Ashtabhuj: Advent

Chapter 2 - The Antichrist

In a dingy room near Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi a twenty two year old man sat with his laptop. Matth had wasted so much money on getting him admitted in a private medical college for medical education and he had dropped out after two years. His headaches didn't let him live in peace. He had been with the Matth since childhood. Nobody had told him about his past, but someone had told him that he was son of a sadhvi from the matth who committed suicide after he was born. The Matth had named him Vedant. People from Matth had been cajoling him to return to Matth ever since he had returned to Varanasi but he chose to live on his own, writing for money on the internet. His headaches were getting severe and severe as time passed, and over that he had experiences that didn't let him live in peace. A few years ago when he was new in medical college, he had joined an internet platform to make new friends. He had always wanted to make friends outside the matth and he tried for it. But later, he found that the ones who posed as friends only became his friends to gang up and bully him. It was a bad case of cyberbullying that left him scarred and he left that social media website. Ever since he had left that website, he had been feeling odd. He felt that he was the Antichrist, but he didn't tell this to anyone. His days and nights went with severe headaches and one single thought, that he was the Antichrist. He didn't want to trouble the people of the Matth. Most of his childhood friends had already taken deeksha, those who hadn't taken deeksha had married and became priests in the local temples. The head of the Matth had chosen him to become a doctor and serve the Matth and people, and he just couldn't continue with the studies due to severe disillusionment and persistent headaches.It was a not easy living with constant headaches and the feeling that he was an Antichrist, yet Vedant tried to live daily, doing enough work to make his ends meet. It's today that he received a parcel. There was a mobile phone in the parcel with a note, "We have answers to your questions. If you want to know the answers, come to us." He switched on the phone and instantly received a message. "Come to Kalpa, and we will pick you up from the airport." Vedant decided to go, as no more could he live with the headaches and constant feeling of being the Antichrist. He packed his bag, and picked his phone and there was a message, his ticket to Kalpa was already booked. He took a taxi to Varanasi airport and in two hours he was standing outside Kalpa airport. The phone he had received in the parcel rang. "Hello," he said. "Hello Vedant, get in the sky blue fiat and it will take you to us," The voice on the phone said. Vedant took his bag and walked towards the sky blue fiat. A man got out and gave a courteous nod to him. "Give me your bag sir!" He said. Vedant handed over the bag to him. The driver kept the bag in the boot of the car and opened the rear door of the car. Vedant sat down in the car. The driver got into the car and started driving. The car after a drive of about half an hour reached the gate of the university. The gates opened and then the car turned towards the guest house. Reaching the guest house, the car halted and the driver got out and opened the door for Vedant. "Sir, you have already been allotted a room, I will get you the keys, kindly freshen up and be ready. Someone from the University would be picking you up in an hour. The driver then proceeded to take out Vedant's bag from the boot of the car and lead him into the guest house. The receptionist saw Vedant and smiled. Handing over a key to the driver. Room 205, she said. The driver took the keys and moved towards the lift, asking Vedant to come with him. Vedant got into the lift with the driver and the driver. The lift stopped at 2nd floor and both got off the lift. The driver on the door of Room 205 handed him over his bag and the key and said "it was nice meeting you sir, kindly be ready in one hour".

Vedant entered the room. It was a nice comfortable room akin to a room of a three star hotel with the same amenities. He went to the bathroom and washed his face and then removed his shoes and lay down on the bed. He drifted to sleep only to wake up to the door bell. He opened the door and a man was standing there. "Hi I'm Dr. Rajesh, I have come to take you to meet someone." "Just a minute sir," said Vedant and proceeded to get into his shoes. He locked the door and then got into the lift with Dr. Rajesh. Outside the guest house Dr. Rajesh had his car parked, it was a silver Honda City. They both got into it and after a few moments they reached in front of a bungalow. "Let's go Vedant." Dr. Rajesh said. Vedant got out of the car and entered the bungalow with Dr. Rajesh. In the living room was sitting Professor Bhattacharya alone.