33
She came back home and still was in shock.
She loved her dad a lot. She trusted him the most in this world. And she still didn't want to believe a single word that Kelvin had told her.
But her only suspicion was that why would a dying man lie? He also accepted his death and there was no greed left in his eyes.
'Why would he lie?' She wanted answers.
Irena straightaway barged into Ivan's room.
'Welcome back dear. I heard what had happened. Don't you worry child, I will take care of everything. You did a good job. But why did you call my PA, you could have directly called me?'
She did not respond and just stared at him.
'Irena? Are you okay?' he asked.
'No I am not okay,' she shouted.
'My trust in you is wavering dad.'
Ivan was confused. 'What happened Irena?'
'Dad! Uncle Kelvin told me everything about what both of you had done. Is that all true dad?' she asked.
'What did that bastard tell you?'
She told him all that Kelvin had told her.
Listening to it Ivan sank in his chair. His face became serious.
'Listen carefully Irena. The things that you have told me are true.'
'We did all those killings in the past. But the sacrifices of the children were a part of Zest's history. Without them, we would have died. Our village's culture and heritage would have ceased to exist. Sacrifices are needed for happiness, my child. They were essential sacrifices.'
'Then what about mom? Was she also an essential sacrifice for you?'
'So that bastard also told you the truth about reincarnation,' he said.
'So in the end, even that was true dad? It was you who killed my mother. Why did you kill her? What kind of monster are you dad?'
'I did it for us. I loved your mom but she was not a pureblood born in Zest. She came from outside and stayed with us. My inner voice told me that both of us can become immortals in the future. This reincarnation was just a small cost for it.'
'See Kelvin, the biggest problem, has already died. Now we just need to kill his son Adam and then all the physical bodies from Zest would have died.'
'We can then inherit the life energies of all the people of Zest which have still not departed. That will make both of us immortal.'
'We have come this far my daughter, let's just take one final step. Our destination is right in front of us.'
Irena slapped Ivan. She was furious.
'You are a monster. You don't deserve to be called my dad. You killed mom and you have no remorse for it. You killed hundreds of innocent children and don't think about their lives for a second. You have robbed way too many of a bright future they could have had. I am ashamed to be your daughter. Why did you save me on that day? I wished I really died back then.'
'What nonsense are you spouting Irena?? I did all of this for you. You are the only family I have left in this world. I am your father. I only think of your happiness.'
'No. You are a selfish heartless person. You only think of your own happiness.'
'When did I say I wanted to be immortal? Because of you I never had my mom around and I felt so lonely. I just wanted to be happy like a normal girl,' she said.
'Now I finally found Adam and I love him the most and you want me to kill him. Never. I'll never let this happen. This is over dad. We are over. I am not your daughter anymore. I am leaving this cursed house at once. I am leaving you forever.'
She then straightaway went to her room and started packing. Ivan stood like a lifeless statue in his room. His mind had stopped functioning and he was at a loss for words.
Irena came down and went away from the main door to her college. Ivan didn't stop her.
He had given upon his daughter. In the end, she was also like other mortals trapped in their foolish relationships. She could have become an immortal, a God. But no. She chose to remain a pathetic mortal and be with that wretched son of Kelvin. He felt betrayed.
'I told you, Ivan. This was bound to happen,' said his inner voice.
'I don't know what's happening anymore. I am all alone. I have always listened to you and everything was good. But why is this happening now when we are so close? What do I do next? Please help me. Please guide me as you have always done,' he cried for help from his inner voice.
'It's a choice you have to make.'
'Even if Adam dies, you will still not become immortal because your daughter will never accept the boon of eternal life. Without the consent of both of you, the accumulated life energy will just perish and everything that you have been doing for the past 35 years will come to null.'
'There are only 2 choices in front of you.'
'Either let things be as they are and forget immortality. Or kill both Adam and your daughter and then become immortal. The choice is yours.'
Ivan was stunned.
