Just wanna be a woman

Bite me, scratch me
Break me down.
Invite me, court me
Swing me around.

Worship me
Because I am the spirit
I refuse to die,
Run with me I refuse to fall.

My life, my soul
Sorry haters I do feel proud.
Who are you tiny bloke
To judge me.
I judge myself,
Makes me proud of what I am.

Shoo! You critic
I couldn't care less
Like a star in a night sky
I'll burn bright.
You, lowly soul
Can cower at the sight.

My world, my reasons
Run away,
This place was never meant for you.

Just wanna be a woman.

Death Wish

The darkest days sometime start with a glorious morning,
I watched the sun rise from Ra's arm in Hamunaputra.
I was standing infront of a lake
The black water reflected the curled fangs of the sun in the murk,
With my finger I sent an angry ripple towards it,
And looked around me,
Locked up,
Lonely,
Solitary,
Hurt,
Murderous.
Numb,
Humiliated.

I felt like Jesus on the cross,
as faces floated around me
laughing at my hurt, my bleeding limbs
my weak limbs, my failing limbs.

My head hurt from last night's torture,
My stomach ached from hunger
And my shoulders drooped from overwork
My eyes were diamondlike from the cold and the wind.

If this weren't the end then I didn't know what was,
I have lost everything,
I had given half of it away long back in a bequest of the heart
And now half of it lies torn and tattered.

I am a dead man,
writing a dead song.

Recovery

I feel like I am trapped inside a bubble that's about to explode. Running with blind eyes, my body beaten and bloody away from a screaming, biting past that sends its deathly sentinels after me, memories. I close my eyes, the screaming noise in my head now flattens to an echo, I inject happiness in my veins. The momentary confusion between joy and misery is death, my substance, my lover, my curse.

It's 3 months now that I am clean. This last rehab sentence ( I call it a sentence because Kripa rehab, Kolkata is worse than a jail sentence) was the worst of the four. By now I can say that I am a dead man from inside, my hollow insides are writing; dry and knotty like dead wood. I have hit rock bottom. I just can't go on with my habit anymore, I know it, but I am scared nonetheless of relapse. The dark circles beneath my eyes are just compliments to my state of mind right now.

I feel like I am a circus clown riding a bicycle whose wheels have been put on fire and there are no brakes, so I'm cursed to ride around endlessly until I fall or unless someone holds me or stops me. This reminds me of the Creed song, "Hold me now, I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking..."

I'm such a whore, I think. My substance pulls my strings with 30 bucks and I let it bare. More than my body and mind, I think I am selling my soul to this substance.

My life is almost over now. Just holding on to one last hope. If God is there and I believe he is, then he won't let go of my hand now.

My recovery, has begun.

Men we think we are...

Under pressure we stood: united; but the front we put up-?~
We were separated,?
What else man, Hair Peace?
What next?
Are we moving forward or rollercoastering backward,
Like walking in the moon,
Waving a flag, with the wind blowing in the opposite direction.
So the wind is actually against the change.
The question tonight ladies and gentlemen is,;
Are we with the wind?
Or are we fools on the top of a hill,?
Knowing we will be blown down into jagged rocks soon…<-X->
And what shall become of us, shall never be known down generations.<\m/>

If forever was today

Maple leaf, it fell in the breeze
Twirling and dancing as someone blew
Gusts of wind, and in each vein was encoded
the blood of my love.
Maple leaf I send to thee
From my hold, this cold dark cell
Damp and musty I crave for light,
I close my eyes and the face was yours.

I count days on the rings of my finger,
Time grows longer than my hand
Till, like the rolling dewdrop,
it falls off and I am lost in oblivion.
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Who's the fairest of them all?
"Your skin is ageing, and hair is less
What stand have you lover to stand
upon thy knees and hold that bleeding
rose, that once was your heart
and now it's black and morose."

Still I send this birthday gift
Wish it were everyday,
I hold the smallest grain of sand
In my hand, and wonder if forever was today.
And ours was a gypsy song,
sang in the desert wind,
lovelocked lips and crossed hips
lyre sings the ballad.

I wish I could send more than but a birthday song,
For it's been so long, so very very long
And the interlude demanded more than just this gift,
But fate had it another way
And if so be it, then let it be
Tomorrow will bring opportunity
For bleeding hearts to come together,
I'll see you another day, tomorrow.

If forever was today

Maple leaf, it fell in the breeze
Twirling and dancing as someone blew
Gusts of wind, and in each vein was encoded
the blood of my love.
Maple leaf I send to thee
From my hold, this cold dark cell
Damp and musty I crave for light,
I close my eyes and the face was yours.

I count days on the rings of my finger,
Time grows longer than my hand
Till, like the rolling dewdrop,
it falls off and I am lost in oblivion.
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Who's the fairest of them all?
"Your skin is ageing, and hair is less
What stand have you lover to stand
upon thy knees and hold that bleeding
rose, that once was your heart
and now it's black and morose."

