"Is… is she dead?
Did we kill her?"
A scared voice trembled.
"Tell me, did we have any other choice than to kill her? See what she did to Parithan."
Another confident voice sounded.
The first voice stepped back and stammered, "We? What do you—what do you mean, we?
No, no!
I didn't—you!!
You did.
Please say it's not true, please."
"First of all, stop stammering, and second of all, yes, I did kill her.
But weren't you my helping hand? And not to mention, was she your girlfriend or something?" the second person chuckled.
The first person mumbled, "Wh-what? No. She wasn't… I know her, she…"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, take this.
I have to bring Parithan's body with me. I don't know how he died with his hand."
"What do I do with this?" the first person asked.
"Keep that safe with you. And no one should get any idea about it," the second person threatened.
"Did we really have to kill her for this? Couldn't we have just taken it from her?"
"Parithan tried, but failed.
So not killing her wasn't an option."
The second person dragged the first person's arm. "Let's go."
Sounds of footsteps on the water-filled floor faded down. A female body kept lying along with the waves.
___
"Sorry, Anish,
we have to let you go.
It's nothing personal, just, you know, the situation out there," Anish's boss said to Anish.
"Because of COVID?" Anish asked calmly as he got up to leave.
"Yes, and I don't even know for how long I can run this," the boss said with a sigh.
"Yea, hopefully all is over soon, hmm.
Also, just mail me the, ah, things," Anish said to his boss as he was leaving.
Anish was an assistant of a historian. And the office was at an unfinished building. Slowly he and a colleague came down from the top.
"So what's next?" the colleague asked.
"Yea I don't know, maybe a break from all these. Or maybe will look for something quickly," Anish replied.
"See you tomorr—"
the colleague said to Anish as he was about to ride the motorcycle.
Anish just smiled at his colleague and said, "yea can talk on phone atleast."
Anish started his motorcycle and left. As the colleague turned to get on his vehicle, he heard a crashing sound at a distance.
"Crash? Car crash? Anish?" He ran towards the crash without thinking any other thing.
Anish saw many faces gathered around him, and as he was losing his consciousness he saw the face of his colleague.
Wow, first job loss now this…?
And the ringing can it stop?
Finally bit better.
Did we kill her… kill her… See what she did to… You did… it's not true… she your girlfriend…
What?
It wasn't an accident?
But why are they admitting this publicly?
Well, murder… hmm, great.
Am I already dead? Am I just a ghost now?
Sigh… if that is it, then hopefully Ma and Papa don't worry too much.
And Ambi? Ohhh no… Most likely her marriage isn't happening this year; she is going to revive me just to kill me again.
Hopefully she…
Anish started to regain his consciousness and subconsciously heard some of the background voices. After getting struck by a truck, he thought he was dead and reminisced about good times. And now some people near him were talking about killing him?… Her?… girlfriend?
Wait, why were they referring to me as girlfriend?
False identity?
Or, am I just a casualty of someone's murder?
Now that is lucky. Or unlucky…? Whatever.
Will I just roam aro…
Ahh! The leg… neck… getting struck by anything isn't fun at all.
Even though I had never gotten struck by anything, should that hurt this much?
Wait? Pain? Am I still alive?
Aaahh… Hm… Hm.
Well, hopefully someone is trying to save me.
Can… can I? Uh!! Nope, can't move anything.
…
That metallic smell… um… um, is that? Oh yea, probably the smell of my blood or probably hers…?
Please, someone take me to a hospital. SIGH…
Did I just move my fingers?
Move, move, again, move.
Yes, hands.
After all these struggles, Anish could finally move some of his limbs. Now he desperately wanted to move, to get up, to try something on his own instead of waiting for the help of others. Anish finally opened his eyes and, in blurry vision, could finally see a glimmer of light at the end of the dark night. Light crimson… red… light…
Is that light?
Why does it have to be so blurry?
Operation room?
Shouldn't it be white then?
It's not light… sun?
No, the surroundings are dark… moon? Why is it red? And is… is that a lunar eclipse?
This isn't the accident spot.
What is this place?
