CHAPTER 2> SOME CATCHING UP

How crazy would Roran think I was if I told him the truth about that creature following me? He was such a good friend of mine. He was like my elder brother.  And, there was no one else that I could talk to about this. After all, he was into ‘biology’. But right now was definitely not the time. In the back of my mind I seriously wondered how the creature found me. It was still stapled under the wrapper. It couldn’t see me for sure, it had no eyes. Yet somehow it followed me from ‘inside a plastic’. It was either too damn talented or plain spooky. At least one thing I was sure of, that the ‘thing’ wasn’t gonna leave me alone. So I just picked it up and put it in the backseat of my car.

Was it just my imagination or had the creature just grown?

Roran gave me a long side glance for throwing the wrapper in the truck. “I just don’t want to litter the road” I said. “Hey there’s a dustbin right by the gate. I’ll…” “No, it’s fine” I didn’t even let him complete. The journey seemed so short! We were chatting and laughing the entire way. We had a lot to catch up on.

I followed the directions he gave me and reached a row house. He was staying as a paying guest there. Man, he must be making a lot of money to rent a place like this one. His landlord opened the door. He was an old man with no wife or children. That explained why he was so whiny. Before even saying hello, he started rambling about how Roran hadn’t paid attention to him this morning about keeping the place clean. On giving a quite ordinary excuse, the man frowned at us. Roran introduced me by saying “This is Koyna, she’s just like my sister. We’re from the same village.” I might have seen a slight smile on the old man’s face. But then he instantly turned around and went inside.

“Why are you staying with this man? You can easily rent a hotel room! This guy seems a little crazy!” Roran laughed boringly, I’m sure he’d heard a lot of this. He started reciting the sentence like he’d learnt it by heart by now. “He’s not that bad. Plus, the house is great. I love the view and his rates are quite reasonable. Also, he’s so lonely. I might as well give him some company.” Humble, noble Roran. He hadn’t changed a bit.

“Do you remember how we used to play carom when we were little?” I said, more than asked. He instantly lightened up and went in the old man’s room, only to return with an old dusty carom board. “Another reason why I live with him, he was a carom champion in his days!” He winked playfully. “He doesn’t play much now though.”

We went into his room and Roran fetched a dusting cloth. Cleaning it was a really tough task! Once we were done with it, we were all smiles and shines. We started playing the game, chatting like old times and laughing like crazy. A tiny part of me cried for missing those days, missing home. But I was relieved to have someone from home, with me. “What are you researching currently?” I generally asked him. When he didn’t answer, I looked up only to find him confused. “What happened?” I asked him, wondering what had possibly gone wrong.

“I can’t tell you. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just can’t tell anyone.” He looked apologetic. At first I considered letting it go, but then considering that I had a creature-secret to tell him, I asked him to trade secrets. Convincing him was rather hard. “Roran, I have to tell you something too. I have a secret, ‘some creature’ stuff and I’m scared of it. I have to tell you but only if you tell me this thing first. Come on. You know I can keep secrets. Remember that time you broke Aunt Talwar’s window??! And then anonymously paid for the damage! And that other time you got beat up by a squirrel!! Man, that was hilarious!! And that other time you kissed Tim and..” “Ok, ok you can keep secrets! I get it!” he said, smiling through the memories. I think he was seriously considering telling me.

His voice grew grave just as his carom pin entered the pocket. He took another shot, but missed it. Then passed me the striker. I acted like I was paying attention to the queen, when infact I was eagerly waiting for him to start. Simply so that he could finish and then I could tell him about the creature. “We’re researching about a foreign being. Something we call twinticles.” “Twinticles? Never heard that before, I exclaimed.” “Like I said, it’s a foreign creature.” Those words got him my attention for real.