Still I send this birthday gift
Wish it were everyday,
I hold the smallest grain of sand
In my hand, and wonder if forever was today.
And ours was a gypsy song,
sang in the desert wind,
lovelocked lips and crossed hips
lyre sings the ballad.

I wish I could send more than but a birthday song,
For it's been so long, so very very long
And the interlude demanded more than just this gift,
But fate had it another way
And if so be it, then let it be
Tomorrow will bring opportunityts to come together,
I'll see you another day, tomorrow.

For bleeding hear

Devil woman

Persian slippers and harlem pants
Short black hair, strands on her face
The best things in life come in small packages
Her devilish walk,
Square black heels
Fire on the ground
No girly frills.

Square bloody mouth
In your face
Pick up your shit, bitch
And run away.

No love songs, no postcards for her
They'll burn in her cigarette lighter
Ask her out, she smokes in your face
Fuck off, basket case.

She's so cool, Parvati black
H20 and vodka attack.
Sex on fire, silk lingerie
Money for nothing, your chicks for free.

When she plays the microphone,
Headbanger's ball, Killing tone.
Yet she set the city free
Pornography on child's candy.

She's so fly and when she gets so high
Stony eyes and freedom fries.
Speeding down the highway at 120 miles
Wrong direction, Devil's child.

And everybody knows when she set the church on fire
Burning up passion and desire.
Tonight she's got the fire
Metal guitars and amplifiers
Together we'll rock under the crescent moon
End of days, the nemesis' tune.

Mom

Goodnight Mom, you're so far away
Not here to wish me night
No lullabies, no bedtime stories,
You're not here to ruffle my hair,
And rock me to sleep.

Goodnight mom, I look at the stars above
They put me to sleep
And sing me songs.
You held my hand as I walked
over rock and vale,
As I grew up and when I fell.

You raised me up like a rock in the middle of the sea
Wearing all storms, fighting it out,
You raised me up to more than I could be.

I held your hand through fire and through rain
You told me stories and kept me calm
Till there was sunshine again.
You took care of us in the bad times and the good
You knew exactly what I needed
Exactly what to cook.

Goodnight mom, I hope you are safe
I miss you a lot.
I hope you get a good night's sleep
As the angels fly above
And pour heavenly sands of sleep
Upon your closing eyes.
Goodnight mom, sweet dreams till sunrise.

When I found heaven

You bat your eyelids and you take my breath away,
And you don't even try, And you don't even try.
You're walking by, and my heart jumps to my throat
You don't even see, You don't even see.

I'm talking to you on the phone and a smile breaks through my face
Do you smile, Do you smile too?

I'm wondering if this is love,
Wondering about things I cannot see
If I couldn't tell you, then please forgive me
Take your time,
We'll take it slow,
One at a time,
Tonight.

I walked a mile for you, broke a star for you,
Do you even care? Do you even care?
I came along, I wrote a song for you,
Were you even there? Were you even there?

Darling our love will find a way,
Let's wait for another day
And you're lying in my arms
If only this was true.
We'll sit by the fireside.
count the crackling stars
You will look into my eyes
and I into yours,
Was there anything left to be said?

And together we'll ride this winter wheel,
Horse pulls the carriage
We'll ride away, I'll steal your heart
Our pantheistic marriage.

Did you say something?
For it was laughter that I heard
Is it the bumpy road
Or the diminutive toad?
Did you see the blackbird that flew past?
Through glens and meadows we drove past.

I said unto you, is there anywhere more beautiful?
No, you sighed,
The cold wind seeped in through carriage window,
And raindrops like morning dew adorned
My bride's cheeks, it's rosy hue.
What am escape! A long, winding road
Our marriage turned every brick to flower
As the twilight shone.
Alone I stood on the edge of a cliff we were passing by
And wondered how vast the horizon, how vast this life
And how deep the fall, the pain, the betrayal, the adultery.

And she came by my side and said, Look
How vast the horizon, like the vastness of our love
And how deep we fall,
Hand in hand it is nothing at all.
I looked into her brown eyes,
Pages can be written about them,
I got lost in deja vu
Of when I found heaven.

Sleeping city

Tears roll down my cheeks
As I look out my window
Drops of rain on the glass there was
Like glittering pearls of snow.
Sleeping city,
Bright lights,
Long snakelike streets
Wet like the corner of my eyes.

I remember your doe like eyes
Your skin was made of bronze,
That disarming smile you smile
Makes me melt like snow.
I remember when I held your hand
And showed you through the land
Walking down on empty streets
As the gaslights shone.

Sleeping city,
Birds of the night.
This broken heart,
This telephone line.

