Episode 19: Headlines

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_____ April 1, 2018 _____

PART - II

- jake -

Until April fell down on the floor, I had no idea where I was. I had lost it. There were arguments and fights and discussions regarding the missing and I was just numb throughout! I didn't know what to do! When we just thought that we got our T back, he's gone, this time, forever maybe! All this just wasn't digestible by me. Realized, I am with humans here when April fainted. 'They feel too! You're not the only one Jake!' I came to the present.

The police were already around. They came in breaking the gate. They bought the cars till the entrance, while we always parked it outside the lane and came walking through the Forest like Mad f*cks. The sirens blew like volcanoes in my head. There were like six cops in two cars. Two of them came near us, while some went inside KRI with Nick.

"She has fainted, we need water!" said Niha. She was signaled to ask water with another cop who was near one of the cars. She bought a bottle of water as soon as possible, while April was lying lifeless in my hands with very slow breaths. Thank God, I caught her at the right time, before her head hit the floor. With a few sprinkles, April was up.

She started crying again when she saw the cops and everything. Niha joined. Weird, how everyone cried at least once till now, except for me. Not a tear. Cold Jake, COLD!

We sat in their car with two cops asking us about everything. Obviously we couldn't tell them Everything! After like an hour the ones inside came out. Nick looked worried. Their faces read 'NOTHING'!

"This is something else. Not kidnap. There is no way someone could kidnap them from that room. You were outside the room when this happened, right? Are you sure no one went in?" One of them asked looking at April.

"I'm sure!"

"Then there's no way. Window, not possible as it opens right into the mud pit. So, jumping isn't a choice, they would be stuck, and even if they escaped, their foot prints would be visible in the grass nearby. Nothing is there!Also, no secret opening. This must be what I feared would happen tonight when Murugan called me. The same thing that happened six years back when two reporters went missing and we didn't find them, till date! There is some evil here and it hates when humans come here..."

"Oh! Will you stop it? Like, really? You really think it's some ghost? For God's sake you are a cop! You are supposed to investigate, not assume! Three of our friends are missing and you are acting like an uneducated? You think this is a joke?" Niha went harsh on them. We calmed her down. He might even put a case on her for talking like this. It was such a shit thing that we couldn't tell them about Infinity. Is it even that? I don't know anything! Aghh!

"Okay, Miss. We know our work, you needn't tell us. We did do a one hour Investigation in the middle of the night. And, just so you know, coming here for an investigation isn't our first time! We will keep continuing the investigation until we find them. But, coming into a private property and poking noses also has punishments you know." He raised an eyebrow. If his eyebrows could shoot arrows, it would pierce right through us at this moment.

"It's my Dad's property. We aren't poking noses." said Nick firmly.

"Oh! Then, Son, he's in serious trouble if the three missing people are not found within 24 hours. Until then, missing case cannot be filed. You better find them soon. Else, tell your Daddy to be ready with reasons." The Drag Invoice was clearly A Mock. This was a  joke for him! I hated him!

24 hours. I hope we find them too. April told them about the Man she saw. The camcorder recording did catch him. Weird, he didn't change his dressing style a bit. Also, T's coat was found. He had kept it near the staircase railing when we went in. Avi held it, with a constant stare, tears just rolling down. What if he never comes back?

"We need to know everything behind this story. Tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock I need all 4 of you in the Police Department. Clear?" We all nodded. "Any minors here?"

I, Niha and April raised our hands. Shit man! Another Month and I would have been 18.

"Interesting. Get your parents along then." Now that made the girls get up and my eyes wide with fear and anger.

"You really need to drag them in this? I mean, they needn't know about this, do they? At least not until 24 hours!" I said.

"Obviously they should know! The parents of the missing people should be told, so should yours'. You won't get away with this kids." Why the f*ck was he acting like WE killed them!? If we knew this would happen, we would never even think of KRI ever again!

Yet, it just made us more guilty. We lied to our parents regarding what we were doing tonight. They'll be devastated and heartbroken if they found out the truth. How can we even drag them in this? I had no idea how to tell My Dad. Forget all that! How to tell Meera Aunty and Hastha's family and Doc's family? What do we even do? We are so stuck here. We are so messed up. I need a tight hug, a tight T hug. If he was here, he would know what to do in a situation like this. I wonder if he's still breathing. Where could have Infinity taken him? Thinking about this for past 3 hours, I gave up on thinking.

"I'll look to all the Police matters. Don't drag them into this. We'll first search for them. Until then, no one needs to be told. Later we'll see what to do. For now, all of them needs rest. They had enough for the night. Can I take them home, Mr. Dashir?" Nick was acting very diplomatic and grown-up in this one. I thought he would go all mad on us. Instead, he's taking all this in such a normal manner. No panic, no mess. For once I thanked Avi inside my head for involving Nick in this.

"Yes! Take them home." He said in a rather uneasy voice, that had this sadness of not scaring the shit out of us, and also this inch of cruelty and a fake smile for icing. This Man's Not Right!

"What about you?" Avi asked Nick. "I'm coming with you. The police will check here. I'll deal with the rest tomorrow morning."

"Okay." We all were in Avi's home in 30 minutes. As usual, back door. Upstairs.

"What are we going to do?" Niha spoke after the long silence that followed from the car.

"Just wait and hope T comes back with Doc and Hastha, saying all this was a prank!" Avi said.

"What if he doesn't?" I asked. Foolish question.

