror on their faces, anticipating for one among them to simply break out into violence.

Slowly, a stranger crept upon him, the stranger’s shadow casted upon him before appearing right beside him. ‘You shouldn’t be walking out alone now,’ the stranger said. He was covered to head to toe in winter wear and had his hands tucked beneath his armpits.

‘I know. But I need to head to the hospital,’ he answered.

‘Oh, thank God! I am headed there as well. I will accompany you,’ said the stranger.

Rajiv didn’t say anything. The two men walked down the street at a fast pace. Many of the smaller clinic and pharmacies closed down for the night leaving only few to operate with police protection. The one closest to him was about two kilometres from his home. He had a motorcycle but actively discouraged to use it as many people were targeting riders. Walking also had its advantages, he was able to slip though lesser travelled roads and avoid people when he came across them. But it also had its disadvantages as he would quickly find out.

The hospital seemed to be at an arm’s reach, when suddenly the stranger pushed him into a gap between two buildings. He placed his palm on Rajiv’s mouth, stopping him from screaming. He slammed Rajiv against the wall, poking him between his left ribs with a knife. ‘Shut the fuck up!’ he said, ‘scream and I will slip the knife into your lungs.’

He waited for Rajiv to respond but Rajiv simply stared back at him with a horrid expression. He smiled and asked, ‘how much do you have on you?’

‘I have only five hundred Rupai with me,’ Rajiv replied, his voice trembled in fear.

The stranger’s expression changed from a smile to a deep frown, ‘cheapskate. Take out your phone!’

Rajiv felt a shiver travel up his spine. He felt the gravity of the situation but did not know how to react to it. The stranger shouted at him again and he reluctantly reached into his pocket with his shivering hand.

Suddenly an explosion rocked the alley they were in. The two men looked up at the roof the building sitting on the end of the alley to see a fire burning bright.

‘What the hell?’ the stranger said in awe.

A black figured leaped into the air from the roof following which an object flew towards them. It smashed into the stranger’s face sending both of them crashing onto the ground. Rajiv laid there on the floor motionless for a minute. The stranger’s body was over him and it did not make any movement. He pushed the stranger’s body off him just as the black figure landed before him. Burning debris fell off the roof and onto the ground behind the figure who now resembled a human. The black figure was covered in black from head to toe while much of their face was obscured by light from the burning debris.

It walked towards him, but Rajiv could not move. His muscles froze as he felt an incredible weight pressing down on his chest. His throat closed up while his eyes widened. He began to tremble uncontrollably and with each step they took, his heart rate increased.

They stood beside him, towering over his feeble body, before dropping something onto him. He looked at it and realized it to be in the shape of a mask. The bright white colour of it was tainted by a splatter of blood, smeared across it.

‘The lady in white is dead. Make sure everyone hears that,’ they said before walking onto the street outside.

He didn’t move as he was too afraid to look back at the stranger. But he didn’t have to wait long. A large crowd quickly began to form on the street and before long, he was safe in the hands of the police.

Rajiv lived in the shadow of this incident for a long time. It was slow painful journey to recovery. When asked what affected him more, the thief of the killer, he couldn’t answer. However, when the Lady returned, his attitude changed. Everyone noticed that he looked calmer and a lot happier. But that didn’t last long.

‘Two men were arrested and charged for arson…’ said the new reporter on the television.

‘Can you change the channel please?’ the mother asked.

‘You can’t deny it but just changing the channel,’ the father replied.

‘I can’t deny it, but I can ignore it,’ the mother continued.

Rajiv, who was still having his breakfast, simply smiled.

‘They, however, claim to be victims of what they describe as the hero killer…’ the reporter continued, showing an artist’s depiction of the hero killer.

Rajiv, who looked at the news with stunned expression, remembered the drawing all too well, for it was him who described it. The father changed the channel in an instant.

‘Put that back!’ Rajiv ordered.

‘Don’t do it!’ his mother ordered.

Rajiv proceeded to pluck the remote from his father’s hand and put the news channel back on.

‘… the police claim that it might have been a hoax by the two culprits. However, several others have claimed to have seen such a figure running about the city of Karnoor. The police say that they will investigate the matter but only time will tell if this rumoured killer of the Lady is back…’ the reporter said.

A sharp pain cut through Rajiv’s heart. He gritted his teeth, trying to contain his tears while both his parents looked on with deep concern.

***

‘The hero killer. What a stupid name? You had one chance and you ruined it,’ Monica told herself. She sat on the parapet of a three-story building, silently observing the people below. She wore neither costume today, instead decided to see how the world reacted before making another appearance.

So far, the reactions have been mixed. Many rumours spread when the hero killer first appeared two years ago. As the character she had created only appeared once in the public eye, a lot of them speculated as to who this stranger was. People made up wild stories about his backstory, they automatically assumed him to be a man, and why he wanted to kill the Lady. These stories ranged from simple act of revenge to stories of a secret society from which the Lady escaped. Monica remembered reading all these wild stories and finding them quite amusing. She was a bit relieved to learn the theory about the hero killer being the Lady herself didn’t catch on.

With the character’s second appearance, people seemed to be just as bewildered as the last time. News was talking about the Hero Killer all day and people online were setting contests to see who would be more popular. Monica wondered if the appearance of the Hero Killer will put a stop to people idolizing the Lady to an extreme like before. She knew only time would tell.

