Tag: TheFriendAtNight

After searching for the boy, Cleaver and Cimeter reach their headquarters. Deba also reached right before them. Cleaver enters the boss’ room first to have a talk with him. “Kiridashi! You messed up big time.” said Cleaver. “Hahaha… I know! But does it matter?” replied Kiridashi. “Now call the others as well, I have some news.” continued Kiridashi. “Fine!” saying this Cleaver calls others to Kiridashi’s room. Deba and Cimeter enter his office with a sigh. “Everyone, forget about the boy. Focus on the girl. We have to set the deal in two days. Deba you are in charge of the girl, take care of her. Cleaver and Cimeter, don’t think about the boy, leave him be after all what can he do anyway. Well moving on, we have another mission already. This next deal will bring us even more fortune. Our target is a nineteen year old girl. She lives in the same town as this one. So be more careful this time.” said Kiridashi. “Look who’s talking! You should be more careful!” scolded Cleaver. “Ok. Ok.” replied Kiridashi. “All dismissed!” Kiridashi continued. Deba and Cimeter left the room. Cleaver stayed back to talk to Kiridashi. “You know this girl?”Cleaver asked. “What girl?” “The new deal…” “Oh, her! She is ‘his’ sister.” “You seem you like that family too much, huh!” “Not like, I love that family.” “Hmm, if I were you, I would have stayed away from that family. They reek of bad luck.” “Bad luck or not, she fits the deal, so I chose her. There’s nothing more to it.” “Oh, I see. This time, be more careful!” After advising Kiridashi, Cleaver left his office and found his way towards a dark and a cold room. The mere sight of the room can give anyone the chills. Taking slow and heavy steps, Cleaver approached the door. The door had a small window through which the light of the hallway could pass through. Through that window, Cleaver said, “Your family is really unfortunate, Ghol. Our next deal is your sister. Sorry for your loss. I hope at least you can be free sometime soon. Look at you Ghol, you’ve become weak. If this goes on, you never know when you will breathe your last… I cannot do anything other than showing sympathy. I’m sorry, Ghol.” Saying this Cleaver left from the corridor and went out to meet with Deba and Cimeter.

“He’s awfully late for a small talk.” Sighed Deba. “Well, you know him. Anyway while waiting, let’s go check up on the girl?” asked Cimeter. “Huh, if I want to check up I’ll do it alone. No need for your help.” “Talk about giving hand to a lady.” “Well, this lady doesn’t need your help.” “How’s she doing?” a loud noise from the end of the corridor echoed. “Oh! Finally, you’re here.” Sighed Deba. “Sorry for being late. Anyway, it was just a small talk. So about the girl, did you guys checked up on her?” Asked Cleaver. “Well, this lady doesn’t want us to accompany her.” Said Cimeter. “Huh, I was telling that I won’t check with you but I never said about Cleaver. Let’s go Cleaver, let’s check up on her.” Replied Deba. “What! That’s… it’s… huh!” cried Cimeter. “Let’s go without delay then.” Hurried Cleaver.

Deba and Cleaver started walking towards the room where Irene was held. “She seemed fragile.” Deba said with a concerned voice. “Fragile or not, we have to take care of her till the deal.” “Talk about having no heart.” “All women are the same, being ruled by their heart. Deba, if you want to work here you should forget about feelings.” “Hahahahaha! Me and feelings? That is the funniest thing I have heard. Let’s not forget who was the one who did not kill some person because of their feelings.” “Ha-ha. Let’s all laugh at the fact I did not complete a mission. But still, you have a soft corner for the girl, isn’t that right?” “Oh, Cleaver… maybe I do have a soft corner for her. She reminded me of my past.” “Sorry for reminding you.” “It’s alright. I am happy to have met you, Cleaver.” “I see.” Said Cleaver with a grin on his face. They reached near the door of the room. Irene was sleeping very calmly on her bed. “She looks like an angel.” Said Deba. “Angel or not, she will leave us soon. Get her ready for it.” “Ok, Cleaver.” Cleaver left Deba with Irene and went out of the headquarters.

