Chapter 6: Job "Specifications"
(Abhinav's pov)
I sat at the dining table with a cup of coffee in my hand waiting for Barun to be back home. I had last seen him at the college grounds, when despite my continuous calls to stop; he drove away in his car. I was tired of Barun messing around with me, how naive of him to think I would drop him off the mission if he continued to irk me like that. I am sure that's what he has been thinking, well tough luck, I know him too well.
Sadly matters didn't go too well in Excel; I had decided to stand close by the third year class to look out for Barun. I was only listening, but Sanaya's emotions... had me curious and a little worried; she was suspicious, but about what? Barun had just entered the class. I couldn't help but check at her through the window, I was far away from the classroom, I didn't need to step any closer. I wasn't exactly in line of sight. Everything was fine until Barun spotted me when the class was called off. I decided to make a run for it, hadn't I been distracted by Sanaya, Barun wouldn't have spotted me at the first place.
He was obviously annoyed with me for "stalking" him. I was just watching out for him and I had been right to do so, as proven by the little adventure the students got to witness in the corridor, even Barun knew it well, had I not intervened anything could have happened. Barun was shaking not with fury but agony from the pain that was scouring through his body, luckily the student body mistook it as anger. Well he was a little pissed off. Anyways I didn't care as long as nobody was suspicious, I am sure a change has occurred in him, I would have known what exactly, if he had the audacity to come back home, but apparently his stupid emotions are far more important. Though I would admit, it was only in his best to stay away for a while; I had sensed the hurt he felt on finding me out by the window but I didn't expect him to stay away for this long. It was almost midnight now, our practice time was approaching and there was no sign of him. Hadn't he promised he would make them his first priority? Another nagging thought floated from nowhere, what if he had been attacked? What if he was in danger?
"You seem worried" I jumped on hearing my friend's voice. Relief spread through me. He was here! I had invited him over, but it had completely skipped my mind given today's events.
"Mohit" I smiled looking around to find the room empty. "Come on I have been dying to see you"
I heard the chair next to me creek as Mohit pulled at it and seemingly he was sitting right now, I wouldn't know. He was invisible, that was his power as I had heard.
I turned my gaze to where I thought his face would be "Mohit! No games" I pleaded eager to see him.
His caramel brown eyes stretched in front of me and so did his vibrant smile which always lifted my spirits. I watched him dismiss his invisibility powers, his heart beat clearly resounding in my ears. I smiled warmly taking in his face; love and compassion emanating from him, quite overwhelmed myself I pulled him into a tight hug.
"I Missed you man"
"We miss you too" he smiled in response. Mohit is like my lil brother, he is 23 year old. Changed a few months back, I didn't train him; that responsibility was given to the trainer's back at home. I had been away all that time on Barun's case. Mohit and I were upset that I had missed on him changing, and hadn't been there for him at that particular phase. But everything aside, we have been best buds since as long as I can remember.
"I am impressed" I said referring to his powers.
"That was my aim" he grinned. "You can't sense my emotions while I am invisible!"
"It fits into being untraceable" I nodded in response.
"So where is your trainee?" he asked looking around.
"He will be here soon" I hoped. "So did Drashti explain why I called you over?"
"Kind of, but you tell me, what do I have to do exactly?"
"Well since Barun isn't here yet-"
In cue to my thought I heard an engine rev far off on the road, there were hardly any neighbor's around, it had to be Barun, and sure enough I saw the glint of silver among the trees.
"Okay quick" I whispered "I don't want him to know you are here".
Mohit disappeared with ease.
Barun parked his car at the usual spot.
"Welcome Back!" I greeted, the French window in the hall was slid open. I had decided not to bring up the topic of him ignoring me back at Excel; anyways we were late for practice.
"Let's go for practice" he grumbled in response. I shook my head at his behavior and gestured Mohit to come along.
Often I noticed Barun turn and glance at me, then look around a little deep in thought. I guessed he could hear the crunch of leaves caused by Mohit and grinned as I felt Mohit become cautious of his footsteps thereon. As we continued to tread towards the clearing we had made earlier in the middle of the woods I had rarely heard Mohit, he really was good at his powers having mastered them.
