by Sourav Deka
“I will explain,” Michael patted his back. “Let’s go inside. We need a favor.”
We went inside Gary’s office. He ordered his employee to bring a couple of extra chairs and gestured to us to sit. Michael explained everything to him, why Bristy and Sam wanted to expose us. Gary was a good friend of his. It didn’t take long to convince him as he owed to Michael a favor in the past. He was excited to do it as it was going to increase the popularity of his news channel.
“Okay, I can arrange an interview,” Gary said. “You guys can go live and explain everything to the public.”
“Thanks, man,” Michael shook his hand. “I really appreciate it.”
“It’s nothing,” he smiled. “You are going to change the world. I am glad that I helped,” Gary left his office to talk to his staff about the interview.
I turned to Michael. “What will you say?” I asked.
“We have to clarify everything. Bristy messed up the launch,” Michael said. “I have to prove that she is wrong.”
“But how?” Aaron asked.
“People have seen her using magic. We have to tell the truth that she is a witch.”
I chuckled. “Do you think people are going to believe that?”
He shrugged. “Well, they saw it. The whole world saw it live on TV.”
“But that won’t be enough to convince people.”
“I know. That’s why we have to change our story a little bit.”
“What?”
“Yeah, we are going to say that she is a descendent of an evil witch who lived centuries ago. The same witch who tried to kill Nibshaw and stop him from discovering the seeds.”
“This is weird,” Aaron rubbed his chin. “I find it hard that people will believe that.”
“People saw what happened on TV, Aaron. Bristy made those security guards faint in a second. They are going to believe it,” he clenched his fists. “I will make them.”
**************
After a couple of minutes Gary made the interview happen. He called his people, Michael and we sat opposite of him and the interview began.
“Good evening, this is Gary’s show,” Gary said, smiling at the camera. “Tonight we have a new guest with us, Michael Halen. Today when he was launching his new innovative product, someone intervened. People got scared and ran away. I know the public has a lot of questions on their mind. He is here with us tonight to answer your questions,” he turned to Michael. “So Michael, who was that woman who interfered in your launch and scared the audience?”
“It will sound weird, but what I am about to say is true,” Michael pressed his lips. “She is a witch, I mean literally a witch,” he said.
“What??” Gary’s eyes widened.
Michael nodded. “Yes, people saw on live TV what she can do. She instantly knocked out the security guards without touching them.”
“But Michael, witches only exist in fictional books and movies. They are not real.”
“I know, it seems strange, but they are real,” he clasped his hands. “I didn’t want to say this on live TV, but now I have no choice. She is dangerous. She is a descendant of an evil witch, who was alive centuries ago, the same witch who wanted to kill Nibshaw and stop him from inventing the seeds.”
“So her great, great grandmother wanted to stop Nibshaw?”
“Yes, she can’t be trusted. They always wanted to destroy the seeds. That was their group’s goal, they call themselves Aivors. They believe the seeds will bring destruction to Earth, but I can assure you they are wrong,” he raised his chin. “Nibshaw was a great man. We shouldn’t let his discovery go to waste. Ross, Aaron and I, we tried so hard to get it just to make this world a better place. So that no one has to suffer from any disease anymore. That woman is insane, she always was. Don’t believe her. The immortality drink is going to change the world.”
Gary nodded. “But why does she want to destroy it?”
“I told you she believes that no one should live forever, that everyone should suffer and die from sickness.”
“But why does she believe that?”
“She thinks it will upset the balance, but it won’t. I already talked about two solutions on my launch. There will be a balance, whoever uses the drink and stays immortal can’t have kids. The population will be under control. There will be new rules people have to follow. I have even spoken with the government. It will all be under control.”
“I hope that it stays under control, Michael.”
“It will. Buy my product. You will have a disease free life. Think about the money you will save, the stress you will avoid. People always suffer from diseases, millions of dollars are spent in curing them or controlling them but I provided you a solution, a better way. Say goodbye to diseases. I am on the good side, I want to help people. That witch just wanted to destroy my good image.”
Gary nodded. “What about the acquisitions she made on Ross? Did Ross murder people for the seeds?”
Michael scoffed. “That’s rubbish. He is a teenager, a smart and a brave one. He is not a murderer. I told you that woman is crazy. She is evil. She will say anything to prove her point.”
“But she showed the photos.”
He shook his head lightly. “The photos don’t prove anything. It only showed the dead bodies, it doesn’t prove that Ross killed them. Her all acquisitions are false. She just said it so that I fail to make this product available to the public.”
“When will be your product available in the market?”
“Tomorrow, you can buy it on our website, theimmortalitydrink.com. Later it will also be available on retail stores.”
“Great,” he shook hands with Michael. “Best of luck, I hope your product does well.”
Michael smiled. “It will. Thank you for the interview, Gary.”
The interview ended.