The street below was brightly lit by orange tungsten lights. The number of pedestrians dwindled as the late night approached but it was at this time that more hooligans come out of their hiding holes.

Just as predicted, Monica noticed four people running about the street before taking a hard right at an intersection. She followed them from the roof she was on. Looking ahead at the street in front, she noticed a man walking alone in the darkness of the night. The suspects quickly picked up pace as they ran towards the man.

Monica immediately hopped of the parapet and readied herself to jump into action. She then noticed the gang to be of four women and all four were wearing a mask much similar to her own.

The man turned around to see the woman running towards him. He did not run, instead appeared to call out to one of them. The woman in front lifted a hockey stick and swung it right at the man’s torso. Reacting to it, he curled up while calling her a mad woman.

Monica watched them thrash the man in shock. She wondered if it was something personal and not something for her to get involved in, especially without the costume. However, that wasn’t enough to stop her. She hopped down and on to the adjacent building, running parallel to the street they were on.

Just as she was about to reach them, she stopped at the voice of another stranger. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ she asked. Monica, with her focus on the gang, didn’t notice the stranger sneak up on them. She noticed that the stranger was a woman too, but unlike the others, her face was fully visible.

‘What does it look like? Delivering justice,’ said one of the assaulters.

‘And what is his crime?’ asked the stranger.

‘This asshole has been cheating on me with my best friend,’ said another woman before kicking him in the face.

‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ replied the stranger.

‘What? He is getting what he deserved,’ replied one of the assaulters.

‘You have an issue with him, take it out in private. Don’t pretend like this is some kind public service. That doesn’t make you heroes, just rascals,’ replied the stranger.

‘What the fuck? Who the hell are you to tell that?’

‘Nobody. Now stop creating nuisance and go home,’ replied the stranger.

‘Looks like the bitch needs a lesson,’ said the assaulter closest to the stranger.

‘Are you serious?’ the stranger said. But her question was answered when the assaulter swung her hockey stick at her face. The stranger didn’t bother to dodge, instead she delivered a swift punch to the other woman’s liver. The woman crumbled like paper, dropping the stick, and falling onto the ground. All the other’s watched her in silence.

The stranger bent down and pulled the mask of her. ‘This here… is not your free pass to do whatever you want. It is a symbol of hope that we can live in peace. Don’t you dare wear this again.’ She turned back to see all the other woman take off their masks as well. ‘Now get out of here,’ she said.

The women did as they were told. Picking themselves up and running off in mere seconds. The man began to dust himself as he tried to steady his nerves.

‘You alright?’ asked the stranger.

‘Yeah. Thanks for saving me. Never seeing that psycho again,’ he replied and ran in the opposite direction.

Monica watched the whole incident with a dropped jaw. There was a sparkle in her eye which she would not have wanted to admit. She watched the stranger walk back to the intersection where she regrouped with a man, before the two of them trotted down another road.

***

‘Good morning sunshine,’ Ramana greeted his wife, Sita, who just walked out of her room with shabby hair and an itchy back.

‘Good morning,’ she greeted back. She sat down at the dinner table and asked, ‘coffee please.’

‘On it. Had a rough night acting as the Lady’s proxy, huh?’ Ramana teased.

‘Those girls… every fool in the city wants to act like a hero just to create problems,’ she replied with a deep frown.

Raman simply smiled before getting back to making coffee. ‘By the way, you got a package,’ he said pointing to a closed brown bag on the table.

She looked at it puzzled. Her first thought was that it was a parcel she must have ordered online, but she couldn’t recall ordering anything recently. ‘Who is it from?’ she asked.

‘No clue. No sender’s name on it,’ he replied.

It a small paper bag wrapped around a thin carboard box. She slowly cut open the paper to reveal a dull white cardboard box. Before opening it, she shook it once and heard a solid piece tumbling inside. Curious, she finally opened the box and a white mask fell onto the table.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the mask. She put down the box and carefully lifted it. She felt the texture and weight of it, it wasn’t something you would find at the local store. ‘Ram! Check this!’ she said.

Ramana, who had been busy with the coffee, turned around to see his wife holding up the mask with a big smile on her face. ‘Whoa! Did you order it?’ he asked.

She shook her head.

‘Then who sent it?’ he asked.

She put down the mask and picked up the box, she stuffed her fingers inside and felt about. A small piece of paper had been stuck to the side of the box that she was able to pry and pull out with ease.

Her heart thumped against her chest as she began to read what was on the paper.

‘I know you might think this is just a prank, but that doesn’t matter. I witnessed someone who truly understand the meaning of my efforts and I have no words to express how I feel. All I can say is, thank you. For believing in me and I will live up to that belief.

- The Lady in White

P.S. I will share a secret with you. I always called myself Arora, you are the first one to know.’

Sita felt overwhelmed all of a sudden. Tears began to form at the corner of her eyes as she covered her mouth to stop herself from crying. Raman watched her drop the paper and look at him with teary eyes.

‘Hey, you okay?’ he asked as he walked over to her.

She removed her hand off her mouth and nodded before, ‘I am more than okay. I just felt like I won over the whole world.’