Round 3 (Match # 7) - Daud Zaidi vs. Priyashrav Bharadwaj

*) - Rituals

(Daud Zaidi)

 

Prologue >>

‘It’s a fine evening my boy’, said Professor to his dog whose collar chain he was holding and walking in the park. Professor was a middle aged man around 45 years, height about 6’ 2’’.

“Prof.?”, asked a man, who was sitting on the nearby bench he was passing.

“Yes Please?”, replied professor.

“Sir, you are the one that brought some scientific evidence against the rituals of chlonars?”

“Yeah, but I am not in a mood of interview please, you could read my whole research on my blog”

“You got me wrong, sir actually I also found strong evidence. You could have a look at it, if you want. My house is 3 blocks down that street. Maybe it could help you in nailing them. ”, said the man pointing towards the street.

“Let’s, see it. By the way, what do you say your name was?”, asked professor moving fast with curiosity.

“I never told my name”, replied man with stern smile “but you can call me Raka”

After few minutes, professor was looking at some pictures, sitting on the desk. His face was red with anger and fear.

“How much time did I have?”, asked professor with shaking voice.

“Sorry, but your time is over!”, said Raka , he pulled out a spear whose tip was shining like diamond and Professor could see the spear moving toward his heart. He was unable to move with fear. Within a flash of second, there was pure line of blood over Raka’s shirt. And professor could feel no more.

Chapter 1: Investigation >>

“What seems to be the time of the death”, asked the detective in a horrified tone.

“From its body temperature we could make out that its probably 4 hours back”, replied Robert, the forensic assistant turning the body the other way wearing gloves in his hand”.

Feeling of grief could be seen clearly from detective’s face. He could see body lying lifeless on the floor. He could clearly see the blood coming out from her chest. On having a closer inspection he was quiet amazed to see the long wound which was left in place of heart. His clever eyes were busy in guessing the shape of the weapon which would have pierced her soft body. 

“Her heart is missing sir”, a voice shattered his thoughts.

“w..what??”

“Yes sir, and we could depict the shape of the weapon too, once we take the body to the lab.”

“it’s a spear son, nevertheless you can take the body to the lab”, replied Detective and turned toward the young man who was staring the body and weeping quietly. He was in around twenty five, wearing spectacles with a toned body.

“I shouldn’t have let my mom alone, Sir”, he said in sobbing voice to Detective.

“Don’t worry my son. I will not let the killer get away”, consoled Detective offering him a tissue.

“Just tell me what happened?”, he added.

 “I went to meet Shweta, my girlfriend. We were having a plan for movie this Saturday night.”

“Which show?”

“As usual, 9-12. Then I dropped her at her house and when I came back home. I saw my mom lying on the floor, dead. I just called police.”

“Is there anyone whom you think to be the culprit?”

“No, she does not have any enemy. But she was tensed this week”

“Why do you think this tension would be?”

“I don’t know but maybe it could be due to the arrival of Varun’s family last week. He is not having good relations with us since couple of years.”

“I hope He is not involved in this.”

“Yeah! Uncle, Varun and Tarun gave threats to my mom over a little issue.” The boy replied.

“and please let me know of any information if you get.” he added.

“Well I ‘ll let you know about any progress regarding this”, he said.

“And Robert you just investigate in the houses nearby, check if anything comes out”, said detective to his assistant

Chapter 2 : Murder >>

“Why would someone kill your mother?? So brutally?  It doesn’t make sense”, asked Shweta walking with Kasha in the park.

“Detective is investigating it. He promised me, to bring her to justice”, replied Kasha.

“Don’t worry. He will find killer soon”, convinced Shweta “I am also keen on becoming detective”. She added trying to divert Kasha’s mind from her mother’s case. She knew his boyfriend was in grief after her mother’s death.

“Oh! Is that so? I will introduce you to him”, said Kasha

“First meet us dear”, said a harsh voice behind her.

Kasha looked behind to see a tall man, wearing black mask was standing with a spear in his hand. The tip of the spear was shining brightly.

