1981

free biryani-vasu

"so how on earth are we supposed to get back to school?" asked aesha.

"okay, our school faces north, and the sun's setting behind us. we're facing east, meaning north is to our right. simple enough."

we began walking and soon enough we reached the huge steel gates guarding ivory. i felt a wave of relief wash over me, but it was short-lived. there was a security guard at the gate and, if it was anything like the present, he'd need our ID cards.

"shit shit shit what are we gonna do now?" aesha said through gritted teeth with a blank expression on her face.

"i don't fucking know!" i said, mirroring her expression. if we appeared too suspicious, the guard would be sceptical.

"i have my ID card...do you think he'll notice my birthdate?"

"so do i. let's just hope he doesn't. if he does...we'll bribe him with free biryani."

we went towards the guard, identifications in hand. his eyes were half-lidded and his face painted with boredom. we nervously gave him our cards, but he barely gave them a glance and let us through. we neared the building, walking on the cobbled path, surrounded by freshly watered lush green grass.

"how the heck did he not notice my big fat birth year?" i wondered.

"vasu-big fat birth year?"

"teehee!" i exaggerated.

i don't know how but i could see aesha internally cringing. oh how i love to annoy her.

the building was empty, except for a few students, teachers and cleaners. the usual noise wasn't there. it was an unfamiliar layout; some rooms weren't even built in the first place. it felt like a parallel universe. but given the library's large size, it was probably in the same place, since it would be hard to move around. 

a gruff voice interrupted our search. "can i help you, young ladies?" 

we turned around to see a plump man in a tracksuit so brightly red that my eyes hurt from looking at it. it had the ivory emblem on it- and guessing from his appearance, he was probably the p.e. teacher.

"yeah. um, could you tell us where the library is?" aesha asked.

i looked at her. why would she ask that? we already knew where it was. i guess she wanted confirmation, just to be sure. classic aesha behaviour.

"how can you not know the layout of your own school? back in my days we knew the entire campus and town by heart." he grabbed my hand forcefully. his nails were yellow and short. "and why are your nails not cut? do we teach you nothing here? and you!" he pointed at aesha. "why is your hair not oiled? and what is this?!" he unlatched aesha's apple watch. "is this some sort of spying device? i'm taking you girls to the principal." his smoky breath stank and his voice was hoarse. his unshaven beard and teeth were almost the same colour as his nails. 

first of all, how dare he call us girls? second of all, how does he have the audacity to confiscate aesha's expensive-ass apple watch? third of all, we need to get the fuck out of here. 

i quickly grabbed the watch from him, took aesha's hand and whispered in her ear. "let's go."

so we did. his voice boomed across the empty hallway, but he wasn't chasing us. so much for being the p.e. teacher.

as expected, we came across the location of the library after a few flights of stairs and lots of running. we were both huffing from all the running we did. "my workout for today is done. that was some good cardio!" aesha remarked.

the library smelled like vanilla and wood, making it feel like a warm hug. the shelves were stacked with rows upon rows of books. thankfully, this library was organised just like the one we were used to. the language section had a variety of sanskrit books. we'd have to go through them to find one which would translate the note from the sadhu.

after about fifteen minutes, we found a decent enough book. aesha took out the folded slip of paper from her pocket and unfurled it. the translation read "stop the ashes where you started".

"the fuck does this mean?" i asked.

"maybe it's a riddle."

"okay. okay, we gotta figure this out. stop the ashes. that might mean 'prevent death'? since dead bodies are burnt to ashes....but what could we possibly do? and who's going to get killed, and what's going to kill them?" i rushed, pacing back and forth.

"you're probably right about the death part. 'where we started' could be a clue. we should go to the side of the school, since that's where we began," aesha replied. "as for who's going to get killed...it could be us," she shuddered.

i really hoped this would work and we could go back. preferably without us, or anybody else for that matter, dying along the way.

"we've figured out the 'stop the ashes' part, but what about 'where we started'?" vasu asked.

"i wouldn't say we've figured it out fully. as for 'where we started'...it probably means the side of the school. that's where we first arrived."

"alright. what are we waiting for? i haven't got forever. or maybe i do? i don't even know at this point."

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since we keep forgetting to upload on mondays, here's the chapter today.

gei