Chapter 9

Everything was a series of images or sensations for him after that. Someone shouting in his ear. A feeling of weightlessness. Being pushed. Bright lights. He saw his friends there, Pratabh and Frank. No there were others, nameless faces he couldn’t quite remember, but if they were all here, that would mean she was here too. He turned around looking for her in the crowd of faces, and then she was there, his Vas, she stood facing him, with a sad smile on her face. He ran towards her as fast as he could, but the more he ran after her the further she seemed to be from him.

“Come back!” shouted Ven in frustration.

“You’re trying to break our promise,” whispered Vas but the voice still reached him over the distance.

“What promise?” shouted Ven back.

“That you would come back alive to me,” whispered Vas and vanished into blackness.

“Vas!” shouted Ven.

“Easy there! It was just a dream; you were having a nightmare.”

“P-Peter?” asked Ven as he grabbed the right side of his head in pain.

“Easy, lie back down. You’re in no state to be jumping around like a fish out of water. Now, wait here, I’ll be right back with someone who knows what to do,” said Peter.

“Where am I?” asked Ven weakly but it was too late, Peter had left the room.

Frustrated with Peter, Ven sat up again. Immediately the world started spinning in front of his eyes, and he fell unconscious.

“He’s been out cold for more than a day now. Don’t you think it’s about time we woke him up?”

“He will wake up when he’s ready, let the man rest!”

“You know, shouting next to him won’t really help him sleep. But that is just my opinion.”

“Vas?” asked Ven as he tried to sit up.

“Easy there, last time you forced yourself up you passed out for a day,” said Peter.

“Told you not to shout.”

“Who are you?” asked Ven as he turned his head to look at the speaker.

Standing a foot taller than Peter was a brown-haired man whom Ven thought filled up the entire room with his presence. His gray eyes were fixed on Ven as he took a deep breath before speaking.

“Name’s Lawrence, I am with UTF. I’ve been stationed here to make sure nothing happens while you’re recovering,” said Lawrence.

“UTF? Recovering?” asked Ven confused.

“Take a look around, you’re in a hospital,” said Lawrence.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” asked Peter as he gave Lawrence an irritated look.

“We were on a train to Sparrow Ville, I think,” said Ven as he tried to think back on the last thing he remembered.

“Yes, we were escorting Sinha there. But on the way we were drugged and kidnapped. Do you remember any of that?” asked Peter gently.

“They told me to kill you,” said Ven as held his head in pain. “What happened?”

“That illegal AI in your Assistant is what happened. It sent an alert to every Law Enforcement office in the Kingdom! Tampering with your Assistant isn’t something that is generally looked kindly upon, but in this particular case, I am glad you did. Those fools thought they had taken care of your Assistant with their virus, but your AI doesn’t have the same coding as mine does, so it wasn’t compromised like mine was. To be completely honest, I owe you an apology kid, when you opened the trunk of that car, I thought you were a double-crossing traitor. But then you put the gun to your head, and I knew something was wrong,” said Peter.

“I shot myself,” said Ven as he recalled some of the events of that night. “How am I alive?”

“You did pull the trigger, but thankfully His Majesty was able to change the trajectory of the bullet, so it didn’t blow your brains out,” said Peter.

“His Majesty?” asked Ven.

“You should feel honored, His Highness personally led the charge with his Honor Guard to save you three! Who else but His Majesty could have reacted so swiftly and deflected the bullet which was so close to your head! Be proud of the scar you now carry; it is a mark of the King personally saving you!” said Lawrence reverently.

“Scar?” asked Ven.

“Bloody idiot,” said Peter as he glared at Lawrence. “Look the most important thing is you’re alive.”

“Because of your AI, the agents from Shor are now in our custody. The Treaty has been officially put into effect and as we speak the Bangaran people are celebrating their assimilation into our great Kingdom!” continued Lawrence ignoring Peter’s outburst. “Fear not, your contribution to this victory has not been forgotten, upon your recovery, you and your friend here, will have a private audience with His Majesty! A private audience, what I wouldn’t do to have that kind of opportunity! I could boast about it until the day I died!”

“Can I please have some time alone with Peter?” asked Ven politely as he was starting to get a headache from Lawrence’s loud voice.

“Very well, I shall be right outside your door. So, if anything happens just shout and I will save the day!” said Lawrence.

“I think that guy is hoping you get attacked again, saving your life might get him an audience with King Ravendra as well,” said Peter after Lawrence left the room.

“Where’s Sinha?” asked Ven as he felt his headache getting worse.

“I am not sure, but wherever they took him, he’s safe, that much is certain. Anyway, now that we’re alone, be honest with me, kid, why were you trying to commit suicide?” asked Peter.

“I had given up, there was no way to get out of that situation. I didn’t know help was on the way or I might have tried to stall for time,” said Ven as he avoided eye contact with Peter.

“Kid, I might be giftless, but I’ve been in this line of work for long enough to know when someone is lying. You sure it had nothing to do with Vas?” asked Peter.

“How do you know about Vas?” asked Ven a look of shock on his face.

“All I know is you kept mumbling her name in your sleep,” said Peter.

“I don’t want to talk about Vas,” said Ven adamantly.

“Look, I get it. We barely know each other; and you clearly don’t feel comfortable discussing something so personal with me. But if it’s something that is causing you to consider taking your life, you need help. I am not saying it has to be from me, there are people you could talk to. Look, just think about it and get some rest while you can. The doctors have already decided you’re going to get discharged from this hospital in the next couple of days, according to them you’re physically fit enough to join the force again,” sighed Peter. “Bunch of idiots if you ask me, no one comes out of a near death experience without any mental scars. And in your case, you’ve already got issues.”

“I’ve danced with death far too many times for it to affect me now, Peter,” said Ven to an empty room after Peter had left.

But that wasn’t completely true, and he knew it, Vas’s death was still fresh in his mind, a single day didn’t go by when he didn’t think about her. The rational part of his brain kept telling him she wasn’t real, but his heart wouldn’t accept what his brain kept telling him. All he knew was his feelings for her were real, and this made her absence in his life all the more palpable.

A shorter chapter, but an important one! I hope the suspense wasnt too much for you all!

Remember, stay safe out there.

Anderoth