Into The Shadows, Aayush Borulkar [animal farm read .txt] 📗

was a difficult one as everybody stood thinking about what it could be. Some stood, and some walked, thinking about the clue.

“Oh yeah, it’s fire!” shouted Nishant with joy. “Why did not I think of it earlier. “Can destroy like a stick of dynamite”. That’s it. Fire!”

“Is it the fireplace in the living room? Let’s go there,” said Abhimanyu as they all ran down to the fireplace. The fire wasn’t burning, so Abhimanyu brought a torch and flashed it inside the fireplace. There was an aluminium box in the fireplace. He bent down and got it out. And inside it, was the third clue.

“Two more to go,” he sighed.

“I am always looking over all of you, even when you are not aware.

You have my possession, so beware.

But watch out for the snare.” readout Abhimanyu.

Everyone was puzzled by the this one. They could not join any of the dots. So they just stood there clueless, trying to decode the riddle.

“I guess I know this one already. I can feel it. Come,” said Abhimanyu as they all followed him up the stairs. They all entered his father’s bedroom, and he stood right in front of a giant portrait of Mr. Shekhawat sitting upright with an elegant suit and looking as sharp as always. He then slowly swung the portrait to the left and asked Kaajal to take out the night’s final clue, which was stuck to the wall behind.

“Nothing escapes his sight” said Abhimanyu, opening the final clue. “The final one, guys,” he added, reading the final riddle.

“Sometimes they say the end is the start and start is the end.

Sometimes I see you straight, and sometimes I see you bend.

And when it comes to comfort, you can weigh on me to any extent.”

“What is this!? The riddles are just getting ridiculous,” said Nishant.

“Just like your wordplays probably,” taunted Kaajal.

“I guess we need to go back to the living room. Because that’s where this all started, right?” suggested Richa.

“Oh yeah, right,” Abhimanyu said. All of them ran downstairs to the living room.

“Now where is the clue in this big living room,” said Nishant.

As they stood in the hall, wondering where the treasure might have been hidden, the doorbell rang.

“Who is it at this hour of the night?” wondered Kaajal. “It’s way past midnight,” she added.

Vibha walked out of the living room to open the door. There was no response from Vibha for a couple of seconds. Everybody was in the living room, still thinking about the “treasure,” and then suddenly, they saw Vibha walking backwards, sobbing as she walked in, and was followed by two men with guns pointing right at her. Everybody cried a scare, as they saw the horrifying sight. Everybody was frightened and came closer to each other. Both the men were still holding the gun towards them, as Vibha hurried her way back and joined the group. Everybody was stunned about what was happening and who these men were, and what did they even want from them.

“We can talk and settle this. No need to harm anyone,” said Vivek finally stepping forward. “We are ready to give you anything you want, just leave us alive,” he continued walking towards the two men.

Everyone was shocked by the confidence Vivek was showing in such testing times. In front of them were two heavily built monsters pointing guns at them, while Vivek , with all his courage was walking steadily towards them, just as any prey would walk into a lion’s den unknowingly.

“What are you doing? Get back!” shouted Richa. But Vivek still kept on cautiously moving towards the men.

And suddenly one of the men bent down and slid the gun towards him, as Vivek was walking towards them.

“BAAAM!!” Vivek made the sound with his mouth as he picked up the gun and turned around, pointing it right back at the group.

The group stood there aghast as they could not believe what they had just witnessed.

Chapter 18

The group stood stupefied as they saw Vivek standing with a gun pointing right at them. The two men were standing behind him. How could they have missed this? How could a person be so good at deception, that he blends such two personalities so explicitly that differentiating between the two might be an ordeal task. Mustn’t it be hurting from the inside to host such two stark opposite personalities at the same time? Wouldn’t this make the host forget his true identity eventually? But right now, that was not to be the case with Vivek, as he stood right in front of the group, pointing the gun at them. He was not looking scared or confused, as a wicked smile spread over his face.

“BAAM!” repeated Vivek accompanied by a wicked high pitched laughter. He lowered the gun and walked lazily, swinging the gun with his finger. He bounced on the couch, still laughing.

“Raath Akeli Hai...” he sang. “That’s my new favourite song now, and it even fits the situation perfectly.”

“But why!? We trusted you!” Vibha cried out loud.

“Why, When, How. All these questions will be answered, madam,” Vivek said mockingly.

“What is this even happening?” shouted Abhimanyu. “If this is a prank of any sort, then it has to stop at once. It isn’t funny anymore,” he said sternly.

“Arey aap tho chid gaye,” said Vivek giggling hard. “He thinks this is a joke, huh. A joke?” he continued laughing.

Vivek jumped out of the couch and swiftly placed the gun on Abhimanyu’s forehead. “This is so damn real! The game is over, and now the clock is ticking Tick Tock! Tick-Tock!” he said, clutching his teeth.

Everyone got away from Abhimanyu at once, seeing Vivek pounce on him like that. Vibha held Kaajal as tightly as she could and she started crying. Richa stood behind Nishant, who was himself petrified by what he was witnessing tonight as the pill’s magic had faded away.

“It’s all cool. Relax. No one is getting hurt or killed,” announced Vivek as he took the gun off Abhimanyu’s forehead