The Hell Games (Kalki Chronicles)

The Plan

"I feel something heavy is overpowering me. I cannot fight against it.

Whoa! I cannot sleep.

I need to sleep. Let me take sleeping pills.

After an hour long battle, Samaira goes off to sleep for sometime. Disturbed sleep leaves her perturbed.

She wakes up early. It is only 6 am in the morning. "It is too early to disturb him. Should I call him now? Boudhayan must be sleeping.

But only he can help me find an answer to my question", she pondered.

Why do I feel heavy at a particular hour of the night? I see a particular place. The place is very eerie. I get hallucinations about the place. Something is wrong with me. I need to find out.

Time being a constraint, Samaira leaves for teaching at the Institute. It was her first day.

Sheer fate or coincidence that they meet again ...now in the Institute, where she was called for the Interview.

Samaira and Dev meet each other for the second time. He again starts stealing looks at her when their eyes meet. Amused at her feeling, Samaira shy's herself into a conversation with the receptionist. She shares that she is preparing for civil services and would need some notes when Dev overhears the conversation and interrupts. He sees her directly in her eyes and begins "You will clear the most coveted exam of the country". After a pause of silence, she finds her heart pounding faster than before and understood something was wrong with it.

"I would call it attraction. People call it love. While in medical terms, it could be indicative of a forthcoming heart problem as I was growing of age..." she thought.

Teaching was new for her. She found it difficult to cope up with the running around. Dev helped Samaira with some notes and they soon became good friends. Sharing conversations with co-workers during lunch hours was a common feature at the Institute. No sooner than later she picked up certain skills of teaching due to the pressures given by her mentor at the Institute, Keshav Sir. Once Samaira got an opportunity to sit in his class and learn some tricks of Maths. She was dumbstruck to see his method of calculating numbers in multiples in a matter of seconds.

He didn't even apply his mind to the problems and the answer came out.

Endowed with extraordinary spiritual faculties, Samaira was no less an intelligent student. At the Institute, she was always absorbed in Krishna Consciousness which was not the only difference to be spotted in the Institute. She was the only one among the others chosen without any interview.

"She doesn't think...she acts..." He said, nodding at the man standing beside him.

"That is what is special about her and is now to our advantage. Give her more assignments and responsibilities. Add her to our main group that conducts classes over the weekend. From now on, she will also join you in conducting the class.." commanded Keshav Sir to Mohan.

"Samaira, the new girl. Please call her, I want to meet her".

"Where is Dev?"

"Sir, he is taking your class while you were away for a meeting?

"Okay, ask him to meet me after he is done".

Dev was one of the close associates to Keshav Sir who commanded authority in the Institute.

After some time, both Samaira and Dev appeared before Keshav Sir. While they occupied the seats next to each other, Dev felt quite uncomfortable in her presence. Sir called for some tea for the guests at his office. He spoke to Samaira about some new assignments and asked Mohan to help her with the new responsibilities. It was during this time that Sir began to speak "Samaira, you will be helping Dev in our new project training students for the upcoming exams". Saying so, he smiles at Dev, who returns a devilish smile.