I am such a wimp that I would be scared to sleep alone in a room with the lights off.
But things were different that day.
I was at the mall with Nikky. She had dragged me along so that she wouldn’t have to carry her own shopping bags. I din't want to go but there was nothing I could do. She was busy trying out the numerous baby-sized tops and before she could ask me the dreaded question, “Am I looking FAT in this?”, I decided to grab a quick bite. I know, after two black eyes, one broken limb and one lost tooth that it’s better to dodge the situation no matter how brave-hearted you are.
I was just about to munch into my favourite momos when I heard the scream. There were sounds like the bursting of firecrackers coming from inside and within seconds people started running out. The whole place which had seemed so peaceful a few moments ago was suddenly in chaos. I contemplated for a while whether to finish my snack or to go check on Nikky and then I decided on the latter. As I entered in wedging my way through the great sea of shrieking people I saw them.
They were two of them. While one of them held a pistol and carried a large gleaming knife in his waist-belt the other was firing away with his machine gun. But what was strange was that they were not targeting people. I could not see anybody hurt or dead across the floor. But they saw red. This is because they both wore red shades.
And then I realised who they were.
Soul-hunters have existed on earth since the medieval times. They hunt souls (as you might have guessed already), but not just any soul. They look for the purest soul that hasn’t sinned ever which is also the most rarest to find on earth and elsewhere. They believe if they release an untainted soul, they are assured of an eternal life of youth and happiness. Who wouldn’t want to be 18 forever!
And then I realised why they were here.
Nikita Hempton snores louder than a jackhammer and makes me wash the dishes every day. But she loves me more than the moon. And when I sleep in her arms (with ear-plugs), I feel life is so beautiful that I will die! She may boss her way around but I have never known her to speak ill of others or hold any grudges toward anyone. She paves the way for being an enigma of a better human being than us mortals.
And then I realised she is the one and I got to save her any which way.
I was rooted at the spot as my heartbeat ran a mile. I was wondering what to do when I heard her scream my name. I cautiously ambled towards the store. They were inside. I hunched against the wall and slowly peeped through the glass. One of them held Nikky by her hair as the other drew out his knife and prepared to plunge through her tweeting heart. Nikky’s eyes grew larger in fright as her voice disappeared and I knew I had to do something NOW. I am no Superman but at that moment I knew I could just about do anything I thought of. I couldn’t bear to lose Nikky.
I picked up a metal side-post that was lying around in the chaos and braced myself. As he held the knife at the highest point of his radius I ran in, my thoughts only on killing these freaking bastards, through the glass that shattered into a high-pitched million smatterings and as the guy holding Nikky turned around in surprise, I brought down the metal rod sideways to his head, thus decapitating him in one single blow. His head rolled down the floor while his limp body fell onto a now-fainting Nikky Hempton. The other guy was too stunned to think for a while and then he just dropped his knife and took out his pistol. As he pressed the trigger, the bullet rushed through, rotating and directed towards me. Instinctively, I swung the metal rod (now stained red) and the bullet ricocheted as it hit the middle of the rod with a clang. I dropped it and ran full tilt towards the bewildered would-be assassin. I grabbed him and ran pushing him through the length of the store, through the well hung clothes, smashing the far window and breaking through it. I fell along with him three storeys into the ground.
Acted by gravity but cushioned by his body, I survived the fall. I was discharged from the hospital the next day with a fractured right hand and a few minor bruises. As I stepped out of the hospital with a wide-beaming Nikky on my other arm, I was greeted with a huge frenzy of hysterical people who were chanting my name and the media-persons who wouldn’t stop clicking my pictures. Soon I was front-page news. People wouldn’t stop interviewing me. I appeared on National TV. I started getting offers for ads, ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new openings, movie roles. People hounded me for autographs. In less than two days I got more than ten thousand friend requests on Facebook and this very blog recorded a million hits in a day. I was awarded the National Bravery Award to be given by the great President himself on Republic Day. I was a celebrity. I was a Superhero.
...and then I woke up. Nikky had left early as usual. She had left behind a note in her most scrawniest handwriting, ‘Wash dishes, clean house before I return or no food for you even today.’
I may be a Superhero, but am doomed forever.
