EXORDIUM

The sky looks gloomy. Who could have thought that something as colourless as water can make the sky so dark. Seeing the weather, it wasn't difficult to guess how heavy it will pour down. And soon nature started to sing its most melodious song ever , the song that has the ability to make everyone's heart at ease and that beautiful smell of water mixing with soil... it's too amazing to feel but also too hard to explain. I enjoyed the view through my balcony.... the drops and the view of the busy street.

This was possibly going to be my last peaceful night for this year, because soon, I was leaving for India to investigate a case. Being born in a low middle class family and losing my mother at the age of 13, I was forced to earn and support my family at a very young age. Grandma, my brother and I used to live in England. I am an Indologist and Criminologist. My name is Anika. Although I am excited and looking forward to this journey, but the fear of leaving my brother and an old grandma, all alone, is making me scared. My family originally belongs to India, but due to some reasons as soon as my brother was born , we migrated to England. And that's the only memory I have of my life from India.

I don't quite understand why my mother was so scared of taking us back to India. Being deeply impressed by the diverse culture and beautiful landscape of India, as I have seen pictured in my books, I often used to request her to take us there on a vacation. But never once did I get the chance. She often told me that India is scary and if we want to stay safe, we must stay away from it. I am the eldest so I will have to make sure that my brother is safe... but how can such a beautiful country be scary? Did she always say this so that I should drop the idea of going to India?

Thinking about all this, I slowly drifted off....

The hallway was filled with the smell of blood. The smell was so strong that I almost threw up, my head started hurting. Darkness was the only thing filled in here. Every step I was taking and the increase in my heartbeat was so much in the sink that I almost felt as if I was dancing on heartbeat. The smell, the silence, the darkness and I with my racing heart...that's all?... I almost accepted this but... soon, a loud, fearful, painful scream of a man was heard... forgetting everything I rushed toward the direction from where the voice came. Not knowing where my courage came from I ran as if my life depended on it...but actually it did. Might be, I'll be able to save the life of the man. I ran, and in a few sec, I found myself standing in front of a big giant door, about 10 m high. And again. but this time a bit more loud and clear, the same scream was heard. I moved my hand and was about to open the door when... suddenly....

I felt as if someone was calling my name " Anika, Anika... " I forced my eyes open only to meet pairs of beautiful blue eyes filled with concern looking anxiously at me... as I opened my eyes I heard him signing in relief and again in his cold but calm voice he asked," Anika.. Are u alright?'

It took me a few sec to realise that all that I saw was just a dream.' OH GOD! it was too realistic to be a dream" I thought. I slowly stood up and dusted myself. I heard him again "Anika, are u all right? u suddenly fainted, if u are tired, let's first head back to your..." not wanting him to continue I interrupted him "oh, yeah, I'm fine, sorry to make u worry. It's just due to my long journey , u must not worry. But how do u know me?"

"It's William here and he is Kevin" the other guy said. He stood tall beside Kevin hardly having any expression on his face. His cold attitude made it hard to befriend him, and as he spoke, don't know why but I felt the temperature suddenly decreasing to certain degrees... he continued," we are your teammates." And after finishing he took my bags and said " Even if u are tired, u still need to report about your arrival, follow us to the embassy ." and he started walking towards the exit.

The famous vibe of soldiers... I guess. Not thinking much, I followed the two guys. They both were tall almost having a height of 6'1 and 6'3. Their pale well-build body made them stand out from the crowd... obviously , they were Englishmen, they have to be different from the rest of the crowd.

It took us almost half an hour to reach the embassy. The embassy was big and had 5 floors, as told by Kevin, the allotted room for my team-force was on the fourth floor. Without wasting time, the group of three walked directly towards our team room. Being honest, I wasn't expecting the agency to be so big and that well lighted and furnished, It was painted with white and red colour. We reached the room and William pushed open the door, as we entered, two men and a female were sitting across the table. With their expression, it wasn't hard to guess that they just had some argument.

To ease the atmosphere, I walked forward with a bright smile on my face and introduced myself," hello, I'm Anika, new teammate in your task-force." As I finished I saw the woman probably around 25 standing up politely, "Hey, so the new member is a female as well, so I'm not the only female in the taskforce. THANK U LORD. My name is Bella. I'm a criminologist." the other man leaning forward said," U can call me Alex".

As soon as he finished the last one spoke," Call me Daniel, I'll be the representative of the task force till the arrival of the leader." He had a bit of anger and attitude in his tone. "Anika and Bella," folding his hands behind his back, Daniel continued, " I don't know why we have two criminologists in our taskforce and that too female, but as u both are here, I would like to tell few facts, Indian street are not safe so better not go alone anywhere. We can't always be there to help u both, so rather than adding trouble, kindly stay at home" then he said in low voice," Women are always troublesome, cain any way, still like to jump everywhere."

Well offensive ...isn't it? Bella balled her fist and was about to speak as I spoke up first," Dear leader, thanks for your thoughtfulness but speaking too much will drain away your energy and since u r too eager to solve this case , u actually need to save up your energy. We are not here to please u, so please u also don't displeasure us by your presence. As fortunately and unfortunately, both, we r part of it so bear with us." with the same smile I said and went to sit beside Bella. By my words, it was clear that no matter what happens I am and will be part of the case, and anyones comment cant change that fact.

Except Danial. everyone was having a pleasant expression on their face.

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