The internal surprise, however, was not reflected externally.
She recalled hearing Antariksha lived somewhere here but to think she would end up right there.
Biting her lip she thought, 'Tch. Beautiful coincidence, but if only he was asleep, would've saved a lot of trouble...'
"Who is it? ...Rishi?" Koushik called out in a shaky voice.
It was late at night and he was alone on the rooftop, with a strange figure clad in black, lingering in the darkness, near the only exit, staring at him. He gulped. A slight shiver coursed through his veins.
The figure took a step forward, Koushik backwards.
Bikram, a stickler to the rules usually slept like a log at this time. Sneaking out to the roof alone and gazing at the sky was his idea of getting inspired. Once in a while Rishi joined him too and at times they also dragged Bikram from his bed.
But Rishi and Bikram both went to bed early that day. Was it Rishi trying to scare him? Koushik stood still, thinking. But never in his wildest imagination did he imagine that he would be greeted by a pair of eyes that gleamed like emerald and sapphire under the moonlight.
They felt hypnotising.
'Hey, you stupid fool! Get a grip on yourself! There's some mysterious and most likely dangerous person before you and here you are admiring their eyes! What's wrong with your brain?' Koushik shook his head hard.
So hard that his earphone fell off. He was about to catch them when two fingers covered in royal blue boxing wraps caught them mid-air and stuffed them in his hand. He stared dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open.
'...Is he foolish? So unguarded in front of an intruder?'
"Tch."
The sound got him out of his trance.
"Aaaa!" He sprang back screaming.
"Who are you? What do you want? No, wait, listen, whoever you are, don't try to something funny, I know Karate."
Saying that he made a ridiculous fighting stance. One leg up, hands in a fist and a blade. His body was shaking but somehow managed to stay put.
'...Is he... somehow thinking of attacking me with that form? He'll fall even before taking a step.' the girl was speechless.
And right then Koushik lost his balance and stumbled.
Steadying himself he said, "Ahem. Don't think that... just because I fell I won't be able to fight you. Hpmh!"
He took a more stable fighting stance and started jumping and throwing punches in the air.
"Sigh. It doesn't matter who I am. I'm not here to harm you." She said staring him in the eyes.
Again, his mind went blank for a moment. Those blue and green orbs felt like a whirlpool sucking him in. One was a dark, dense forest while the other one was a deep, mysterious ocean. Hiding obscurities that tempt one to wish to unravel them all.
"Argh! Snap out of it!" Koushik slapped himself.
"You think I'll believe you? Every criminal says so. I've seen it on the TV." Koushik eyed her suspiciously.
"Don't. I'll just sit there for forty minutes. Turn on the timer." Saying that, the girl sat beside the door crossing her legs, and leaned against the wall shutting her eyes.
Koushik was speechless. She acted like it was her house and he was the uninvited guest.
'Sigh. Anyways, she didn't try to hurt me since the beginning so maybe she was telling the truth. And honestly, I doubt I'll be able to put up a fight against her if situation demanded. Moreover she doesn't seem like a random burglar. Like there's kind of a majestic aura around her. Whatever, it'll be best to not provoke her. I'll just stay cautious.'
With this in mind, he sat far away but opposite her to keep an eye.
Thirty-five minutes passed since she sat down but there was no movement from her. No one knew why but he, for some reason, was tracking the time, like she told him to.
From his point of view, she seemed sound asleep. Koushik looked back at his watch. Twelve seconds left.
'Tch. What's up with me? She said and I took her words for it? Looks like she'll be sleeping here for the ni..'
A shadow fell over him. The girl was standing in front.
"Wha.."
He looked at his watch bewildered. The timer had stopped. His mind was still processing how she was just sleeping there a second and was standing before him a second later when a heavy voice with a commanding tone to it sounded above him.
"Move."
Koushik blinked in puzzlement.
"Move," she repeated pointing her head to the side.
"Ah, yes." Koushik hurriedly got up and moved out of the way.
She came near the railings and jumped down.
'Mmmm. She was indeed being serious about leaving after forty minutes. Too serious actually. But to jump off the ro..' Koushik stared at the empty space where the intruder previously stood.
"Wait, wha.. HEY!!!" Koushik was shell-shocked when he realised what just happened.
He ran to the edge of the roof and looked down horrified. But he was met with an even more terrifying scene. There was no one below.
Koushik ran back to his room and banged shut the door.
2 am. Dey villa.
The girl leapt inside Ankita's room and closed the window. Then clicked something on her watch and a footage of the room from the time she left started playing. It was empty throughout.
Closing the video, she then went near the bed and rotated one of its legs. A drawer came out from the wall with a medium-sized box in it. She took it out and sat on the floor.
Several strange objects came out. Sanitizing her hands, she took out a flat rectangular plate with many long, small holders. A little vial containing a pink solution was poured out into one of them. Then she brought out the tube from her pocket and let the wire soak in the liquid.
Five minutes later the colour turned white.
'Hmm. Guessed it was right.' The girl thought.
She used a napkin from the box to wipe the plate and burned it before throwing the ashes in the dustbin. After that, she disinfected the wire and kept it back in the tube. Putting everything inside the box, she placed it in the drawer and rotated the leg of the bed. The wall looked just like any other.
She went on and pressed something on the inner side of the bed. The top of the Board slid away, opening a small chamber.
One by one she put on the wig, skin, clothes and make up from the chamber.
Ankita looked at her reflection on the mirror and tucked away a stray hair.