Friday 22 July 2016

THE ZODIAC WHEEL - Part III



If you haven't read Part II yet, CLICK HERE TO READ IT FIRST.

THE ZODIAC WHEEL – Part III
(Finale)

Story and Character Recap
After the death of the renowned astrophysicist of ISRC, Aman Agarwal, his friend, Private Investigator Shibu Mohan, gets framed for his murder in a sharply crafted plan. The president of ISRC, Varun Agarwal, pained by the guilt of letting his innocent friend hang for a crime he didn’t commit, secludes himself from the company and society and becomes suicidal. When Varun’s wife finds out that he was having affair with Nilisha, she splits up with him. On her mother, Aria’s, forcing, Nilisha continues to comfort Varun and gets him to name the company to her in his will.
The tables turn when one of Shibu’s son, Shivam, comes back to India and starts up a company named DOBILE, which progresses in the market like a hurricane. The co-founder and CEO of Dobile, Soumya, is invited for a meeting by Aria where she tries to scare her into selling the company to her. Failing which, Aria challenges her that she will destroy her company. By playing the game of corporate politics and turning away all the investors from Dobile, Aria takes over their company.
Later on we find Nilisha killing off Varun by pushing him off the window on her mother’s recommendation, so that the company gets transferred to her before Varun’s daughter changes his mind. Fed up of her mother’s dictatorship, Nilisha burns her alive. 
-------

What hides behind curtains is an enemy unsuspected but what hides within ourselves is an enemy underestimated.


Theme music of the news channel plays. The news host introduces his guest Nilisha Choudhry declaring the news of the hour – Varun Agrawal: The Tragedy.
“He had been suicidal ever since he found out that one of his college best friends was murdered by another.” Nilisha’s eyes were oozing droplets. She was dressed in a mini lavender shirt and black high waist leggings. Her shiny red lipstick and nail paints contrasted against the pale coffee cup that she was bringing close to her lips .

“That night when I went to meet him, he seemed absolutely fine to me. We chatted for a long time. Then I went back home.” Nilisha took another sip. “I had forgotten my mobile at his home so I came back. There watchman was not there at the gate. I could hear people talking in the backyard, I got the intuition that there was something wrong. I went there and found him lying on the floor all covered in-” Nilisha broke down. Tears fell till her waterproof mascara gave away.
“I don’t know when he wrote that suicide letter that they found at his home.” Nilisha said after a break. “It’s like everyone close to me is leaving me! Varun, my close friend, and then two days later my mom died in an unfortunate gas leakage.”

Nilisha sat on the chair of the President of ISRC with glass half-filled with red wine in her hand as she watched her six-month old interview, saved in her laptop. She was celebrating the closure of Varun and Aria’s death cases. She wore a saree.
***
A knock on the door. Shivam nudged Soumya, half-asleep. Soumya rolled on the bed, taking the blanket along and shutting her ears. Knock again. Shivam shook Soumya again. Soumya woke up with angry expressions.
“It’s 6 o’ clock in the morning. Who the hell comes at this time?!” Soumya said in a sore voice tying her hair. She got out of the bed, wore a robe and opened the door. A man tall and muscular, wearing a foliage green pixel pattern overcoat stood there.
“Who are you?” The man asked. Soumya gave him an outraged look.
Shivam was dragging his feet from his room to the hall rubbing his eyes. He spotted the man and his face lit up, “Divyanshu!”
***
Anurag was dressed in a vest and lose torn pants. He was mowing an unimaginably large lawn with overgrown grass. His sweat covered face was compromising his vision. Summer was early and so was Nitish.

“Are you tired, Anu?” Nitish said with the brightest smile.
Anurag kept mowing the lawn looking at Nitish from the corner of his eyes.
Nitish caught up with him and held his hands. “You must be tired, right Anu?”
Anurag switched off the machine and sighed, “Yes, sir.”
“But master has told me to get this lawn mowed.” Nitish said sliding his left hand on Anurag’s back. “If he finds out that it hasn’t been mowed, he will scold me.” Nitish’s expressions were changing at a rate faster than Anurag could comprehend, his hands were sliding further down his back. “And if he will scold me, I will feel bad. And if I feel bad then I will” he pinched hard on Anurag’s bottom. Anurag let out a short squeak. The pinch intensified. Anurag took deep breaths and controlled his screams.
“Atta boy.” Nitish said smiling brightly. “Mow fast Anu, then we will play!”

Anurag fell to the ground when Nitish ran back into the house. Tears fell out of his eyes. He was gasping for breath. His body was covered with scars of pain inflicted by Nitish. He had seen their master only once. He didn’t even know his name. Nitish was master’s favourite. Nitish had asked for a human toy from his master and he had gifted Anurag to him about four years ago. Often after raping him, Nitish would talk about his life before he had been captured. He used to be a pickpocket once. Then Prahalad caught him and gave him this new life.

Every single day of his life, he had disapproved of Shivam’s actions, denied his requests and dismissed his achievements. Shivam had warned him before leaving for Havard that it’s not safe to live here after dad’s death. But he didn’t consider his suggestions important. He had even ignored Shivam’s calls from the US too. Police had visited multiple times after his dad was hanged. One night a man, medium height, dark skinned, had come as a savior and took him to his house. Only later he found out that he had been enslaved. He had been gifted to Nitish and Nitish would punch him, slap him, beat him every day. He tried to run away once, but he had been caught by other servants. It was the worst night. He had been tied up while Nitish played with his body. There was no running from this. Ever!
***
“Only yesterday I was talking to Soumya about reopening Aman uncle’s murder case. We’ve even found some proofs” Shivam’s excitement had still not calmed down. He and Divyanshu were sitting in the backyard basking in the late winter sun.
“I’m sorry Shivam. I think I believe in Supreme court’s decision.” Divyanshu said with his usual expressionless tone and placid face.
“Are you saying my dad killed Aman uncle? Are you kidding me? The man who took care of you all your life. A man who treated you with-”
“I know he loved me. And to be honest, probably that is the reason why he killed dad.” Divyanshu sat cross-legged on the chair. “Dad never took care of me. For him his life was his research. He never had the time for me, my goals, my life, my dreams. He knew nothing about me. Nothing. To me, Shibu uncle was my dad. He counseled me in every path. Dad only sent money, not love.”
Shivam’s expressions were frozen.

“Look brother, if anything I’m further indebted by his act. I never liked my dad and uncle killed him to bring justice to me and to this world.” Divyanshu said and got up. “Besides, I didn’t come here to fight some 6-year-old futile case. I retired from Major’s post as soon as my requisite working period ended because my health was consistently degrading and I wanted to rest and spend time with you guys. Anyway, we have to first figure out the whereabouts of Anurag.” He got up and left.

