He Couldn't Take It Anymore || An ICT Fanfiction

9. His Haunting Absence

Then, suddenly with a jolt, he realised that he couldn't play the match tomorrow. He couldn't face his teammates when he knew that they wanted nothing with him. He couldn't face the country when he knew that he would be condemned heavily tomorrow.

He couldn't play tomorrow. But still, as one last feeble attempt to prove himself, he wrote a letter. He placed it in an envelope and then, started to pack his things.

When finished, he silently, along with his stuff, went to Rohit's room and saw him sleeping with his face stained with tears. He was shivering and Virat's face softened. He pulled up a blanket and draped it over Rohit and put the envelope on the nightstand.

He whispered, "I'm sorry, Ro", as he silently tiptoed away into the dead of the night.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack."

"He left??!?!" shouted Jinks, loud enough to wake up every single person in the hotel, in the morning.

Rohit, who woke up startled by this sudden noise, tumbled due to the blanket draped over him and fell flat across his face, down the bed.

He cursed the blanket but then he wondered how the hell a blanket had draped itself over him. He didn't give it much of a thought as he pried it away from him and got up to his feet, rushing outside his room.

He found Jinks and Bhuvi standing in the hallway with their brows furrowed and eyes narrow. Along with them, stood one of the members of the hotel staff.

"We can't find him, Sir!" said another, as he came there, running and panting.

"What do you mean you can't find him?" asked Bhuvi, with his arms folded over his chest.

"I have searched the entire hotel, Sir. I can't find him anywhere", said the staff member.

The entire team came running to the hallway, some even tumbling and tripping over their feet.

Rohit asked worriedly, "What's going on Jinks?"

Jinks frowned. "Virat has gone missing", he informed the team gravely who looked just as about concerned what had caused Jinks to shout so loudly in the morning.

"What do you mean he has gone missing?" asked Jaddu.

"One of hotel staff members claims that he had seen him going out with his stuff last night", notified Bhuvi.

"Then why didn't you stop him?" asked Rahul outrageously.

The man shrunk back. "Sir, I am really sorry. I was in a daze when I saw him and I thought I was just seeing things, but when you asked me, then I got sure that it was him."

Jinks hadn't been able to sleep last night. He simply tossed and turned and tried his best to keep his mind off Virat, but how could he? His best friend had betrayed his other best friend, so how could he even think of sleep?

He turned and stared up at the ceiling but all he could see was Virat, Rohit and him, laughing, maybe on something Virat said. He caught the jubilant smiles on each of their faces, how happy they were or how the mental image itself had brought tears to his eyes before he could stop himself.

And suddenly he felt all the air leave his lungs as he sat up, gasping for breath. His heart raced. He had never felt so conflicted in his entire life. How could just one act of treachery overturn all the good memories they had together, especially, when he knew that he won't be able to make anymore?