CHAPTER 3
The immortality drink was available online. Michael’s interview changed people’s minds. He earned their trust again. Well, most of the people wanted to be immortal and stay healthy so there was no reason to not buy it. People were already eager to buy it, it was pre ordered, more than a million sales occurred on the first day and Michael became super rich. The news showed how so many people cured their diseases. People who were about to die from Cancer were running marathons. Hospitals became empty. All the patients were cured and went back to their home. People were so happy, there were celebrations everywhere. The doctors even started to protest against it as it ended their business. Hospitals started closing down. News channels were taking interviews of people who cured their life threatening diseases with the magical juice. People who wanted to keep using the product and stay immortal signed the agreement with government lawyers, which states that as long as they are immortal they can’t have kids. As Michael promised, he provided the juice to the poor for free. Homeless people were grateful as they didn’t have money to treat their diseases and Michael helped them. He was all over the news and was called Hero of the new world.
Michael was in a camp where his team was helping a group of homeless people. A journalist came with his cameraman to Michael. “Michael, how are you feeling? This is revolutionary. Healthy people are walking everywhere.”
“I am very happy,” Michael said. “We finally changed the world. We have won.”
“You are giving the immortality drink to homeless people for free?” the journalist asked.
Michael nodded and smiled. “Yeah they should have it. Everyone deserves a healthy life.”
“You are an angel to us,” a homeless lady cried and touched his feet.
“What happened to you ma’am?” The reporter asked, leaning down towards the homeless lady.
“Her husband was dying, I helped them,” Michael replied.
The reporter’s face glowed. “Wow! You are really the Hero of the new world.”
“Thank you, I love to help people,” he inhaled deeply. “Always wanted to and now it’s my time.”
Aaron and I were
watching this on TV. I was glad that it worked. Finally it was successful. Michael was all over the news. He became a celebrity overnight. Some doctors even tried to attack him, but his bodyguards kept him safe. The doctors got mad in rage, they protested everywhere. They sat in the middle of the streets, sang their slogans to stop the juice as it made them jobless. The cops tried to control them but there were too many of them, it created chaos. Michael kept giving interviews with the news channels, his photos and videos were all over the internet. Apart from the doctors, everyone loved him and made him a hero overnight.
“He became popular,” Aaron said, staring at the TV.
I smiled. “So do we. Come on, get ready for school. It’s our first day.”
“I am a bit scared,” Aaron lowered his head. “It's been a long time since I went to school.”
I grabbed his shoulders. “It will be awesome, dude. I promise you. We discussed this. We have to complete our graduation. School will be fun, we will make new friends.”
“I hope so.”
I patted his back. “Go get ready.”
Aaron went to his room to get ready. Mom brought my bag and handed it to me. “I am so proud of you,” she smiled.
“Thanks mom,” I smiled back.
“Take care of your little brother. You know he is scared.”
I picked my bag. “Don’t worry mom, he will be fine,” I said.
Dad walked up to me. “He is not good at making friends, help him,” he said.
I nodded. “This time it will be different. He will have friends. We don’t have to move from place to place anymore. We can stay here, we have you two, we are rich, we have everything,” I grinned. “And also we are famous.”
They laughed. “We are happy to see you smile,” they said together.
I smiled. “Me too.”
Aaron came with his bag. “Let’s go,” he said.
We went outside and walked up to my Ferrari.
“We are taking the Ferrari to the school?” Aaron asked, eyeing at the Ferrari.
“Yeah, why not? It will be cool,” I said.
Aaron’s eyes widened. “That’s awesome, bro.”
We entered the car, waved goodbye to our parents and left for school. I knew everyone’s mind would blow away when we drove there. The Ferrari was enough to make an impression in the school.
*****************************
We reached school and parked our car. Everyone in the school was staring at us like I expected. It felt good, we were like celebrities. All of them were excited to see us. We stepped out of our Ferrari with the bag in our shoulders.
“Hey, it’s them. The guys on the news who found the magical seeds,” a skinny guy shouted.
People came running towards us. “Wow! Nice car. Can I have a selfie with you?” A beautiful blonde girl asked me.
“Yeah sure,” I replied.
She took a selfie with me. “Me too, please,” another girl asked.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
People gathered around us and started asking for selfies one after another. I didn’t want to say no and neither did Aaron. We both enjoyed the attention. It was a different feeling, we felt worthy as everyone in the school wanted to talk to us.
“You are going to be in our school?” The skinny guy asked with excitement.
“Yeah, we are here to complete our high school,” I said.
“This will be awesome man.” He forwarded his hand. “I am Nathan.”
I shook his hand. “Ross.”
Aaron was busy taking selfies with everyone. He felt good. I could see it in his face. His nervousness was gone. He was so worried that he wouldn't like it in school but when everyone gave him so much attention, his mind changed. He loved it. It felt so good to see him smile like that after a long time. I even forgot how it felt like.
We walked to our class. I elbowed Aaron. “I told you, school will be fun.”
He smiled. “We are famous. They like us, we are like heroes here.”
I smiled back. “Yeah, we are.”
