The moonlight faded as the clouds rolled over the moon.
Tugging herself up, she reached the second floor, and plunged inside the window.
The room was enveloped in darkness. She slipped to the door and stuck her ear to the door and listened. She heard nothing. She twisted the doorknob and slowly pushed open the wooden door.
The hallway was dark and cold. A cool wind was blowing from the east window. She edged her way along the wall. The old, wooden floor creaked and groaned under her weight. Soon, she found herself standing in front of the door. She slowly opened the door and peered inside. The room was empty. She sighed and moved on to the next door.
***
Mark hoisted his gun and yelled. "Get off from the car, now!" He had spotted this car hiding behind berry bushes when he was searching for the dogs.
He skirted around the car and yelled. "Get out now!" But nothing happened. He carefully scooted close to the car and peered inside. The car was empty. He lowered his gun and spun away from the car.
Karthik was standing behind him, holding the pistol in his trembling hand. "Drop your gun!" Karthik ordered in shaky voice.
"You!" Mark roared. "Look what you did to my forehead."
"You tried to kill me. So it evens out." Karthik said firmly. "Drop your weapon."
Mark glanced at Karthik's trembling hand. He soon realized that Karthik was holding the gun for the first time. He slowly started hoisting his gun. Karthik warned him, but he did not listen, and then Karthik pressed the trigger.
Piper was now bored of staring at the two men, playing poker and quarreling with each other. They sometimes glance at her, greedily and sometimes touched her as they checked the ropes tied around her arms and legs. She was now completely exasperated by their obnoxious acts.
She really wanted to get away from these people. She was missing her home, her work, her friends... Karthik.
Karthik! He knows that she had been kidnapped. Maybe he will bring help.
Maybe police or military. But why haven't he—
She heard some kind of soft noises. She looked up and saw both men’s heads were now resting on the table, blood oozing out from their hairy scalps.
Behind them, a woman dressed in black clothes was holding long barrel guns in her both hands. She tucked one in her belt and hurried toward Piper.
She pulled out the Swiss-knife and started cutting the ropes around Piper's hands and legs.
"I'm Lilly. I'm here to rescue you," Lilly whispered.
"What about my file?" Piper asked, stroking her sore wrists.
Lilly ignored her. She hurried to the door. She stopped when she realized that Piper was not following her. "Come on...let's go," She said.
Piper crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What about my file?"
"Listen, we are surrounded by dangerous people. So, hustle up." Lilly insisted.
Piper sighed and followed her.
Lilly scooted to the door and pulled it open, and saw a man outside with a confused expression on his face, staring back at them.
10
The man's eyes darted from Lilly to Piper. A drop of sweat slid down his forehead. He moved his hands back to pull out a gun, but before he could gauge the situation, Lilly kicked him in his abdomen.
The man let out a painful moan and stumbled back untucking his gun. Lilly ducked and moved behind him, sliding her cord onto his neck. She twisted the cord and started choking him.
In the struggle to break free, the man squirmed and wriggled his body, his gun dropped on the floor.
The man sank to the floor, gasping for breath, struggling to break free. Lilly sat behind him, her teeth clenched.
The man tried to reach for the gun, with his trembling hand. Lilly stared at Piper; a surge of building mutual understanding between them, Piper scooted to the gun and kicked it away from the Man's reach.
The guy wriggled for a few more seconds, whimpering, and suddenly stopped moving. He silently lay on the floor, dead.
***
"Oh-Oh god! I killed a man." Karthik murmured. He was kneeling beside the body of the man whom he had just shot.
Karthik's chin trembled. He squarely stared at the dead body. "I killed a man. I killed a man." He repeated, miserably. Soon it became a chant. " I killed a-a man. I killed a man. I killed a man!" The forest was now holding a foreboding aura. Powerful yet dark.
He had never imagined that he would ever kill a human. The thought of killing a living person would always give him a shudder. His mom had thought him to respect every living thing.
The moonlight shimmered around him, as the clouds rolled away from the moon.
