ARSHVELLO

The agreement

Jack got bandaged and then Aarav.  Jenny's eyes were just on Aarav while bandaging. The boy seemed  disturbed.  Maybe he was confused about what was going on. Jenny couldn't see his face properly as  the light was not much there. The black cat had left a scar on Aarav's left hand's ring finger, which looked like the alphabet 'J'.  She bandaged that finger too.
- "Does it hurt?" She asked.
- "Not really. I'm  fine." Jenny didn't say anything more.  She wasn't that friendly with strangers. Asking about his pain was just a formality to fulfill. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.
There was a pause. Nobody was talking. Aarav's bandage was done.
The boy's eyes were different from others. All Jenny could see well was just his eyes.  She kept looking at him. Didn't realize it. On a sudden, the electricity returned. The boy looked decent. Jenny finally realized it and gave herself a shake. Took her eyes off. 
- "I'm  bringing chicken soup for both of you." And she left. Jack sat down on the bed next to Aarav.
- "Hi!" He said.
- "Oh, hi." Aarav replied with a smile.  The smile was filled with confusion. 
- "You need not to be nervous. Stay calm. Oh, no! What I'm saying? I also have a problem of nervousness."
- "Nothing like that. I'm fine."
- "That's good."
There was a silence. Then Jack broke it.
- "So where are you from? I mean we found you senseless in the backyard." Jack asked. Aarav didn't know what to say. And thankfully at such a moment Jenny called Jack downstairs.
- "Jack!...Jack! Come here. Hurry up!"
- "Don't know why she keeps calling me all the day. Anyway, you take rest. I'm coming."
- "Sure." And he left.
- "What happened, Jen? Why did you call me?"
- "There's something."
- "What?"
- "I heard weird noises from the kitchen. Something's surely there."
- "What? Okay.... Let me check."
- "I'll accompany you."
- "Not needed. I can manage."
- "Can't you just shut up?"
Both of them slowly moved to the kitchen. The noise was coming closer. Jack was about to look in. All on a sudden, more than twenty owls came out of the kitchen one by one, making noises.  It crossed over Jenny and Jack.
- "What the hell is going on--" Jenny urged. Suddenly, the light went  off. The city looked  illuminated except their house. The butterflies shone. A white smoke reflected an image in the air. It seemed  to be a scene after a bloody war. So many dead bodies.  Blood was  flowing everywhere.  The nearby river's colour had turned into bloody red. The world looked so empty. Silence everywhere. Just a boy standing and crying badly holding a letter. His tears were falling down into the blood. His face wasn't seen as the scene was from behind his back. Jenny didn't get it, nor did Jack.  In the next moment, the light came back. The owls weren't seen anymore. The massive window was opened. They could feel the tenderness of the wind. Jenny noticed a letter on the floor, picked  it up.  Something was written there, with blood. "One heart that sacrificed for another  heart, another heart which got connected to one another heart. All went in vain. And the hearts were played  to death. Don't join this death game. Not saying to save you. It's a warning... The first and last warning. Girl, hope you're smart enough."  Jenny didn't get it properly. But she was damn sure something wrong was always happening with them since the journey to that cursed jungle. Who sent that letter? And why?  What was the scene about? About which destruction? What conspiracy was going on?
- "I told you! I told you!...I told you I saw owls today, but you didn't believe me. Now see." He said with an unmistakable voice. Jenny didn't reply. There was a silence.
- "I'm sorry....." She said. Jack looked at her. Surprised. She wasn't a girl to say sorry that easily. She looked disturbed. Let's not talk about this incident now. Forget about those owls and the letter too.
- "Give me this letter." He said and took it  from Jenny's hand, went to the window, folded it and threw out.
- "I hate such stupid stuffs!....." And they left, turning off the drawing room's light. An owl landed on the garden, unfolded the letter and flew off. Moonlight fell over it, and all the previous words  got disappeared, leaving behind a few alphabets. a...r...s...h...v...e...l...l...o... And the wind flew  off the letter and it got disappeared in the dark sky. Jack got to know from Aarav that the electricity didn't go a few minutes ago. That meant someone intentionally turned off the light of drawing room. Aarav got freshen up, and Jack as well. Then they went to downstairs for dinner. Aarav was like stuck here. He didn't know how to leave. He was also afraid of the question Jack asked him before. There was nothing wrong in exploring a different world. Let's spend some more time and then leave. Just hope that question never rises again. He said inner his mind.  Suddenly, his eyes caught a calendar in the room. A calendar of 31st century, 3040. Wow! One thousand year later? That's cool! Must visit the world for once now.  It would be a great fun! They started having their breakfast. Jenny served chicken soup, sandwiches and orange juice for them.