'I can't kill my daughter. I have raised her from when she was just an infant all on my own. She is my most precious treasure. She is my everything. I can never do this. Never,' Ivan told his voice.
'How much time did she take to cut you off from her life? Few seconds? Few minutes?'
'That insolent child even dared to slap you. Don't you have any pride? You saved her life twice when she would surely have died but what did she give you in return? A slap. Solitude. Is it wise to let go of your dreams for such a child?'
'She is young and naïve. I am her father. It's my duty to overlook her mistakes and protect her. She is a good child. I can't kill my daughter. I just can't kill my daughter,' he pleaded to his inner voice.
'You do remember that if this rite fails, then I will disappear and you will lose all your powers like Kelvin. Do you want to go back to being the powerless mortal you were 35 years ago?'
Ivan fell in shock. He had to make a choice between his powers and his daughter. Eventually, he succumbed to his greed.
He loved his daughter. He loved her the most. But he could not let go of his powers. They were an inseparable part of him.
Without these powers, he couldn't imagine living a single second. He gave in. He decided that he will let go of his daughter and will continue to walk on the path to immortality all alone.
The next few days were the beginning of the end.
34
Irena came back to her college.
A few days later Adam also came back and she spent most of her time consoling him. She didn't tell him a single thing about all that happened. Even though she felt guilty but she didn't have the courage to tell him the truth.
She decided to honor Kelvin's last wish and Adam was now her entire world. Her sole job was to make him happy and lead a fruitful life together with him.
Days passed by and Irena stood with Adam while he was grieving.
Adam later on asked her for a trip and she was elated. He finally was getting over his grief. She readily agreed and both of them went for a trek. The same trek that turned out to be the last trek of their lives.
Their trip started well. They reached the mid-way checkpoint on time. Adam had done well for being the non-athletic guy he was.
They were tired and Irena went for a short nap while Adam stayed up.
* * *
Irena opened her eyes but she was not in the mountains.
Rather she was in a blank space. And she was sitting in a chair. In front of her was her dad, Ivan.
'What is happening?? Am I dreaming? Wasn't I on a trip with Adam?' she thought to herself.
She pinched herself. It hurt. 'Why does this hurt?' she thought.
It hurts because you are not dreaming my child. It's all real said Ivan.
'What do you mean real? What is happening, dad? Why are you here? I don't want to see you. Why are you in front of me again?' she shouted.
This is the last time we are meeting Irena. I have come to tell you one final truth.
'What truth? Haven't you told me enough? Aren't you guys tired of telling me these dumb truths again and again? What sort of evil are you? Please let me go, dad,' she said.
'You can say all you want Irena. But as your father, it's my duty to tell you the truth. On the day Kelvin got his ultimate spell of eternal life, I also got an ultimate spell. The spell of soul transfer.'
'Isn't that the reincarnation spell that you already told me about?'
'No Irena. Reincarnation spell is a one-time use spell that only works when one dies. It also needs the sacrifice of a closed one. The spell of soul transfer is different.'
'I can use it any number of times and there are no sacrifices needed. Now also I have transferred my soul into your body to have this one last interaction with you.'
She was shocked. All the time she had been a normal powerless human being, so all the stuff of spells went over her head when her dad used to tell her. But this was on an entirely different level.
'You have transferred your soul into my body? What the hell? How could you do that to me dad?' she asked him.
'Because you have stopped seeing my texts and you don't pick up my calls. You also don't come to home so what else could I have done?'
'Okay. I get it. I'll come home and talk to you. So for now just get away from me. I don't want your soul residing in my body,' she shouted at him.
'I have to tell you a few things, Irena.'
'I have saved you two times till now using this spell.'
'Two times?'
'Yes. The first one was when that bastard Adam from your school tried to kill you.'
'My inner voice warned me when he entered our house.'
'I then immediately moved my soul and came to our house. When you became unconscious after he choked you, my soul entered your body.'