Shivam sat rubbing his feet when Soumya came up to his him. “I think we need to talk about what happened last night.”
“Yeah I know. It’s alright.” Shivam said holding her hand. “I was depressed of working under people I loathe for the sake of our plan and you wanted to comfort me. It’s fine. No strings attached.”
Soumya’s mouth opened several times but no words came out of it. She finally said, “Yeah.” She sat down next to him and continued. “I’ll take that package that we found in your father’s library to forensics tomorrow. Our plan can finally be executed. Siddharth is coming to India today!”
***
The room was cool and bright. Nilisha was going through the contents of a file and signing them. Shubham sat on the other side of the table, on his wheel chair.
“Nilisha my sweet sister. Even though reluctantly, you’ve always taken care of your crippled elder brother. I’ve been your adviser all your life. You can tell me who talked you up to doing this.” Shubham’s dark grey eyes looked directly into Nilisha’s dark brown. Nilisha continued to ignore him.
“Is it your new boyfriend, or shall I say old boyfriend?” Shubham sniggered. When Nilisha placed the file in front of him to sign it, he said, “Are you sure this is the best idea?”

“I do not do anything without thinking it through. Nothing has ever felt more right than this.” Nilisha said softly in a high pitched voice as she handed over the pen to him and tapped her thumb at the point where he had to sign.

“You do know you’re becoming our mother, don’t you?” He said. “Her love for the company and her children often blindfolded her. As smart a businesswoman as she was, she was rarely able to differentiate between her professional and personal life.” As Nilisha continued to probe at the place on the paper where he had to sign, he placed the nib there, “Continuing down this path might show you the same fate.”
Nilisha retracted the file after he had signed it. She smiled and said softly, “History is cyclical, not Xeroxed. There is a key difference between me and mother. I love my child and I can see through his eyes, mother saw only through her own!”
“Power transfer is inevitable, but you cannot decide the way it gets transferred, Nili! Each zodiac appears in the sky during its destined time, no one can control it, much like the spokes on a wheel coming on the topmost position.” Shubham said adjusting his shirt.

Shubham opened his mouth to speak again but his words got drowned in Nilisha’s racing thoughts. She got an adrenaline rush just thinking about how her happy days were finally here. She was with a man she had loved all her life, but couldn’t do anything about because her mother wanted her to be with Varun. She owned the most famous research corp. in the country. Her enemies worked under her and she’d often receive sadistic pleasure in torturing Shivam by cutting off grants and resources. She was finally on the top.
***
“Yes Divyanshu is out right now. He is searching for Anurag. Nothing that I haven’t done already.” Shivam took a bite of biscuit and continued. “Anurag was always this careless person. He severed all contacts with me after I left for college and he recklessly left the house. Without any note.”

“I know man.” Siddharth said patting Shivam’s knee. “But he’s your brother and you know you love him. You’re just exasperated because of all that has happened with you and your family that you’re trying to make yourself feel like you don’t miss him.”
Shivam bit his tongue and sighed, trying to prevent the flow of tears. He didn’t speak for several minutes.

“Anyway. Here I am now. Let’s get Dobile back from those despicable people. You have your plan devised, I assume? You have ensured an unsuspecting position in ISRC? You have safely hinted Waris that you are up to something?” Siddharth waited for Shivam’s nod then continued, “You’ll play their treacherous game upon them and get back Dobile. I’ll finance the company. We’ll do it right from the scratch like we had planned all those years ago!”

They smiled and hugged each other. The friendship from college days had rejuvenated strong. The rivalry caused by Aditya, all forgotten.
***
Soumya sat patiently scrolling on her phone outside the Forensic Science Lab while the reports were being prepared. She and Shivam were on the last step of the renovation of his house, digging through his father’s library, when they had found out a suspicious anonymous package. Inside, they had found his father’s notes on Aman Agarwal’s death case, Nilisha and Varun’s intimate pictures and some docs. 

“So you found any unmatched fingerprint?” Soumya asked when Radhika came out with the report.
“What are fingerprints?” Radhika said.
Soumya looked at her, perplexed. “The impressions. You must have obtained them from the photos or the documents, right?”
“Is it?” Radhika scratched her head. “What are impressions? How do they occur?”
“Never mind.” Soumya brushed off the vexatious questions and walked to the head of the forensic committee. On enquiring, she found out that there were indeed unrecognized fingerprints. On running a match of fingerprints with police records, they had recognized them with that of a pickpocket named Nitish. The whereabouts of whom were unknown to them.

It was getting late and Soumya was exhausted from the day’s work, yet her intrigue kept her going. She had contacts at the Post Office too. She brought up the Speed Post stamp on the anonymous package. The consignment number was tracked and it was found that the package was posted from a village in the outskirts of Mumbai.
***
Shivam was sitting on the bench outside Nilisha’s office, stretching his back, when she arrived. She ignored him and began unlocking her office. Shivam greeted her and expressed his wish to discuss some matters with her. After silent reluctance, she told the security to turn out his pockets for any item and called him inside her office. Shivam knew it was more of an attempt to insult him than to ensure safety.

“I have the pro forma. I really don’t see the reason for your anxiety, though.” Nilisha said in a soft albeit audibly sarcastic voice, “It’s not like it’s your company anyway.”

She snickered and got up to fetch the document. She had been wearing saree for eight months now, yet her gait was still clumsy. Shivam fought back a snort at her inept handling of her attire. As soon as she turned away, he quickly reached out for his right shoe, felt a bump in it and pulled out what looked like a USB drive and quickly inserted it in one of the USB ports of Nilisha’s computer. Nilisha’s saree’s stole, draped along her right hand, kept sliding off. Her poor handling of her stole bought him more time. He tapped a few keys and observed the erratic sound of the cooling fan of the computer. He took out the drive and put it back in his shoe while simultaneously reaching out for a bump in the left shoe and pressing a button on it.

When she returned he simply nodded to her statements, making suggestions in pure scientific terms that would require him to give explanations repeatedly to her, hence buying him more time. After some time, he left. He quickly went back to his cubicle and took out the drive in his left shoe and inserted its card into his laptop. While he was working, he felt someone’s presence. He looked up. Waris was standing there.

“Coffee?” Waris smiled. Shivam feigned a puzzled look. “6 pm at CCD near your apartment.” He said and left with a smile.
***
Waris was perched upon the bench in a way that looked awkward for such a grown man. He and Shivam were seated on either side of a round table in CCD. Waris was continually speaking about how he knew what Shivam was up to, that he knew Shivam was working under Dobile sector in ISRC simply for making a living.

Shivam rubbed his nose. Maintaining the silence had already given him away. There was no way he could deny his accusations anymore. All he was waiting for was a strong sign that would suggest Waris’ trustworthiness.