To be continued…

Arden and Ghol finished with the packing. All that was left was to go to the warehouse and then start buying utilities. “So, how do we get there?” asked Arden. “Take a cab. It’s far enough or if you want to save money, you can walk. But I am telling you it will be tiring as hell.” said Ghol. “Then I will walk. We can talk while walking. We could know more about each other.” said Arden. “Fine by me. So what do you what to know?” asked Ghol. “Complete your answer! Why did you disappear during the day?” asked Arden. “Well, I am a creature of the night. I can’t sustain in the day. I am literally just a voice from darkness and nothing more.” replied Ghol. “Ok. Fair enough. Well I hope they are not following me.” said Arden. “No, they are not. I am making sure you are safe, every moment. Now, if you ask me how I am doing it then I would say it is because of magic, I guess.” said Ghol. “So what made you help me?” asked Arden. “Let’s just say I consider you my friend and I was worried about you. I have been on them for a very long time. This is the first time I am successful in knowing at least their code names.” said Ghol. “So, they have been doing this for a while?” asked Arden. “Yes! You are not the first person to be the victim of their deeds. Their boss is an evil man. He kidnaps little girls and sells them in the black market as slaves. They are a big organization and the boss is just one of the lords of that organization. They make a lot of money through these illegal trades.” said Ghol. “Oh, I see. I wonder how my sister got targeted. Anyway, we have to save my sister. This walking is starting to feel tiring.” said Arden. “I guess so. Maybe let’s take a break here near that rock.” said Ghol hinting towards a rock by the side of the road, which can suitably be sat upon. After resting for a bit, Arden gets up and starts walking. While walking he takes cash from the nearby ATM and then resumes walking. After walking for a long time, he finds a nice place with grass grown on the ground. “Here I can sleep.” thought Arden and laid down his backpack and slept. “I will look out.” said Ghol.

A night passes. The street dogs barking at the vendors passing by in the morning wakes Arden up. “Is it morning already?” thought Arden and he woke up to see a beautiful dawn. He resumes his walk and he was nearing the place which Ghol told about. Finally, he reached that place and placed his backpack inside the warehouse. “The warehouse looks pretty habitable, I wonder whether anyone visit here.” thought Arden to himself. He prepares the mask and goes out to buy the utilities. He comes back before noon and starts eating the instant cup noodles that he bought. It didn’t taste near as much as his mother’s cooking but that was enough to sustain his life. Thinking about his mother, tears rolled down the cheeks of his. He was sad but he started to plan for his mission. He tried practicing martial arts but not to perfection but still capable of hitting an average person down. After a while, he sleeps for two hours straight. The warehouse had a pretty decent washroom, with a decent amount of running water. After waking up, he freshened up in the washroom. “I wonder if anyone will find him out.” thought Arden. Planning ahead, the time ticked 7 o’ clock. It was night time and Ghol would come any minute now. “I see you improved in your kick.” said Ghol. “Oh! How assuring. For one second I was scared to death. Next time don’t sneak up on me!” said Arden. “Fine, fine, so do you want me to train you?” asked Ghol. “Yes, if you can!” said Arden. “Of course I can. Let’s start with your stance. Keep a firm stance while attacking or defending. Build up your stance and you are halfway to victory.” Saying this Ghol teaches Arden many more techniques to improve his fighting. This continues till twelve o’ clock in the night.

To be continued…

The night was cold. It had a dire sound of sadness with the dark weather. The window now became the doors to a place where there was nothing but melancholy. Not even a tiny ray of hope could be found in his room. The outside weather behaved as if it was mirroring Arden’s melancholy. Arden’s room was so silent that the tick-tock of the clock was sounding like the drums of a battle cry. His sadness seeped through his room, his mother and his sister could feel it. “What should I do, Mom?” asked his sister Irene. “In times like this, silence is the best answer, my dear.” replied his mom. Maybe silence is truly what we can offer to someone going through the bad times. After all what words could she award that would make her son a little less sad? Only time can heal wounds like these. Or maybe time just helps you adjust with the fact. The clock struck twelve, the time came that changed him.

The eerie cold breeze was becoming strong. It became strong enough to make Arden shiver. Shivering, wanting to feel warm, he got up from the bed to close the window. The lights of his room were out so he could see the outside world quite clearly. It seemed as if something or rather someone was calling out to him. Someone wanted to grab his attention towards something. He went towards the window to close it only see a little girl being kidnapped by a tall figure. The figure probably is of a man as you could see his broad shoulders under the thick coat. Arden was startled to see the crime happening but his distress had overtaken him. He didn’t even feel to urge to save that girl. He just stood there and watched the crime being unfold.

