And She Kissed a God

12. Kiss

'You are a cursed god.'

'Why will a goddess lie?'

'I don't want you near my grandmother.'

'Aditya, I'm an immortal.'

'Svaha is a goddess.'

'What if she's hurt when your curse is broken?'

My head throbbed. Too many questions. Too many answers. The early morning darkness spread around and I lay still on the ground.

Losing sleep was bad enough, a strike to the head only made it worse. As soon as Anil pulled out a gun, someone approached us from behind and attacked. I saw military dresses, Samidha jumping on them, and then it was a blur.

We were surrounded. That much I knew.

I fell. My head lay horizontal, my cheek in contact with dust, Legs walking around us. And then I glanced at the dead bodies from the spaces between legs. Their frozen eyes were watching the sky, waiting for their souls to be taken.

Behind the dead bodies, huge jeeps and cars made a U-shape shielding the hole in the wall. One could tell they drove through the hole. The men stood in line as if they were soldiers stationed on a battleground. Except for the gush of wind, there was no sound. Or I was hit so bad I lost my hearing temporarily.

Ahead of the heap of dead bodies was a short girl, in her early twenties. She wore a long white overcoat and smiled at me from afar.

She walked past me and I saw a scar projected diagonally on her face. I knew that girl. She was Katrina.

"I will kill you all," Samidha screamed.

I hadn't lost my hearing.

"Samidha, is it?" Katrina said, her voice sweet; contradictory to her personality.

I crawled on the earth, turning back to them. Anil kneeled beside Sam; his hands were in the air. They pointed a gun at him. However, his attention was somewhere else. I could tell by those old eyes staring at his men's dead bodies. He was in guilt. They died for him; because of him.

"But I heard you prefer 'Sam'." The scientist's voice was crude.

He crouched before her, his eyes charily scanning her. He wore an overcoat too and had a watch that showed: 3:40 AM and a one-hour countdown running backwards.

He was in a hurry.

We weren't. We lost. We had all the time in the world.

Sam nodded. "I heard you like to torture people."

Saurav faked a smile to cover his debased face. "That's a false impression, girl. I am working on upgrading our race."

"Yeah, that's right," Katrina said. "And he thinks you are a key for that."

"You touch her, you die," Anil screamed at them. He didn't care about his delicate position.

The scientist slyly smiled. "Anil, how did I forget you? I thought you would kill her boyfriend. Instead, you turned sluggish."

"Or sentimental." Katrina chuckled.

"What do you want from me?" Sam asked. She was desperate.

Katrina folded her hands and laughed. "Are you joking?" She extended her hand and received a knife from their men. After taking two steps back, she threw the knife at her.

It travelled linearly until Sam and then deflected sideward and hit Anil in his thigh. He screeched in pain and Katrina jumped on her knees, clapping.