“Fine, I guess I will have to make a big revelation to convince you that I am on your side and have enough power to help you achieve your aim. You know ISRC’s CFO?” Waris said gazing into Shivam’s eyes. Waris continued, “Remember my famous interview from a year ago where I had criticized Nilisha’s policies. Prahalad had asked me to do it saying it was a test of my devotion for the company and science. Only then did he agree to fund my previous research. As it turns out, now Prahalad and Nilisha are engaged. I know Nilisha and Varun’s affair did do rounds,” Waris said when he saw Shivam’s incredulous look. “But it was a story Nilisha and Aria had fabricated. Nilisha was fooling Varun to get control of the company. Why do you think Varun’s children didn’t inherit the company? It was all a plan. Prahalad will soon get more shares of the company. Before a man as sly becomes too powerful, we’ve got to stop them.”
***
“THAT BITCH!” Soumya exclaimed standing up!

On returning home from his meeting with Waris, Shivam had crossed path with a tensed and sleepless Divyanshu, going out of the house, still searching for Anurag. On coming inside, he found Soumya and Siddharth sitting in the hall. He shut the door and quickly informed them that he had commandeered the cooling fan of Nilisha’s air-gapped computer and set up the Fansmitter. He had recorded the sound in another and used it to transfer all the data into his own laptop. Then he informed them about taking Waris into confidence and exchanging the data in Nilisha’s laptop with him on the condition that he will help them.

“I know. It turns out that she’s far slyer that we had estimated!” Shivam said in a calm voice. “How many lives has she ruined. She destroyed your family-”
“Killed my father! Took away everything that was rightfully mine.” Soumya said with her eyes brimming with tears of angst.
“Killed your father? Varun was your father?” Siddharth said. Soumya nodded as Shivam hugged her. “Didn’t you just say that Varun committed suicide?”
“No he didn’t!” Soumya screamed. “That bitch killed him!”
“I know, that’s alright. But what was the verdict of the case? Varun committed suicide! Don’t you see where I am going with this?” Siddharth said with a grin. Soumya and Shivam sat down on the sofa with confused expressions.

“What are the two key requisites for a Will & Testament to be valid? There must be at least two witnesses and-”
“The testator must be of sound mind while drafting the Will!” Shivam exclaimed! “Genius one Sid! Your Legal Studies minor finally came of some use.” They kicked each other playfully then Shivam continued, “One of the witnesses was Waris! I bet that’s what he was trying to talk about through those heavily veiled words. That’s how he is going to help me. Our case just got stronger that we’d planned. The other witness was obviously Aria, who is dead now! Nice!”

Just then they heard the main gate open. They were discussing whether to tell Divyanshu about the case or not. Shivam was re-explaining why not including him was the best because he is tired of all the years of duty on the border and he’d rather stay away from politics. A frail, infirm body arrived at the door. He was sighing, struggling to keep his scarred body erect. He was shivering, his eyes watering. Shivam ran to the door and supported him into a hug. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he fought to say, “Where have you been, Anurag?”

***
A Few Months Later

Shubham sat in the living room. He could hear moaning sounds coming from the adjacent room. He turned up the volume of the TV to escape the noise. It had become a daily routine. Prahalad would come home every night and his sister would go with him to her room and make love, loud enough for him to feel incensed.

The door of the room opened. Nilisha came out wearing a long shirt, smiling. Her hair was all messed up but the blush on her face reminded Shubham of her sister from high school, when she used to come home blushing and smirk at him suggesting she had had a good day. She went to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. Shubham expressed surprise. She blushed again and sank into the sofa near him.

Shubham was staring at her. Appreciating her beauty. How blessed he was to have such a beautiful sister. Or was he? Prahalad came out of the room, mussed Shubham’s hair, which always felt weird because Shubham was elder to him, kissed Nilisha and whispered something into her ears and went out.

“Nilisha. Your mood is ecstatic tonight.” Shubham said, trying to walk her through to what he actually intended to say. Nilisha ignored him, closed her eyes and rested her head on the sofa. Shubham continued. “You must be overjoyed to have all you ever wanted. Momentary though it may be.” Though Nilisha pretended to be in another dimension, he knew she was listening to him.
Shubham sighed trying to buy time and courage to say what he was about to say, “Nili, your role in this game is over. Prahalad is materialistic. Writing the whole company to him and your son wasn’t a good idea. Now you’re just a hurdle in his ultimate dream.”
Nilish rubbed her belly with her left hand. She looked down at her belly and said, “My game has just begun. Our game has just begun.”
Shubham looked at her aghast, “Is that why you aren’t drinking alcohol?”
Nilisha blushed and said softly, “Yes. But it’s really hard to resist. I might go for those brandies you bought. Shh.” She gushed and continued rubbing her belly.

A few hours of nap later, Shubham woke up to dead silence in his room. He called out for Nilisha but no one responded. Assuming she might have gone out, he struggled to pull the wheelchair closer to the bed and slid onto it. He turned the handle driving the wheel towards the door. The aroma in the room reeked of alcohol. He drove forward and found Nilisha lying on the floor, face first. Greasy fluid with a hint of blood flowed out of her mouth, down the gradient, to the drain. Her eyes rolled up. Her body stiff with her legs twisted. A bottle of brandy had rolled next to the wall. She lay there still and lifeless.
***
Prahalad took off his coat, sat down on a bean bag and loosened his tie. He had spent a long day at the police station and news interviews giving statements about Nilisha Choudhry muder case. He turned on the TV and news flashed.

BREAKING NEWS: ISRC President Nilisha Choudhry Murdered by Her Own Brother!!!

News reporter maintained a feigned shocked face as he read out the news while showing clippings of Prahalad’s interviews. A beautiful picture of Nilisha was in the background. He narrated how Nilisha and Prahalad were betrothed and were, allegedly, living together. How she had announced about her pregnancy to him, on the evening before her murder and they had decided to marry each other but it wasn’t digestible to her elder brother, the ex-CEO of ISRC. He had been bitter at Nilisha ever since Prahalad took his post. When Nilisha decided to marry him he snapped at the trepidation of losing ISRC completely and so he killed her. The brandy that Nilisha drank had poison. Shubham’s fingerprints had been discovered on the bottle. The reporter added that Prahalad sidestepped on the infamous Human Trafficking case that had been filed against him.