"So what do we do today?" Barun asked in a business-like tone.
"First tell me what happened"
"What are we doing in practice today?" he asked again on the edge of his patience.
"It's your hearing range, right?"
"It's all about that isn't it?" Barun scoffed "you don't care a damn how I felt back in Excel when I caught you spying on me".
"I wasn't spying and you have no idea, today-"
"Oh Shut Up!" he bellowed, I flinched as his anger unleashed And then I did something I had never done to him, not able to control myself I let a wave of calm and peace ripple from me towards him. His eyes instantly changed and his breathing went normal. A second later his eyes snapped. Oh-uh "I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT!" He yelled even louder hurling himself at me; it was only when I went flying back hitting a tree in the process that I realized he had gained strength in these past days. The stem of the tree I hit cracked from the blow; my head was fit to burst as I looked up at Barun.
I shook my head to get rid of the patches of dark forming in front of my eyes, running my hands at the back of my head to see if there was any blood.
"Jerk! Look what you did" I scolded as I stood up trying to steady myself.
"You had it coming" Barun grumbled flexing his arms. "You have been stalking me, this was payback"
"I was just watching out for you, is that a crime?" I yelled back, this guy was getting on my nerves now.
"Damn well it is! You seem to be very fond of doing that" his eyes flashed and in an instant I knew where this conversation was headed.
"I have no other choice, I am assigned for this!" I responded; we were going to have the conversation I had dearly tried to avoid, that too with Mohit in the vicinity.
"Assigned?" Barun asked incredulously. "What? To stalk me? To abduct me?" he mocked.
"I knew this conversation was coming" I began hoping to explain myself. "I tried my best to delay it, I would admit being selfish, but I guess this is as far as I can hold it from you. It is time that I let you in, and make you realize who I am"
Barun folded his arms across his chest, looking irritable as he waited for me to continue.
"This is my Job. I was supposed to pick you up from your place" I responded much calm than him. "I don't know how you will react, but it only makes sense to answer some of your questions. You have to understand Barun I had to bring you along, you are not normal. You couldn't have continued the way you were living".
"I was doing pretty well at being normal" he retorted. I expected that response.
"Whom are you lying to? I was there when you changed, I felt each and every emotion you went through, when you noticed that your blood was black from the bruised arm during the football match" I noticed his eyes widen in surprise. "You were watching me?" he asked incredulously.
"Let me finish" I glared at him hoping he would back down for once "I sensed everything your fear, your disgust. I knew you were scared, you needed to confide in someone, but you feared that you would be considered a freak. I had been keeping a close eye on you. I had joined the college for you! Been a great buddy to you but you! You wouldn't say a word to me. We had become the best of friends" he flinched, sure he didn't like the sound of that, I continued nevertheless "I wanted you to tell me everything but you were clever, you were hiding it all too well which also explains why you got your powers so soon"
"Soon?" he asked curious.
"Yes most of us change at the age of twenty three or later...but you changed bordering on twenty one"
"Is that bad?" he frowned.
I shook my head "No it's good. We need as many people as we can get"
"We?"
"I am just a trainer, and as you call it 'the mission' I am not the head. I am following orders too"
Barun nodded in understanding, he was feeling better, satisfied that I was spilling the truth finally.
"Let's sit, this is a long story" I suggested, to which Barun agreed.
Making ourselves comfortable I began.
"It all started when you were twenty, but you didn't know by then...that was when I learned about you and was later sent to fetch you- train you"
"At twenty? How do you know? Sent by whom?" He hurled the questions at me one after the other.
"Twenty, that's when one, begins to change, those like you. The first step is a chemical reaction triggered in the brain"
"Again how do you know? Sent By whom? And by twenty, how long have you been following me?" he repeated his questions.