Before anyone could move, he throws the spear at Shweta’s heart but Kasha just pushed her and spear goes cutting a flesh from her right hand.

“You stop the ritual. You will burn. Order must have an assassin.” Yelled the masked man angrily.

His yelling gave Kasha enough time to help Shweta to stand up. They both ran as fast as they can, holding each other’s hand. The attacker jumped to lift up his spear which was on the ground. Now the tip has trail of blood.

Meanwhile both were running as fast as they can. Shweta could feel her breath pausing. They could hear each other are panting. But there was no time to stop and breath.

“That’s my street!”, exclaimed Kasha panting.

Shweta nodded and they hurriedly enter into the street. However, insecure they were but they felt a circle of trust in that street. They came across a bus stop and stand there to take a sigh of relief. Other people, who were standing there stare them.

“I love you”, said Shweta feeling afraid.

“I love you too, honey and I will not let anything happen to you”

“Why were they trying to kill me? Something you are not telling me”, asked Shweta, in mixture of frustration and anger.

“I swear to you I don’t know what’s happening here. Come on let’s get to my house. I will call Police there.”

They both cross the street watching in all directions. At last they reached the door. Kasha pulled out the key and opened the door. They both entered the house. Kasha switches on the lights to make things visible. Shweta sit down on sofa, grabbing his hand and began weeping.

“I must call my police immediately”, dialing 100.

“Home sweet home!”, said the same voice which Kasha has heard once in the park.

Receiver slipped away from his hands. But before he could do anything, the masked man threw the spear into the air. There was no question of missing the target. It just pierced through Shweta’s heart. The blood was sprouting out of her chest like water coming out of a pipe with struck with pin. Masked man walked to get his weapon out of the body.

Kasha picks up a flower pot lying on table and came to hit the murderer. But before he could hit him on his head, the attacker flipped 180 degree and caught his neck with his hand. Flower pot slipped from his hand. He could not see anything except the pressure of his hand on his windpipe. He could feel his end is near. Then suddenly he could feel that his neck was loosened. He could feel that attacker behind the mask was smiling.

“Complete the rituals. Cut someone’s heart. Order must have an assassin”, roared the voice behind the mask. And the world around Kasha goes blank.

Chapter Three: Order >>

 “How are you feeling now”, said detective pouring two cups of coffee from coffee machine. He came to Kasha, who was lying on the bed and offer him coffee.

“Any leads uncle?”, asked Kasha taking the coffee offered to him.

“Yeah, but are you strong enough to know the truth”, replied Detective sitting down in the chair opposite to Khasha.

“Just say it, sir”

“Actually, forensic report tells that a tip of something sharp was found in her body near her heart, which was as you know, was cut out. And the same happened with shewta too. Looks like we have got a common killer”

“I heard him saying something about order, rituals. I need to know about what it is?”

“Okay, Here it goes. No one knew when order of chronal was found, some say around 12-13 century. They are operating since then, hiding. They have this ritual of extracting heart of human. They say order must have an assassin. Only he is the one capable of doing human sacrifice. He has this spear like weapon made of, with one blow it cuts the human heart out and breaks it tip deliberately in victim’s body to leave it as a sign. This order was not active since the last 100 years but once again it is active.”

“What is any of this has to do with my mom’s murder?”

“That’s what we’ll have to find out. I hope that prof. could tell anything about it”

“So let’s go talk to him”

“How do you know him?” asked detective sipping his coffee.

“I was a great fan of him, I read it on his blog. Maybe we should go and talk to him?”

“We can’t, because he is dead too.”

Chapter four: 36 Olla Street >>

“How, how’s that possible”, questioned the twenty five year old.

“Didn’t you read the news of him being killed the same way like your mother and girlfriend did?” replied the detective.

“Oh, its getting worse day by day, sir you need to do something. I think the same people from the order have been doing this, didn’t they?”.

“Can’t say till I get some strong evidence. I will go to house once again where professor’s body was discovered”, he said and left.