Prahalad put both his hands behind his head and smirked. The whole company was his at last. He had lured Nilisha into writing the company to him and their 24-year-old first son in her will. He turned off the TV and went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be an adventurous day too.
***
Shivam sat on Anurag’s bed. Anurag was sleeping. He mussed his hair gently then studied the fading scars on Anurag’s hands. He smiled dryly. Prahalad had been carrying out Human Trafficking for years. After Shibu’s death, when he had left for Harvard, Prahalad had come home turning up the whole house and luring Anurag with hopes of a better life. He had, instead, taken him as a slave. Anurag had also revealed the leader of his slave group, Nitish, who was himself a slave too, used to torture and sexually abuse everyone. A fast track case had immediately been filed against Prahalad which had become a hugely debated topic in the news.

Anurag woke up. “Judgement day!” They said in unison and smiled. Shivam got up from the bed and patted on his back. He went on to dress up. He called Waris. Waris had helped them get the best lawyer at short notice. Waris had quit the company after Prahalad had taken up CEO’s post. He knew nothing could save the company anymore.
Soumya, Siddharth and Waris were sitting in the hall when Shivam came down with Anurag. The housekeeper came running and distributed Prasad wishing good fortune.

“It’s the most important right now, really.” Waris joked. “Prahalad has hands everywhere. Who knows he might get us murdered before we could even reach the court.”

Waris and Anurag went ahead in Waris’ car. Shivam told Siddharth to come with Divyanshu who was having an upset stomach. He grabbed the keys and went ahead with Soumya. Just then he heard a loud explosion. They ran outside. A burning car was visible just a few blocks away. It was Waris’ car. Ablaze in bright flames.
***
“I don’t have anywhere else to go to. A middle aged man with dysfunctional legs. I heard what Prahalad did to your brother and I knew if two victims got together, we could fill the holes in the loop.” Shubham said in a shivering voice.
Soumya put a tray full of cookies and dry fruits in front of him and said in a dry tone, “But why should we believe you? Saving you is giving hostage to a fugitive.”

“Prahalad killed my sister, a woman that I loved and admired. I could still picture her choking. She was probably calling out for me when she succumbed to death. And he blamed it all on me. I had drunk half the brandy so my fingerprints were on the bottle. He had put poison in it. He knew Nilisha wouldn’t open a new bottle risking suspicion that she was drinking despite being pregnant. A calculative tactician he is.” Shubham’s voice choked. He looked at Shivam and continued, “You might understand my situation. Your father was falsely blamed and punished for a crime he didn’t commit. That’s what Prahalad does.”

“So Prahalad murdered Aman uncle?” Shivam asked in an uneven voice.
“Not himself. He had his son do it for him.” Shubham cleared his nose.
“His son?” The three exclaimed in unison.
“Yes, the only man who is suspiciously absent from this room. Also your brother and Waris’ death wasn’t just a misfortune. If the nuts of his car’s wheels were indeed lose, how did he drive over to your place? Also, as far as I know Waris had bought a new car, how did the battery explode so easily?” Shubham said. Soumya, Shivam and Siddharth exchanged horrified expressions.

Shubham broke the silence, “Nilisha and Prahalad went to the same high school. She was crazily in love with him. When Nilisha got pregnant the summer she turned 18, our mother tried to get it aborted. But there were complications so she couldn’t abort the child. Mother wouldn’t even allow Nilisha and Prahalad to meet. She wanted Nilisha to marry Varun, who was the son of co-founder of ISRC because she wanted the company to remain in the family. After the child was born, mother decided to have mercy on Nilisha’s request. She contacted Varun’s friend Aman, who was working as a research assistant at ISRC. He and his wife were having trouble in conceiving so he willingly offered to adopt the child. He raised Nilisha and Prahalad’s son as his own and named him Divyanshu.

“Divyanshu was always a violent child. Aman’s pampered upbringing had spoiled him. When Divyanshu eventually found out that he was adopted he got angry. He was a teenager and his friends at school used to tease him. One day he came home, full of angst, and beat his mother to death. He was going to kill Aman too, but Aman contacted a friend in psychology department and sent him for rehab far away. Aman hid his wife’s body and wiped off every proof and told everyone that his wife ran away. All just to save his adopted son. When Divyanshu returned from rehab, Aman couldn’t stand him. 

Seeing him every day reminded him of how brutally his wife had been murdered, how to the world she had become a villain despite being an innocent woman. He talked with his college mate Shibu and sent him to live with you children. He would only meet him once in a few months and send money regularly. Meanwhile Prahalad seeked Divyanshu out. He began using him as his pawn in his long drawn crafty game to become the owner of ISRC.

“First he reignited Divyanshu’s hatred towards Aman and got him to murder him. He had already poisoned him at dinner but Prahalad was being paranoid. So,he deliberately caused fault in the CCTV that night and sent Divynashu to kill him.

“The gloves with Aman’s blood that had been discovered in the drain by CBI had leather pieces stuck to them. Nilisha told me she thought that those leather might have gotten stuck to them in the drain. I, however, have a hunch that Divyanshu wore two set of gloves that night. Working on Prahalad’s dual attack plan, he wore leather gloves with Shibu’s used latex gloves on top of them. That’s how Shibu was framed.”
There was a prolonged aghast pregnant pause.

Shubham continued, “When Varun married another woman, Prahalad thought Nilisha would marry him and that would pave his way to ownership of ISRC, but mother didn’t allow that. She wanted Nilisha to keep trying for Varun. She literally forced her to lure him into extramarital affair and break his marriage, which she very well did many years past his marriage. Prahalad, then, must have devised another plan. He obtained the pictures of Nilisha and Varun and sent them to Aman hoping, as honorable as he is, he’d stand up against this and talk to his friend Varun. But Aman did nothing of that sort. When he saw Nilisha and Varun panicking, he used it as the perfect time to have him murdered hence thickening the plot and throwing blames on Nilisha and Varun. He knew Shibu would get involved in the case. He had the pictures sent out to him while simultaneously framing him for this case, because his next target was his children. He knew you would rise against the injustice. But his plan failed.

“Nilisha had no idea that Shibu was not the murderer. Nilisha ensured a fast track case because Shibu was threatening to reveal about her and Varun’s affair and it pestered her that he was actually blaming her for a crime that he had committed. The proofs against Shibu were far too strong, so he was hanged.  

“I know Soumya, Nilisha killed your father, but even that was on mother’s order so that she’d safely get the company before you change his mind. My sister wasn’t evil she was a noble soul caged in a pretentious hard exterior. She has committed crimes, no doubt. The crime of falling in love with a man who, she knew, was using her. The crime of pretending to be a criminal just to be taken as fiercely seriously as mother. And she paid her debts. Got murdered by a man she loved. She was a terribly misunderstood teenager, stuck in an adult’s body.”