“Are you not going after him?” asked a voice in the darkness. “No! It’s not like it is my sister. So, I don’t care.” said Arden. “What if she is your sister?” asked the voice again. “That’s not possible, my sister is safe in this house. No one can come in without my knowledge. It’s impossible. Anyway my mother is there with her. They are safe.” said Arden. He was not even moved by this mysterious voice. His sorrow sent him to a place where he could not feel anything but sadness. He didn’t even bother to look for the voice. But the voice continued, “Why don’t you take look on your family? Anyway what harm can it give you?” suggested the voice. “I’ll look tomorrow.” said Arden in a depressing tone. “And what about the girl? Don’t you want to save her?” asked voice with a sense of concern. “I’m probably dreaming nothing of that sort can happen in this neighbourhood.” said Arden as if reassuring himself. “Well then, what are you going to do now?” asked the voice. “I’m… going to close this window and sleep.” Saying this Arden closes his window and heads for the bed. He trips over the leg of the table in the pitch black darkness and hurts his hand only to find it bleeding. In the quest for first aid kit, he head out of his room to be welcomed by nothing but destruction. The cupboards were broken and over the ground. Papers were all over the place. It looked like a burglary took place in there. Everything was broken. He called for his mom and his sister. His call was met with silence. He became worried and went to check each room and in the kitchen he found something that broke his already broken mind even more. He found his mother dead… with blood all over the place… and his sister missing. It was now that he realised that he didn’t see a dream and that someone was actually kidnapping his sister. He realised his stupidity and cried out loud. But no one was there to hear him but the voice from the darkness. “Don’t worry, Arden! We will find your sister and bring justice to your mother.” “Who are you?”asked Arden. “Don’t worry about me. You cannot see me but you can hear me. I am your friend. That is all you need to remember, Arden.” said the voice from the darkness in a calm yet powerful voice.

To be continued…

Five years have passed since that day. Arden is now 19 years old, his sister is turning twelve today. He thought of having a surprise party for her and he started the preparations five days ago. Everything would go according to his plan. His mother would come home at around 7 in the evening, so before that he would take his sister for a walk and then when they return “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Irene!” would be the sound she would hear upon entering the house. “What a wonderful evening it would be…” he thought.

It was 6:35 pm in the clock. The door bell rang and someone was knocking at the door. “On time! Now I’ll take her for a walk. Later mom will do the rest as planned.” Arden thought. Arden approached the door to open it. This time he didn’t look through the peeping hole. *Clack* The door was opened with loud noise. “Hey! Watch out! What’s the big hurry… Irene…?” His face turned pale and dull upon seeing the person at the door. It was Larry Frend, Leid’s butler, old with grizzly hair. He looked like he could see some better days. “Oh! Larry, it’s been a while. How rude of me! Come inside.” said Arden. “Hello, Arden! You have grown quite a lot! Thanks for the invitation but I have a message for you, young boy.” with a deep voice Larry said. “A message? Who could it be from?” Arden wondered. “Here young boy” saying this Larry handed Arden a letter and left. “A letter? By whom?” Arden thought and flipped to see the sender’s name, but in vain as there was no mention. He tried to reach out to Larry but he already left and it was raining heavily that night, so he could not go out and follow Larry. Instead he closed the door and sat down on his couch. He opened the letter and started reading.

“Hey, Arden!

It’s been a while, isn’t it? How are you doing? How’s your sister? How are your parents? Is it raining outside? Oh God! I have a million questions for you! But don’t worry I’m fine! Sorry that you can’t reply to me in person right now. Well, I guess this is just fine! On board towards other things like why I have written this letter;

You see, you are five years late. This letter was supposed to reach you on the day I left, but I was scared… scared that you would do something stupid. Hope even now you wouldn’t do something stupid like search for me. It’s useless. I am very far away from you. You can’t reach me. Moving on to the reason I am writing this letter… Do you remember about the escape places we talked about? How my house was an escape place for you and all? I hope you do. Well, I can’t be selfish if you moved on. But for me you still are my escape place.

I’m sorry if I made you sad or angry or anything bad. After all today is your sister’s birthday, right? Do give her a good surprise! Wish her for me too…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IRENE!!!!

