"Spirits? I don't think I believe in those things. Obviously because I haven't witnessed anything like that. Why'd you ask though?"
Samriddhi poured me some fine cold brew for coffee.
She giggled and said , "Would you find it totally made-up if I shared one of my stories about it? I'm thinking you might."
"Can't say till I hear it. Go ahead"
"Okay. Back then when I was small, I used to visit my hometown from time to time. Actually, do you remember what I said to you about that 'evidence'?"
"The teal pocket watch, right? Does it has something to do with this?"
She took a sip from her mason jar and continued, "Yes, it is kind of related. I've never told people about this cause this topic was never really discussed. But this is what happened, that old man who had died was from a well-known family, quite rich and all. They all lived in a huge mansion. People really used to look up to them. Our families had a good relationship until one day when it all came to an end with spilling blood."
"Should I ask?"
She added, "That's not important. You know how it can end up for people when two families have overlapped affairs going on. Anyways, there was this girl. I don't remember much about her, since I saw her almost 16 years ago. We enjoyed our own company rather than hanging out with others. Every weekend, we used to get together, collect all our action-figure toys and play with them. The only weird thing that bothered me was how she always talked about her grandfather. She described him as a cold-hearted person she hated yet she acted like his death brought her heavy torment."
"Oh, I really don't know what to say. Continue."
"After a couple of months, I started to have hallucinations."
"What kind of hallucinations?", I asked.
"Every night, the old man would stand near my window whispering my name. And I, like a dumb cat, would also go to him. He made me walk up the stairs and then disappeared into thin air after reaching the roof. This happened every single night. We had to move out for my dad's transfer from office. I never met the girl again, neither did I saw the old man. It was like a phase, where unnatural and unnecessary things happened. It all ended for good."
"That's very odd. Do you remember any other details about that girl?"
"Um, actually, I never asked her name. She didn't either, mine. She used to wear a pretty floral dress with her embroidered scrunchies and headbands. She did have a birthmark somewhere around her neck. That's all I know. And there's a chance some of it won't even be true. If memory serves me well, that haunted me for a couple of days after we shifted."
"Hm. I don't think it's some kind of stupid made-up thing. But, I won't say anything since this happened to you. Thank you for sharing. And this coffee you made is GREAT."
"You both need to see this. Come here, fast!", Alex yelled.
"Haha. Let's go see what the boys are up to", she said.
"Check this out." Zelda turned his phone towards us and opened his messages.
"San Bruno department....the meeting announced....given to Pasadena precinct.....Suv- WHAT?"
"Uh huh, that's what I've been told. She'll be brought back here. And we're all supposed to pick her up at evening."
"When did the meeting even happen? And why weren't we informed about this?"
"Apparently, she asked her lawyer to call her family. They have some real rich connections. I think they pulled her out of this in some way. Now, the thing is- for the time being, he has asked us to keep her safe!", he explained to us.
"He? He who?"
"The chairperson. It's so chaotic over there. Major cases are being thrown away. Police officers are busy ruining each other's lives. Rebels are now armed enough and they might start a ruse anytime. It's not even a 'prison' anymore."
No one spoke for a moment. I sighed. "But, that's a good thing, isn't it? At least for her."
"I guess. I seriously don't know. We might get in trouble. I-"
Before he finished his sentence, I interfered.
"Don't stress this out. The sun's about to set. Let's grab a subway sandwich and be on our way. Okay?"
"Do we have a choice?", said Alex.
I gave them a soft smile. "Eh, No."
"How long has it been?"
"45 minutes. It'll take another hour and we're there."
Staring at Samriddhi for a few seconds, Alex chose his words poorly.
"You. You know if your car crashes down today, you'll be in immense trouble right?"
Samriddhi gushed from her calm voice to an irritated one. "Oh yeah? Too bad cause I was already planning to stop the car on our way, kick you out of the ride and leave you to rot in that dense forest again. And don't worry, you'll also have company. Madre de Agues and Rolling calf!"
"Mythological creatures? If you're going to frighten me, at least do it right!"
"You guys must've been deadly enemies in your past lives. No wonder you give each other a hard time." Zelda and I let out a deep breath darting our eyes in frustration.
After listening enough of them insulting each other, Samriddhi stopped the vehicle and looked out of the window.
We remembered the lady's hoarse voice as she yelled the numbers of the case. The same happened again.
"219. 219!!! LET THE PRISONER OUT."
"You're in-charge of that young girl?", she asked.
"Yes. This is us."
"Just a little heads up, you'll regret showing anything but decency to her. She's a real.... well, I don't know if there's a word for doing stuffs like shattering the glass of water I give her and threatening her cell-mates with the pieces. Anyways, that's her."
We were all pretty confused how she said it.
We slowly had a vision of three people approaching us. Two guards on each side, we saw her in the middle. She had on a white shirt and joggers with blue narrow stripes on it. Her reaction was harsh but her face was more subtle than the last time.
As soon as she entered the car, Alex ran to the nearest person. "Excuse me, Isn't commissioner sir supposed to be here?"
"Yes sir. He's upstairs with the committee."
He made his way to the office.
"Detective Bond. It's a pleasure to see you. What brings you here?"
