Afternoon came rushing.
But Selva refused to talk.
He refused lunch as well and nothing whatsoever Iniyan or Balaji had to say had even an ounce of effect on him. He preferred to keep lying on the bed without even the slightest of movement, his face turned towards the open windows, gazing at the sea. After a lot of persuasion, they managed to get only a few sentences out of him.
"You were right." His voice declared. It didn't tremble like it had in the morning. It was static. A flatline.
"Right about what?" Balaji frowned.
"I was a man who ran among the wolves. I am a man. I could never be a wolf, even if I tried."
Then, Selva retreated back into silence. Balaji couldn't make head or tail out of his words and the former offered no further explanation, even when asked.
Balaji went out again.
He visited his party's office and came home in the evening, rethinking a strategy to make Selva talk. The return journey was a difficult one as a downpour broke out. There was a low-pressure situation in the Bay of Bengal, Balaji had heard. But the rain was intense enough to signal a cyclone. When he reached his guesthouse, the rain had stopped but the clouds were still darker than the waters of Cooum River.
He walked into a surprise when Iniyan informed him that Selva was missing.
There was a search conducted throughout the guesthouse and the adjoining beach.
No sign of him.
YOU ARE READING
A Man among Wolves
Mystery / ThrillerWhen he attempts to switch his job, Selva ,a meek, young man in Chennai, finds himself working for a dubious gang of men. They are involved in activities that he doesn't wish to associate himself with but he is too afraid to back out. As he continue...