'With my spell of strength, I pushed him back. Then with a single hand, I grabbed him through his neck.'
'How dare he try to lay hands on you? He tried to choke you. What an audacity. I choked him with his neck and he became unconscious.'
'I was furious. My anger knew no bounds.'
'I let go of him and then struck a punch on his face. He died at the moment and his skull got fractured. My anger did not subside. I continued to punch him till his face became a mess and blood splattered everywhere. My anger then subsided and I left your body. The rest you must remember well.'
Irena was in shock. This was the truth of what had happened after she blacked out. And she was blaming herself for this mess when in turn was none of her fault.
Ivan continued.
'The second instance was when that bastard Adam had sent a private detective to look after Kelvin's killer. My daughter, you are so naive.'
'You did not cover your tracks at all and that bastard was able to get to you so quickly.'
'He found out that you were the one who texted Kelvin to come to that abandoned place and you were the one who saw him alive the last time.'
'He was convinced that you were the murderer and the next morning he was going to tell Adam about all of this.'
'What would you have done then?'
'But being a good father I saved you.'
'On that night when he was sleeping, I entered his body and made his soul go unconscious. I was now in control of him. I went and met Adam.'
'This was the first time I was seeing him after 15 years.'
'He had grown a lot from when he was a child but still had that childish innocence that he had back in Zest. But I could see that Kelvin's death had matured him. His face did seem unclean and unshaven.'
'I wished that he was my child instead of that bastard Kelvin. I would have saved him and made him also immortal but fate had different plans for us. Plans which I cannot alter even if I tried my best.'
'As the detective, I reported to him that there was no clue to be found and I returned his money. I could see that Adam was disappointed but this was necessary.'
'Afterwards being the detective, I informed every source that I was going on a short vacation and would come back the next month.'
'Then I went to a nearby hill. I could not let go of this detective now because if he recovered his senses, he would surely come back at you.'
'I made him jump from the hill and left his body mid-air. That bastard died falling down in the river.'
'He lived alone and his known relatives were far away. It will be a while before anybody finds what had happened to that little bastard.'
Irena was too stunned to speak. She always thought that subconsciously she was the one who killed that boy Adam. But she was not the one.
This incident had traumatized her for years and she had secluded herself from the rest of the world because of this trauma. But it turned out that it was her dad who killed him. Her mind went blank.
Her dad added two more victims to his list which already had countless names in it. This was not the father she knew.
He was not the gentle dad she always loved. He was just a monster wearing the hide of a human.
'I don't even know what to say. It seems that the list of your murders is endless. I don't even want to know how many more you have killed. Just leave me alone dad. Leave me alone,' She cried as she spoke.
'My daughter! You have not left me a choice. Today is the day when I have come to end Adam.'
'Now tell me Irena, what will you choose? Will you let me kill him and become immortal with me or will you die along with him?'
In addition to Adam, her dad even wanted to kill her. But she was not surprised anymore. She had given upon her father. She had understood that her dad's greed had made him blind and no one can save him.
'Dad, I can't stop you.'
'If you have reached a point where you are ready to even kill your own daughter then even the Gods can't save your lost soul. I choose to die with Adam.'
'My foolish daughter. Think again. This Adam is a mere mortal. You are wasting a golden chance of a lifetime for him. How can you be so foolish?' he insisted on changing her decision.
'Dad this is my final decision. '
Tears flowed out of Ivan's eyes. This was the end. It was decided that his daughter will be the last sacrifice for his immortality.
'Farewell, my beloved daughter. I have never and will never love anybody as much as you my dear child.'
35
Irena opened her eyes. It was Ivan in her body. It had been 30 minutes since she had gone to sleep. She came out of the tent and saw Adam who was waiting for her.
His inner voice already told him what needs to be done. Ivan just blindly followed it.
Both Adam and Irena went to the edge of the hill to take a pic which was a very popular spot for couples. When their turn came, Ivan cast a spell to break the sturdy rock.