"Greetings, sir. I wanted to ask you something about a prisoner, more about the discussion meeting held yesterday."
"I see, you got that message huh. What about it?"
"Why was the meeting even held in the first place? And how did you all come to that decision?"
"Hm. You know how the rebels are always coming up with unnecessary reasons against us? Well, that girl's connection brought us major merits. Apparently, She lived with her brother who was, in-fact, once a commander-in-chief. Even after his retirement, all the parties looked up to him. We tied a collision, if we were willing to let go of the girl, he'd convince the revolters to end whatever they're doing. So, we had to."
"It's beneficial but sir, I must say I'm quite disappointed with this."
"So am I", Commissioner sir replied.
While none of us bothered to throw a word, we were hoping for Alex to come outside soon. "If he'd be here, this awkward silence wouldn't be the same." We thought.
"Okay let's get going now" He finally came back.
The situation, as I sensed, was worsening. We always used to bring up topics and maintain our conversation but no one even separated their lips this time.
"Um, How did they treat you in there? Any complaints?" Zelda raised his question hoping she'd answer.
"You're not gonna talk huh. Oh…kay"
After a long drive we arrived home. The car drive itself was too uncomfortable, for all of us, the condition would only aggravate here.
"I'll take your bag. You can go freshen up and be in your room", I offered.
She tossed my hand from her shoulder and rolled her eyes taking her bag to the bathroom. She didn't speak at all.
"I'll head to the department with Zelda in about an hour. We might pull an all-nighter. Will you able to handle this?", Alex queried.
"I guess. Is there something urgent?"
"It's just some paperwork. We've seen your father in the footage so that might get the case dismissed with all the assumptions. Can't go around arresting a dead person now, can we?"
"All right. I'll go make dinner now."
Suveksha made her way out of the tub dripping drops of water from her feet wrapped up in a towel. Carefully, she walked down the passage and stopped in her way to observe the living room area.
"What's she up to?", Samriddhi whispered.
I drew near to her. She had her eyes on the old dusty bottle jar that was kept on the shelf.
"Do you like it? That's a vintage edition I bought from the old nearby warehouse. It's a Victorian castor pickle jar. Quite anti-"
"CRAAASSSHHHHHHHHHH"
She grabbed the jar and threw it out of the window without giving it a single thought. The window broke and it shattered pieces of glass everywhere. It hit another apartment in-front of mine.
"WHAT DID YOU DO!???" We all yelled.
"That guy was abusing his wife. He shall die." She, finally, uttered her phrases in the most wicked tone possible.
"Oh I get it…..So we're dealing with 'this'."
Our jaws were still dropped. She slowly walked into the guest room and slammed the door on us.
"What do we have here now! Okay you need to go grocery shopping", Samriddhi exclaimed after seeing the empty refrigerator.
"Grocery shopping? Now? I haven't gone to the supermarket in a while, I'll bring everything tomorrow. I've moved some stuffs to the cabinets. I'll make everyone a dinner salad. Y'all good with mushrooms?", I asked.
"Um hm"
I knocked at her door. "Hey! dinner's ready!"
She took the door on the third knock and came outside in her pyjamas with an annoyed look.
We were ready to grab a big spoon of that salad bowl. Suveksha glanced at us and got befuddled. "Aren't we supposed to pray? We always pray first."
"Uh. Yea, sure."
She held her hands together and we did the same.
"Bless us, O God. Since you redeemed us so dearly and delivered us from evil, as you gave us a share in this food so may you give us a share in eternal life", she concluded.
Her eyes opened and she started to eat.
Zelda asked her, "You didn't answer me earlier. Were you treated good?" She again didn't reply.
Samriddhi had a bite and put down her spoon.
"Why wouldn't you speak to us? We got you out and even brought you here to take care of you for the time being."
"Why would I talk to any one of you? You all got me into this by calling the cops on me. Even you!", she snapped pointing at Samriddhi.
Our faces followed by eerie silence, it was weirdly quiet again.
"We'll get going now. See you in the morning!" The boys grabbed the car keys.
"Okay. Drive safely."
Three of us, we all went to our rooms. Nothing specific but it was all bothering me. Things didn't felt right, in the correct order. It worsened during midnight. The annoying beep sound my mind made, I wasn't able to sleep. I got out of my room to get some fresh air.
"Suveksha, what're you doing here at this late hour?"
"I came to fill water.", she replied in a soft voice.
"Oh. Same here."
"Did I kill your father?"
"Um, that is absolutely not a mid-night-thing to talk about right now. But, yes. Yes, you did…."
"I see. Do I know you from somewhere?"
I couldn't respond to that. My words were stuck at the tip of my tongue resisting to get out.
"I feel like I've seen you, been with you before. For a long time. Is that unusual?"
I countered, "People feel like that all the time when they meet someone new. It's nothing weird."
"No. I- When I saw you for the first time, I didn't get a very clear picture. It was at the Restaurant, if I remember well. Instantly, I felt like I've known you. But since a very long time. Longer than ever. And then my mind painted a separate picture of you when you met me at prison."
"Oh about that, we really didn't mean to get you arrested. Even we didn't know the other police force was present there. Sorry you had a tough time for us. And we might have been together in our past lives or something."
"Perhaps, goodnight." She gave a slight smile, timidly.