Aaron went to his class and I went to mine. Everyone in the class stood up and stared at me like there was a new shiny toy in the room.
“Hey, we are in the same class,” Nathan said.
I smiled and took a seat. “I guess we are.”
He sat beside me. Everyone in the class surrounded me to see me. A big guy with curly hair walked up to me. “Hey, I am Ethan,” he said.
“Ross,” I said.
“I saw you on the news. You are already rich. What are you doing in school?”
I shrugged. “Can’t rich guys go to school?”
He shook his head lightly. “No, I didn’t mean that. I mean you are already successful, you are also famous. Why do you need to come to school?”
“I wanted to finish high school. I left it in the middle when I went to solve all the puzzles to find the seeds.”
“The seeds, huh?” he gave a smirk. “My dad brought the juice yesterday. He cured his diabetes, thanks to you.”
I grinned. “I am glad it helped.”
“Where do you live?” A girl asked.
“I shifted here. Michael gifted a house to me. It's a few miles away near the new shopping mall.”
“Michael? That guy who introduced the juice?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, he helped us find it.
“What about that lady who intervened in the middle of the juice launch?” another girl asked. “I saw it on the TV, she knocked down the security guards without even touching them.”
“Have you seen Michael’s interview? He cleared everything about that in the interview.”
She nodded. “He said that she is a witch.”
“That’s true,” I pressed my lips. “She is dangerous. I have seen her do awful things with her magic.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Do you know magic?”
I laughed. “No, I am just a human like you. I am not a witch.”
“Did you fight her?” A fat guy asked.
“I did, she has a voodoo doll which gives her magic. I even destroyed it once, but it regenerates itself in a couple of days.”
“Wow!” his eyes widened. “So Magic exists.”
I chuckled. “A lot of things exist. We live in a weird world.”
The teacher arrived in the class and everyone went back to their seats. I recognized her. It was Contessa in a black top and jeans, the one who saved me a couple of times in the magical forest with her knowledge of natural medicines. After we got the seeds, she was with us but after we started growing the seeds and built farms, she left and we never heard from her. It’s been months.
“Contessa??” I said.
She noticed me. “Ross???” her eyes widened. She walked up to me and hugged me.
“You know our English teacher?” Nathan asked.
“Yeah, she also helped me in my journey, saved me a couple of times,” I said.
Contessa smiled. “It’s so good to see you. You are here to finish your studies?”
“Yeah, I didn’t know you were a teacher.”
“What did you think?” she gave a smirk. “That I am a doctor?”
I pressed my lips. “Yeah, the way you know how to heal people. I guessed you are doing something in that field.”
“That’s just a hobby,” she smiled.
I smiled back.
“Great, let’s start our class,” she went back to the front and picked up the book on the table. “So where were we?”
Contessa started teaching. Like her herbs and medicines she was also good at teaching. Her knowledge on English literature was vast.
The whole day went well. Aaron and I enjoyed it. It was one of the best days of our life. Everyone was so friendly, even the bullies wanted to be our friends as we were famous. I hope everyday goes like this. We never knew that school could be so much fun. It was a complete new experience.
The school was over and we went to our car to return home. A black guy was standing beside our
car. I recognized his face with the scar on his cheek. It was Roland Tanner. I haven’t seen him after he was cured of being the black hulk. Seeing him, brought back the memories of my past, those days of struggle and torture in finding the seeds, everything flashed right in front of my eyes.
“Nice car,” he gave a smirk.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Tanner shrugged. “What? I own this school.”
“What???” I stared at him, eyes wide.
“Yeah, I am a billionaire.”
“Move, we need to go,” Aaron said, trying to open the car’s door.
“Hey, hey, why are you guys being rude?” he raised his hands. “I come in peace.”
“Look, I gave you the seeds. You cured yourself, we are done,” I said. “Now you are not that big black hulk anymore. I did what you asked. The deal is done, you helped us. We helped you. It’s over, we are not friends, Tanner.”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh come on! Don’t be that rude.”
“We worked with you but we haven’t forgotten what kind of man you are,” Aaron said, as his jaw tightened.
“I just came to thank you two. You finally did it,” he smiled. “You know, I brought the juice.”
“Good for you,” we opened the door and entered our car.
He placed his hand on the car’s window. “I can help you, you know. I saw what Bristy did on the launch.”
“There is nothing to do, Tanner,” I said, starting the engine. “She and Sam escaped. The immortality drink is launched and it’s a success, Aivor lost.”
Tanner nodded. “Okay,” he patted the car’s roof. “Well, they are still alive. They can create problems.”
“They won’t, Michael will handle it,” I drove away and left the school with Aaron while Tanner watched us standing there jamming his hands in his pockets.
It had been a long time since I saw him. He can’t be trusted. We could never forget what he did to us. He is selfish and always wants something in return. He doesn’t help someone with a kind heart, I know it. It’s better if we stay away from him.
****************************
After a couple of minutes of drive we reached home.
“Mom, dad, we are home,” I said.
