24 Dhiwan Road

Chapter 2
Red Fort Corpses

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'Don't forget to bring grapes and tomatoes. You forgot yesterday, I'd have to call Raju and you know how loudmouth he is.'

'Amma, you could have reminded me. I totally forgot to bring your fruits.'

'Remind you how? Should I write letters?'

'Not letters, old lady. Texts. You can text me. Use a phone.'

I knew Amma would never use a phone, no matter how hard I try to convince her. Amma, Sharada Devi (age 86), didn't just allow me to stay at her home but also filled the space of my family. Delhi could be a hard place to find a suitable home if you are not filthy rich. 

I was not poor but I wasn't a prince either. I came to Delhi with limited money and I got robbed. Call it my good upbringing that I once helped this old lady on the road, as some stupid biker bashed his good for nothing bike in her. She wasn't really injured but she fell on the road.

I helped her a bit, asked her address, called a taxi, and dropped her home. I helped her with first Aid and climbing those awful stairs. She was talking in Gujarati all the time, angrily and embarrassed about the accident, but I couldn't help noticing that she had an interesting apartment. I guessed that she lived alone.

She laughed when I told her I don't understand Gujrati. She probably read my face or something, but to my surprise, she asked me, 'Do you need a place to live?', and I just nodded. 

She never asked me for any rent or money. She just took me. It's rare but it happened. None of my friends have faith in this story. They think I live in some stinky One bedroom PG in Laxminagar. 

'I can't use those things, weird scary things, I am afraid-' She spoke in a dull tone, '-fraid of them!'

I reminded myself again, the old lady is scared of any kind of technical equipment. She doesn't even use an alarm clock or watch TV. 

'Yeah sure. Don't worry. I'll bring everything that you asked.' I thought it would be best to tell her, '-and I'll be getting my salary this week, so no rent excuses, I promise I'll pay!'

'I don't want your money, Son! I just want my grapes.' She smiled at me. These were the moments when I couldn't help but wish to be her real son. She would be an amazing mother. Not like my mother. She was such a cruel lady. I can't blame her. Life treated her miserably and she reflected her wrath back to us. I doubt if she had any heart left for love or caring. She is just counting days. Sometimes I am worried and sometimes I just don't care. The city, as wild as Delhi, does that to you. Destroys your soul. Eats you slowly.

I rushed to my office and completed my work, which was not much but I just pretended that I am doing an awful lot of work to impress HRs. My mind was not entirely on the assigned work. It was going back to the café and to that mysterious girl.

How can she leave like that?

I won't deny that I wanna see her again. She was beautiful. A different kind of beautiful. Mysteriously beautiful, a beauty which is like a labyrinth with a golden doe in the middle of it, and no matter how far I chase her, I am always gonna end up on the same spot.

I tried to keep myself busy that day, with work and coffee and boring gossips. But I knew my mind was playing a different tune. This sudden strange feeling was so bizarre in nature. It was almost like a craving, a longing of some kind, and a pulling force that attracted me towards her. It was hard to work like that so I left office early. 

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize I was standing in front of the same café. 'Owlet' Cafe, the neon billboard shone brightly in the evening. I looked around and a flower shopkeeper passed a smile at me.

I stepped into the café, and my eyes frisked the entire room in three seconds and there she was. She wore the same clothes and it almost felt like she was waiting for me. 

'Hey-' I approached her and sat next to her, 'Did you hear about the Red Fort corpses?'

I didn't want to begin the talk with a puzzle like her so I threw a common topic on which we both could discuss. It was a recent case, which I read in papers, and it was interesting.

'No! What's that?' She asked with puzzling eyes, which had hints of surprise and shock, 'But wait! Who are you?'

'We met yesterday, remember?'

'I don't think so!' She said with an unnerving confidence in her voice and eyes, and I knew she wasn't lying. 

But how is it possible?

'It's possible that you may have forgotten-'

'Excuse me!'

She felt like a total stranger. And in fact she was, she was the strangest girl I've ever met. Her eyes were filled with mysterious gaze and there was a small scar on her neck, which I probably didn't notice yesterday. Her cup of coffee was empty and the bookmark in her novel suggested that she had read a lot. Was it a new game she is choosing to play?

'So is this your favorite cafe in the town?' I'm sure there must be many-'

'It's pleasant and small and-' She paused for a second, her eyes searching for something in the claustrophobic room, like a shadow melting in the dark, '-and familiar. In fact, this is the only place I know!'

'Looks like your coffee had disappeared. Mind if I order another cup for you?'

'No, I am good! Thanks for asking, Mr.-'

'Ayush, I'm Ayush and you are-'

'Just another dead girl!' She laughed. 

I joined her laughter too. Although, I don't think I understood the joke it must had been funny. She looked so beautiful when she laughed. Her little lips dancing effortlessly producing something so rare and wild that it pulled every string of my heart. 

I ordered a coffee and waiter, just like yesterday, gave me unnatural looks. Was he trying to tell me something or was it just me giving birth to new fantasies? 