It was now the time for detective to look upon the case, which compelled him to go to the house. It was on 36 Olla Street where he reached couple of hours later. It was really a weird house with green gates followed by a narrow pavement which let him inside. The house seems to be crazy at first but nevertheless was worth watching for inspection. He soon reached main room where his dead body was found. It smelled of paper and was mostly occupied by papers. The table of which the professor’s body was half lying was mostly red because of blood which was dried up.2 envelopes were lying in the drawers below. Detective hurried on opening the envelope and soon opened the letter. His eyes started growing more and more red as he read more of the paper. Soon after drawing some conclusion he was about to leave that he noticed something very tiny just in front of his foot.

“Robert ?”

“sir?”

“just take this piece of nail and send it to forencic lab and gat me the report of DNA! Fast.”

“Sure sir”

“And what conclusion you drew from neighbors”

“Sir all was almost well but there was something fishy in the cornel’s house”

“like?”

“like that they are quiet misanthropic type of people and all they want is money. And one more thing sir the taller of the two was having a hand injury seems like he is doing some sort of trifling.”

“Oh!, one more suspect.”

“Don’t you think sir that this case is becoming more and more complicated.”

“No robbi! Its time for pulling the veils from the face of many people”, concluded the detective. “It is the time to reveal the truth of this enigma”

“but, how sir ”

“That I’ll tell you. But now you just go and test this human nail’s DNA and also bring the reports of the professor. That’s very important”.

Soon the detective and his assistant parted in different ways and the former hurried towards the hurricane complex where his sister-in-law used to live. Soon he arrived in the house but on not seeing any one he decided to visit Mr. Cornel , the neighbor. His house was well built and looked sturdy.

“Mr cornel” ,shouted the detective.

“Mr cornel”, he repeated again.

The door was wide open and he went inside the house. An air of uneasiness was spread all over which was remarkably read by the detective.

“Any one inside”, shouted the detective with his lungs out.

Again nobody called out and the detective was compelled to go into the verandah followed by the backroom. On having a closer inspection he drew out the conclusion that the house was vacant and no living being was present. He looked with curiosity for any clue to come up in his way where he was taken aback by the presence of blood spots. On following them he reached towards a cupboard which to his surprise was locked.

“Maybe another murder?”, he pondered.

Chapter 5: Culprit >>

“All in a row, hurry!” commanded the detective.

Detective had called all the suspects relating with this case in the hurricane complex. There were Kasha, Cornel, Varun, Tarun ,detective himself with assistant Robert couple of policemen ready to grab the culprit. Detective enquired in all the areas and got the result.

The detective drew hard on his cigarette, took a puff of smoke out of his mouth and then said….

“So, friends the case goes like this. First, the murder of lady was a professional stuff. We were talking about the death of the professor which took just the day before yesterday. Professor was the chief of order of chronal. And so was your mother, Kasha. That why he spared your life on that night. And when she wants to withdrew from the order, professor decided to kill her. He did so in order to maintain the equilibrium required by the ORDER. The professional killing of the ORDERS can be seen from the fineness they killed .its a well known fact that a order leaves its tip of spear in the body of the dead in order to show their symbol and that was traced in her body. The second death of Shewta was also done in the exact manner with a tip of spear in her body too. But..” he stopped for a while to again drew his cigarette and again continued

“The third one was slight different from the first two.”  

“How?” shouted kasha.

“Relax my lad. I am coming to that point. So the third death was different in the sense that it didn’t have the tip of the spear.”

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean to say that the murder of the professor was done by someone present in this room. When I went to professor’s house to inspect, I got a small piece of nail and on testing its dna it matches with..”

“with whom”, cried varun

“with Kasha!!!!”

“what?”, shouted kasha in despair. 

“yes, kasha you don’t try to be over smart. I know that you have murdered professor”

“i… i think you might be mistaken”

“No Kasha, you should not have done this. Now please tell the truth. You have done a great offence.”

“HE WAS THE CULPRIT. Not I. I went to him in order to enquire about order, rituals because he was well known for his research for order. He was not there in his house but there I saw a same spear and a photo of my mother and Shweta crossed with black pen. Perhaps he was giving these to the assassins to identify the victims. I immediately came to know that it was he who murdered my mother and my girlfriend. He needed a punishment. Therefore, I tried to kill him in the same way he used to kill. I took the spear and the photos I disguised myself as raka and lured him into a house and chopped his heart off the same way he did after showing him the photos.”