Maybe it was my imagination
But you looked your best in white
If everyday was that winter day
Then everyday you were my bride.

Sleeping city,
This midnight.
Your thousand lies,
Love's slow demise,
All the places we'd been,
All the words we spoke,
Immortalised.

Tonight I'll be yours

Stones are strewn on this cobbled street like coffee beans,
The streets are wet
The moon hangs like the unhooked brassiere of a massacred woman
I look at the fast forming figure of that minivan
It's twirling lights like a spidery maze forms in the mist of the night,
The streets are wet
The puddles of mud reflect - light;
Tread upon and splash
I smile my wry little smile.
The night is a lover's night,
Trust me, the moon was witness
To my unclean thoughts.

Screech and splash,
The van stops
I smile and get in,
Money exchanges hands.

He starts
His hands all over my body
Hungry like a lustful python
His kisses envelope my body
He bites and nibbles - my ears
My neck
And my skin stands on an end.
I love him back,
He ties me up
All the while looking at me
With those thirsty eyes
A thirst that a thousand years of chronicles of love
Cannot explain.
I ease myself
As he enters.
I close my eyes,
"Tonight I'm yours"
The violet clouds in the sky moves heated
In the passion of our love.

I see metal,
And a long sharp edge of a knife slits my throat
I try to scream
But my voice has been taken away
He progresses in his business
Brutally ripping me apart
With his manliness
All the while making love to me,
The moon smiles, and the love clouds envelope it
What is the bigger irony?

The last breath escapes my lips,
He has won.

It was never meant to be

I sit by my window
The soft caress of the darkness surrounds me
Like the aanchal of her sari
A memoir of yesterday.
And midnight’s voices urge me to remember
All the laughter and all the mirth
All the beauty that unfolds in her laughter.
I sit alone in my dreary solitude
As death whispers its sullen lullaby.

With the first drop of the poison in my throat
I remember the first time our eyes met
How I rushed to take my eyes off of hers
The waves it sent through my heart,
With the second
How I sealed my love with a proclamation
That undying my love shall be
Today, tomorrow and thereafter.
And with the third
Golden slumber tried to pull me
But heaven’s doors were still far to reach
I remembered the first time I touched her lovingly
Of how she reminded me rather childishly
That I should not touch her in passion
Lest it should destroy natural balance.

I pour the contents of a now empty bottle
Down my throat
And like whirlwind time flew, from our first day
Till now
Our ups and downs, highs and lows
Love and hatred, fire and ice
Like seething iron in my heart a hole formed
Of love that escaped from my grasp
For a stupid mistake.

I close my eyes
“You shall never know how much I loved you”
And there I lay
When morning came like hay
My body in golden slumber
My face in sun’s ray.
I died, and took my heart with me.
Love eternal, it was never meant to be.

Prison continued...

“Wake up!”
Violet lay in darkness, as the newborn rays of the sun struggled to crawl into her room, they were reddish orange now, hardly enough to wake her up.
“Wake up, Violet”, she lay comfortably.
Rose took it upon her to shake her sister into awakendom.
“What is it?”, an irritated Violet.
“Nothing, you in a mood for a morning walk down by the bridge?”
“Yeah”, she murmured, “ give me a moment”.
She changed into morning clothes.
She tied her hair into a ponytail, and together they walked out in their sneakers.
The wind was on their face, last night’s storm had left in it’s wake several small puddles here and there.
They walked past familiar houses, some of them had flowers in the window. The shops had their shutters closed, they wouldn’t be doing business so early in the morning. There were a few people on the road, and no cars. The air was fresh, and it filled Violet’s lung. You see, Violet is generally considered as a beautiful woman, a redhead with long hair till her waist, not too thin around the corners but well built, with a tapering waist. Boys in the town had her on the talk. It’s girls like Violet who with their charm and natural ease start many gossips among social circles. Violet was generally unaffected by this kind of talk, she stuck to her friends who were nice to her. Rose too was a beauty but being four years younger to her in age, she hadn’t really seen society as such much less experienced the tender touch of a man.

Their parents were well off, and the family was a loving one, there was no need for anything other than what they had. But Violet had a secret.

Violet studied at the university, she was a research scholar, and was currently working with a senior researcher on some government funded research; some research she was not at liberty to discuss. It’s not that the town folks would exactly comprehend the scope of her work, but the curiosity remained.

Quite recently one of their fellow researchers had disappeared, and there was a police investigation on that matter. The police had come to their place to question a teary eyed Violet, but they could not get much out of her. They had their lemonades, thanked the family and left.

This man, David, was an eyecatcher, the girls at the university used to swoon about him, and he was not completely unnoticed by Violet, but no romantic entanglements sprung between them, they were casual friends, their conversation was limited to the usual “Hello, goodbye” out of research discussions. David was a senior and second in charge after Professor Gupta. He used to be seen frequenting the bars and pubs of the town after hours, usually with female company.