My mind pondered the question she asked yesterday and to the very fact that she refused to recognize me at all. It was bizarre. 

"You said something about Red Fort Corpses, Mr. Ayush! What was it about?"

She closed her book and put it in her bag. She also had a pair of specks which she now wore. She looked slightly different in specks. Someone whom I would love to explain in details if I were a writer. She was so fictional in nature, so unreal and aesthetically attractive. 

"I don't really know but I know one thing, girl, that I have fallen for you!"

"Me too Ayush! I love you so much!"

There was no doubt that the conversation was happening in my head, as my hands turned cold and numb, the hot coffee which the waiter served didn't feel hot when I held the cup tightly in my grip, the smoke rose high and blurred my vision, and the fantasies of my mind trapped my senses. 

We both were riding a bicycle on a hilly road, and it was neither a day nor a night, but something magical. The sky was black but bright with no stars or moon to shine, but bright enough that we could see the giant sparrows and gigantic cobwebs around us, the woods howling like wolves and the air getting cold with every passing second. 

I was probably high, and I knew how it felt to be high. I've done drugs in the past but this was something else, the girl in the cafe was casting spells on me and my reality was hiding in the closet like a scared 4-year-old boy, afraid of clowns and witches. 

"Um Yeah" I tried to behave as normal as I could, "Red fort corpses is the new talk of the town! Three murders in one night! The killer is on the loose. No one knows who did it but the murders were quite gruesome-"

"Gruesome how?"

"Well, I am not sure if I should speak this-"

"Tell me, how Gruesome?" She said in a demanding voice.

"Well, the killer didn't just take their lives but also sent a strange message!" There was no mention of any message in the news I read, but it was just my theory that there has to be something because the murders were quite unusual, "The killer cut off their manhood and inscribed the word 'Rapist' on their chests. The bodies were found naked, and from what I read, they were found hanging around a tea stall near the red fort. The locals are making all kind of stories, calling it a ghost work, because no one heard a cry or noise the night they were murdered."

"Interesting!" 

She placed her chin on her soft fist and looked at me with a calculative look. Perhaps, she was trying to find other layers of truth which I hid from her. I couldn't help but notice her curvy cheeks again and again, but now I couldn't or else she would notice. She was exceptionally beautiful, and with the look of intrigue and surprise on her face, she looked even more attractive. 

"Isn't it disturbing?"

"Why?" She asked casually, "Are you trying to sympathize with rapists?"

"Well, no one knows for sure who these people were and we can't just assume they were rapists just because a maniac killer wrote it on their bodies. It is a case of serial murder."

"Are there any more murders, other than the three you mentioned?"

"No!" I finished my coffee and stood up, "At least not in the newspapers!" I paid for my coffee and smiled at her, alluring her intrigue and attention, and then I made the final move, "-and now I must get back, my old lady is expecting a vine of grapes. Nice meeting you, Miss-um, alright, no need to tell your name! Have a nice day!"

I didn't wait to hear her response as I silently walked out of the cafe and looked around. I needed to buy good fruits and a camera. There was something in the city that needed proper exploration and investigation. Independent investigation. No police, no media. 

Just me and the corpses and the Killer. 

"Hey, I didn't mean to follow you, but didn't you just say not in the papers!" 

I turned back with a smile and saw her standing right behind me. Strangely, I didn't hear any footsteps and believe me, I was listening very carefully. I noticed that there was a sense of urgency and suspense built in her eyes and she was speaking faster than before. 

"You are taking too much interest in a case so small as this-"

"But you know something that others don't" She tried to frisk me with her gaze, "Are you a media person, Mr. Ayush?"

"No Ma'am, I am just a normal guy, doing a normal job, licking my boss's orders like any other good employer would do! That's all!"

"Cut the crap!"

"I am not a media person, but I like to write stories, but again, I am not a writer-"

"I said cut the crap!"

"I want to explore more of this case and I know police never would! Those who died weren't important and probably a poor scum, so no limelight for the dead, and I think there is some maniac killer behind this, so I think maybe I should investigate it."

"But we don't know anything about the case other than some media news, how are we going to investigate!"

"Did you just say, 'we'?" I was pretty amused at what she said, "You mean, you and I, together, on a case! Oh, give me a break. Just because you like mystery novels and solving Sudoku, that doesn't mean you have to invite yourself to death! I am a fool that I am thinking of wasting time in this but not you, you look sane enough-"

"Will you shut up?" She came close to me and she held my hands, "I need to know the truth of it. It matters a lot to me. A lot, you understand? Now either you help me out with this case or-" She took a step back, and a deadly pause, and then said this.

"or I'll kill the old lady in your house!" This was where I lost my shit, "-and would show no mercy in eating those juicy grapes, one by one!"

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~ To Be Continued ~

A/N

~ I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. This story is still undergoing editing and if you find anything worth correction, then feel free to bring it to my attention.

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