They took a pic but the effect of the spell was yet to show. So he in the form of Irena asked for another pic saying she did not like the first one. Adam didn't mind.
When they were about to take the 2nd pic, the rock finally broke off. The spell's effect came into play. Both Adam and Irena fell off the cliff.
Ivan left Irena's body mid-air and Irena came back to her conscious. She knew what was happening and accepted her death.
She tightly hugged Adam one last time with tears in her eyes and they both hit the ground. They died instantaneously.
Ivan's soul saw everything. He felt helpless seeing his daughter die in front of him but his mind had accepted that she was an essential sacrifice.
His soul then returned to his body back in Rille.
He had done everything. He had sacrificed everything. And now was the time for the results.
He called upon his inner voice to know whether he has attained immortality or not.
There was no response from his voice. He tried again and again but there was nothing. The inner voice had vanished.
He tried using a simple spell but he could not remember the chant. He was shocked. He tried with the other spells but the result was the same. He forgot everything. His spells had also left him.
He rushed to the kitchen and took a knife. He cut his finger and he bled. He was still a mortal and it was clear that the spell of immortality had failed him.
His world came crashing down.
His lifelong spells had left him. His inner voice who was forever his guide, his master also left him. His wife, his daughter, his friends, his village, all have perished. Only he was left. All alone in this cruel world of mortals.
He finally understood what Kelvin had experienced when his spells and inner voice left him.
An intolerable sense of grief and restlessness hit him.
Kelvin had his family around who were able to pull him back from that depression and he was able to live happily as a normal powerless mortal. But what about Ivan?
He with his own two hands had killed his wife and his beloved daughter. There was nothing in this world that made him feel alive. He started crying profoundly.
His mind was dead. His heart was dead. His soul was dead. The only thing remaining alive was his mortal body.
With the knife he had in his hand he stabbed his stomach.
Blood started gushing out.
His pain and sorrow knew no bounds. His anger at himself was uncontrollable.
He repeatedly stabbed his stomach with the knife till he fell to the ground.
He had stabbed his gut 29 times.
He felt weak. He was losing blood continuously. His consciousness was fading away and he closed his eyes. He took his final breath and passed away.
Ivan died.
36
A day later Ivan was found by his PA who barged into his home when he failed to attend any of his calls.
Police tried their level best but they couldn't come to a conclusion. In the end, due to lack of evidence, they declared his death as a suicide.
Local newspapers reported that he committed suicide after his only daughter had died in a fall.
A few days later the body of the detective was found on the bank of Zoln. It took a while before his corpse was identified.
Again due to lack of any concrete evidence his death was also declared as an unfortunate suicide.
Such an irony it was, the two mightiest humans, who feared no one, on whom no mortals could lay a hand, died by their own hands filled with deep regret and sorrow.
Their powers were immense but these powers were nothing compared to the size of their greed.
In the end, they died such poor and miserable deaths.
And the screen in front of Adam then turned off.
* * *
I witnessed everything.
I now knew the truth of everybody including dad and my beloved Irena.
I was at a loss for words.
In a world full of mortals, here there were two men among my close ones who had powers enough to make them immortals and all that was built on the sacrifices of thousands of innocents. I felt sick. I wanted to puke.
Suddenly a door appeared.
I remembered this door.
It's the one I took last time to come back from the dream of Ethan.
'Was the same thing going to happen again? Will everything go back to normal again? Last time I didn't know the outcome of taking this door.'
'But this time I am desperate for everything to change back to normal,' I thought.
I wanted dad back so that I can ask him face-to-face why he did all that. Even though I was disgusted with him but I still wanted him to live. Live for his mom's sake. Repent for his sins. Death was not the solution.
And then I wanted Irena back badly.
She was innocent all along. Like me, she was also a victim of her dad's schemes. The thought that she will be back, made me compelled to walk through the door.
I then opened the door and there was a flash of light that blinded my eyes.