He stopped chanting when he sensed someone's presence. Someone in front of him. He slowly raised his eyes from the dead body, and saw a big dog panting, and glaring at him.
Karthik slowly climbed to his feet, avoiding any sudden movements.
"Good doggy..." He whispered, and slowly started backing up, to the car.
The dog lowered his head and growled, Staring warily at Karthik's each and every move.
Karthik stopped moving, as his back hit the car. Without turning, his hand groped for the car's doorknob. He grabbed the knob, and, cautiously pulled the door open.
The dog growled, his fangs jutted out from the sides of his mouth; Blobs of dog's Drool oozed out and dropped on the ground.
The bush few feet away from Karthik rustled, he spun away from the dog, now facing the bush. Piper and Lilly burst out from the bush.
And maybe the dog didn't appreciate their involvement; he started barking.
Lilly and Piper hurled themselves in the car. Karthik stood frozen, staring blankly at Piper. As if understanding that he could not move by himself, piper reached out for Karthik and tugged him in. The dog charged at Karthik and nipped at the left leg. Karthik shook his leg and the dog flew away with Karthik's loafer in his mouth.
"Hit the road!" Piper said, panting and banged the door shut.
"I'm on it," Lilly replied. She changed the gear and dropped her leg on the accelerator. The car lurched forward.
The car bounced and rocked on the dirt path. Karthik, Piper, and Lilly bounced with it. Piper gazed outside at the blur of green and brown as the car sped by.
"Are they following us?" Lilly asked, gazing at the rear view mirror.
Piper shifted in her seat and looked behind. All she managed to see was the narrow dirt path carved across the woods. No sign of any other car behind them.
"No..." She finally reported.
Lilly nodded.
Karthik sat, solemnly, staring at the floor. He could feel the tension building inside him. He has murdered a man. Karthik Peri, the man who had stayed vegetarian all his life has killed a man. His head throbbed. The pressure was too much for Karthik to handle and he broke down, he started crying.
"Whoa! What's wrong with you?" Piper asked him, apprehensively.
"I-I killed a man," Karthik muttered. He wiped his runny nose with the back of his hand.
"You did?" Lilly said, glancing back at him. "You mean the bad guy, right?"
Karthik nodded. "I-I killed a man," He repeated, shaking his head.
"He was a bad guy. It will be regarded as an act of self-protection," Piper said, reassuringly. "Look at her. She killed three people." Piper motion at Lilly.
"Actually, four," Lilly replied.
"Seriously?" Piper asked her.
"Yes." She gave an aloof shrug.
Karthik sobbed.
"Oh come on, stop crying like a girl," Lilly said.
"Excuse me?" Piper snapped.
"Stop crying like little kids," Lilly said, sarcastically. "Is that okay?" She asked Piper.
Piper grunted gratefully at her direction.
They sat silently for a few seconds.
Piper peered out the window. "It's pretty late," She muttered. "Where are we going, now?" She asked Lilly.
"My apartment..." Lilly said, grinning.
***
The roo
m was cloaked in darkness; pale gray moonlight filtered in through the window. It felt that the peaceful silence will stay like this forever and there was a knock at the door.
A man rolled on the bed.
Knock. Knock.
He again rolled on the bed.
The room flared up. The bald man with a thick beard and menacing eyes sat upright on the bed. He rubbed his eyes. "Why did you arouse me?" He asked, angrily.
The blond man cocked his head and whispered in his ear, and after finishing he wisely moved away from him.
The bald man’s eyes turned red with rage. "Find her!" He yelled furiously.
***
The dark door slowly creaked open. Lilly stepped in, piper and Karthik followed her.
Lilly clicked the lights on, throwing the room into blinding light. Karthik and piper blinked for a few seconds, adjusting their eyes to the intensity of the light.
And soon they found themselves standing in a big half-empty room.
"I just moved here three days ago," Lilly said, studying the expressions on Karthik-and-Lilly's faces.