- "So where are you from?" Jenny asked. Wanted to be clear about a stranger.  Aarav just kept quite. He didn't know what to say. If he said California, and the place he was in turned out be an another country, it would be a mess. He didn't know which part of future world was this.   But obviously he couldn't keep quite. He had to say something. Otherwise, it would sound suspicious. He took a breath and with full of confidence his lips moved to say it.
- "Jen, he was found in our garden. He must be Filipthesian. You're from Filipthese, aren't you?" Jack said before Aarav could.  Aarav never heard that place's name before. It never existed in their world.
- "Y-yes" he confusingly replied as he had nothing else left to say.  Jack took a bite of the sandwich. Made the weirdest sound on the planet.
- "Sorry, I totally forgot to ask your name. Extremely sorry! May I know your name?"  He asked with a fresh mind.
- "Aarav... Aarav Ruan.  Yours?"
- "Jack White, and she's my elder sister, Jenny White, who irritates me all the time."
- "Joke of the year...." She said.
- "Not joke of the year but Jack of the year."
Jenny was a strong enough girl. If someone threatened  her not to do something, she would do that for sure. The letter might terrify others. But it really didn't matter to her. If someone had warned her to ignore something, she would do the opposite for sure. Though she didn't know what the letter exactly meant. But she must have joined that so called death game,  it was that clear.  She just hated threats. She knew the arrival of Aarav at such a cursed time couldn't be a coincidence. Was he a spy? For whom he was working? At such a situation others would make sure that the stranger doesn’t  stay longer at their house. But Jenny was not a girl to do so.
She wanted to test Aarav, be sure about the suspicion and wanted to know about the mastermind. Everything was messed up after meeting the black cat. Jenny was too sleepy that time. Her sleep hadn't been completed yet. She just couldn't trust Aarav. The boy might look so decent but his intention might not be.
- "So what do you do, Aarav?" Asked Jack. Curious to know him more.
- "I'm a student of class ten. What about you?"
It sounded strange to Jack.
- "I'm studying for the graduation."
- "And I've done my graduation." Jenny said moving her eyes from the book. Jenny was never that friendly. She never joined any conversation. But joining the conversation suddenly sounded strange to Jack. This couldn't be Jenny. Something was surely wrong.
- "That's nice." He replied. Numb to say anything more. He was a shy person. Fully introverted. Never had any friends. He ignored talking to others. It was kind of awkward for him to talk with strangers, that too with a girl. He couldn't  even eye contact. Fully nervous.
- "Sorry, But don't you think you're too slow at study?" Asked Jack. Aarav kept quiet. Graduation at such a young age also sounded strange to him. He couldn't even say he didn't belong to here.
- "Whatever--who are in your family? Do you have any siblings?"
- "Nope. Only mom and dad. That's it."
- "What does your mom do?" Asked Jenny without even looking at him. Her eyes were  on the book. Seemed like Aarav was a criminal, and she was interrogating him.  Jack already knew her eyes might be on the book, but her mind was listening to them. Reading was just an activity to do.  He looked at Jenny for once and then at Aarav.
- "She's a primary school's teacher."
- "And your dad?" Asked Jack. There was a silence. Getting no reply from Aarav, she looked at him with a so different gesture. He was caught! The spy would definitely be caught now. Jenny waited for a while. Then moved to say something. But before she could, he had started speaking.
- "A-actually he doesn't do anything. He lost his right hand in a horrible accident. Then lost his job. He was a great teacher of high school." He said the last sentence so proudly.
- "Oh, I'm so sorry." Jack replied. Jenny was silent. She wasn't expecting the answer. She thought something but it turned out to be something else. Maybe she shouldn't have judged too quickly. There was a silence.
- "So does he work using robot hand?" Asked Jack.
- "Robot hand? What's that?" He confusingly  asked.
- "Don't you know about robot hand?"
- "Nope."  
- "Are you kidding?"
- "I'm serious."
- "Well. Robot hand is made for the people who don't have a hand of their own. You can do all kinds of work using it.  It's so comfortable to move. It has two different qualities. One which  looks like a robot hand, another one looks like a human hand. But that one is a little expensive."
- "It's so great!"
- "Why haven't you bought it yet? Buy one for your dad."
- "What's the price?"
- "The robot hand is seventy rubins, and  the human-robot hand is for hundred rubins."