The Bloody Sketch

The Sky was looming with dense black clouds, roars of thunder and Shimmering lightning. Mahira, a software engineer, stayed on her bed , swiping on her phone while her boyfriend, a lawyer, entered, dripping wet and exhausted. He said, “ Mahira , you know that the road to our house is under repair and is unmotorable , couldn't you come with an umbrella? I am dripping wet. “

Mahira replied without taking her eyes off the phone, “Ashwin, don't sit on the bed, the sheets are new”. Ashwin lovingly said, “ OK babe, Can you please fetch me a towel , let's eat, I have brought pakoras. Mahira frustratingly gets up leaving the phone on bed. When she came back, Ashwin looked at her angrily with her phone in his hand, he said “ I reached home drenching in rain, and you were texting and planning to meet Tej. I know you had a crush on him. Are you cheating on me?”.

Mahira threw the towel angrily and stormed off. 

The next day, Ashwin got up and found a note which said, “ I want a break from you, I am going to Goa alone , Take care.” Ashwin got up perplexed, he stared at their photos, hanging on the wall and frowned. 

Mahira landed in Goa and called up her best friend Ivory, she said , “ I have taken a break from Ashwin. I need some space from him, he is always around me. Yesterday , he accused me of cheating. Actually, on this trip I’ll cheat for real”. She cut the call and took a cab to a resort. She was awestruck by the resort’s scenic beauty. It was sea-facing, had colorful flowers , and enormous wall paintings. She checked in her room and changed over to a cute brown swimsuit. She got down into the infinity pool attached to her room and swam smoothly to the edge of the pool. Suddenly, she heard a whimsical tune being played on a flute. She was bewitched. The tune brought coolness in the hot summer afternoon. She pulled herself out and followed the sound. The tune became more enchanting with every passing second. When she reached the beach, she saw a man, tall and well built sitting on the sand and playing the tune. He had long, straight hair and had tied a cloth around his waist. She asked him, “ Who are you?”. He opened his eyes and she gasped seeing his green eyes, gleaming on his dark skin. He smiled, got up and began walking. Mahira deliberated, “ I am talking to you !”. He stopped and said, "I belong to the Parallel universe" , and Vanished.

She decided to forget the drunk man and explore the city. She returned to the resort in the evening and joined the DJ night event in her resort and began dancing. People around her were captivated by her dance moves and she always loved getting attention. Suddenly , in the midst of all the loud music she heard that whimsical tune again. She asked the people around her if they were able to hear it. No one else apart from her could hear. She ran to the same spot , and saw him playing. She asked, “ You don't look human, what are you?”. He sang with a majestic voice. She cut him and yelled, “Answer me !”. He whispered softly in her ear, “ I am a Siren”. She replied said sarcastically, “And I am a Vampire”. He removed a vial from his pocket which had a purple liquid, looked deep into her eyes and said, “ Drink it”. She fell in a trance and drank without a question. She dropped down on the beach. He carried her and walked away.

Mahira got up with a shock, she saw herself standing between her college’s football field. She couldn't believe her eyes, she was teleported to Bangalore from Goa. She looked around and saw Tej, he was running around guiding the ball. He looked the same, just younger. She couldn't take her eyes off him, her old feelings for him reignited. She stood looking around not knowing what to do when all a sudden the ball hit her shin and she fell. Tej yelled, “ What is that girl doing in between the field, take her out”. She felt insulted, suddenly she felt someone lifting her up and dusting her arms, she turned behind and saw Ashwin. He then blew air at her face to move a few strands of hair from her eyes. She hugged him and blurted, “ I was in Goa, a strange man gave me some potion and I teleported,I don't know how, and why is your hair like this? Why are you playing football? don't you have to go to court? He laughed and said, “ cool down strange woman, let's go out of the field”. She asked, “ Ashwin it's me, don't you remember me?”. Ashwin said, “ I feel I have seen you”. Mahira snatched Ashwin’s phone from his hand and said, “ Let me show you our photos we took in Leh”. When she switched on the phone she gasped and asked, “ what year is it?”. Ashwin replied, “ 2017”. Mahira shakily said, “ It’s not possible, I have come 5 years back”. Later she turned to Ashwin and said, “ I know it's hard to believe, but I am your future girlfriend, we meet in an inter-college debate competition in 3rd year of college, now I guess we are in 1st year of college, and you have come to my college for football intercollege competition, please you have to believe me”. Ashwin nodded and said, “ Yes I do”. Mahira squinted and said, “ That was fast”. Ashwin continued, “ Your eyes are so beautiful, I am quite sure I would fall for you”. Mahira blushed and continued, “ I was asking about the time travel thing”. Ashwin replied, “ I believe you, come now take me to your college canteen”.