“Why are you telling all this now?” Soumya said, clearing her throat. “You knew of all the crimes and you just stood by.” Soumya raised her hand to silence Shubham when he opened his mouth, “Do not give me your I-am-crippled excuse. So many people died, so many lives got ruined just because you couldn’t speak up? You knew everything. Anurag died, my father died, Shibu uncle died, Aman uncle died and now you came to help us because you lost someone close to you? Or shall I say because you were framed for it. Where are your excuses now? You are just as selfish and evil. Do not pretend to be otherwise.”  

Shubham lowered his face. “It’s true what they say. People keep note of what you did. They never see all the evil you chose not to do even though you had the chance... I do not claim to be a hero too Soumya. I know what I have done is wrong. But I am your best hope to get back what is rightfully yours. I am the key witness for getting the criminals punished for their crimes. I am ready to receive whatever punishment you would want me to endure. But first I need to see Prahalad and Divyanshu punished for their crimes. If you will, please, let me.”

“You want to see me punished.” said Divyanshu. He was standing near the door. His expressions were hard as stone. A fury that no one had ever seen before and no one was alive to report its existence. He made slow steps towards them. “What happened to Aman’s wife, Aman, Jajodia, Waris and Anurag, you seem to be too excited to experience them.” He kept walking towards Shubham, others too aghast to think of stopping him. “I had told Prahalad to finish you off. But that foolish egocentric dumbass, overestimated his idiotic plan” Divyanshu wasn’t blinking. His cheeks were up high, his eyes scarily wide.

He pulled up the sofa on which Soumya was sitting, sliding her down violently, and threw it on Shubham. His wheelchair received the impulse and slid backwards hitting the wall, throwing him off. Shivam and Siddharth unsuccessfully tried to manhandle him, Divyanshu pushed them both aside in one blow. Soumya crawled on the floor till she gained balance and ran to get her mobile. The housekeeper stood in one corner, crying. Divyanshu ran to Shubham and grabbed his back, pulled him up and pushed him to the wall, face first, dragging him along the wall with full force. Blood started coming out of Shubham’s body. As Shubham helplessly fought to get off of Divyanshu, he pulled him off the wall and banged him on the floor. Just then, Divyanshu received a strong blow on his head from behind. He turned around to find Siddharth. He hazily marched forward strangling him along, picked him up and banged him down on the floor. He jumped up performing a chop drop on his chest. Blood started spilling out of Siddharth’s mouth. A vase came flying his way, he ducked. He caught sight of Soumya and was about to grope her when Shivam kicked him hard on his backbone. Seeking the chance, Shivam grabbed his head and clinched him to the ground as Soumya tied his legs.
Police arrived within minutes and prosecuted him.
***
Words were raw in Shubham’s mouth. Joyed emotions vibrant on his face, when Soumya told him that Prahalad and Divyanshu had been sentenced to death. Shubham had been in the ICU for the past few months after Divyanshu had inflicted injuries to him. He had taken several blows to his brain and had spent a few weeks in coma. He could report to the court only on special arrangements.
Shivam and Siddharth walked into the room laughing. Shivam narrated how Prahalad’s expressions were hardening with every proof going against him.
“It reached its climax when Divyanshu ended up validating the proofs against him.” Shivam grinned.
“He had to. Prahalad was trying to sneak out to the safe side. The case against Divyanshu was very strong he was obviously going down; the game changer was how he took Prahalad down along with him.” Siddharth said continuing to laugh.
“I felt a little bad for him towards the end, though.” Soumya said. “His father gave almost all his money to the company. Didn’t even reserve an important position for him in the company. Poor guy got nudged on the wrong path because of that.”
Shubham and Siddharth stared at her, annoyed. Shubham smiled and said, “Agreed. People aren’t born evil. Situations make them." He paused then continues, "The real enemy, you see, resides within ourselves. It may be in the form of the ghost of our past or venom of our future. Divyanshu was both the ghost of Prahalad’s past and venom of his plausible future. Hence his pawn became his own enemy before the game was even over.” His voice was shaky. Soumya covered him in the blanket and told him to sleep.
A few weeks later he passed away.

Soumya rightfully inherited ISRC. She renamed the company to Dobile. She distributed the shares equally among Shivam, Siddharth and herself.

One night, while Shivam was arranging his father’s library and reminiscing his childhood, Soumya came in. A newspaper declaring “Shibu was innocent; the court apologized” was lying on the table.

“Remember all those years ago, you had proposed to me?” Soumya said to Shivam. “My answer was no because I didn’t want you to settle down. I wanted you to keep going. I wanted myself to find the will to keep going.”
“But now you’ve got what you wanted. Now we’ve brought justice to our parents. And we wish to start our new lives together.” His hands were on her waist, hers around his shoulders.
“We wish to live our lives together.” Soumya blushed as their faces came together.

Shibu smiled from his photo above them.
*********

Hey everyone! Thank you for reading my first story series on the blog: THE ZODIAC WHEEL trilogy. If you like it, which I really hope you did, let me know by clicking that “LIKE” button present below the title of the story and giving it a +1 (if you’re on mobile, switch to desktop view to find it. J). Writing this story series required a lot of hard work so please share the story on social media by using the respective buttons (also on desktop view) given below and help me reach a wider audience.

Please subscribe to my blog for more such entertaining posts using SUBSCRIBE Via Email option given on the right side (desktop view). You may also follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the appropriate buttons given to the right and be the first one to know when my future posts come out.

Thank you so much for taking your time to read my story trilogy. See you soon.


©Shivam Murari
Photo Editor: +Manan Pachchigar 

Friday 1 July 2016

THE ZODIAC WHEEL - Part II



If you haven't read part I yet, CLICK HERE TO READ IT FIRST.


THE ZODIAC WHEEL – Part II

Story and Character Recap
When nation renowned astrophysicist of ISRC, Aman Agarwal, dies, his friend Shibu Mohan, a private detective, is hired for the investigation by the CEO of the company, Nilisha Jaiswal. Varun Agrawal, the President of ISRC, who was also a college friend of both Aman and Shibu, didn’t like the idea of hiring him but reluctantly agreed. Shibu Mohan has two sons, Shivam and Anurag, and a ward Divyanshu, who had been adopted by Aman. Divyanshu used to live with Shibu very often as Aman used to be busy in research most of the time. Divyanshu leaves for IMA, Dehradun to train for joining the Indian army.
The twist of events take place when Shibu receives an anonymous package consisting of some documents and photos as proofs of Nilisha and Varun’s illegitimate physical relationship. When Shibu confronts Nilisha about it and suspects that she had killed Aman because he had found out about them too, Nilisha simply smiles at him. Later that day, Shibu gets arrested by the police for murdering Aman when solid proofs for the same surfaced. 
-------

Being a social animal is both the biggest boon and curse for human beings. While we find the purpose of life in loving each other, we also live in constant anxiety of getting our reputation tainted.


