THE GIRL WITH THE MEMORIAL TATTOOS

December 31st 2018, Night 9 PM  Bratislava - Capital of Slovakia    I   t was a freezing night on December 31st 2018 and the clock struck 9 pm. A terrible concoction of winds and hail stones was blowing incessantly and striking the window pane of the 2-storey Red Color house relentlessly. The snow was prevailing everywhere near few kilometers all around the house. There were few snowy mountains visible in the yonder which were identified only as vague wavy structures. Deep through the glass of the window, a hazy silhouette of a woman was visible, taking shelter before the embers emanating from the burning wood. She was handling her coffee cup with right hand and contemplating on her past incidents. Hot fumes of the coffee were rushing out from the top touching her nostrils giving a comfort feeling amidst the long-lasting winter that engulfs Slovakia every time this part of the year. But there was no comfort from the agony she was suffering from deep inside as if she was a prisoner of her mind’s tricky games. The clock struck 11 pm. Malia was late to her bed being involved in solving a Rubik’s cube. She was so obsessed with that game, as she found it as a refuge from the mental torment of everlasting thoughts. She looked deeply distressed with sunken eyes and dark circles beneath them. Her lips lacked smile and her face lacked glow. She was moving her hand vigorously while holding the Rubik’s cube and solving it again and again. Her maid was very much concerned about her – ‘Ma’am! Why are you still playing?! Please go to bed’. Malia retired to her bed mumbling something. She was lacking sleep from many nights. The reason behind it was known to very few. When everyone celebrates New Year in the end of December, she resides in her home like a coward. Only she remembers what a terrible thing happened on the New Year just a year back. She regrets whatever happened, thinking if she could do anything better! She had a tattoo on her right hand which reminds her of the event that happened. If she hadn’t been busy with getting a tattoo, she could have saved her cousin. Now, she feels dreadful on the eve of every New Year day, being frightened like a coward. For everyone, New Year is a celebration; but for her it’s a mourning day. Her mother’s words were still echoing in her ears, ‘If you hadn’t gone for a tattoo, nothing would have happened!’   She cried thinking, ‘What shall I do now? I can’t change the past!’   Her only memories of her dear cousin were her ashes. She made another tattoo below a previous tattoo on her right forearm; it was made out of the ink mixed with the ashes of her sister and was called a ‘memorial tattoo’. It was a black tattoo in the shape of a love symbol.       December 25 2018    When she went to a bakery and ordered a cake for Christmas celebrations. She overheard a conversation between two guys who were sitting at a table ahead, while she was waiting for her order at the counter. Self-service.  ‘Is she the sister of that girl?’   ‘No dude! I am not sure’.   ‘She was her! See her blond hair, facial features; she looks exactly like her! See, how she is celebrating the demise of her cousin?’  And the guy opened his phone showing a video of her cousin bathing.   ‘I don't blame her. If I were in her in position even, I would have celebrated the death of the b***h’ Both of them chortled into laughter.  Malia couldn’t bear all that. She didn’t know how to shut their mouths. She immediately wheeled towards them and strode forward. She lifted a punch upon both their faces and beat them hard with her knuckles.  'Mam. Here's your order'   The waiter shattered her imagination. She took her cake with contempt gazing at the men. The service boy reciprocated with a fake smile. She paid the bill silently, quivering with a melancholic expression, and headed out from the Bakery.   'Thank you. Please come again'.  While leaving the Bakery she could still here the giggling sound of the men. She walked away ruefully. When she could have prevented her sister from having such a terrible fate, she wasn’t there, now there’s nothing much she could do to shut their mouths. She had to be a victim of such criticism. She was waging a war against herself. Her brain was her enemy. She came back home and quietly occupied herself with her gaming, being involved in creating new games, finding refuge in her work.   There was a quotation lying on the wall, ‘Nothing always stays the same. You don’t stay happy forever, you don’t stay sad forever’. Her rooms were well decorated with miniature statues of different comics and sketches. All of a sudden, her tattoo became painful and began to itch a lot, and she was mumbling incoherently with intermittent shrieks. She was wriggling with pain on her bed, when her maid came to her rescue.     