As they were walking , Mahira giggled and said, “ Stop it!” . Ashwin Said, “ I can't stop looking at you. Come let's parcel dosa” . "Oh my Shoelaces are open”, Mahira said. He knelt down, kept her shoe on his knee and tied it. She blushed and smiled at him. They went to their college’s Terrace and sat on the inner parapet wall. The edges of the wall were rough so he placed his palms under her thighs. She nudged him and said, “ Stop babying me" . She then started feeding him the packed dosa and he said, “ Look who is babying me now”, and they laughed. While gulping he asked , “ Which is the most inappropriate movie to watch with parents?'' She replied “ Baghban” and they laughed heartily. She said “ I want to meet my best friend Ivory. Ivory was being bullied by the college mates because a video of her having a bath had been spread to all of the informal WhatsApp groups. Though I tried to investigate, I never found out the culprit”. He asked, “ Mahi tell me about our relationship, How will it be in the future? And then we can search for Ivory” . She teared up a bit and said, “ We would meet after college hours to study and eat snacks together. you have always been with me when my father was too busy with police work”. She Laughingly added, “ You used to accompany me to eat chats though you hated it, just to give me company. I would steal your sweatshirts and you would let me do your hair and makeup for fun. You would wait for hours after your class and come to my college just meet me. Every time I have been sick you have reminded me to take my medicines till I get well. You made notes for me by seeing previous year question papers though we are from totally different degrees. You have been a stand up comedian for me whenever I felt lonely. You have danced with me in all our college fests. Did you know that in three years the whole world would face a pandemic and people would be forced into isolation. During those days we were in a long distance relationship and you kept inspiring me to hold on , wait and not give up on us . Even now, You left your important match and you are sitting with me.” . Ashwin asked smilingly, “ I have been your dream boyfriend I guess" .Mahira frowned and replied, “ Yes, but after a while, I began taking you for granted. I repent it so much now. You are the best thing that happened to me. If I am not able to go back I would love to start over with you again ". Ashwin laughed. 

They begin getting down the isolated stairs, and they hear a commotion. Ivory was shouting at a man, “Snake, I can't deliver drugs anymore, I don't want to get involved”. Snake was a scary looking bulky man with scars on his face. Snake replied, “ If you don't do as I say, I will leak the video on the internet and it will be your doom” . Saying so he raised his hand to slap Ivory. Mahira intervened and shouted, “ Hey Snake, I have recorded everything that you just said. If you don't leave Ivory alone , I’ll call the police right now. So better pack up and go to your snake hole”. Snake scoffed and went away. Ivory was relieved and thanked Mahira. Ashwin was looking at Mahira with a sparkle in his eyes, he mumbled , “ I would take a bullet for you”. Mahira looked at him with disbelief and said, “ Come on!! ”. Mahira was complacent that she avoided an impending doom on her best friend. They came out of college for a walk. Ivory said, “ I am not being paranoid but I think someone is following us” . Mahira said, “ I feel the same too”. Ivory decided to confuse them by splitting up and getting mixed into the crowd. Mahira was against it but decided to follow it. After a few minutes, Ashwin shouts, “ Ivory, Where is Mahira?”. Ivory looked around frantically but couldn't search for her. Ashwin spotted a black car with tinted glass turning around the corner, rushing away. He was quite sure that she was kidnapped. He and Ivory rushed to the police station. Mahira’s father was DIG of the police station. 

Mahira's father was heart-broken but rose to action. He assembled a team to check CCTV cameras. He connected his phone to a location tracker and loud speakers awaiting a ransom call. Ashwin shared the details of the car, it was spotted and tracked. They saw it heading towards the outskirts of the city, but there was no CCTV coverage after that. Ivory showed the video Mahira had captured on Ashwins’s phone and said, “ Officer, I think he is responsible, his name is Snake, He is a drug dealer and was blackmailing me to deliver drugs '' . Mahira’s Father gasped and said, “ He isn't just a drug dealer, he is a wanted terrorist. They sell drugs to earn money for buying bombs” . A police officer intervened and said, “ Sir, we aren't able to track Mahira’s phone”. Ashwin shouted, “ That’s because she time-traveled from five years back”. Others just scoffed back and got back to work. A team of police officers were sent to investigate all the paths after the place from where they were spotted last. Eight hours had passed, and there was no ransom call. Ashwin began to get worried and suddenly, a mail popped onto Mahira’s father’s personal mail-id. It had an attached video, he played it and all gathered around. They saw Mahira, tied to a chair, with a cloth stuffed in her mouth in a dark room. She was calm, but was continuously tapping her foot. A voice from the background said, “ Hello officer, It's Snake and company here. If you don't release our leader, Yeti, in the next 15 hours, this will be the last time you see your daughter. Don't try to find us, her life is in my hands. Your time starts now.” The video ended after this. Mahira’s father sat down on the floor with disbelief. He said, “ Yeti is in Tihar jail , releasing him would be a problem for national security. He is the mastermind behind all the suicide bomb cases that took place between 2010 -2017. He cannot be released” . Ivory said with concern, “ I have known Mahira for three months, She never taps her legs. She must be so tense right now” .