* * *
I opened my eyes. And I was back in time.
I was standing at the door of the Soft skills and Communications class. This was the first day of the class.
I and Charlie were entering the class. It was again the start of the third term of the third year.
But this time I was not surprised.
I expected this but just did not know in which timeline I will be back. This meant that Irena and I never fell in love in this timeline.
'I will have to make all those efforts again. Damn. Again all that hard work.'
But I was okay that at least I can see her again and she was not dead. This time I was going to cherish her.
I entered the class and surprisingly there was no Iris sitting on the 2nd last row. Instead, both Ethan and Seth were sitting there. Naturally, Charlie went and sat behind them and I followed. Sometime later the prof also came in and the class started and then ended.
But neither Irena nor her friend Iris attended the class. I asked Charlie as to where these two girls were.
And his answer horrified me.
'Which Iris or Irena? I don't remember any of the girls with these names on the campus,' he said.
The gossip king said he didn't know them. It meant just one thing. They were not studying at RIT. But how could this be possible?
I quickly went back to my room and checked all the sources.
The student list of all the departments for the batches of all 4 years didn't have their names. I fell into my chair in disbelief.
Suddenly dad's call came. I picked up. He just called me to know about my health and well-being.
But I knew his truth. I blasted him with questions regarding Zest. But he seemed confused. He said that he had never heard of this village.
My reality after waking up was now really becoming a horror story. He told me how could I forget that we have lived in Arcvale from the start of time and we have been living in our ancestral home for the past 50 years. Both he and his dad were born in the same house.
Even our family business had changed from construction to tourism in this timeline. We had been in tourism for around 40 years now from the era of my grandfather. Dad told me to sleep properly and take rest. He then cut the call.
In the next 2 hours, I checked everything.
My family history, my history etc. all were in line with dad's story. I checked for Zest on the net. But the search returned nothing. There was no mention of Zest which meant that the village never existed.
I was in disbelief. I was a bit happy that dad was alive and now innocent. This was something similar that happened with Ethan as well. But more importantly, Irena was not here.
'Has she also gone away completely? Does she also not exist on this planet anymore?' I thought.
My heart was beating fast. This reality was completely different from what I had imagined when I took the door in the white room. I was in shock.
I then mustered some courage and tried to check Irena's presence on social media.
I wanted to check but my fingers went cold.
My mind didn't want to believe that Irena did not exist in this timeline.
So I first checked for her friend Iris.
In the past, she was Irena's best friend and I didn't have much interaction with her as she was a hardcore introvert.
But I was still friends with her on social media.
Since she had disappeared along with Irena so I wanted to check on her as well.
I searched on all the social media platforms and her search name returned nothing. She was not there on any of these platforms. It only meant 2 things.
Either she didn't exist in this timeline or she had not created an account on any of these platforms. But how can anybody not create a social media account these days?
It was believable for her to not exist rather than not having a social media account anywhere.
My fears were turning into reality. My mind said that Irena also might not exist in this world.
And finally, I mustered courage. I searched for her.
I thought that this would also end in vain but surprisingly it did not. I did find her. Her face, her name, her place of birth, everything was the same.
But she was a 3rd-year student in CSE (unlike electrical) at a foreign university.
I looked into her family and they were the same. But her mom was alive.
History had completely changed. Irena was alive but maybe Maria's soul never came into her.
She never came to RIT and went to study at an expensive foreign university. I knew she was rich. Rich enough to study in a foreign university. That would have been her natural course of action.
My heart fell.
The woman I loved the most had now become an absolute stranger. Tears started flowing from my eyes.
I never once thought that this would happen when I was taking the exit door.
My beloved Irena was now out of my reach.
I could feel my world collapsing.
I fell ill and took a leave for a week. I went back home.
I needed time to cope with this reality. My cruel reality.
A reality where Irena didn't know me.
A reality where she never loved me.
And a reality where now I also had a younger brother.