Otherwise there was nothing quite noticeable about their research group. They were all normal, ordinary human beings who liked to immerse themselves in their work.

They walked past the fountain, away from the town a bit towards the woods to reach the bridge. Upon reaching there, they stopped for a breath.

“It’s lovely isn’t it?”, said Rose, “How I love the rains”
“Oh, me too. It’s just the weather. It’s fantastic. You want to walk a bit into the woods?”
“Yeah, sure”
They walked into the woods, there was a dusty road for horses, they followed the horse track. After venturing for a while, they came to a clearing. Violet sat down, followed by Rose, Violet lit a cigarette.
There were eyes watching them from behind bushes.
Violet pulled a long drag on her cigarette, kept it inside her lungs and let it out in a funnel into the air.

Something jumped at them.
Violet’s eyes were dark.
She could hear Rose screaming.
“No!”, she screamed, and fought tooth and nail with her assailant. But quickly she lost consciousness as a crunching blow fell on her jugular vein.

Prison.

"You know the time lords?"
"No", said a second voice.
"They're everywhere!"
Hungry hands clawed at them through the leeky iron grilles of the prison. Vikram stood up, the faint moonlight shone on his face revealing a rather grungy face.
"Don't! You might provoke them even further"
"I'm trying to drive them away"
Chang was sitting close to the moss covered wall. There are no conversations in prison, even this one is rare.

The half dead army with their broken faces and cracked skulls looked for a gap between the iron rods, their hollow eyes spelt death.

Vikram took the broken leg off his bed and started mercilessly whacking the searching hands. Barely did it seem to affect the dead.

Suddenly the dead were engulfed in flames. Screaming and screeching like bats they started wriggling on the floor of the prison hall. It was the dean with his hellhound.
The hound was twice the size of Vikram, and almost the size of the dean. The dean was monstrous, like a hill, with his red volcanic skin, his upturned horns and his jackal like ears.

“You boys doing alright?”, he said with a smirk, casually flung cynicism. Suddenly something else seemed to attract his attention.
“Grr”, he said as he looked forward, and he made his way, with his dog; dragging the huge chain around his neck, which was the size of a ship’s anchorline and was flaming hot.
“You bastards better shut it before I come”, he roared as he made his way.
They could hear him whipping his lash.
“You don’t mess with anyone in Agaath, even less with me. No food tomorrow”, he said with a laugh, whipping with one hand. Several dark creatures flew in towards Agaath, the moon gave their silhouette a whispery velvet.

They made their way through the drawbridge, their smoky outlines twisted and twirled in the darkness. They bore no guns, they don’t need guns.
A human guard blocked their path, “Where to?”, he said
“Fourth level”, one of them roared through his hood, his face melting like wax, the low monstrous growl frightened the guard. He pressed a button and the elevator trap collapsed at their feet, their edges as sharp as swords. Nothing was forcing them open.

The elevator stopped at the fourth level, they got out, leaving behind a black mist in their wake. They gathered around the keeper’s desk. They exchanged some words. Their black boots noisily splattered the water in the halls. They stopped infront of Vikram’s cell. Vikram watched as the keeper opened the prison lock, one of the black visions forced the door open.
“Screeeech”, the door cried before opening.
“Who are you guys?”, Chang cried out! They stomped into the cell. One of them took Vikram by the collar.
“Hey!”
“You’re coming with us”, one of them took off his cloak, his face and voice was humanlike.
“I guess I’ll be seeing you Chang”
“So is this a good time to say take care?”, said Chang.
Vikram smiled.
“So where are you guys taking me?”
No answer.
The clockwork men encaged Vikram by the arm on both sides and walked through the hallway, down the elevator and straight out the front into the open where they suddenly flew into the night. Vikram felt his stomach jump into his nose, and his heart was racing, his armpits felt empty.
“This night is going to be long”, thought Vikram as he felt the cold, hard wind whipping his face.

Madness, Aunt Muriel, It's Madness...

Thankfully Aunt Muriel is dead since 1920, she sank with the Titanic you see. Not that there was much to sink anyways, she was dry like a bloody raisin anyway. Not bloody Mary please. She can very well be bloody and stay within her own goddamn realm. Pity they didn't discover sanitary napkins back in the 20's.

So why did the Titanic sink? Was it because Jack was rubbing Rose's lamp in the wrong way? Or because the chef let the crabs out in the pots? Probably it was the humongous hype that was created about it, you know like people with huge names, they can't crawl when they are young, weighed down by the weight of their names. Like A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, if you have noticed he has a permanent hunch to his shoulders, God praise him.

