7 days

September 10

September 10.

POV: Shubman Gill

Ibrahim anxiously paced around in the hospital room waiting for Mahi to come. Mahi was at an event when Ibrahim got through to him. Ibrahim counted seconds after he cut the call. Every second felt like a century to him. He looked over to Shubman who was curled up in a ball, his head resting on Simran's lap. Ibrahim's eyes wandered on the claw mark on his shoulders, the unexplained purplish bruises on his arms and torso.

Simran and her parents refused to talk to Ibrahim. They wouldn't listen to anything he had to say. They all wanted to wait for Mahi. Ibrahim understood their sentiments, if he hadn't seen or experienced the things he did ok, even he wouldn't have believed it.

‘ Sir, Mahi sir is here..’ one of the men announced.

Ibrahim felt a wave of relief when he saw Mahi walk in. He immediately hugged Mahi and thanked him.

‘ What's ….’ that was all he could say.

Mahi stood shocked at the sight of Shubman. Every news outlet reported that Shubman was sick with viral fever, but seeing Shubman, Mahi immediately knew that it wasn't true.

Shubman opened his mouth to greet Mahi, but he felt too weak to speak. The high fever made it impossible for him to stay awake. He was slipping in and out of consciousness.

‘ What's going on?’ Mahi finally asked.

‘ Maybe you should sit down for this ..’ Ibrahim gestured to the chair.

Mahi quizzically looked at Ibrahim as he sat down. He knew Ibrahim as an instructor from when he trained in the army. They decided to keep in touch even after training was done, a friendship which has now lasted several years.

‘ Mahi, you and I have known each other for a really long time right?’

Mahi nodded.

‘ …and you know that I would never talk about something, or go through with something unless I am absolutely sure of what it is. Unless all evidence is laid out, unless I have a game plan’

Mahi nodded again slowly and looked at Shubman's parents. His mother was silently crying, his father looked furious. Simran, who was playing with Shubman's hair, looked broken to bits.

‘ Whatever that is happening with Shubman, it's….it's not medical. There's a jinn attached to him,’ Ibrahim finally said.

Ibrahim watched as Mahi's eyes widened. He ran his fingers through his long hair and let out a deep sigh.

‘ Ibrahim is crazy….this is medical. How can it be anything else?’ It was Shubman's father.

Ibrahim clenched his jaw. It didn't bother him that he was being called crazy. What bothered him was that they refused to listen.

‘ Wait….Ibrahim isn't the type of man to just say things like that. On what grounds are you saying this?’ Mahi finally spoke.

Ibrahim cleared his throat and began.

‘ Shubman isn't the type of boy to get angry and throw things around. But …..since the past few days, he has been showing so much anger, he's physically violent’

‘ The fever, the unexplained fits, the bruises on him that appear out of nowhere….. he …he doesn't sleep at night. He has the same recurring nightmare. I…I have seen him staring at the mirror in the middle of the night.’

‘ He…he kept the lights in the house off. He sits in complete darkness. He …he doesn't take a shower in days, unless we force him to. Whatever food I bring to the house, it rots within a few hours. I have…I have seen him stare at the maggots…..He….he is vomiting blood, he lost control of his body and he did things that he would never in a million years, even think of doing…..he is having memory lapses, the doctors are unable to explain anything’.

‘ And…and the kid, Simran…you were there when the kid described it. How would he have known? That's the same thing which Shubman keeps having recurring nightmares of….’

‘ Mahi, when I started reciting, you should have seen him react. His eyes…..his eyes turned scarlet…claw marks appeared out of nowhere. He had nose bleeds’

Ibrahim felt out of breath as he explained. He looked around him for someone to respond, but no one did.

‘ Mahi, I'm telling you, it's black magic. Someone must have done something to him. Someone with so much..’ Ibrahim stopped all of a sudden.

‘ Who are you?’ Ibrahim asked, getting up.

Everyone looked towards the door, where a male nurse stood.

‘ Ibrahim, that's ….’ Mahi couldn't finish his sentence.

Ibrahim sprinted towards the nurse and pressed him against the wall.

‘ Who are you? Why are you here?’ he asked through gritted teeth.

The nurse didn't say anything, the tray he held pressed against Ibrahim's stomach. Ibrahim had seen him before, but he couldn't remember where.

The nurse refused to say anything, and just stared at Ibrahim, as though he wanted Ibrahim to figure it out by himself.

‘ What's…what's going on?’ Shubman weakly asked Simran.

‘ I…don't know baby’ Simran felt nervous.

Shubman lifted his head and gasped at first, and then let out a scream.

‘ IBRAHIM!’ He pointed his finger at the nurse.

‘ No no no…’ Shubman kept saying as he tried to hide behind Simran.

Ibrahim's eyes widened as he realized where he had seen the man before. The soft brown eyes, the cunning smile, the scar on the bridge of his nose.

‘Ma…Mayank?’ Ibrahim gasped.

‘ I sent a little gift for your boss, looks like he got it’ Mayank laughed.

‘ What the hell did you do?’ Ibrahim screamed.

‘Try and find out, let's see if you can save him’ Mayank whispered.

Ibrahim let out a frustrated groan and punched Mayank.

Mayank winced in pain and let out a throaty laugh as Ibrahim held his collar and tried to drag him out.

‘ Shubman, Meri Jaan. I'M BACK!’ Mayank yelled as he was being escorted out.

Shubman was trembling in fear, hugging Simran. His parents tried to calm him down, as Mahi paced around thinking of what Mayank said. Maybe, maybe Ibrahim was right. Maybe something is happening which is beyond their comprehension.

Ibrahim walked back into the room agitated. Mahi stopped him.

‘ What was he talking about? What gift?’

‘ I..I don't know, I need to get to the house’ Ibrahim said as he grabbed his jacket.

‘ Where…where is he?’ Shubman sobbed.

‘ somewhere where he can't reach you again’ Ibrahim gently answered.

‘ Ibrahim…he …he's gonna hurt me’

‘ No…no, I won't let him. Remember the promise? I'm gonna need you to be strong for me? Can you do that?’ Ibrahim asked, holding his hands.

Shubman gulped and nodded.

‘ Simran, will you come with Mahi and I?’ Ibrahim asked before he left.

Simran kissed Shubman and left with Ibrahim.

‘ What…where are we going?’ she asked quietly.

‘ To find the gift that Mayank gave Shubman’ Ibrahim sounded furious.