A Sew Through Time [Banbudh And Budbak]

38: The flowers have gone bad

Entering the old electronics shop, the entity's smile receded to a contemplating gasp. Peeking and inspection followed before she sauntered away from the desk. The demonical laughter receded along with the sound of her footsteps.

Squeezed under the display shelf, Badri's head poked out first. Old VCRs and broken remote consoles laid abandoned in shelves, bundled wires were left dangling on the floor, Blu-rays and cassettes idled on the table. Behind them were old gaming consoles, broken printing machines and rows of physical media. Crumbled bills scattered the floor, their printed markings left unknown.

"Is she gone?" Whispered Khushi from under the desk.

"Yeah, gone"

 The rest of the heads peeked out, noticing the street empty again.

"Heehee, partner" Budh mumbled near his shoulder, "Ye jingalala toh Rathi sir sey bhi zyada round marne ati hai"

"For real partner" sighed Badri, when he noticed the fence seen from the distant window. It was a faraway long green line, where the road collapsed into the sea. Standing up, he almost walked near the other end to take a closer look, but his sister pulled him down and hissed,

"Don't vent now, the impostor's right outside!"

The distance between the shop and the fence proved too risky, Badri thought. For a second, he felt something was out there. But what he did not know.

"Heehee, the real impostor's hiding under this table" Budh chortled, "Who kills his own crewmates before hiding himself"

"I'm not leaving this place!" Jeeva reprimanded from under the table, his hands shivering around the cleaver handle, "I don't wanna be turned into rat snack!"

Badri knelt near his face, put a hand on his shoulder and stated,

"Maaf karde bhai"

He sank back, almost hitting his head.

"Do you have any last wish?"

"Yes!" He said, holding the cleaver tighter, "Ghal bhej do"

"Very well" Badri clasped his hands, "Take a deep breathe"

He obeyed.

"Now say with me" he continued, unable to contain his giggle, "Hey Prabhu, please forgive me for my sins"

"Please f-forgive me for my s-sins!"

"It's heartbreaking"

"It's heartbreaking!"

"If my soul reaches you"

"If my soul rea-TYA?!" He grabbed his collar and snarled, "GHAL BHEJNE BOLA THA, UPAL NAHI madalthod!"

"Chilla maat, warna sirf upar nahi, left aur right bhi nahi jayega tu!" Budh leaned near him, "Can't you see your antim sanskar on the stairs?"

They turned around, actually discovering the entity standing on one foot on the shop stairs, as if doing some terrible yoga pose. Cowering away, Jeeva squeezed under the depths of the table, covering his ears and shutting his eyes.

The laughter came back, more diabolical and long. Intrigued, the entity swiftly ran inside and peeked under it. 

But there was nobody. 

She left again.

"Jeeva bhaiya, you're strong na? " Khushi whispered as low as possible from behind the shelf, "Why can't you fight that entity and win?"

"Do you wanna send me to jail?!" Jeeva gulped, "Bina bail ke?"

"Hehe, I just wanna feel the A.C last time before dying" snickered Budh behind her. He stepped back, accidentally hitting another empty shelf, toppling the CDs over his head.