"I was around for a month prior to you changing and the rest is not important right now" I discarded the questions "I was watching you from far, surprised on having learnt that you were going to change at such an early age, but it got so obvious later, you are the smartest I have met so far. I enrolled in your college knowing how involved you were with everyone, I figured it would be better to be among you, rather than wait for you to change while standing in the sidelines. It didn't help though. You weren't confiding in me and powers were bursting out of you, trust me Barun I felt as miserable as you did, even worse because I knew you wanted it to stop, but there was no stopping it. I was surprised, you scared me, with all that you were going through, each day you would still carry that smile as you entered the college grounds. I wanted to tell you everything, but I knew the moment I spilled it to you, you would avoid me. You wanted nothing to do with it, which is why I waited; I waited for the right moment to take you"
"And that was the night the accident took place" Barun mumbled, his insides empty. I flinched feeling his despair.
"I had no other choice" I continued. "Your blood was black, you were healing yourself, you couldn't be taken to the hospital..it would risk our existence. It would lead to exposure; our secrecy is something we have been protecting for around three decades now."
He was amazed, as he looked at me in disbelief. "Three decades?" he mumbled softly.
I nodded in response and felt glad he could understand me so far.
"I really tried to save Shilpa, to this day I wish she wasn't with you in the car" Barun's despair told me he felt the same, I further explained "I called the ambulance...but I had to take you away and so I did, I did my job"
"I know" Barun sighed. "I felt some sort of heat flash through me, I didn't know what had just happened, I... lost control of the car " he was clearly struggling for words "and w-wee crashed. All those days when y-you told me not to get too involved with h-her, I thought you were .." he stopped not able to complete his sentence.
"-trying to keep you two apart " I somewhat smiled "I sensed it, it was so childish, you loved her but you ought to know, she always considered you a friend"
"I knew that" Barun flinched.
"Anyways once I took you away, I called and told your uncle everything."
There was a long pause, while Barun collected himself.
"I was surprised my uncle and aunt didn't know anything" he explained his voice thick. "I thought of X-men and all that crap you know".
We paused again, I weighed my words.
"Aunt disowned me" he heaved a sigh his eyes pained, his grief evident. "She hates me; she thinks she nurtured a monster"
"Your uncle loves you, he gifted you the car" I tried to ease his pain.
"With a letter which said he loved me, but wouldn't ever want to see me again" Barun flinched.
"I have no words of comfort to offer" I replied wondering to myself, Barun's aunt was right, we were all monsters, and we were in all sense Unnatural. We were infected; our blood was Black, A slur for all of us.
"Why did I have to be one?" he asked. I empathized with him, his aunt and uncle had been the closest thing he had as a family. His hurt was gnawing at his insides, as the lump rose in his throat. I frowned wanting to get away from him; I didn't want to feel his pain, I felt like I was intruding into something very personal but I sat silently next to him because he had to know.
"It's your parents Barun, your mom and dad" I revealed.
Shock rippled through him at my words, he didn't know anything about them.
"I was sent to pick you because you were unique; your uncle and aunt didn't know what they had taken in to nurture. They reached you before-- well those like us. Your parents outlived the war Barun, they left to find a place they could call home and you happened to them".
"War?" he asked after a moment's silence.
"Let's leave that for some other day" I sighed. "For now, what has changed?"
He seemed reluctant to let go of the topic. "What do you mean I got this from my parents? Were they like you? Like what I am now?" he asked confused. I nodded in response.
"But how is it possible? I was a normal child"
"You weren't normal Barun, this was always supposed to happen, If only we knew before, but as soon as we realized that the babies weren't normal, it was professed that none of us would have a family, those married committed to it. But quite a bit of damage was done, many couples had kids, we could only study and spread the word further, unfortunately we were late and now we had a mess, a second generation, with no clue of what they were, how they were going to turn out to be. Those like you, under us are well-protected today. It was a relief to know they are just like us, only they change at the age of twenty to twenty five, it varies in different people. You see Barun back when the war broke out some of us went into hiding, many became martyrs, and the survivors moved on in life. It was tough to track down those like us in the past"
"Like my parents, you couldn't track them?" asked Barun. I nodded in response.
"But what do you mean by a second generation? Surely your parents were like you..has it just been 30 years? What's your age anyway?" he asked getting confused as he dug deeper.
"Yours is the second generation, my parents were normal and yes around 29 years have passed, we complete 30 soon, it was in 1983 that the war broke out and it ended in 1985 so yeah 3 decades"
"The war" said Barun pondering over it. "I never heard of any such war. Why did the war break out? Were you present in the war? How did you change and you haven't told me about your age yet"
"As I said you know enough for now, telling you all of it at once would do more damage than good."
