SHORT STORIES FRIDAYS (65)

THE SCIENTIST WHO BECAME A MONSTER (PART5) : A SHORT STORY BY ME.

Ahmed said, ” Out with your plan. If I don’t like it, I would shoot you dead.” Harsh replied,”‘I will give you this gadget and teach you how to operate it. After wearing this gadget, you can not only read the mind of the person standing next or opposite to you, but also hypnotize him to do your bidding. Try to infiltrate into Indian Army by impersonating a soldier. In this way, you can pass on the secrets of the Indian Army to your bosses and earn rewards. Let them attack the country. We can easily pin the blame on Sunny, the original inventor, who joined hands with the enemy nation, for the sake of money. First ask your boss to transfer some amount to his account and also mine, because I gave you the suggestion. “

Ahmed grinned at him and his gang members who heard the plan, were immensely pleased with his criminal suggestion. Harsh gave them Sunny’s bank details. Poor Sunny had given him a financial assistance and Harsh had obtained his bank details to repay the money. Ahmed and his men left the room, leaving Harsh still tied to the chair.

Meanwhile, his wife, Anamika, and sons, Ayan and Mayank, came home to witness the shock of their lives. Their house had been trashed. The furnitures were upturned and the TV set was smashed down to pieces. Someone had vandalized their house in their absence.

Harsh was quite confident of the success of his plan. Ahmed came back with his men. He ordered one of them to untie Harsh. He said,
“‘I discussed your plan with my brothers who have approved your suggestion. I have decided to let you go in turn for your valuable services but only on the condition that you will be handing over your gadget to me.” Harsh was delighted to be getting his freedom. He willingly handed over the pendant and went out to enjoy his freedom. Ahmed whispered something into the ear of one of his men, Shafeeq, who followed Harsh.

He stopped him at the gate and said, ” Before you go home, boss has asked me to give you a special party at the Red Light Bar. Go and sit in the car.” Harsh was ecstatic. He had no idea that he was walking straight into the lion’s den. He joined the terrorist and they went to the bar. He kept on buying drinks for Harsh and obtained his signature on a blank paper. When Harsh’s attention was diverted by the dance of a stripper, Shafeeq slipped a Cyanide pill in his glass and poured whiskey. He handed it back to Harsh who gulped it down immediately. And then, he dropped dead with his head hitting the floor. Shafeeq hoisted up the dead body and pretended to support him by putting the dead Harsh’s arm around his shoulder to lead him away. He said, ” Get up, Harsh. You have had too many drinks. Let’s take you home.” He led him away from the bar and dumped him on the backseat. He took him outside his private clinic and opened it with a skeleton key. After placing him on his chair, he kept the suicide note on his table. Then, he left quietly to go back to his boss. He said, ” Boss, ‘I still don’t understand why you ordered me to kill him. His plan was quite good and favorable to us.”

Ahmed replied, ” He was a dangerous fellow who can’t be trusted at all. When it mattered, he betrayed his own friend by hatching a conspiracy to save his own skin. How can ‘we trust him? What’s the guarantee that he won’t blackmail us? It was essential to sever any link that could be traced back to us.”

Anamika called the police who were all over the place with a couple of people from the Forensic department. They finished searching for fingerprints and clues leading to the vandals but without any luck. The Inspector asked a couple of his men to stand guard for the next 24 hours, while the rest of the team went back to the police station.

Anamika asked her maid Smita to prepare tea for the three of them. Ayan said, ” Mom, I fail to understand why someone would go to such an extent as to destroy our homes.” Mayank said, “It’s not so difficult to guess. Dad has been acting weird for the past two weeks. He seems to have been making more money in gambling than by going to his clinic. His patients have been complaining of his erratic ways. I think it must be a group of disgruntled gamblers who were fed up of consistently losing their money to him. I wonder how he did it! “

Ayan said, ” Bro, I don’t know whether you noticed it or not. He had been wearing a pendant and never bothered to take it off. It’s rather mysterious. I think it must be some kind of lucky charm that ensured his victory.” Anamika was patiently listening to her sons’ conversation. ” Oh, Harsh!” she moaned, ” Where the hell are you? I wish you would come home safe and sound.” They were unable to sleep that night.

The next day, Anamika received a phone call on her mobile. ” Mrs. Harshwardhan, ” said a male voice. ” Yes,” she replied with a tremble in her voice. The caller said, ” This is Inspector Shashank Khare speaking. ‘we have found your husband. Unfortunately, he is no more alive.” Anamika was too stunned to speak. Inspector Shashank continued, ” Hello, Madam, ” he said, ” Are you still on the line? ” Anamika replied weakly, “Yes. How did he die? “

Inspector Shashank said, ” It seems like he committed suicide. He reeked of alcohol. ‘we have to send his body for postmortem.” Anamika broke into tears and wailed loudly as her sons came rushing to her room.

She conveyed the news of Harsh’s death. Before they could digest the news of his passing away, they could hear violent knocks on their door. Who was it? And what did he want? Catch up for another twist in the tale next week.

Thank you so much for taking your precious time to visit my website. Hope you enjoyed reading my blogs. 😊😊