“To hang till death.” The Supreme Court had sentenced. It was followed by several heart wrenching stories of Aman and Shibu’s friendship being published in various magazines. Theories of the reason of their enmity had been hypothesized on Quora and national dailies, based on various interviews of Nilisha and Varun and those close to Aman and Shibu. Facebook and 9Gag were flooding with memes of a first ever criminal detective. Twitterati had trended #FriendshipGoalsShibuandAman as a popular sarcastic tag.
***
Four Years Later

Prahalad was the CFO of ISRC. His father had invested base money in ISRC when Aria and Gajendra, Varun’s father, had founded the company. When Prahalad completed Master’s and Doctor’s degree in Economics, he was quickly hired as the Chief Financial Officer of the company.

“It’s true. Wine tastes better at a finer place.”  Prahalad said holding the base of the wine glass between his index and middle fingers.
“And in the hands of the finer people.” Waris smiled. Being a man of muscular build and angular face, Waris was famous for getting his way with women.
“I second that,” Prahalad resounded, “May I ask why a womanizer, 10-years younger than me, has asked me out?”
“Oh no! Don’t get me wrong. I’m not into men.” Waris laughed. “It’s just that one often needs to impress people to get work done. In this case, getting money for research.”
“Ah! I like your confidence.” Prahalad stopped to take a sip then resumed with wet lips, “But if only confidence were needed to achieve your desires, I would have been the president of ISRC.” Prahalad’s mustache hid his tiny smile. Average in height and build, Prahalad was a dusky man with eyes that shone with big ambitions.
“Desires like those need more than just confidence. There’s kinship, a politically shrewd mind and of course a few connections.” Waris said. “Why do you want to become the president of ISRC, anyway?”

Prahalad smirked. “You mean you never thought of becoming the boss?” Waris hesitated. Prahalad smirked furthermore. “Yeah. Kinship is what I lack.” He gulped a large sip and laughed. “Only if my father had asked for power in exchange of giving money to Gajendra and Aria and not been so goody-goody.”
There was a pregnant silence in the room. Waris spoke, “I have mailed you the research details and its plausible applications, I’m sure you would-”
“Like it, yeah. You’ll get your fucking money. But there’s something you will have to do for me.” Prahalad struggled to pull himself from half lying position to sitting position on the sofa. “I need you to showcase your daring nature one more time.”
***

Constant swift tapping sounds were echoing in the Straus Hall dormitory of Harvard. It was dark and the only source of light was a laptop screen, with an almost dark background. Thousands and thousands of alphabets, numbers and punctuation marks flowed along the screen from top to bottom as the person who had typed them stopped and chewed at the back of a pen and stared at them every once in a while.

“Hey Shivam” George said entering the dormitory and switching on the lights. “Wanna grab a drink?”
“No. Drinking spoils the senses. I want to be alert.” Shivam said blinking his eyes as his iris adjusted to extra light.
“Siddharth won’t be there today.” George said pulling up a chair next to Shivam. George continued, “There won’t be any ugliness or fight.”
“There’s no fight. Just that he doesn’t want to be a part of my startup because I don’t agree with his business techniques.”

“I just know that he stepped aside from your startup just to make you realize that your idea, though awesome, doesn’t have the best business approach. Even if you do succeed in the area of mobile manufacturing and app development, there’s a high chance that your finance or marketing may go wrong and as an MBA student he knows that very well” Siddharth said coming into the room. George sniggered and went to the bathroom.
“Who refers to themselves as third person.” Shivam smirked.   
“You know as long as a genius doesn’t wear a badge of humility, he doesn’t succeed. There’s a dialog in my favourite movie Shawshank Redemption which goes, ‘One day you’ll be just a memory to some people. Do your best to be a good one.’” Siddharth said thoughtfully, leaning on the wall.
Shivam looked up from his laptop screen straight into Siddharth’s eyes, “There’s a flaw in your big quotation. Good people rarely make memories. All we really remember is bad things people do to us.” He said with a dry smile and resumed his work.
***

A group of soldiers sat in a circle around ignited firewood. Drinks were around to cope up with biting cold freezing their insides. They were singing and chatting and dancing while one of them sat inside the tent making arrangements for the night.

“Yo orphan! Get us more drinks here!” Jajodia called out. Divyanshu didn’t respond.
“Yo orphan! I’m talking to you, have you stuffed your ears and your brains!” Jajodia and the whole group laughed in unison. Divyanshu continued minding his own business inside the tent.

“Looks like I’m going to have to give him another one of the lessons.” Jajodia got up instantly and ran into the tent and started punching Divyanshu. He reciprocated and the two of them began wrestling. Seeing that Divyanshu was overpowering Jajodia, others ran into the tent and separated them. One of them held his hands, two others held his legs while Jajodia made an angered face. Divyanshu stuggled for a bit and then started laughing. The soldier who was holding his hands also sniggered and it soon transformed into an infectious laughter riot. Jajodia smiled and gave him a hug.
***
“C’mon Soumya at least you of all people know the actual reason why our fight started. Don’t act like the others who have been fed the modified story.” Shivam said. They were out for dinner at Russell House Tavern. The dim lighting reflected from Soumya’s pink cheeks making her look gorgeous. Her nose ring glistened.
“I know! He was more interested in Aditya’s startup, who earlier didn’t have any partner and was always jealous of your and Siddharth’s friendship.”
“Exactly! That’s exactly what hit me hard. Sid started pointing out flaws in my plans, basically discouraging me to even pull this off, only when Aditya approached him. Aditya’s startup wasn’t even concrete when this bastard left me alone and barged out our startup. On me! Do you take me for a fool? He’s just making-”
“OK! OK! I get it. Calm down!” Soumya caressed his left hand as he drank water and said in a soft voice, “I know. But you have to get past this! This is affecting you! You can’t let this affect you!”
“I know.” Shivam gulped the whole glass of water and wiped off the sweat on his forehead. “And I take that you still haven’t decided whether you love me or not.”

Soumya hesitated. “Look-”
“I know, I know. Look Soumya, we’re grownups so let’s deal it objectively. It’s either hell yes or NO! The fact that you’re contemplating only concludes that it’s a no and that’s fine! No hard feelings! I like your company. I love how spending time with you and listening to your counsel always helps me out; makes my day. I must tell you, I’m actually very excited to embark on our startup in India. I need to avenge my father who was wronged by those criminals sitting on a chair far higher than they deserve. I wish to tread on this journey with you, Soumya, whether it be as your boyfriend or your best friend or just a business partner, it doesn’t matter.” Shivam’s wry smile spoke volumes louder than his lengthy sentences did.
***

“You have to have children.” Aria said with tiny dignified pause between each word, as if she were physically sinking each word of hers into Nilisha’s head, who was sitting on the opposite side of the dining table. “And I’m not saying it as some random Indian mother, desperate to have grandchildren.” Aria said and waited till Nilisha looked back into her eyes. “You must understand that Varun has a very qualified and highly educated daughter. How is he doing now?”