Okay so this madness began one fine evening when I was sitting in my verandah with my evening tea (it's evening). So I am reading my newspaper, with my legs crossed like it's noone's goddamned business, and there goes the doorbell(incidentally this vaguely reminds me of a popular bengali song), I walk up to the door and open it and let the maid in. So the maid comes in, with extra loud, extra cheery, super cheesy Bollywood music playing in the background, she dances does a two step and comes in. "Do Boond mujhe bhi pila de sharabi". The maid falls to the ground, I stagger. "In hi logone", she waves an accusatory finger at me. I run to my window, a sexy female shows up in the neighbour's window, "meri saamne waali khirki mai"...

In the meanwhile, maid of honour has gathered some odd bottles from the bloody kitchen and has got her feet all bloody and murky after goring her feet by dancing on broken shards of glass, bottle meets ground, king kong vs. godzilla...

To be continued(Oh pleej!)

Love

If you consider life as a single ray of light engulfing the world, then this moment is but where it meets the planet surface. Most people don't complete the entire 365 degrees of life, the chakra of it. And some claim to have done so, even when alive.

Life is a strange game of sun and shine, rain and tempest. It hurts so bad and soothes so soon, you might never even realize what hit you. What exactly hit you is a matter of perspective, but the eternal screw is always down your throat, and there is always a knife stabbing at the heart. A love that can never happen, and a love that never happened, and a love that happened but never lasted. So the question is, where is this mystic 'eternal screw'. And what about perfection in love?

The thing is how do you approach love that is unapproachable, unfeasible due to history, time and circumstances, and yet you can visualise her in chlorophylless falling china rose leaves. The black dahliah of throbbing pulsations in the heart.
How is it, if you and her sat on a grassy, leafy rolling leaves and talking about anything under the sun except for the question that lies between the two. Do we, or don't we? Perenially evading the same roulette of the game, when destinies of both courses collide and James Bond wins big in roulette. So she may be the games that autumn plays, an illusion to the mind. Here and there, like the mayabi yakshi that listens to your thoughts and prayers for all of the day, or she could be that leaf that fell yesterday, floating around in your consciousness till you picked it up and leafleted it in one of your books, your choice really. In both ways the dream is real. You can see her everywhere in every street corner she hadn't even heard names of, in a different city and in a different country. Beyond enemy lines, when all you have of her is an address and a small photograph of when she was 4 years younger and had applied to college. So soldier marches on alone, with 5 cartridges and more, with a hope to live and come back to whoever or whatever fate is waiting for him. He hopes the devil in Ms. Jones didn't come to scathe the love that they once felt on the greens in Nowhere county in nowhere land.

So fall lingers, and an imaginary hand reaches out to this mystic lover, who often disappears in the vines that creep around her , and her face hidden by her long auburgne hair, that blow in the wind. Her hands rise, he feels heavy in his stomach and sits down to rest. Gun beside him, hand in hand, he thinks of her as the sun dances around from horizon to horizon. And after defeating the horizon, darkness engulfs her bodily shadow as it does his surroundings.

A love left, and a love never spoken of is no greater misfortune than a million dollars never made.

Love.

Goodbye

He looked around, there were a lot of them. He could see their faint, blurred faces looking at him intently. Old friends, new friends and family. They had all come to be with him in his last moments.

He felt sick of all those people looking at him as if he would perform a last minute miracle and suddenly come alive again.

These faces were the faces of people he had loved in his lifetime. He felt like a lab specimen. When death becomes a spectacle.

He tried to die, but he couldn't. He was hopelessly stuck in the space between life and death.

He tried to speak, there were a thousand things in his mind, but he didn't know which one to say. So he kept quiet.

He thought of all the things he hadn't done in his life, and he felt frustration.

He was going to miss his parents, and his ex-girlfriend who was with someone else.

So much was left to be done.

No college anymore, no petty politics, no complexities. He was being liberated.

He felt love rising in his heart.

His mother was crying at his side, he held her hand. Suddenly everyone started to cry.

He closed his eyes, and he was gone.

Risika the Slayer

There was a full moon in the sky and it would often be veiled by small strips of dark clouds. The winds were moaning in the forest, the rustle of leaves could be heard as the winds blew through the branches of the trees. The giant trees that bordered the forest looked ominous. Strange noises could be heard coming from within the depths of the labyrinthian woods.

The castle stood just outside the forest, a long winding path through the forest led to it. Three horses stood in the courtyard just inside the gates of the castle, the riders were two men and a woman, they wore hooded cloaks. The woman took off her hood to reveal her beautiful face and her long hair that ran back into the cloak. She tied her hair, and put the hood back on again. It was the vampire stronghold of Adon.