Ashwin shrieked, “ Play the video again”. They played it. He said, “ She isn't shaking her leg, she is communicating, it's Morse code!”. He said, “ She spelled Clock tower”. He looked at Mahira’s father and said, “ There are two clock towers in our city, one is in the heart of our city and the other one is an old British abandoned clock-tower to the east of our city. The roads we saw on CCTV lead us there. As far as I have heard, there is an underground room where spare parts were kept , and patriotic revolutionaries were unlawfully kept and tortured there to extract information about their associations”. A team of capable officers were collected to handle the hostage situation. They saw the pictures of the clock tower on google to check the number of entries. They contacted experts who have been in pursuit of this gang to make an estimate of the number of people and the weapons they carry. They decided to strike at night so as to move without being seen as near to the tower as possible. When they were just above to leave, Ashwin boarded the vehicle. Mahira’s Father said, “ You cannot come with us, you are a civilian” . Ashwin replied, “ I cannot sit here and wait, I am joining”. Mahira’s father replied, “ You have been a great help, we couldn't have done this without you. Now, I need you to stay here. I can't risk losing a civilian life. Moreover, you met her just today, why are you so concerned about her?” . Ashwin replied, “ Mahira has time-traveled from 5 years ahead, I am her future boyfriend, I need to help”. Mahira’s father said, “ I really don't understand, sit , but stay in the jeep , don't come out”. He agreed and they all left. They reached the location, the officers crept silently. However, they were spotted by them from a periscope. Snake began taking Mahira away. A gruesome shootout began ,there was firing from both the sides. Ashwin had crept to the basement and saw Snake with Mahira . He sprayed pepper spray, grabbed Mahira and began running out. Mahira stopped, hugged him and thanked him. She suddenly heard some muffled voices from a room nearby. They ran there, unlocked the room and found few kids being held captive. She rushed them out and asked, “ How long have you been here?”. A kid replied, “ We don't know, they are training us as suicide-bombers and terrorists”. Just as they neared the Jeep, a bullet hit Ashwin in the back, he collapsed. Mahira urged the children to run ahead, she turned behind and saw Snake walking towards them with a gun. Ashwin begged her to run but she supported him and continued to walk. Another bullet was shot, Ashwin leaped and covered Mahira’s back , and he was shot in the back again. He fell to the ground. He laughingly said, “ I said, I would take a bullet for you”. Mahira sat down, cried and said, “ Yes you did, I love you”. Ashwin said, “ Do you know why I believed that you are my future girlfriend? For the past few years, I have seen your face in my dreams, every single day. When I saw you on the football field, I was shocked. I drew your face a few months back and I carry it with everywhere. I thought of showing it to you when we finally sit in the jeep but I guess it won't happen”. Saying so, he pulled out a folded piece of paper from his shirt pocket ,drenched in blood. She unfolded it and saw a beautiful sketch of her face. She couldn't control her tears. She hugged him then tried to stop the bleeding by pressing the wound. By then, Snake walked and sat next to them. He said with an evil smirk, “ Which kid from the jeep shall I shoot first”. Mahira growled, “ Don't you dare”. By then a kid found a grenade in the jeep and threw it at Snake, killing the three of them instantly. 

Ashwin was waiting at the airport from eight hours after receiving message from Ivory. He was getting worried as she wasn't returning her calls.

Mahira got up with a shock. She was on the bed in her room. She was relieved that it was just a dream. She unfolded her palm to see a crushed paper of the same sketch with blood marks. She gasped, “ It wasn't a dream”. She stuffed the sketch and took the next flight to Bangalore. She had lost her mobile after she fainted and kept wondering whether Ashwin would forgive her.

When she walked out of the airport, she saw Ashwin standing with a welcoming smile and a wrapped gift. She ran and hugged him . She thanked him for being in her life. She felt the gift and excitedly said, “ I guess it's a sketch you made for me ”. He flicked the crushed paper from the net pouch of her backpack and unfurled it. It was exactly the same sketch he had drawn a day back and brought as gift, but with blood on it. He stared at it terrified, as she unwrapped her gift.