Anish, unable to move, witnessed the whole eclipse lying there in a weird environment as his vision cleared.
Now, have to get up any way or another.
Ahh! How did I end up here after the accident? And what even is this place? Is that some kind of ruin?
Is this a dream?
But does anyone feel pain inside a dream?
No, probably…
Hell?
Yeah, must be it.
Hmm, I knew I would end up in hell…
Anish just sat up and checked his environment around. While understanding his situation, he heard the sound of something metallic dropping behind him and felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck.
Clnk.
Argh! Uff!
What?
What now?
A knife?
What? Trying to kill a dead person again?
Oh yea, I am not dead.
Anish was sitting in a pool of blood… Blood mixed with water which is close to a sea, and on the opposite side of the sea there were ruined huge buildings. Some were moss or tree covered. Some were bare, lifeless.
He picked up that knife with some difficulty.
I should keep this as a souvenir. With what I almost died. Hmm…
First, I need to find my way back…
Get up, Anish, get up.
Wait, what will I even do in this dark?
Should I wait for the sun?
What even happened to the moon?
I don't even care anymore; first I should get some medical attention.
After getting up with imbalance and great difficulty, he tried to examine the knife. It was really intricate; Anish hadn't noticed anything like this before. In the reflection of the knife blade, he saw his face… It's… not… him…?
Clang Clatter…
Anish stumbled back.
That's… that's… who is that? That's not my face.
Anish took that knife again to re-check his reflection.
Yup!! That's not me… And yup, it's a female body.
I am inside a female body? How? What?
Why am I inside of someone's body?
Or, it's… yes, a dream. But, but the pain? Huh?
Calm, calm, calm down, Anish, calm down.
Just great, breathing is also painful.
So… they were talking about killing me. Or her…
So it's a different world… transmigration?
Anish, seeing this situation, ripped some part of the clothes of the body and wrapped it around the neck and some other injured body parts. While doing that, a big wave came and washed up much of that blood, which reduced the irritating smell.
Now it's better.
Can I talk now?
Uff! Nope.
Along with the broken ruin and crimson water, Anish started to move along the only thing that resembled a path: a broken rusted metallic trail. He didn't really know where he was or how he got here. Now, the only thing he was looking for was medical help.
Well, not surprising… have to stop again.
How far do I have to go to see some human, or at least a living being?
Is there any in this direction?
Hmm…
Anish was having problems because of the injuries and the tall body of his… or her. He went along that path a decent amount with some breaks in about an hour. While waiting, he finally saw the sun was rising, the first light of the sun.
Finally, sun rising… hopefully the sun isn't weird like the moon.
What now… just lunar eclipse happened, now solar eclipse? While it's rising?
After the sun was better visible, it was clear that it wasn't an eclipse. Some dark fragments were in front of the sun.
What is this place?
First moon, now this?
Well, as I said, I am not questioning anything until I get treated.
Why is that tree becoming blurry?
That building…?
Not just those, everything…
Nho, did I tie it wrong? It's soaked again.
Don't worry, Anish, just re-re-tie it.
At least one hand is working…
I need to find…
Tie…
Where am I…
Anish lost his consciousness again, but failed in the tasks he was trying to do before being unconscious.
___
"Anish
Anish, Anish
Can you hear me?
He will be ok, right?
Anish,"
his colleague kept rambling to Anish.
After the accident, Anish was in an ambulance, and his colleague was anxious about Anish's condition. After a few moments of the colleague's rambling, Anish started to get back his senses.
"No, no, I can't die now. Ambi… I have to save… save Ambi."
"Save her…"
…
"Is that Mohit?"
"Am I back?" Anish thought.
His colleague Mohit saw that Anish was opening his eyes.
"Anish, can you hear me? Anish, Anish," Mohit became more agitated seeing Anish opening his eyes.
"Kill me, please," Anish mumbled to Mohit, which Mohit did not understand.
"Yes, yes, we are almost at the hospital. You will be ok, don't worry." Mohit just kept reassuring Anish and himself.
"Kill me, please… I have to go back. I have to save her."