She gestured to her companions, and they rode out into the night through the castle gate. They rode into the forest. The woman was leading the group, her name was Risika. They rode like shadows, swiftly avoiding trees and rocks till they reached a ravine. They got down and tied their horses to tree trunks. Noiselessly they took off their cloaks and revealed their light armour. The moonlight bathed them and their armours shone in the darkness. Risika spread her arms out like an eagle and looked upwards at the sky, the two others knelt down at her feet. Her eyes started glowing red and her canines started extending till they were clearly visible, her beautiful face started getting contorted and her skin turned into a dead brown, two horns grew from the sides of her head and suddenly with a whiplash two wings sprouted out of her armour on the back. Lady Risika was now Risika the slayer. “Get up”, her voice had deepened and become throaty. The two vampires got up, their eyes were glowing red too and their faces had taken a beastly appearance, but they had no wings like Risika. Risika took her sword out of the scabbard and the men did the same, they raised their swords to the sky and Risika let out a screech that tore through the night sky.

Nearby, in the Lichen settlement, the screech was heard. There was panic at the camp, the women and children hurried into an underground cellar, while the men put out the fires and turned into fierce howling wolves. A pack of them started running towards the source of the sound while the others staid back defending the base.

“They’re coming”, one of the vampires said.
“See you on the other side”, said Risika and flapped her wings and flew into the night like a huge bird.

The wolves had reached the other bank of the ravine, they saw Risika fly into the sky and the two other vampires on the other side with their swords unsheathed.
“For Adon!”, they shouted and leaped towards the wolves.
The wolves leaped at the same time, and the met mid air over the ravine. The first wolf to leap was beheaded just seconds before the two vampires thrust their swords through the hearts of two others. They were standing in the middle of the ravine and the wolves had surrounded them, their backs faced each other as they looked cautiously at each glowing phosphorescent lupine eye staring at them. The wolves were circling them now. One wolf leapt at them and bit one of them on the shoulder and was hanging from there. Taking advantage of the situation four others leapt towards the two. The man who was bitten, with an extraordinary show of strength pulled the wolf from his shoulder and threw it away. He ducked, and simultaneously the other vampire rotated in a deadly circle around the spot he was standing in cutting the wolves who had leapt at them in half. There were only two left. They howled nervously looking at the two vampires and leapt at them, two swords went through their hearts.

The lifeless bodies of the wolves lay on the river bed, a small patch in the water had turned red, it was swirling with the current. Not wasting a moment the two vampires ran into the forest. Although the fires were put out at the camp, the vampires didn’t have any difficulty spotting the Lichen camp. Probably because Risika was already there, screeching and killing wolves. She was outnumbered, thirty to one. Occasionally she would grab a wolf and fly into the sky, there she would suck it dry of its blood and let it fall. The wolves would leap at her but she was too high for them. The vampires ran into the circle that the wolves had formed, thrusting and slicing with their swords. Soon all the wolves lay dead at their feet.

Risika landed on her feet.
“Well done *insert names here*”, she was smiling revealing her long fangs which were bloody now, the bloodlust in her eyes had now turned into a content crackling fire.

A baby wailed in his mother’s arms.
“Wait”, the expression on Risika’s face changed to tense concentration and anger was building up inside her again.
“Find them”, she said.

They looked for openings in the ground, and finally found the camouflaged entrance to the cellar.

“Let them burn. Let the blood of Romolus boil in the fire of our rage”

They lit torches that were lying around and put anything combustible they could find on fire and threw them inside.

Soon shrieks were heard.

They waited till the last one stopped and sheathed their swords.

The loss of faith

It was a beautiful winter morning in Calcutta. The sun’s golden rays caught the trees and the white buildings and they glowed like the newly wed bride. A couple was walking on the sidewalk holding each other’s hand. The cool breeze wasn’t so much as a sting on the skin, but a gentle, pleasant wind.

They were not looking at each other as they walked. Their relationship had outgrown the joy that physical beauty holds; instead it was as if their souls were entwined at their hands. The grip was neither too firm nor too loose, they had gotten over that phase in which they feared losing each other to someone else. They didn’t need to talk, because everything had been said between them, now they cherished the silence.

“Will you love me still, if I cheated on you and then came back?”, she asked.
“I don’t know. I have never thought about that”, he said.
“What if I did? Think about it now”, her voice was playful now to show that there was nothing behind these words.
“I’ll hate you forever”, she never forgot those words.

They had stopped for a moment on the sidewalk while they were talking. They started walking again. They passed some small empty parks which held memories for them, some tall intimidating looking office buildings, some restaurants. At every crossing they would swiftly cross the street looking at both sides, avoiding maniacal taxis and buses and his grip on her hand would suddenly become stronger, she felt safe.

They walked inside a shopping mall, which if not for the weather would otherwise be air conditioned to 23 degrees. They were still holding each other’s hand. People watched them, maybe enviously for they could not remember the last time someone held their hand in public. Both of them were good looking so they attracted some jealous stares. The boy felt insecure at all the eyes checking her out so minutely, and the girl felt pleasure that she was with someone who everyone wanted to be with.

