"The man who has a conscience suffers whilst acknowledging his sin. That is his punishment" Ram muttered to himself in the dark. The cold wind made him tighten his hold on the sheets of cardboard that he had draped over himself. Quotes of his favourite book now made goosebumps rise on his arms. In his head he heard that strange man's voice again. 'What do you think, would not one tiny crime be wiped out by thousands of good deeds?' What was that man referring to? Did he want Ram to do good? If so why would he threaten Shyam's life? Was that line just something that happened to be there? Was he in someway referring to the book? Was he hinting at what was in store for him?

Ram pulled at his hair. Biting into his arm, the boy screamed as his eyes shut. Tears drifted past his wet cheeks. He remembered his first night away from home. Thinking back it wasn't so bad afterall. He remembered the way his mother had wrapped her arms around him and planted a kiss on his forehead. He had rubbed the wetness away with the back of his hand. You are so lucky! she had exclaimed back then. "If only you knew what would become of me ma..." his lips muttered as his tears and sniffles bound his heart with chains. His heart felt choked, constricted. Yet, the warm liquid that blurred his vision that night, took him to oblivion. That was perhaps the last night that boy slept without nightmares. He succumbed to those tears that night. That night he was sitting in this mother's lap as she hummed her favourite song. The sun caressed her face and her fingers tucked her hair behind looked him in the eye and wrapping her arms around him and start ticking him. Ram would lean over as he burst into fits of laughter. Slipping away from her hands he would start running as she lifted her eyebrows and feigned surprise before running after him. Ram smiled as he brought his feet closer together, unaware of the cold night.

Shyam looked at himself in the mirror. This line looks bad, he would tell himself as he bent his wrist more and lifted his knee higher. He got on his right feet and sprung to land on his other leg with one leg extended outwards in mid air. He felt a sharp pain at the back of his leg, the tight, knotted sensation made his eyebrows squeeze as he bit the inside of his mouth and forced a smile onto his face. There was no way he could show his despair as he was performing, not even in practise. The music came to an end and Shyam limped towards his bed and massaged his cramp. He slumped on to his bed and with his hands and legs spread apart stared at his ceiling.  The wooden rods wrapped with hay were replaced by a single a single ceiling light that was a contrast against the black ceiling. So much had changed over these years. No one tucked him in anymore. There were no tales of huge demons or the mother who saw the universe in her child's mouth as she was stopping him from eating mud. He remembered the days he and Ram tried eating mud and then rushed to the mirror and gawked with their mouth open. Their mother had huddled over laughing as the two of them pouted and stared at her. She had squeezed his pulp cheeks and planted a kiss on his forehead before she ruffled his hair and smiled again. Shyam laughed at the memory. He imagined her beaming and cheering for him as he stood on the podium. He would work as hard as he could, to make that dream a reality.

I was in my room. The music was on and I was pacing around my round before I jumped on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I cussed. I wasn't able to choreograph anything that day. Everything down to my eye lashes had to be just right. Somewhere along the way, my eyes had stopped twinkling as I danced. It was more about perfection than it was about fun and my love for this artform. Just then, I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in"

My dad walked up to me with his eyebrows creased. He pouted at me and showed me his wrist. The sides of his wrist  had turned red.

"I saw these today. They came so suddenly!" he said as he continued pouting.

I bent over and started laughing. He was adorable. He was a doctor for God's sake. He could come up with something better.

"You.. mean the marks you have because of your watch? Just don't wear it for a few days." I said amidst my giggles. He moved his head up and down vigorously and he mumbled an ok. Here he was a six foot fully grown man acting like a kid just to get a few giggles out of me. He smiled as he ruffled my head and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"Loosen up kiddo." he said as he lay by my said. I placed my head on his stomach and he wrapped his hand around me. I slept in his warmth that night.

Ram's phone pinged. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before stretching his arms. A video had been sent to him from an unknown number. He yawned and opened his eyes wider as he waited for it to load. His finger clicked on it without second thought. The video began in an village and the only thing that could be seen where the mud clouds that arose from the ground as the person who had the camera on him was running. He stopped and and the camera lifted up. A crowd had gathered around a house and one could see people's lips moving as their mutterings fell on his ears. All Ram could see at this point was the back of a woman's head covered with a shawl with pots of water balanced on her head. The man with the camera pushed through the crowd and the house came into view. The pale green walls with the wooden door slightly pushed in had the distinct carving Ram could never forget in his life. Ram gulped. He wanted to stop, he knew what he was about to see, the one thing he was trying to convince himself never happened.

The camera focused on a man wailing. His white kurti was covered in blood. That towel still sat on his shoulder as his back hunched. Ram couldn't see his face but he could recognise that man from miles apart. The man that now sat there weak and wailing was the one that was once strong enough to give up his pride and ask others for money. He remembered the way his father's forehead would no longer have creases as he stared at his wife's smiling figure and twinkling eyes. Now she just lay there, her eyes stared at what seemed like faraway places. He shuffled over to her and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand leaving stains of blood on his face.Ram saw his chest move up and down as his quivering hand took her's in hand and brought them close to his heart.

"Wake up Maiya! W..wake up. I will bring our boys to you, R.rram and S..shyam will be here back in your arms..just wake up! We can have meals together again we..we can laugh again..You giggle them and I will watch. You spoil them and I will be the stern one. Just wake up..Maiya! Maiya!" he cried. He lowered his head and placed it on her chest. Tears dripped down his face as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. They pulled him away from her as they took her body away.

For the first time, he forced himself to take in every bit of detail of her. Her green saree had turned brown as it soaked in her blood. Her smooth hair was matted together and her brown eyes no longer seemed like hers. There was no twinkle, no love in them. Perhaps she hated him in her final moments. He could never tell her how sorry he was, he could never see those lips tuck up again. Tears flowed out of his eyes as he tilted his head up. Whenever you are down, tilt your head up and gaze at the blue skies and the trees, it's beautiful always, she had told him. She lied. There was nothing beautiful there. His hands wrapped around his head and squeezed hard. The mobile had fallen onto his laps as his teeth clenched and his breathing became audible. He bit into his wrist as he screamed and eventually silenced down. The only symbol of his anger, fear, pain and guilt at that moment was the salty water that made it's way from his eyes to his mouth.

And that day the man who had sent him the video succeeded. He had broken the broken boy a bit more. The more distraught he was, the less rational his actions, the easier he was to manipulate. That was the idea. But, that idea did not take into account just how far that boy would go for his family.

With his eyes closed, his fingers moved towards the pieces of glass that lay around him. He clenched his fist as the warm metallic liquid flowed down his wrist. Blood.. he would make them bleed. His cheeks twitched as he started laughing. Tears, blood, sweat, dirt, tears, laughter.. he had them all, hysteria.

****I want to know what you my dear readers think is going to happen. Who do you think is the mysterious guy? How will the narrator become a part of this mess? And do you think that i should change the title? Is it too common? Make sure to leave a vote and comment for Ram for he still has a long long road ahead of him.