"Hell on Earth. Our life will turn into a nightmare, especially with Cops like that in town! Chuck that. What are we going to do about them? Only Doc knew something that probably might have happened and now, he's gone! They're like gone permanently? No?" Niha broke down again. This time, everyone did. And guess what, a tear rolled down my cheek too when this image of T all dressed up for tonight swiped across my mind. He was just coming back to us and then this happens. Why him? Why not me? Why anyone? What did Hastha even do to get this? I couldn't think anymore. My head was bursting of pain!

"All of this is my fault." Avi started. No Avi, stop! "If I hadn't proposed the topic, we probably would never have been here. I am totally an immature and an irrational person. Never thought of anything other than my pain, my loss, my suffering, my family, all My, My and My! Even when Nick spoke about quitting, I didn't. Like a maniac I went back to that place. At least, I shouldn't have dragged Nick or Doc, or anyone or.." It was so odd and sad to see Avi crying. He never cried. The last time I had seen him crying was when his Dog passed away, which was 4 years back!

"Guys! Just sleep. You need it now. Tomorrow we'll see what happens." said Nick. No one can sleep, Nick!

At around 8:30 I woke up with a start. I had no idea when I fell asleep. Everyone were sobbing the last time I was awake. We all kind of slept where we were sitting itself. Now, I could hear voices. Downstairs. No one was around me.

I slowly went downstairs just to see more crying faces, worried faces. Parents. Gosh! Dad was here. Meera Aunty was here. There was another woman I didn't know. Two elderly people. Must be April's Grandparents. Wait, What even happened here?

I slowly went downstairs and sat next to Avi. "What happened? Who told everyone?"

"It's super f*cked up dude!" said Avi, passing me the newspaper he held in his hand. "See this!"

First page. 4th Article.

August 29, 2017, By the Editor's Team:

OPENING THE CLOSED BOOK AGAIN

Remember The Kites Research Institute, KRI? The place that burnt down 6 years ago? Claimed haunted by people after two reporters who went there went missing weren't found till date! The place was purified and locked. Guess what? History repeated yesterday. This time, it's one of the KRI blast survivor and two students, of KITES itself. On an expedition of finding out what's happening there, 7 teenagers along with Dr. Murugan Mohan, the survivor, went to KRI in the midnight and reportedly three of them ended up missing which included The Doctor and two of the kids. After hours of searching, police still have no idea where they are. To know the place was purified, I guess time brought the evil back again. It must have been very angry when these people went there again, so, this time, it took them. And another interesting news? Two of the kids are the sons of the Owner of that property, Mr. Swaroop Chowta and he says, he had no idea his property was being trespassed by his own children and a team of theirs'. Hopefully by today evening we find the missing persons, or else, this will be a legally filed case.

Holy F*cking Shit!

"What the hell is this?" I asked Avi.

"Before we even woke up this newspaper people were here asking Dad questions. One of the editors here is Mr. Dashir's Niece. So, obviously he must have told her on purpose. We are so screwed Jake, just look at Dad's face, both our Dads' faces. And that is Hastha's Relative who stays here. Her Mom and Dad are also informed. They'll be here soon. Meera Aunty is crying ever since she came here. The property is still in Dad's name. He'll be in high trouble if they aren't found by tonight. And you know what? Doc! He is divorced. He has a Son who's 7 years old and stays with Doc, not his Mom. He's in U.S. right now. We didn't know that, did we? What are we going to tell that little boy? I can't even think of anything Jake! I just want to run away! If only T was here. If only!" Tears slowly came down Avi's eyes as he placed his head on my back. Doc has a Son? I suddenly felt too weak for all this. Wait! Where are the girls?

"Where are the girls, Avi?"

"Niha's Mom took them somewhere so they don't have to deal with this. As soon as they heard that Doc has a little son, both of them went totally Mad and started crying af! So, Niha's Mom, Manvika Aunty told us she'll handle them and took them somewhere. April didn't even sleep last night. Never thought that she was this sensitive regarding stuffs like this. I thought she was strong, not giving a f*ck types! You should've seen them. Everyone cried looking at them. Dad calmed down a bit after he saw how they reacted. He realized none of this was intentionally done. God! Its going to be so hard!" He let out a sigh.

There were discussions going on in the same room, quite loud discussions. Which world was I in? Nick was the major Question-Answer target. He calmly answered everything!

He literally told them everything from Day 1! Everything, except about Infinity. He told about the Threat and told we went there again to catch that guy and because of the missing, he escaped. Showed them the Camcorder recording too. All of them were convinced.

"So, you're telling me three people went missing to nowhere? I might be an old bird here, but I do know no ghosts had anything to do with this!" said April's Grandma. Now I know where April got her attitude from.

"Even we know that Granny. It wasn't ghost. It was something else, someone else! We just need to find out!" said Nick. For how much more will we hide the fact about Infinity? It may not be involved with the missing, but we still need to tell them!

"My baby girl. She never even steps out of her house and you took her out of her hostel and this is where she ends up? Why her? What did she even do? If her Mother comes, she is not going to leave you!" said Hastha's Relative, in her typical Tamil accent while still sobbing.

I couldn't imagine her reaction. Hastha was a good girl, a very good girl. Going out wasn't her thing, ever! For once she trusted us, and we did this? Looking at her being so active and happy, we all felt this heart's content for have made her smile. Little did we know it'll all be taken soon, she'll be taken soon!

But, one question kept eating me up. WHY ONLY THREE? Out of us all! And, if it was Infinity, how can it still be that strong? How can it's power still be that good? How, How?

Siren sounds bought me back to the present. God, No! Not them again!

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So, that's another Episode of Part 2! Hope you're liking this. What do you think? Is it actually Infinity or something(someone) else? Until next Wednesday!

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