Chapter 62 – Chasing Ghosts
“Attention. New rule added,” said Arya.
Uruvi’s body froze, and her blood ran cold. “Another rule…?” Uruvi said out loud. ‘Of course… They would have realized by now.’
“No new rule can be added to the system,” said Arya.
“Huh?” Uruvi paused. “That is it?”
“Affirmative. That is the new rule.”
She scratched her chin and asked, “Can they do that?”
“Affirmative. It does not break any prior rules.”
‘Looks like someone has been looking out for us?’ She looked up and asked, “Arya, can you tell me who added the rule?”
“Affirmative. The rule was added by contestant, Rana.”
“Rana? Is it the same Rana we met a few days ago?” She asked.
“Affirmative.”
‘He too managed to get to rank 1? I wonder how he has been?’
Uruvi felt tired, physically and emotionally. She crawled out of the hole, leaving behind a bit of her soul. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, expecting to find another ambush. But all was quiet in the dead of the night.
‘Arya, can you scan for anyone around me?’
“Scanning… No conscious human in a 100-meter radius.”
‘No one?’ She was sure to find people waiting for her as she had just climbed to rank one.
She meandered towards the street, passing through the ruins left behind by her battle. The floor was slick, wet, and the raging fire of the countless bottles of alcohol on fire was slowly simmering down. The heat from the fire flared up, sending a burst of hot air towards her. She raised her arms instinctively and blocked the heatwave.
“God dammit!” she cursed out loud. She picked up the pace and jutted into the empty street where the cold air of the night brought the heat down. ‘Well. I guess we're walking back the way…’
The low rumbling of an engine filled the air, drawing her attention. She looked in the direction of the sound and saw a headlight pop around the corner. It shone at her brightly as it approached her, before coming to a screeching halt and turning away, revealing the familiar face of Vishwas.
He shot a joyful smile at her and asked, “You alright? I came as fast as I could.”
Her lips curled into a faint smile. “I am alive.”
“That is a good start. Come on, let’s head back to the others,” he said.
She hopped onto the backseat of the cruiser, and Vishwas made a sharp U-turn before setting off in the direction of Rajan’s hideout.
“How are the others?” she asked.
“Don’t know. I came here straight from dealing with Rajan and his gang.”
She waited for him to continue, but when he didn’t, she asked anyway. “How did it go?”
“It went well. Managed to save the people they had brought.”
“That is good to hear,” said Uruvi.
“I killed them… Rajan and his men,” said Vishwas, his voice lacked any emotion. “They were adamant.”
“I understand. Some people refuse to change even when facing death.”
“Have you killed anyone before?”
“Yeah. Just the guy who stole your gauntlets. I don’t even know his name,” she said.
“Rambha told me what happened. He killed a friend of yours. How did you deal with it?”
“I… still haven’t. You have not killed anyone before, too?” she asked.
“No… But I have seen my fair share of the dead. So, I know how you feel.”
She didn’t understand what he meant. “What did you do? Before the whole chaos?”
“I was a firefighter. I pretty much attended any crisis that happened around the city.”
“Oh… That must not have been nice…” She could sense that there must have been scars that were left behind.
“It wasn’t. But nothing a bottle of alcohol couldn’t fix,” he said with a scoff.
She rolled her eyes and said, “yeah right.”
He let out a sigh and continued, “and now my drinking partners are not there too. So… yeah.”
She felt her chest cave hearing him out. “Macha… That is not a good way of dealing with trauma.”
He let out a chuckle and said, “Don’t take it seriously. I was just being… casual.”
‘Oh, dear… What do I do? I am not good with this therapy shit.’
The vehicle came to a screeching halt, and Vishwas said, “We are here.” They stopped before a large gate that led into a small courtyard, which not too long ago was running rampant with Pisacha.
As they entered, they found the place littered with men, sitting on the ground and tending to their wounds. At the center, Ashwin and Rambha stood and seemed to be discussing something. However, on seeing them walk in, they stopped and trotted over to them.
Rambha leapt at Uruvi and gave her a tight embrace. “I'm so glad to see you guys are okay!”
“Okay! You are choking me!” said Uruvi, pretending to suffocate.
Rambha let her go and turned to see Vishwas with his arms wide open. “Fine! This one time!”
Vishwas made sure to be very respectful in their quick embrace.
“Seems like you managed to pull it off. Not that I had any doubt,” said Ashwin, who too wore a faint smile.
“I just did what needed to be done. That is all. All things went smoothly with you?” she asked.
“Well, the contestants they tried to traffic are safe. Guru and his men… the less that is said about them, the better.” He turned to Vishwas and asked, “I guess it is the same story with you?”
“Yes, Macha. Contestants safe. Rajan and his men, dead,” said Vishwas.
“Wait!” shouted one of the men on the ground. He hopped onto his feet and stumbled towards them. “You killed both of them?”
Ashwin shot a cold glance at him and said, “You want proof?”
The man quietly stepped back.
“How brainwashed are you, people!” Rambha exclaimed. “Prepared to die because some Rishi said something!”
“That Rishi said all this would happen before it happened,” said a stranger.
They turned around and saw a tall young man, sitting on a raised platform, and tending to his wounds.
“What are you saying?” asked Ashwin.
“I said, the Rishi you doubted, foretold the apocalypse before it even happened,” he repeated.
The four exchanged confused looks before Ashwin turned back towards him. “You knew it was coming and still didn’t do anything about it?”
“What did you expect us to do…? Besides, we didn’t believe him. This is our punishment,” he said.
“This Rishi and your boss, Madhu, are they the same people?” asked Uruvi.
“No. They are not. The Rishi showed up at his home one day and told him about the coming apocalypse. The boss believed him, we didn’t,” he added.
Uruvi looked at the others around them. “Did all of you know?”
They looked at each other’s faces and quietly shook their heads.
“If they knew, I would have too. Only the four bosses must have,” said Vishwas.
Uruvi looked at the stranger and asked, “Who are you and how do you know?”
“The name is Dev. I am Rajan’s right-hand man and the one you thrashed a few hours ago,” he said. There was ire in his voice.
“Well, what do we do now?” whispered Rambha.
“Go confront the bastard who was responsible for this chaos,” said Uruvi, loud enough for others to hear.
Ashwin turned back to Dev and asked, “You know where Madhu lives?”
He nodded.
“You're taking us there,” ordered Ashwin.