Horizon (Indian SciFi begins)

5.9) Kidnapping

Mayuri quickly opened a portal. We both jumped in. I came out to see Snigdha's house on fire. A giant hole in the wall at the sides.

Snigdha's family gasped as the others helped them out. Snigdha rushed towards us. "MAYURIIII !!!", she cried.

Mayuri too hugged her as Snigdha couldn't control her tears. Now that I noticed it, her clothes were torn. But it wasn't due to fire for sure. Her gaze went to me and she stopped all of a sudden.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE ?!", she shouted.
I stepped back due to her sudden aggression. "Are you okay Snigdha ?", Mayuri asked her.

"Stay away from her !", Snigdha pulled her back, away from me. Everyone gathered around us hearing Snigdha's voice. "Go away from here ! You are the reason all this happened and now you are asking me what happened ?!"

I was still in my phoenix armour. I noticed the other people around us taking defensive positions, with sticks in their hands.

I don't know what the heck is going on. But for now, I think you should leave - Mayuri told me via her telepathy thing. I too felt the same. I escaped. Just like I did when Aditya had accused me of killing Master Suraj.

First Aditya, now Snigdha.. she didn't even have the white eyes as Aditya..
Two people can't tell something false right.. maybe I'm going out of control..

Did I do anything wrong ? Was taking Mayuri to REDZ a mistake ?? Because all these problems started from there itself..

I reached my home. Aai was standing at the balcony waiting for me. Uh oh.

"Vedant, I just now got a call from Chalke vahini. You were at the scene of destruction again.. did you do it Vedant ? Did you fire up Snigdha's house as she said ??", Aai asked.
"No.. actually I don't know..", I said. "I don't know what's happening to me."

"My nightmare has come true. It has returned.. you didn't recover..", Aai muttered as she brought a bottle of medicine. It was the same purple liquid Mahesh had given to Mayuri. "Dr.Gaikwad will be here by morning. Your Pappa is there with him, discussing what we should do.. don't worry. We'll figure something out..", I couldn't hear the further words as I lost my consciousness.

***

"Wake up ! Vedant !!", someone shook me.
"Wtf Aditya ?!", I gasped as I woke up instantly. "What.. where were you ?! Tell me this was just a bad dream-"

"Shhh!! Now only you listen and I'll speak !", he instructed. "I've already told everything to Mayuri. I don't know how much more I can suppress this stuff", he said as he revealed what he was holding in his hands.

It was an infinity. Just like what I had. But this one had a 'minus' at its centre.

"Long story short. Dr.Gaikwad and your parents believe whatever happened last year is repeating itself again. But trust me it was a different thing. This time it isn't the fire monster-"
"What fire monster ?! What last year-"

"I told you to listen to me !", Aditya's eyes changed to white again but he controlled himself again. "They're coming here to capture you thinking you are out of control but I just know if there's someone who can stop this shit taking over me, it's you !"

A white aura filled Aditya's surrounding. He quickly suppressed it and opened a portal. "Stop this thing friend. Whatever it takes", he said as he jumped in and disappeared.

I heard the door unlocking. "He's sleeping inside, isn't it ?", it was Dr.Gaikwad. "Yes Dad." That white-coat-girl Sejal ?!
I quickly ran towards the balcony but I found several police waiting for the phoenix fighter to show up.

"Need some help partner ?"
Mayuri ?!

"I'm here to kidnap you", a hand came out of a portal and pulled me inside. I heard gunshots being fired behind me. I bumped into Mayuri. Not again !

I instantly sat down on her chair and folded my legs. Smart move.
"I would've laughed for that. But there are a lot of serious things going on around", Mayuri looked anxious.
"I met Aditya. It seems everyone is thinking I'm some criminal that has escaped jail", I remarked.

"You literally were the most wanted person last year", she said.
"Why is everyone obsessed with what happened last year ? And.. why can't I remember anything related to it ?", I asked myself.

A sunflower flew in her room and she caught it "Do you atleast remember this ?".
"It's a sunflower. That's all."
"Oh my God, they erased your memory", she gasped. "That explains everything.."

"What exactly am I missing here ?! What the fuck happened last year ?", I questioned again.
"That's not important right now. We need to figure out what's happening to Aditya. He told me he's losing control over himself", she changed the topic.

"When did it start ? What else did he tell you ?"
"When your mother gave the phoenix bracelet back to Suraj sir, he decided to try the phoenix armour. But when he tried to do so, a person named Manohar Joshi showed up. He killed master and when he noticed Aditya, he tried to kill him too. But somehow, he survived. But since then, Aditya developed an alter-ego. Something that takes over him sometimes.."

"That's frightening.."
"The alter-ego is trying to impersonate you. Even last night, it attacked Snigdha imposing as you", she revealed.