December 30 2018, Morning 10 AM.  The previous day she called a Plastic Surgeon for appointment. She felt the urge to remove her tattoos. It constantly reminded her of the incident. She made an appointment with the doctor. When she was about to put the laser, Malia cried out in excessive intolerable pain. The doctor comforted her that he didn’t start the procedure yet. She couldn’t bear the pain and ran out of the clinic.   When she was crying in her own room, a young woman came to visit her. She came close to her and soothed her. ‘It’s okay dear! I know what you are going through’.   Malia looked at her with sullen expression. The woman was in her near 30, fair skinned with Indian look and long black hair. Her eyes were brown and penetrating giving the woman a unique eerie appearance with a long sharp nose and high cheek bones.   'I can't bring back whom you lost but I can help you get your peace by taking revenge of the miscreants?'  'Who are you?' Malia asked with a dazed expression with the sudden appearance of this mysterious person promising her salvation.   'You will come to know who I am. For now, you can think I am a fair angel came here to guide you in the path of salvation. The more you think about me, the more you lose track on your revenge.' She put her hands over Malia, ‘May I see your memorial tattoo?’   Malia held her hands, she pointed out the lower tattoo. She was fond of making memorial tattoos when someone who was endearing to her died. The upper tattoo, a replica of lower one, was a ‘memorial tattoo’ of her deceased father. The lady touched her hand gently and smiled at her.   ‘Never lose them’ She handed a document to her. 'You will have complete details of the people involved in this. I was following them for the past 3 months to gather enough information for their destruction. It will help you to plan the execution of the miscreants.'  Malia said ‘Thanks’ with a flickering smile and a confused expression.   ‘No, no! I have to say thanks’, said the lady hugging her and left. The next moment Malia called the doctor and cancelled her appointment for laser therapy. Her sixth sense told that her tattoos could be of aid for her. At the moment she didn't know that those mere tattoos of her can break a heart irrevocably. After the retreat of the lady she solemnly involved in her thoughts laying on her bed room. She could feel the cold crisp wind with from the window soothing her face. She sensed some comfort after so many tireless nights, with the knowledge of her targets in the document she held in her hand. She opened the documents. There was information of 4 people with their photos and the way they are linked to the death of her cousin and convincing evidence. Among them a photo of a person appalled her. She couldn't believe what she saw. She immediately threw away the file with contempt and sobbed in her tears. Again, she looked out of the window. The dark night wallowing the snowy capped mountains harbored a full moon at top. At distance she could hear howling of a wolf, hooting of an owl. In a moment the comforting ambiance felt so terrific to her. Suddenly the power cut off. She shrieked out aloud and wept into tears.      December 30 2018 Evening 4 PM    She met her psychiatrist. He checked her and comforted her that she was doing good progress. She was He insisted her to enter a few darker rooms with increased darkness in successive levels. When she entered into one such room, she had almost a panic attack. The doctor said, ‘It’s okay! You are doing good progress. Previously you couldn’t come into the room’. He shifted her to level 3 which was completely a dark room, Malia had a panic attack.       December 31st at 11 pm,    That night on December 31st at 11 pm, she heard someone knocking on the door. She asked her maid to open the door. She could see the four criminals wearing masks of demons entered into Malia room and one person tried to gag her to death.  one raised his axe and shoved into her stomach. She immediately kicked him into his stomach and wriggled out of their holds. She scurried into her lobby in her dark maroon Night dress. She immediately took a g*n hanging over to the walls and pointed at them and killed all. She suddenly woke up from her bed and realized that was her nightmare with a happy ending. She desperately wanted that to be true. Her determination to fight became strong. She wanted revenge and made it as her New Year resolution.