They went inside a shop that sold men’s clothes. While he stood checking out shirts in one corner of the shop, she would go all around looking for clothes that might suit him. She loved dressing him up. That’s why most of her gifts to him were clothes.

They went out of the store and climbed the escalator up to the fourth floor, that’s where the food court was. They always went crazy over food when they were together, both of them liked to guess what the other person would like and ended up ordering things which they could not finish. Ultimately it was always a few scraps from the plate and two glasses of cola that would fill them up.

They ordered their food and had sat down at a table, looking at everything else except for each other’s faces. Suddenly she became very nervous and he noticed it, she was looking at someone. He turned around to see who it was. It was some guy sitting right behind them and smiling at her. He didn’t like the way the guy was smiling at her, she smiled a nervous smile back. The guy didn’t bother to come up and greet her, he just sat there and smiled. He was with friends.
“Who’s that?”, he asked.
“Oh, someone I met a few days back at Tara’s birthday. We spoke for sometime, his name’s Nikhil”, she dismissed the matter.
He went back to his food, convinced. But something was itching inside him, maybe she was not telling him the entire truth.
“I’ll be right back”, he said
“Where?”, she asked
“Nature calls.”

He walked swiftly into the washroom and set about his business. He heard the lavatory door open behind him, he didn’t look back. Two guys were talking with each other.
“Did you see the chick I was looking at?”, one said
“Yeah the one sitting with a guy”
“Met her at a party last week. Man what a girl!”
“Yeah, she’s nice”
“No I mean, what a slut! Took me five minutes to convince her into doing the grind with me, and she wasn’t even drunk. And today she’s with some other guy, looks like it’s his lucky day”
“Haha. No, seriously? Gimme her number man!”
“Why don’t you go ask her now? The guy’s gone somewhere. If you make it fast”

They washed their faces and went out.

He buttoned up, he had listened to the entire conversation. Tears were threatening his eye glands, but he somehow held them back.

He walked slowly out of the lavatory, and made sure noone was watching him. He saw the two of them talking to her, she was smiling more spontaneously now, since he wasn’t there. He could see the other guy taking her number on his cellphone, and then they went back to their table.

He slowly walked back to his table and sat down.
“How does it feel to be a cuckold?”, he thought.
She smiled at him, and said “Where were you for so long, I was missing you”

The ninth immortal

Vishnu couldn't believe what he was hearing and seeing. He was sitting with men who are deathless, and he was being told he was deathless too. If this wasn't the strangest night of his life he didn't know what was.