He didn’t even pretend to care for the game now. “There is something going on Koyna. Something deadly. Twinticles are creatures that grow to be… twins of some human. They are twisted versions of a human being, or any living being for that matter”. This explanation was not enough for me. It left me more confused. He understood my expression but refused to continue. “It’s all I can tell you right now Koy. And remember, this conversation never happened.” I shook my head seeing the super serious look on his face. I’d momentarily even forgotten about the other weird creature in my truck until  Roran reminded me to tell him my secret now.

Well, Roran hadn’t told me his complete story so I edited mine too. “I’d gone to our village this morning. It’s just two hours from here after all. I saw some creature there. It was scary. We’ll go there sometime and I’ll show you then.” He certainly looked disappointed for such few details, but didn’t push me to say anything further.

We finally changed the topic and finished the game. He won, as usual. And I demanded a victory teat, as usual! We decided to go outside and eat an ice cream, when his landlord, Mr. H (as he preferred it) entered. He gave us a lovely smile and asked me who I was. Maybe he had memory issues. I introduced myself again and this time Mr. H whole heartedly said “You’re welcome to stay here if you like. We have an extra room if you want it”. He looked so loving now. “Uhm no thanks, I have a flat nearby.” I smiled in return and we left the house.

Roran said before I could ask, “he has Alzheimers and some personality conflicts.” That was weird and Roran’s expression confirmed it. Anyway, the sun was setting and I was getting late. “Let’s hurry” I said. We quickly ate my favourite, chocolate ice cream, and then I drove the truck home. As soon as I parked the truck, the horror struck me. I turned behind to see the wafer packet torn up on the back seat. And it was below a circular transparent ball, with water inside it, and a creature. The amoeba that was orange-ish, had turned to skin colour, which now looked like a small foetus. It was mesmerizingly cute, but in a freakish way. I didn’t know whether to be awed or freaked out.

But I definitely didn’t want it in my house. I quickly leapt outside and shut the doors close. I ran up to my room, and quickly drifted to sleep.

CHAPTER 1> THIS IS HOW IT STARTED

I’m Koyna. I lost my parents last year, along with half of my village, in a tragic earthquake incident. Without my parents, I was shattered- not just emotionally but also financially. Some of us who were attending college outside the village, and some of us who were out for work were the only survivors.

I am 21 as of today. I’ve been hunting for a real job for quite some time now. After all, teaching kindergarten in a small town doesn’t promise a comfortable salary. But I still liked it there. I had the qualifications of teaching college students, but I enjoyed teaching my kindergarteners too much. Until, the salary really started giving me goose bumps. I could barely pay the bills and make a living. I had to grow out of my safe cocoon.

Before leaving my house for the interview, I was so filled with doubt, fear and frustration, I decided go visit the land that took my parents away from me. It was sealed after the earthquake, or earth-blast, as the news people called it. I’d gone there to curse it. It was silly, but I needed to do it. Just to get a little peace of mind.

My parents were traders, and often alternately left home and travelled far and wide to trade. Unluckily, they were both home when the ‘earth-blast’ happened. They often told me stories of my village’s history. I never told them how boring it was, simply because it was just so good to hear their voice after so long. Last year, after the incident, it took me a while to realize that I wasn’t going hear their voice ever again.

I reached my old village. The site was sealed, and the rest was abandoned. The piece of land was completely isolated. Just land everywhere, concrete as well as shattered. Some called the accident “rage of the earth”, some called it “haunted land”, or “a natural calamity” or “comeback of nature” or “deadly damned land”. The accident was so lethal that none of the residents had survived it. Many of us had lost our parents, siblings and children. The place reeked. I almost assumed the land laughing at its victory of taking my parents away from me. I banged my leg on the ground, instead it hit a pointy rock and started to bleed. I didn’t even care. I wanted to cry and fight at the same time.

But who would I fight? Earth? That was not humanly possible. So I was left with the second option. Cry. A flood of memories rushed to me. The warmth and comfort of sleeping on dad’s lap, mom’s lullabies, the bedtime stories, their so called “quotes for life”, his wit and gut and patience. I was never gonna see them again. I screamed so loud in agony, I think the earth below me trembled a little. For a second, I even felt something sliding over my foot. But I didn’t even feel like seeing what it was. I gathered myself somehow and whispered “I miss you” hoping they’d hear it wherever they were.