“Well he doesn’t come to the office anymore.” Nilisha said as she rotated her fork in the heap of noodles making the fold larger. She looked up and saw that her mother was still staring at her, expecting for more. “I don’t think he is suicidal anymore. His wife has shifted to Cambridge to be with her daughter, after divorce. So yes, I am providing him physical benefits to keep him elevated.”
Aria was still not satisfied. She said “When was the last time you even visited him? A month ago?” Nilisha looked down at her food. “If you do not get him to pass on the company to you, we’re going to lose the company. Varun’s daughter will come here and take over the company and probably even remove you when your CEO contract ends!”
Nilisha didn’t respond.

“Now you will do as I say. You will marry Varun and you will get him to make your child the president, not his daughter, you get that?” Aria said.
“I AM NOT MARRYING ANYONE!” Nilisha showed tendency of getting up from the table and leaving but Aria’s penetrating glare made her hesitate. “In fact I’m tired of managing the whole company all by myself. I DON’T WANT ALL THIS!”
“You murdered Aman for a reason. It was the risk of infamy. Aman had found out about your and Varun’s affair” Aria’s words were so serious and cold, Nilisha could feel her blood freeze, “You want to mother a bastard and-”
“I did NOT kill Aman and neither did Varun!”
“Oh! Whom are you fooling?! Just because I never probed at that thread because I didn’t want to disturb your weak will and lose psychology, you think I don’t know that you had gifted him the poisonous wine on my command and then hired an assassin to perform the foolish paranoia assault risking the revelation with the involvement of a third party!” Aria’s voice could cut thick glass.

“NO!” Nilisha screamed like a 5-year-old. “I had planned to do so on your forcing but I didn’t. I AM NOT a murderer.” Nilisha’s vision started going blurry with tears filling her eyes. “I didn’t do-”. Her voice choked. She finally got up and ran to a bedroom.
***
A few months later in Mumbai

Shivam threw up his hands. “This is the third time in a day and umpteenth time in a week! SOUMYA!” Shivam screamed rising from the chair in his office cabin.
“I know. I’m so sorry. We shouldn’t have hired her as marketing assistant at all.” Soumya got up from the chair on the other side of the table.
“What does Mrs. Nayak even do all day? Warms the chair? All she really has to do it lift her giant as-”
“OK alright! Calm down, tiger.” Soumya interjected. She walked up to him, made him sit down and massaged his shoulders. “We’ll fire her!”
“Of course, that Vijaysh-”
“Yeah yeah no more expletives! Here! Look at the progress our company has made within months of its launch.” She slid a light brown colored newspaper towards him. 
“We’ve already got a large article in Economic Times. And” she pulled a chair close to Shivam and looked straight into his eyes, “we’ve been compared to ISRC.”
Shivam looked at Soumya with eyes wide open. The corners of Soumya’s lips were twitching upwards into a smile. Shivam’s eyes glistened.
“Aria Choudhry has called a meeting with the CEO of this company, hasn’t she? You go there and kick start what we had planned. Show your Business Minor skills and tell her how we’re doing the actual research and using Applied sciences to progress towards better sales! This is going to get into that vain woman’s head.” Shivam’s fingers clenched into a fist.
***

Bright sun rays traversed through the office of the President of ISRC. Aria was sitting where Varun earlier sat. She had opened all the windows and was enjoying the heat in this moderately cold weather.
When Soumya was ushered in by Aria’s secretary, Aria was adjusting the pleats of her saree.

“Good morning ma’am.” Soumya said with the brightest smile.
“Good morning, lass. Sit.” Aria said without looking at Soumya, continuing to straighten the crease. “So I guess only one of you is here. Your other CEO, the one who oversees operations and research, didn’t come?”
“He’s got business to deal with and research to look after.” Soumya said without any tone of surprise that Aria knew the operation mechanisms of her company.

Dobile. Funny name for a company, isn’t it?” Aria snickered. Soumya maintained a placid expression. “Two Harvard students coming all the way to India to set up a mobile company, one area where India still lags miles behind America or China or Korea, and then quickly advancing to other such fields, it is a brilliant plan I must say.” Aria’s words were so clearly pronounced, they reminded Soumya of her mother who had stayed back at Cambridge.

“Thank you.” Soumya said with a smile as she used her index finger to topple the cover on her water tumbler to take a sip.
“Drink!” Aria said smiling while reading a file then looked at Soumya’s continued placid expressions. Aghast that her reverse psychology tests were giving out negative results on Soumya, Aria continued in a soft voice, “You sound like an intelligent girl, Soumya. You know India is a very unsafe country. Terrorists attack the hotels, militants attack the riches, lovers kill each other, children blow up their parents, neighboring countries slaughter our soldiers. Only today I read in the newspaper about some soldier- what was his name-” Aria stopped to check the newspaper, “Shubham Jajodia, beheaded by Pakistanis on the border. You must be very daring to come to a country with fairly lower living standards and safety than the US.”

“I know. That’s why I am here. I wish to contribute towards developing my country.” Soumya returned the smile. She paused while Aria finished reading her file and continued, “You wish to ally with our company. My company has that one successful field your company doesn’t research about or manufacture successfully.”
“Ally?” Aria smirked. “No. No. I want to buy your company. Look lass. You are science and engineering students. Invest your time in doing the research, be a part of our company. You don’t have a proper finance manager. You think a minor in business from Harvard will teach you how to handle the corporate world politics? A weak finance foundation and public relations will destroy your company within seconds when market hits a low.”

Soumya closed her file and smiled. “I think I am going to keep my company and let you keep your valuable advice to yourself. Pray, you had to give up your retirement to take up the place of the previous President of ISRC.” Aria’s smile froze.
Soumya continued, “And you are handling the role of CEO too! What happened to your daughter? An employee of ISRC- what was his name- Waris, thrashed her and her policies on a very public platform!” Soumya let out a small laugh. “ And you could do nothing. Instead Nilisha was put on sabbatical! I’d suggest you to use your smart business tactics to save your low hitting company first. When market hits a low, all companies get doomed. Market controls the companies!”

Aria got up and came to Soumya’s side of the table. “Market doesn’t control my company. I control the market.” Aria said and turned around to give her a good look of her saree. Soumya sat perplexed. “Nilisha doesn’t like wearing sarees. Says it’s high maintenance. I maintain it well and crease-free, just like I maintained my company entirely unblemished!”