By saying this, I’ll close my letter. Don’t try to follow me or even try to find the source. Please don’t! You will always be my best bud, my friend, Arden!! May you find happiness in your life! By the way, I am going to my new escape place. There communications are almost impossible. So, this maybe the last you’ll hear from me. I’m really happy I talked to you for one last time, even by this one way medium.

Goodbye! My friend, Arden!

From your best friend,

Leid Gripher.”

*Drip*

*Drip*

Tears rolled down the cheeks wetting the letter. A grim silence was spread throughout the room. Arden couldn’t hold back his sadness anymore. He burst out crying. He was sobbing so loud that he didn’t notice his sister and mother come in the house. The time when he cried this much was two years ago when his father died. The clock alarmed saying it was 7 pm. But Arden couldn’t get up. His family came near him and console him. They don’t know what happened. “It’s alright, son. Everything will be fine.” said his mother. “No… It won’t!” said Arden sobbing. “He is no more.” he continued, “Leid is no more!” The crying continues and he leaves for his bed. He lays there for the entire night crying. But he could never had anticipated what would become of him when the clock struck 12:00 in the night.

To be continued…

 The sun is shining bright with the bold yet calm clear blue sky painted in the background. People wandering on the streets, dogs barking for no reason, the bells on the cycle ringing and the honking of the cars; all indicate a very busy street. For it is a rush hour, people are trying to go to places in time. Some were successful while some have to wait hours for they missed a bus by thirty seconds. The city life is indeed a busy one. It is easy to lose oneself in this chaos. After a day’s work one may forget why they even started this journey towards their goal. They get tired to even sit back, relax and enjoy a cup of tea. This rush takes a toll on everyone be it a child, a teen and of course adults. Adults may think kids have it easy, yes if they are infants. Nowadays, competitions begin from a very young age. Even kids are in a big rush of getting good grades which everyone eventually will forget. They have pressure from school, parents and society to do well that they forget to enjoy their childhood to the fullest. It is sad that we realize so late that our childhood was the only time for enjoying. But it is not entirely true. As adults, we must be able to find our escape place. Some find it in music, some find it in games, some find it in books, etc. But we all need to have an escape place, where we just enjoy and live life to the fullest. These escape places differ from person to person and it does have its own bane. Things go south when this escape place becomes venomous addictions like alcohol abuse, drug abuse, etc. It is important that we find a healthy escape place and not indulge in these heinous activities which not only destroy us but our near and dear ones too. Such was the story of a boy who was at wrong place at wrong time, who indulged in the wrong escape place. Without any further ado, let’s dive into the story of this misfortunate boy, Arden.

Arden is a nineteen year old boy with a laid back personality. He treats life as something of little value. Well, no one could blame him for his rather dull perception of life; his circumstances were something he could not trade off. Let’s go to the beginning of his life. He was born to an ordinary family with more than enough money for them to survive; it means they could afford some luxuries but not all. His parents had level education. They both were of background with moderate money neither too rich nor too poor. They both were earning. Well, maybe that was the reason that led to those ego clashes between his father, Erzith Liden and his mother, Sherlene Liden. Naturally, all these clashes affected the young boy, Arden Erzith. He had a little sister Irene Liden. She was nine years old. Her personality was kind of opposite of her brother Arden. He always tried to protect his sister. He made sure that none of the evil energy from these clashes reaches his little sister. He succeeded in his goal except he was absorbing all of them. He was diving deep into this pool of negativity. Unaware of his predicament he went on about his daily life.

In his class, he usually was among the toppers. He was very talented in multiple fields be it singing, dancing, drawing, writing, sports, etc. But he was not your typical all-rounder. Mentally he was unstable. He did not have a friendly personality because of which he had almost no friends except one. He had only one friend but not from his school. His friend, Leid Gripher, lived in his neighbourhood. Most of the time, Arden was in Leid’s house, playing cards, tag, etc. Sometimes he would bring his sister to play with them too. They had a lot of fun in Leid’s house as his parents were hardly home. Leid had a butler to take care of him in absence of his parents. Larry Frend, the butler, was very kind and he helped these kids in covering up their mischiefs. In his childhood, Arden found an escape place and that was his friend Leid. But this didn’t last long as Leid had to move away, that was when things went south real quick.

To be continued…