All the four walls were painted in light gray. Many files, laptop, and a projector were stacked in a corner next to a big couch.
Piper yawned. "I feel sleepy."
"That's my bedroom," Lilly said, pointing at a door to their left. "There is the washroom. That's toilet and that's kitchen."
Piper stretched her arms. "Okay, Goodnight then." She started for the washroom.
Lilly caught Karthik staring at her with a poker face look."What's up?" Lilly asked him.
"You promised me, you will explain me everything," Karthik said, maintaining his poker face look.
"It's pretty late. Let's talk in the morning."
Karthik shook his head. "Now..." He insisted.
"I really want to sleep," Piper muttered, softly.
"You can no one is stopping you," Karthik told piper.
Piper glared at him. Sometimes he is such a pain.
Karthik and Piper sat down on the sofa, facing the light-gray wall.
Lilly behind them adjusted the projector and the laptop. She turned on the projector and started playing a power point.
Images started flashing on the gray wall. A big U.K flashed on the screen.
"What's U.K? United kingdom?" Piper asked Lilly.
"No," Lilly said, blushing. " U.K stands for United knights, the organization I work for. "
Karthik frowned. "But you worked for Interpol?"
"No. I never said that I worked for Interpol."
"No, you did!"
"Let's do not talk about my organization. I want to quickly get through this slide."
"Who prepared this slide?" Karthik asked Lilly.
Piper nudged him. "Don't disturb her," He said, sharply.
Karthik motioned of zipping his mouth and sank on the sofa.
Piper cleared her throat.
The images changed. S.A.L.F flashed in bold letters.
"That's S.A.L.F. South Asian Liberation Front, started in 1996 as an Indonesian political party soon got indulge to extreme activities. It was officially declared as a terrorist organization by U.N on 23 October 2006." Lilly announced.
The image again changed.
"That's the logo of S.A.L.F. it's actually a painting of Acintya, an Indonesian sun god."
"A terrorist group that has a fan following for the sun god. Sure, Why not?" Karthik muttered.
Piper glared at him.
He averted his eyes, like nothing happened and started at the projections.
"Yes, they are a big fan of the sun god." Lilly continued.
The image changed. A man with a scar running down on his face came into view.
"He is the general Dong-sun. Second in command...One of the top terrorist in U.N most wanted list." Lilly said.
Next image was of a handsome man with dark hair and clean shaved face and menacing gray eyes.
"That's Tom king. Former drug mafia now works for S.A.L.F." Lilly said.
"I've seen this guy!" Piper yelled. "He was the one who slapped me!"
"You sure?" Lilly asked, staring at Piper in disbelief.
"Yes, it's the same guy!" Piper roared; her chin quivering with anger and hatred, "It's the same guy! But he looked completely different." She pointed at the image. "Not like this. He is now bald—completely bald—and also nurturing a thick beard."
Lilly frowned at Piper. "How can you be so sure?" she asked, hotly.
"His eyes! Menacing eyes. I can never forget those eyes. Believe me, he is the same guy!"
"He went underground three years ago. No one has seen him since then. I still can't believe he is here in Sydney." Lilly shook her head. "Your files must have been very important to them..."
"Where is the file?" Karthik asked.
"They have it," Piper said, glaring at Lilly.
"Don't look at me like that. It's not my fault. My job was to protect Mr. Ford...still I saved your life!"
"I never asked for your help!"
"Whoa! You two, knock it off." Karthik interrupted. "Let's get through the slides. Please?" his eyes darted from Piper to Lilly.
"Fine!" Piper and Lilly said in unison. Piper slumped on the sofa and glared at the image of Tom King.
The image changed.
An old man with gray hair and white beard came into view. He was standing in front of a podium addressing the crowd.
"That's Gun Katz. The big bad wolf. Leader of S.A.L.F. and one of the most powerful terrorist in the world. He almost owns a small army...helicopters... mini tanks.... God knows what else."
"A megalomaniac old man..." Karthik muttered, crossing his arms in front of him. "What does he wants from Dr. Alex bill and other scientists?"