“Well my child you should not have done this. Because, what is done can’t be undone. Things cannot be brought back. Now you have to face severe punishment. I am really sorry for you. This case is over.” he replied putting back his cap on his head.

“Case isn’t over you detective”, said a cold voice behind him.

“Excuse me, but how do you know that his mother was member of order”, the same voice added.

“who’s that”,, replied the detective turning towards the voice.

“how did you know that? Reply me!, Sir” asked Robert again.

“ha, you Robert are you forgetting that you work under me”, detective replied in a humorous tone.

“don’t you hear me ?”, voice of Robert echoed in the room.

“i..i have researched on it”

“You know, they say that relations are more important than money, but you have disproved this. Do you know Kasha, who was the assassin sent to kill your mother?? It was him! Am I right detective?”

“What rubbish are you talking about?”

“He was also the member of order worked for professor.”

Everyone in the hall, looked at the detective.

“Why?”, asked Kasha.

“You want to know the truth about order?, It was founded in 12-13 century as a matter of protecting their tribe from external conquer. They only kill who were trying to conquer their tribe. There was ritual of killing their enemy by extracting heart. It helps to motivate other member of the order and to create fear, so that no one would even think to conquer them. But with time the order slightly vanished because there seems to be no need of it. But founders of the order saw this coming. They formed a rule. Order must have an assassin who would protect them from in times of difficulty even the whole order is dissolved. Now after these many years, professor researched on the order and created his own group in the name of order. Yes! The order is fake. It was vanished hundred years ago. Professor used order to carry out his evil intentions of smuggling of human heart. He killed people, with the help of this detective and he took out the heart, Cornel saved it till the buyers come. It was all pre planned”

“Have you any evidence against me?”, said cornel trying to defend himself.

“Or perhaps, you could open your cupboard in your backroom, police have it opened till now.”

“How do you know all about this?” asked the detective.

“Because I am the last member of order”, replied the assistant.

“When I heard about the murders, I knew something was not right. There was someone who was deceiving in the name of order. So I took the job of forensic assistant and rest was much easy for me.”, he added.

“Put your hands up”, commanded the inspector, “you all are under arrest”. 

Epilogue

Kasha was quietly sitting in the rock, in the jail. Suddenly the prisoner “Dada”, came and said, “You better start paying me rent kiddo. Everybody here does.” Pinching his cheek

“Get lost”, replied Kasha not paying attention to him

“Nobody talks to me like that”, shouted Dada

Soon there was crowd gather all around the two of them yelling crush him.

Kasha pulled up the weapon he was carving from stone. It looked like spear. His face gave cunning smile and said

“Order must always have an assassin”

Rating – 74/100

Judge’s Comment - You know how to build suspense and have used it well. Pace of the story was more or less good but we lost little bit of interest for not finding things that are new to us.  Freshness in stories comes from unique inspiration, idea or research. Choose the path where you can find one. Over all it was good and nicely expressed by your words.

*) - THE TWISTED VENGEANCE

(Priyashrav Bharadwaj)

Location: Blackden Prison

Time: 6:34 PM

Welcome to the Blackden Prison! I am an inmate here occupying Cell No. G23 under the’ Dangerously Unstable’ Ward. But don’t judge me on that for I‘m neither dangerous nor unstable.  In fact, I used to be one of the Model Prisoners around here. Anyways, I shall be your guide to this wretched structure which houses some of the worst specimens humanity has to offer. Some are raving lunatics, some are calculating masterminds, and some are probably both.

But I’m not one of them. I’m not among those who aim to survive on the two square meals they serve in here just to somehow complete their sentence and continue from where they left off. I’m a man of purpose. I have something to achieve in my life. Do you know what that is?

Vengeance! On a man named Jimmy Drakes! Jimmy

You see, my memory has not been serving right in the last few months. Many things seem muddled; many crucial details remain shrouded by an inexplicable fog. But my obsession with vengeance and my hatred for Jimmy Drakes increases with each day.