"I know this is a bit disconcerting, Vishnu. If this takes a little time to sink in, let it. I don't want to force anything on you", Barker said
"No, please go on", Vishnu said, he wasn't feeling well.
"Do you know what Devdatta saw on your thigh?"
"I don't know"
"Tell me Vishnu, have you never seen it?"
"What?"
"The scar"
Vishnu remembered suddenly that he indeed had a scar on his right thigh, it was a birthhmark.
"Yes, but what about it? Why is it so important?"
"Before I answer that question I must tell you what we are"
The silence in the room seemed stifling.
"We are vampires. Descendants of the house of the Noble Zaroud", he waited for some sort of reaction from Vishnu but there was none.
"Thousands of years ago, the vampires were united, and our clan was ruled by four elders, the wise Zaroud, Amarande the warrior, Corbin the princess, and Risika the slayer. The vampires were the most powerful force on Earth then. Not even the Gods could stand up to us. We enslaved almost every powerful force on earth, the werewolves, some human tribes and some other carnivores, they used to build our castles and strengthen our armies. The world then, was controlled by powerful leaders, mostly human. But we were the only immortal race, and hence the most powerful. But we were too few in number, compared to the human forces we were fighting. They had the power of magic and science, and we had only our strength. Then one day, a great magician named Araknot devised a way to kill vampires. Our foremost strength, our immortality was gone. Till then it seemed like the world was ours for the taking, and suddenly our power was being taken from us. The lichens, the werewolves that is broke free and declared war against us. They united under their leader Romolus who was previously a slave. Their soul purpose was to terrorise the vampires. They would hide near our castles and kill those who passed their way. Soon we had to send enforcements with every caravan or carriage. Risika, the elder vowed vengeance, and she and her small troop would venture into lichen strongholds and kill their armies, and their women and children, she spared noone. The hatred between vampires and lichens grew even deeper", Barker paused to rest
"The humans on the other hand were growing stronger. Eight human kings had voluntarily sacrificed their lives, and the magic of Araknot had turned them into the undead. They were led by Lucius who ruled over the Kingdom of the North, and controlled winds that blew from the north, the others ruled the seven other directions and the winds that prevailed there. One day under the leadership of Lucius they united and rode on seven dead horses to the world's end to seek the help of Bahram, the God of Creation. Upon hearing that Zaroud, Amarande, Corbin and Risika too started a journey to the world's end to seek the favour of the great Bahram before the undead Kings reached", he paused again.
"Meanwhile Araknot raised the Demons of the North, West, East and South and under those demons he began forming huge armies, massive sentinels of destruction. War still had not been waged with the humans, but one couldn't be avoided for too long. But however, to our advantage several human tribes driven by their lust for immortality agreed to join forces with us, they were turned to vampires, like us, and their bloodthirsty armies became our own. For the first time the vampires were divided. Four clans, each ruled by one elder and the army of that clan controlled by a human king. Even though they had been turned into vampires, we never considered them as one, the distinction between pureblood and halfblood remained. We lived in castles and were protected by them. They were the warriors and we were the Nobles. The vampire-lichen war still continued and Romolus grew powerful each day, and their numbers multiplied rapidly. However something miraculous happened, and like us vampires the lichens soon got divided too, and their other faction was willing to cooperate with us, in exchange for power. And they were given power. All this time, in the absence of the elders a confederate was formed, and they took the decisions. Although humans and lichens had joined the Vampires, we still continued to rule over our clan and our armies and there were no human or lichen in the confederate. It was a peaceful arrangement, they never wanted our power. Meanwhile, due to the division Romolus' army grew weak, and they gave up their fronts and went into hiding, forming secret brotherhoods which still exist. The world was now divided into two main forces, the humans and the vampires. The erstwhile peace between us seemed threatening, war was like a dormant volcano waiting to erupt", Barker's face was lit with passion, and Vishnu was mesmerised by the story.
"So what happened next?", Vishnu asked
"The elders and the undead reached Bahram almost at the same time. Bahram was floating on the lake of eternity, meditating. They waited on opposite sides of the lake waiting for him to wake up. They waited for weeks and suddenly Bahram, who was floating through the universe creating planets realised that he had company. He woke up and looked at the vampires first and then he looked at the humans. He instantly realised what they wanted. He told them, "I know what you have come for. Though I do not support war I shall give you both a gift each. And to prevent the war that may happen I shall curse you both", he looked at the vampires and said, "The four of you shall be truly immortal, no force can ever kill you, and you will be joined by five other immortals of your race who haven't been born yet. They shall each be marked by a number on their thigh and will be born into humans, your job is to find them, they shall renew the glory of vampires. However, this is your curse, the four of you will return to your kingdom and tell your brethren of these five other immortals, while they search for them, you shall be turned to stone, and you will only be awakened when the ninth one is found." He turned towards the humans and said "You too shall be immortal, and you will be joined by a ninth immortal who shall be the most powerful of all of you. He shall rule over the humans for one thousand years after he is born. He will be a king, the king of all kings, though he shall not be born into royalty, he will be marked by the mark of the King on his forehead. He need not be found, when it is time, he shall reveal himself to you. And as your curse, the eight of you cannot go back from here until he is born. You will stay here till you are summoned by him, and then you will go join him under his rule." Saying that Bahram went into meditation again, and the vampires rode out of the valley, and as they rode out, the ground started shaking and huge mountains arose and surrounded the lake of eternity. The elders rode back to their castle, and in the court they sat down on their thrones and turned to stone. Bahram's prophecy spread among vampires, humans and lichens alike. New human Kings arose to take the place of Lucius and his fellows, the vampire confederacy was formed, the great war was avoided. The vampires waited for the last five immortals. The confederacy took an oath to remain hidden from the humans to avoid a war, peace was forged with the humans and they agreed to leave us alone. The lichens were too weak to take advantage of the situation, so a complete human rule was established on the world. The vampires started mingling with the humans and living human lives. Our existence was soon forgotten. Araknot disbanded his army, and the demons were returned to their realm. Peace was finally realised", he smiled
"However, to this day our numbers have infiltrated human governments and all other sources of power like the army, we still have control over the world. We signed peace, we didn't lose the war", he smiled
"And the confederacy still exists. Infact since our numbers are spread throughout the world, and the fact that we are still united under the confederacy, we are still the most powerful, although operating behind the scene. Although this peace may not continue for long, after the ninth human immortal is born and the eight kings are summoned, we may after all be fighting the great war that was avoided then"
"But how will they manage to unite the humans again?", Vishnu asked
"That is a question that time will answer. Because, I myself do not know. I personally don't believe that the humans can ever rise as a united force again"
"So that leaves us with the lichens", Vishnu said
"Them and Araknot, legend has it that he still survives"
"So I am the ninth immortal?", Vishnu asked, remembering the scar on his thigh
"Yes, the last one", Barker smiled
"So we can...",
"Celebrate", Barker laughed, he was joined by the others in the room.