"No one knows," Lilly said, softly.
"What?" Karthik said in disbelief. "I—"
"We know one thing. It all has something to do with The Outlander Project. It's a highly classified international project. And we know nothing about it except one thing that Dr. Alex Bill was part of it..." Karthik opened his mouth to say something, but Lilly raised her hand, quieting him. "I know...I know. How can my organization send me without any leads? You see, my organization work very secretively. Very few people know about our existence, so we can't just go and request a file publicly. But my partner is working on it. Soon we will have every file in our hands, every single file related to The Project Outlander."
"You have a partner?" Karthik asked Lilly. "Where is he?"
"He is in Sydney. He'll soon contact me...hopefully," she glanced at her wrist watch. "Let's take some rest. We have a function to attend tomorrow."
"Which function?" Piper frowned.
Lilly stared at them, a thin smile crossing her face. "World Cancer Research Summit, 2015," she announced.
11
The little girl stared out the window at the huge tree with her hazel eyes. The Bright afternoon sunlight filtered through the window, reflecting off her desk and across the classroom. A gust of wind sent the leaves on the tree to shiver.
A voice brought the girl attention back into the classroom.
She jerked her head toward the source. Her teacher was staring intently at her, a man in a police uniform was standing beside her teacher. The girl glanced around her. Everyone was staring at her.
"Lilly," the teacher said, softly, "You can go home. Pack your bags." She started talking with the police officer.
The news of going home early, almost one-hour early made Lilly smile triumphantly. She started slipping her books into her bag.
"That's not fair!" she heard the boy behind her mutter angrily, which made her triumphant smile even wider than ever. She can go home early and her classmates would have to sit for another one hour. Great, right? Maybe not.
Lilly slung the bag over her shoulder and hustled across the aisle.
"Mr. Cody will take you to your home," The teacher said, gesturing at the police officer. The police officer smiled at Lilly, stretching out his hand. Lilly s
tared at his fingers, and glanced at his face. She soon realized something was wrong. This had never happened to her. Never.
"Lilly..." the teacher said a little firmly.
Lilly grabbed Mr. Cody's hand. He led her along the corridor and down the stairs.
A police car was parked in front of the gate. Lilly climbed in the car. Mr. Cody sat in the driver’s seat and started the engine.
"Who are you?" Lilly asked Mr. Cody. She was sitting in the shotgun seat. "Where is my dad?"
Cody shifted the gear and increased the speed. "I'm your dad's junior. You know what's junior, right?"
Lilly gave a slight nod. "Why didn't mom—"
"You want some chocolate?" The officer interrupted. He pulled out a toffee.
Lilly shook her head. "My dad-said-don't take chocolates from strangers."
"But I'm not a stranger. See I'm wearing a uniform—"
"You are not a commissioner like my dad."
"No..." The officer frowned. "No. No. I'm not a commissioner, but..."
Lilly's house came into view. It was a big house, surrounded by the parched, yellow lawn. The house mostly stood silent but not today.There were many people and police cars, huddled around the gate and on the lawn.
As Lilly climbed off the car, she spotted funny looking men with a camera mounted on their shoulders.
And abruptly her surroundings changed... She was now standing in her house. Someone pressed her shoulder. She spun around, and saw her big brother standing in front of her. Behind him, she could easily see her mother weeping.
Her big brother knelt in front of her. His eyes and chins trembling with pain. He hugged her and whispered in her ears.
"Lil. Dad is no more."
"No!" Lilly yelled. A surge of pain swept over her. And suddenly the ground below her widened into a big hole. She started falling.
Lilly woke up with a start. She was drenched in sweat. Panting hard, she looked around her room. Pale orange light poured into the room through the bedroom's window.
Piper rolled on her side, still sound asleep.
Lilly swung her legs off the bed. Stretching her arms, she went across the bedroom.
The bedroom door stood ajar. She slowly pushed it and peered in the hall room. The room stood empty as she had left it in the night.
Border of the sun Page 5
