Pyro of the Craven

Chapter-9: Failure..!!

Nuville city - Present Day

Ramaraju wakes up several times. The first time, he sees his father's face looming over his. He feels something slap against the side of his face. "Ramaraju! Ramaraju!" Amshuman is calling his name, and it sounds urgent, but Ramaraju is so tired. His eyelids droop, and once again, darkness claims him. The second time, he opens his eyes to a blinding white light shining above him. "Where am I?" he tries to ask, but his voice doesn't work, his tongue doesn't move. "He's awake!" he hears someone say. He tries to keep his eyes open, but exhaustion overtakes him. The next time he wakes up, the lights are dim, and he can feel the fabric and softness of the mattress beneath him. Something plastic and foreign is weighing down on his face. In a fit of panic, Ramaraju tries to remove it, but once again, his body refuses to obey his command. When he wakes up next, the room is brighter, and his vision is more clear. He realizes that the object on his face is an oxygen mask and moves to remove it. This time, his hands oblige, only to be stopped by another as his mother, Isha, pulls his hand away from his face. "No, no. You can't remove the mask until the doctor says," says Isha, crouching over him. "Mother..." Ramaraju's voice is hoarse from disuse and it is hard to get out the word. Isha nods, her mouth stretched into a grim line. "I'm glad you're awake, Ramaraju." Then she shakes her head and smiles and reaches over to ruffle Ramaraju's hair. And that's a little better, no matter how dark the world is right now.

"It's okay now. You are safe." she comforts him.

Later that evening, Ramaraju opens his eye, vision blurry with tears. "Principal Ma'am" he manages.

"Ramaraju." The name is a whisper, but the hands, so careful and gentle, clutch him just a little bit closer. That brings the tears back, and Ramaraju's breath catches in his throat. "Siya," he tells his teacher. "Siya—she—that man killed her-" He breaks off when his throat grows too tight for words.

"Calm down. I know. It was my fault to send you on such difficult missions. I'm sorry, I failed you..."

Failed you. The words seem to bring something back to him, a memory tucked in the back of his mind.

Failed you...

"Ram, I don't want to die." He hears the voices in his head, a distant echo of his own and Siya's. Then it all comes crashing around him; her eyes widening in shock, the sensation of blood on his skin, and her voice speaking, "Ra...Raam." Ramaraju shoots up in his bed.

"No. It was my fault. I let Siya die," Ramaraju whispers. Then he turns to the principal.

"I let Siya die," he repeats.

"Ramaraju.."

He can feel tears prickling at the corner of his eyes, feel them pooling down the sides of his eyes and onto his cheeks. His breath is coming out faster and faster, and his heart is being squeezed. The tears keep coming and before he knows it, Ramaraju is sobbing into Vasuda's shoulder.

A few days later, Ramaraju recovers completely. On his way home, his father observes Ramaraju being sad and silent all the time and he asked,

"What's up son? You ok?"

"Yes, Father. I'm good," he replies.

Amshuman felt that it'd be good if he asked nothing about that incident and took him home.

That night, Ramaraju wrapped himself alone in his blankets and endured the incessant shaking. In his heart was a disappointment with himself. Siya died. Right in front of him. He hadn't been able to do anything.

"Is Ramaraju all right?"

He heard his father's voice from the other side of the doors as he arrived home.