She stopped for a dignified pause and then continued. “I know who you are, girl and I know who your partner, Shivam Mohan, is as well. I know your desires and I know your trajectories.” Aria’s smiled speared through Soumya, “Know well that I’m going to destroy your foetus of a company.” Aria said with grave pause between each word. “Now OUT!”
Soumya got up and left without another word.
***

High pitched sound was poking through the ears feeling like someone was drilling through the eardrums. Shivam opened his eyes to blurry surrounding. He reached out for his mobile, rubbed his eyes with his left hand and saw Soumya’s name.
“Hello. Good morning Shivam!” Soumya’s voice sounded tensed. “I’ve got a bad news.”
“What’s up?” Shivam said sitting up on his bed.
“Our investors. They have denied to continue the contract.”
“WHAT? What does that mean? They have earned thrice as much as they invested in the past 6 months. Why would they refuse? There’s got to be something wrong!”
“Yes there is.” Soumya’s voice was faltering. “I should have never challenged that bitch. No one else is ready to invest in our company too.” Soumya’s stopped to sob. “The few who are ready are asking for 51% share.”
“Haven’t we saved up enough money ourselves. We can use that!”
“That’s not enough. We need a better finance manager!” Soumya continued to sniff “There’s one source of money... I know you’ve denied it before because you suspect that he conspired against your father too, but we’re out of choices now.” Shivam hummed in agreement. Soumya continued, “I’m going to call Dad.”
***

You have to do it, Nilisha. Aria’s voice echoed in Nilisha’s head. She was sitting by the window in her car. We’ve no choice. You know my plans are always perfect. Nilisha’s tears were being swept away from the cheeks by the air. This is going to be our last battle. We’re going to win. You just have to stay strong and focused and follow my instructions.

The car pulled up in front of a large gate. The watchman nodded when he saw Nilisha’s driver and tilted his torso to look at Nilisha. He greeted her and let them pass.

Inside the house, Nilisha and Varun chatted for a long time. Then she went into the bathroom to change into night clothes. She called her driver and told him to go back. Coming out of the bathroom in her night robes, cloaking her inners. She put on some music. As Lata Mangeshkar’s sweet voice sang Lag Ja Gale, Nilisha approached Varun, took him by his hand, hugged and kissed him.

Downstairs the watchman saw Nilisha’s car approaching the gate and opened it. He wished goodnight to a closed passenger seat window thinking she was sitting inside and said “See you again, ma’am.” The car drove away.

Upstairs Varun held Nilisha’s waist as they danced to the song, Nilisha’s head sunk in his chest. It was dark. Their bodies were waving along with the music. Nilisha looked up. Varun saw her eyes glisten with tears, as Lata sang the lyrics about crying rain of love from eyes, her voice expressing remorse at the plausibility of never meeting again. Varun kissed away her tears as her robe fell to the floor.
They stood very close to the window, wind in their hair. Curtains flying, moonlight shining over their bodies. They couldn’t take their eyes off each other. Suddenly, Nilisha whispered, “I’m sorry!”
Varun smiled and began to say, “It’s Oka-” when his words were interrupted by a strong push and suddenly he was in the air, free falling, his vision compromised. Then he felt the ground harder than he had ever before. Everything went dark. The last thing he ever felt was cold fluid emerging out of his body and surrounding him.
***

“I must say I’m impressed Nilisha.” Aria said as she adjusted her saree looking at her reflection in a life size mirror. The house was dark. Windows shut tight. “You stuck with everything I instructed you. From getting ISRC and his whole property named to you in his will to killing him so he couldn’t finance Dobile!” Aria laughed.
Nilisha cooked breakfast in the kitchen, silently.

“I know murder could be traumatic, dear!” Aria mussed her hair. “You’ll be fine. You own ISRC now! I just bought Dobile too. Soumya had talked back to me, hadn’t she?” Aria’s laughter echoed through the room. Nilisha went into the kitchen.
“Nilisha, I know you are gloomy, but open the windows, dear!” Nilisha stared at her sharply as Aria started approaching the window to open it. Aria looked at her and shuddered. “It’s OK, we can stay in closed room today.”

“I’m going back home.” Nilisha said after serving the breakfast on the table.
“Yes you go get some rest. Shubham is alone at your home too. Go on, I’ll have my breakfast.” Aria said sitting down on the chair. She took the newspaper and read out loud, “Shivam has apparently said in an interview that I conspired with the investors to cause Dobile’s downfall. Good one Sherlock. How are you going to prove it?” She snorted back her laughter.

Nilisha grabbed her keys and said, “Your breakfast is on the table along with your juice, cigarette and lighter. I’m going. Bye.”

“OK dear.” Aria began to eat her breakfast in silence, after Nilisha left. She’d occasionally smirk at the newspaper and then continue eating.

After finishing her breakfast, she washed her hands, grabbed her cigarette and lighter and sat on the swing chair. Something smelled funny. She put the butt of a cigarette in her mouth and brought the lighter close to its other end. As she clicked to turn on the lighter, fire emerged like a blue giant from it and groped every object in the surrounding causing a big blast. The blue giant engulfed her body and threw her on the floor, as she screamed in pain and felt it eating away her skin, her eyes, her muscles, until she couldn’t feel anything anymore.
*******

Hey everyone! Thank you for reading the part 2 of my story series: THE ZODIAC WHEEL trilogy. If you like it, let me know by clicking that “LIKE” button present below the title of the story and giving it a +1 (if you’re on mobile, switch to desktop view to find it. J). Writing this story required a lot of hard work so please share the story on social media by using the respective options given below and help me reach a wider audience.

The last part of this story will come soon so remember to subscribe to the blog using SUBSCRIBE Via email option given on the right side (desktop view). You may also follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the appropriate buttons given to the 
right and be the first one to know when my future posts come out.

Thank you so much for taking your time to read my work. See you soon.


~~~~~~~

PREVIEW: The Zodiac Wheel – Part III: Finale

One thing often leads to another and one ends up forgetting where they started from! By the time the root cause presents itself again, everyone is already so entangled in other issues that it becomes impossible to solve what could have been a simpler case.

In the final part of The Zodiac Wheel, as the real intentions of people present themselves, we find the dilemmas of the rest of the 9 zodiacs getting resolved. When the nine surviving characters play the wheel, we find that no one is wrong, no one is right. The forgotten case surfaces again. A character that has been dead right from the start paves path for everyone’s destiny.  

Part III is out now. CLICK HERE TO READ IT.

©Shivam Murari
Photo Editor : Nilisha Jaiswal

LIFE AMONG GHOSTS

LIFE AMONG GHOSTS © ghostlyactivities.com When I was kid I couldn’t go to sleep, Scared that the ghosts were lingering bene...