It all started with the nightmares that began haunting me. The started as vague, broken images but soon developed into detailed, precise sequence of events that reminds me of a time long forgotten.  I always got the feeling that I’ve lived these nightmares somewhere in my distant past. Even as my memory fades, the nightmares become clearer than ever.

Now it has gone to the point where I see the visions of my nightmares whenever I close my eyes. The nightmare is always the same now…………….

There is one heck of downpour in a moonless night! I see myself as much younger man holding the hand of a little kid, presumably my son. All of a sudden I see two flashing headlights heading our way, with the screeching sound of doom. I lunge myself from harm’s way, but I fail to save my son, who is run over by the speeding vehicle. I see him lying on the sidewalk in a thick pool of blood. Then the taillights of the vehicle fade into oblivion and the pouring rain washes away all the spilled blood.

I recognized Jimmy instantly from these visions. I don’t how or why I recognized him so I guess I’ll have to trust my fading memory in this matter. But I just can’t shake off the feeling that he wasn’t alone in the vehicle. A shadow keeps appearing in the vehicle but never takes any definite form. So for now, Jimmy Drakes is my top priority.

One day, I’ll escape this hellhole of a prison. These walls won’t hold me for too long. And when that happens, I shall be paying Jimmy Drakes a visit……………….

Time: 6:48 PM

I see two Security Guards approach my cell with measured steps. They unlock the door and throw a casual glance around the cell.

One of them announces, “It’s time for you Therapy Session with…………..”

I interrupted him midway through the sentence,” Yeah, I know! The good Doctor hasn’t given up on helping me through these difficult times. Lead the way.”

I didn’t particularly care for these Therapy Sessions with the Prison Psychiatrist. If you ask me, he isn’t half as good as the Administration says he is. I mean, sure he has got the degrees and qualifications, but the man’s methods and skills leave a lot to be desired! I’ve been seeing him continuously for these sessions for the past few months, but he hasn’t made one inch of progress regarding my memory problem.

We entered the Psychiatrist’s office and found him sitting on his chair, lost in thought.  He sprang from the chair the moment he saw us.

“Ah, thank you for bringing him, gentlemen!” He said to the guards. Then he turned to me and said, “Come, my friend! I am hoping for some real progress to be made in tonight’s session.”

“Sure, Doctor! Let’s just get this over with.” , I said as the Security Guards left the room in a haste.

Location: A vacant room of a rundown Apartment in the underbelly of the City.

Time: 11:47 pm

Whoa! I’m not entirely sure what just happened with me. All I remember is overpowering the Psychiatrist at the end of the session and then I managed to take him hostage! From there instinct took over and I managed to do what no prisoner had ever done. I escaped the Blackden! Sure I got a few bruises and my inmate outfit got terribly torn in the process, but that was all worth it!

From there it was a simple matter of tracking Jimmy to this seedy Apartment in the most notorious section of the City! Everything happened so easily and flawlessly, I think it must be my lucky day or something. I can’t believe I’m out of Blakden, and that is Jimmy Drakes lies unconscious in front of me, ready to be sacrificed to appease my demons of vengeance.

But my memory has been fading rapidly since my escape! It’s a surprise I can still remember I am Amadeus Dorian and I am here to avenge the death of my son who died because of this man, Jimmy Drakes!

.

I have spent my last few months in Prison preparing for this moment! Even in prison, among the remorseless killers and shifty con-men, I had been a man with a purpose. I was never one to waste away my life in the prison. The thoughts of vengeance always fueled me and reminded me that I had to settle scores with Jimmy Drakes!

Today vengeance will not elude me! I was denied all these years, but no more!

I turned towards Jimmy and growled, “Wake up! Wake up, you filthy degenerate! You don’t want to spend your precious last moments being unconscious, do you?

“What’s going on? Who are you?” He screamed with barely opened eyes; unsure of what was going on around him.

“Surprised to see me, Jimmy? You haven’t forgotten me now, have you? I spent so much time living the horrors of that night and yet you fail to even acknowledge it?”  Just seeing him breathe made my skin crawl.