 Reality rushed in then. I’d completely lost track of time. I was already late. I rushed to my tempo-truck that I’d received as a family hand-down. I had to drive fast for my walk in interview as a geology teacher in college. It was a job I didn’t fancy much, but really wanted now. As I pushed my foot on the accelerator, I felt something slimy slide up. I immediately pushed the break and the truck stopped with a loud screech.

I bent down to see a disgusting yellow-orange amoeba like creature. It must have climbed up my leg when I was screaming. I could actually feel its heart beat at the exact center of its body. Eww. I took a paper from my bag, grabbed it in the paper and threw it as far away from me as possible. Just as I was about to turn away, I saw it changing course and coming right back at me like a boomerang. Clearly, it didn’t have any wings. How the hell did it come back then?

I took the truck in reverse, held it in the paper and this time, placed it carefully on the ground. Then returned. I opened the door to my truck, and it slid right before me into the driving seat. It was creepy. It wouldn’t leave me. Why?! Scared and baffled, I got down the truck and closed the door shut. I saw it struggling to get out of the shut window. Somewhere inside I silently thanked God for not letting it pass through the glass like a ghost. It was sealed within and I was wondering what to do with it. It was really petite. It seemed more like skin color now, but I could swear it was orange-ish a few minutes before. A color changing amoeba-like creature. Hmm. Maybe I didn’t need to be afraid of it at all. It was way smaller than me anyways. I got in the truck from the other side, and slowly slid it into the empty wafer wrapper and then stapled it on the top. I was sure it wouldn’t follow me now. I threw the wrapper out and drove right to my interview without giving it a second glance.

I was a full 10 minutes late. I ran up to the principal’s office and he sure didn’t seem happy. I’d lost my first impression already. That got me all worked up and nervous. “Please have a seat” the principal said. I was glad I didn’t tumble on that floor given all those nerves I had. “I’m so sorry for being late sir. My car broke down.” I had to give that excuse. I couldn’t just say “oh I was trying to get rid of a tiny creature that wouldn’t leave me”! The rest of the interview continued formally, without any lies.

“Ms. Koyna, we will be short listing three teachers, who will have to take a lecture in class, in our presence. We’ll let you know in two days, which ones of you are selected. Thank you.”  Okay, that was my cue to leave. That was smooth. I was relieved that I finally had one good interview. I was feeling a little confident.

I was finding my truck keys in my purse, when I heard the most soothing familiar voice. “I haven’t seen that smile in a while!” “Roran!!” I was so glad to see him again! Roran was my neighbour who’d moved recently to town for some biological research work. He was twenty-eight, fine heighted, dark haired and had a huge smile. “It’s been so long! What are you doing here?” we said in harmony, and then laughed for saying the same things. There was nothing funny about it, but I guess it’s ok to laugh for no apparent reason when you’re with friends!

“Well, the principal of this college is my part-time colleague in the research. But what are you doing here?” “I was here for an interview”. “Do you want me to put in a word for you?” Hm. Did I want the job? Yes. Did I want it solely on recommendation? No. It was best to just talk about it later. “How long are you home?” I asked him, really hoping his answer would be ‘forever’. “A few months, a year maybe” he said, biting his lip. “Come on, I’ll show you where I live”, he said. I smiled and he nodded. I opened the door of my truck when I accidentally stepped on plastic. I looked down, it wasn’t just some plastic. It was a wrapper. The wafer wrapper with the creature in it…

Cast for Twisted me!!!

Here is my dream cast and cover of Twisted me!!!

Links to chapters::

chapter 1
chapter 2
chapter 3
chapter 4
chapter 5

Cast is in order of appearance:

Koyna

Shikhar

Roran

Mr. H