"How did they die?" he spluttered and I knew almost instantly that he was talking about his parents.
"Accident" I responded.
"Really?" he asked surprised.
"We are mortals Barun, if I get run over by a truck, I will die, and if you were to drown you can die too"
"I didn't think about that, but then why are you training me here? You could just take me to your head, why are we here?"
"I promise I will tell you about it at the right time, and this time I really mean it, my lies to you when you trusted me with your friendship were the most hurtful to me, and I am shameful to admit to you my own identity, my job. All I can offer in my defense and hope that you would understand, is that your case was peculiar, I had to take you away without telling you the truth, for which I had no choice but to befriend you and deceive you. I don't like it one bit, to uproot young lads from their place, to tell them of the disastrous truth. But it's my job and coming to that let's focus on training, which brings us back to you, what changed back in Excel?"
"Eyesight and hearing range" he replied earnestly. I was glad we had finally settled matters.
"I kind of figured that"
Barun looked back at me confused. "How?"
"What did you sense when we were coming here?" I asked.
"I felt someone was following us, spying on us" he answered still confused. "But it was just a stupid thought" he mumbled.
"No it wasn't. Let me introduce you to the third person amongst us" I explained.
Mohit took my cue and dismissed his powers; Barun frowned as he stared at him. Both seemed reluctant on an introduction. Mohit annoyed at me, and Barun surprised at his presence.
"Mohit" I sighed. He looked at me and then Barun obviously not liking the equation we shared. "I guess it's none of my business" he shrugged casually and introduced himself to Barun. "Hi! Am Mohit. Heard loads about you, mind you good stuff. I wonder if bro ever mentioned me"
"Um Hi, sorry he never did, but er- what exactly-?" Barun turned to me surprised.
"Mohit is like a younger brother to me, he recently gained his powers, as you noticed he can disappear and is also untraceable you didn't hear his heartbeat as you now hear' I explained "He is here to help us with your training".
"You mean he was here the entire time?" Barun asked feeling self-conscious.
"We have no secrets back at home Barun, I didn't deem it necessary to send Mohit away, plus we have to get to practice now".
"Okay" Barun nodded. "But if he recently changed how come he doesn't need training?"
"He has been brought up by the likes of us; he has been trained in every aspect"
"What do you think about my powers?" Mohit asked Barun in a lighter tone.
"I thought healing was cool" Barun cracked a grin.
"It is, It is" Mohit laughed. "Imagine getting hurt from all the practice, I have stopped counting my scars" he added grimly.
"That definitely makes me feel better" Barun smiled punching Mohit on the shoulder in a friendly manner.
"Oh but guess what's the best part" added Mohit. "I am the only one who can repel Abhinav's powers!"
"You mean he can't sense your emotions?" Barun asked surprised.
"When I am invisible, he can't!" Mohit grinned in victory as he gazed at me. I rolled my eyes at his childlike behavior. My company wasn't really welcomed back at home because of my powers, no matter how many times I told them that I could sense only emotions and even swear to secrecy, nothing convinced them. I know better though after all one cannot be judged by what they feel, as one is not meticulous when they feel, what matters is what they do about it.
"Now am really jealous" Barun replied with good humor.
Mohit was affable; I knew it was a good decision to have him help me. Although Barun was younger than him, he had maturity from all that passed in his life. While Mohit well protected by our family, is yet to see the true world, which makes him nave and innocent.
"Oh and by the way, I forgive you for hurting my bro" Mohit smiled.
Barun sighed and turned to me "Sorry". Again what mattered was that he was sincere.
"Never mind" I shrugged in response.
--
Super Long Chap, that's why took long, the chap title refers to Abhinav as you guys must have figured out :) We have a new character- Mohit! :D & It reveals a lot abt Abhinav-Barun, am luking forward to what you guys have to say :D
Any doubts, confusion, suggestions, complaints- Go ahead am right here to listen and answer :)
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Title to Next Chap- Honesty is the Best Policy
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Pati Patni Aur Panga
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