He somehow managed to open his eyes and was shocked to see me standing in front of him. He whispered, “Y-you? What are you doing here?”

“Why, were you expecting the President, by any chance? Of course, it’s I. It had to come down to the two of us settling scores once and for all, don’t you think?” I was getting sick of hearing him speak.

I pulled the knife from my pocket and felt the cold touch of metal on my hands. Somehow, it felt right! Surely the time of vengeance was near. He noticed the glean of the knife in dim-lit room. Fear and panic had now replaced the confusion in his eyes. I would have enjoyed this sight for a few more minutes had I not been craving this moment for so long.

“But why are you doing this to me ? What did I ever do to you?” His voice now louder than it might have ever been in his entire pathetic existence. Fear has been known to inspire a very different brand of courage.

“You have the gall to ask this? After you maimed my life in just those few seconds?” I said, seething with anger.

“Maimed your life? What are you talking about? Listen, you are not in a good state of mind. Let me help you!”

“You, Jimmy? You help me? If you really want to help me, just shut up and let me get this over with.”

I looked at the knife in my hands and then looked up Jimmy’s face! It would have been an understatement if I said he was right now too scared to speak even one word. I clutched the knife in my hand, and prepared to channel a lifetime’s worth of anger in one stab of the knife.

He made one last futile attempt at pleading hopelessly, “Please! Don’t do this. Don’t kill me, Daniel. ”

Wait, did he just call me Daniel! I stopped at once. What’s going on, I thought. Why did he call me Daniel? I’m Amadeus! Amadeus Dorian!

‘He is just trying to confuse you’, I repeated in my head. There was no time to waste thinking about this. I advanced towards him with the knife ready to make its way into Jimmy. I was just about to rid the world of the scum that was Jimmy when suddenly I saw all hell break loose.

I remember dozens of Prison Guards and Policemen barging through the door. They all had their weapons drawn and targeted towards me. A few Policemen lunged forward and surrounded Jimmy! I guess today is not the day for my vengeance.

And then I saw an obscured face amidst the cluster of the Security Guards. A stoic, almost featureless face. As if it was adamant on giving nothing away as to what was going on in the mind it cloaked.

It was the Prison Psychologist! A man I can honestly say I don’t want anything to do with. In fact, I never even caught his name during our long therapy sessions………….

And then everything came back to me in a flash! Memories that had been suppressed in the past few months, pushed to oblivion by the thoughts of vengeance.

I am Daniel Kint. At least that’s the name I was born with, grew up with.I don’t know how or why I thought I was Amadeus Dorian although the name still rings a bell.

I was a remorseless killer, bred and nurtured in this hellhole of a city. I made quite a name for myself as a coldblooded harbinger of death!  And then like a total amateur, I made a complete mess of everything and landed in the slammer. Only the ‘unsubstantial’ evidences kept me from getting the capital punishment.

The security guards seized me and hastily dragged me to the Prison Van below. I saw the Psychologist sitting at the back of the Van, eerily calm and unperturbed. His demeanor was in complete contrast to the chaos that surrounded him, with the Guards struggling to put me up in the Van. He signaled the guards to not to enter the back of the Van. I guess I was getting his company on my way back to the Prison. The Van sped off, but it failed to faze him even a bit.

He asked me, “So you failed to get your revenge?”

I was in no mood for this talk. So I snapped back, “What does it matter to you?

“His voice now turned colder than the chilly wind blowing outside “What does it matter to me!”  And then, he laughed! It was a demonic laughter, capable of sending shivers down the spine of even a remorseless killer like me.

 He continued, “I suppose now would be a good time to jog your memory a bit, Daniel! When I was transferred to your Prison I had quickly set my eyes on you. I knew of your reputation as a coldblooded murderer.  I wanted to use you as pawn in a little game of mine. Those long therapy sessions I spent were to fracture your fragile psyche. Piece by piece I had to break you down! It wasn’t easy at first but gradually I started getting results. ”

All this was a little overwhelming for me. Somehow I managed to utter a word in response, “Results?”

