Trixy and The Crescent Of Rana

CHAPTER 15 : DARK PORTALS

"That means it's a damn dark portal!" cried Maahir, waving his arms around madly in the air.

"Yeah," said she, indifferently, still wondering why his b.p rose high all of a sudden, "It is dark and as I said it's a portal. But I don't understand why you are suddenly shouting now."

"You said you didn't know about atrial abilities before we met," said he, pointing his finger at her, "Then, how do you explain knowing about hidden teleportation portals without knowing even the basics of atrial abilities?!"

"Oh," said she, finally getting caught up on where he is coming to, "I see what this drama is all about now. Look, even before we met, it was not like I never came across people with powers or I never had to ship mysterious objects. I just convinced myself it was science, and the same goes for this portal. Do you wonder every time you take your bike how it runs on petrol and not on water?"

His brows went up and lips spread out in dubiety. "Why is my bike in the argument?"

"See, Maahir, when a random merchant once talked to me and showed, for the first time, a cell phone and explained how it worked, he said it was science. Since then whenever I encountered things that can't be explained with the little reason and knowledge I had, I simply assumed it was science. It really saved me headaches.

And like I already told you, it's not like I never suspected anything. I did guess there might be magic or some sort of powers working behind the scenes. But I perceived them to be the dark stuff, like a witch cult in the forests or vampires, or hell. I didn't understand the context. I simply didn't know if I came out and declared I had these abilities I would be given a job in the city to catch criminals. Moreover, I had realized long before it was best for me not to ask questions in my previous line of work.

And just like I assumed atrial abilities to be science, you are free to assume I was lying to you, or whatever. I don't care."

He didn't know what to say. He just shook his head and stared into the black void silently.

"How long are we going to stay here chit-chatting? Are we going in or not?" said she, striding towards the black hole. But Maahir seized her wrist and yanked her back.

"Enter that? Are you crazy?!"

She shrugged defiantly. "You sometimes make me wonder, you know, if you are really a cop or just a dupe that Chief recruited. That's the only lead we have and you want us to sit here pondering instead of investigating it? You are unbelievable!"

"Things have changed now. We can't be reckless. If Sanga really held something valuable with him and the murder's motive was to obtain that, then maybe the two cases aren't related at all."

"Okay, and what does that change for us? Except the fact that we will have to chase two murderers instead of one now." Saying that, she proceeded to move again.

"It might not be open," said he, his voice shivering.

She stopped and turned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"These portals are not your regular doors. You can't just waltz in from one side to the other. It's much more complicated, believe me."

She didn't look convinced and waited for further explanation.

"It's like there are two doors there, one on this side and the other on that side. The door over this side is opened but to cross through, the other door should be kept open too. And there is no guarantee the ones running the Nila bazaar are keeping it open for us now, not if they had realized a murder took place in this alley."

"So," asked she, swallowing, tracing her steps back, "What happens if I don't get there? If I'm caught in the middle?"

"You stay in the middle," said he, "Forever. You would be stuck in some warped space and time for eternity. No getting back. That's why dark portals are forbidden. They are far too dangerous for mere means of transport. It's generally much safer and much cheaper to have teleporters transport you, even in case of emergencies."

She sighed. "So, our only lead leads to nothing, huh?"

"No," said he, coming over, "But this is huge progress. We have found a motive for the murder and a possible route of escape, not to mention a forbidden portal in the middle of the city."

She looked up at him. "What are we going to do now?"

"A lot of things actually," said he, starting to pace around, "To proceed further in the case, we'll have to make sure if these two murders are actually connected or not. For that, we will have to begin the other investigation too. What was that student's name?"

"Madhan."

"Yeah, that guy. If we somehow make sure the two murders are irrelevant to each other, I don't know what exactly will happen but, in any case, they couldn't possibly want us to chase two different killers at the same time. Well, all that's for later.

First of all, we will have to call Karthik back. This is huge. We can't be standing here forever with a dark portal open. This will not be a secret either."

"You mean people will begin to gossip about this?"

"Gossip? Believe me, this is going to be the headlines for tomorrow, if the co-operation minister doesn't use thermocol to prevent evaporation again."

☆☆☆☆☆☆

Half an hour after Maahir made the call, there arrived an orange and black blazing motorcycle with a roar, convoying equally blazing figures, clad in black leather suits and helmets. The figure at the back seat, unbelting the helmet, stepped off from the bike and Ezhil was more than astonished to see a woman underneath.

She looked fierce, and possessed the air of obvious superiority, even from that distance of ten meters. Her hair was flowing loose and she sauntered towards them, blowing a pink bubble from her mouth and scanning the surrounding, not professionally but leisurely.

"Whoa, Chika?" exclaimed Maahir, half whispering to himself.

"Who is Chika?" asked Ezhil.

"The bike," said he, without taking his eyes off the vehicle, and the rider too, when he realized she too was a woman. It was then Ezhil noted the orange star on their right arms of the leather jacket, signifying that they too belonged to the same organization.

"Hello, kids," said the first woman approaching them, as she halted a few feet in front. Ezhil had this tempting urge to reply, 'Hello, aunty' but she successfully held back.

It was incomprehensible to her how these two women in black, who carried so much pomp and splendour with them, worked in the same Trixy as them, even if they were a few ranks higher. They looked outright classy, and she wasn't sure if she liked it.

"Hello," said Maahir, and held out his hand, "Maahir, squad 5."

The second woman who had also come near them, shook hands with him and then with her. She looked somehow less preposterous and pompous than the first woman.

"Jack and Jill," said she, holding the hand, "Squad one."

"Jack? That-"

"Is a boy name. Yeah, I get that a lot," said she, curving her lips into a brief smile, "Shall we get to work? What is it that you have found? It's unusually rare for us to arrive at the scene without knowing what to do."

"Come," said Maahir and they followed him to the alley and found the black door staring blankly at them.

"Holy fuck," mumbled Jill, making a sound for the first time as she let her pink bubble burst.