“Yes, results! I planted thoughts of vengeance in your fractured mind, using an old hit-&-run case where the culprit had evaded the punishment he deserved. Needless to say, Jimmy was the said culprit. I led you to believe that you were the sole survivor of that accident, the father of the little Joseph Dorian who died the accident. In the mental state you were in at that time, it was a child’s play. “He said, obviously annoyed by being interrupted in his narrative.

Something suddenly struck me while listening to him. I read the Name tag on the Psychiatrist’s coat. It said ‘Dr. Amadeus Dorian’! Now everything had started falling in pieces.

“So, you were the father who never got his justice. And when you got the charge of a Prison full of criminals and lowlifes, you selected a random merciless killer to be your Angel of Vengeance. To carry out the dirty work that you always wanted be done.”

“Oh you weren’t chosen so randomly my friend! Good lord, No! I You were chosen because you already had an integral connection with that night’s incident. It had to choose you for this little experiment!

“What are you talking about?” I growled.

“When I planted thoughts of that accident in your mind, I tweaked things a bit! You were indeed present at the time of the accident. It was just that you weren’t holding that little kid’ hand, you were behind the steering wheel of the car!”

I listened to him, although I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

He continued, “Jimmy wasn’t driving the car when it ran over Joseph Dorian that night. He only urged the driver to get dead drunk after celebrating a successful hit in a local bar! The car was being driven by his fellow ‘merciless killer’ Daniel Kint who ultimately got punishment while Jimmy got out Scott-free! The vengeance I sought was not just against Jimmy, but also against the man who now sits in front of me and who never got the more severe punishment he deserved. I wanted you to get rid of Jimmy and then get yourself the death sentence you deserved for that night. During today’s session, I helped you escape; making sure you weren’t caught in the process. I had torn the name tag from your Prison outfit so you don’t realize you are not actually Amadeus Dorian! I tried stalling the guards as much as possible when they set out to capture you. That was why I came along; to make sure you manage to kill Jimmy before you are captured. But you failed! You failed to kill him..………………”

I closed my eyes and that night played out in my mind’s eye. I had lived this night a hundred times in last 6 months but this time the perspectives had changed. I was sitting inside the car this time as the car raced towards a man and his son on the sidewalk. In my mind, could see the fear in little Joseph Dorian’s eyes when the car approached him and his father. I could see the hatred in Amadeus’ eyes as we sped off, leaving his son dying in cold blood.

I opened my eyes, and looked at Prof. Amadeus Dorian. I could still see traces of the same hatred back when I left him wailing on the sidewalk, watching his son struggle in the last few moments of life.

He had been speaking all through this. Perhaps he wanted to get the angst off his mind and I was the only one he could blow off his steam to. But I had no reason to listen to what he was speaking now. All I could think of was how I spent the last few months of my Prison time being driven by the vengeance that never was. I had a purpose, however twisted it might be. But for a short time I was someone with a drive which filled my emptiness. To go back to being just another nameless killer among the many after that is perhaps the worst punishment I could ever get. Now I’m not even sure who I am, or who I’ll be when I get back to the prison!

He may not know it, but it looks like Amadeus got his revenge on me after all………………………

He looked at me, and somehow suppressing all his despise for me, asked, ”What are you thinking about now, Daniel?”

I replied,” Nothing, Doctor! But I have to say that you are a better Psychiatrist than I ever thought…………… ”

Rating – 69/100

Judge’s Comment - Writing as a first person is quite challenging, especially when you want readers to be in your shoes. But there can never be a perfect rule in anything creative and you are indeed a bit different kind of author.Thus would like to say that it’s quite nice for the way you told the story.The problem was, as it started,  expectation went too high.

Result - Mr. Daud Zaidi is the winner of the match and last person to qualify for Quarter Finals. Mr. Priyashrav Bharadwaj is eliminated from Freelance Talents Championship. This also ends the campaign of Mr. Ravi Shankar (who nominated Priyashrav)

Judge  - Miss Simmi Singh-FA Gang Stuffs (Artist, Author and Social Activist)