StarGaze

Samatraa

There was a storm coming, and everyone knew it. As Thomas walked through the halls, he noticed the obvious change in people. Humans were now taller, had bright red eyes, and extraordinarily slow breathing. The air was a weird feeling, and Thomas felt drawn to a room.

As he opened the duty wooden door, he soon realized that this was his predecessor's chamber. Thomas could tell by the looks of it that Humpstein hardly visited his office. He looked around the room and opened some documents. The walls were painted white and there was a huge painting of some girl sitting on a chair. The desk was wooden and barely big enough to house all the papers on and inside it.

"May I help you, sir?" A soldier asked from the door.

"Yes, inform everyone that the new captain is here. I will inspect troops in ten minutes." Thomas told the soldier without looking at him.

"I am sorry for captain Humpstein's tragic death. We all are heartbroken." The soldier said, trying to butter up a beneficial relationship with the new officer.

"Well, I'm not. I didn't even know the damn man." Thomas said plainly.

The soldier was outspoken. So he quietly went away while Thomas felt another attraction towards the painting. Now we all know what a big painting in a big office means.

Thomas couldn't pin down the source of this eerie sixth sense until he tapped his neck. He didn't realize until now that he was wearing a pendant. He tried to take it off, but he felt a crash down his spine every time he tried, so he knew that he wasn't meant to take it off.

"Sneaky motherfucker." Thomas whispered as he realized that Humpstein had f****d him over and bound him to his legacy.

It felt like the pendant was vibrating, and the vibrations resonated through his body. The energy seemed to be directed in one direction, like some kind of a twisted compass. Thomas was aware that the pendant was leading him towards the painting, but he was afraid of what may lie behind it. 

Yes, Thomas was afraid. He was afraid because, for the first time in his life, he had experienced calmness and peace. And when a man gets comfortable with his mind, he is not okay with any chances of jeopardizing it. And from the looks of it, this pendant was the key to a whole lot of trouble. 

Anyway, being the loyal soldier that he was for the past hundred and seventy-five years, he touched the painting. Much to his surprise and relief, nothing happened. So he removed it. And what he found was...well, disappointing. The wall was blank, except for the outline of the painting. 

He punched the wall in disappointment. And this time, he was taken aback. His hand went through the wall and grabbed onto something sticky. He immediately retracted his wrist, fearing what was lying inside. 

“What the f**k was that?!” Thomas said. 

“I don’t know brother, why don’t you put your hand back in and find out?” Raghav spoke from a corner in Thomas’s mind. 

“No no, it was too well hidden to be handled this carelessly. We need to get a back story.” Thomas said and wiped the slimy substance off his hand. 

“Well, all big officers have their personal assistants. Why don’t we ask him about this?” Raghav suggested. 

“That could be risky. There must be something on the files.” Thomas said and looked at the table. 

“Brother, if the assistant doesn't know about it, it won't be in the files either. The office was accessible to anyone willing for the time he was gone. He is our only option and you know it.” Raghav said, leaning against a corner of the room. 

Thomas thought for a second, and then let out a cold sigh. 

“f**k!” he cursed and opened the office door. 

This was a sensitive matter, and he couldn’t let his curiosity jeopardize any critical resource lying in there. So he called for the late captain’s assistant. The assistant had been out on a tour and had just returned upon the news of a new boss being appointed. 

“Sir, you called for me?” Dexter asked. 

Dexter was a small man, about five feet five inches in height, and big round geeky glasses in front of his eyes. His forehead was hidden by his long black hair reaching out in front of his eyes. He was an ever nervous man, quite possibly an introvert. So he was a scientist stuck as an assistant in these terrible times. 

“Yes, your name is...?” Thomas asked, slashing through some files, hoping to find answers. 

“I am dexter, sir. I have been...had been working as captain Humpstein’s assistant for the last year.” dexter answered in a shaky tone. 

“You seem shaken by the loss of your boss. Very few people like their boss.” Thomas said, throwing away the files which meant nothing but garbage to him. 

He sat on his dusty chair and took a bite from an apple he had ordered. He looked straight into Dexter's eyes, knowing they would give him more truth than the man himself. 

Dexter was obviously no good at eye contact, so he was driven further into his shell by the sudden intimidation. He reluctantly spoke, trying to make a joke and make the mood lighter. 

“Yes, but people like me are not accepted by many others. So we cling to whoever makes us feel at ease.” Dexter said and laughed nervously. 

“Oh, so you use your low self-esteem to distract people from your plans? Impressive technique, but too old to work. So tell me dexter, do I not make you feel at ease?” Thomas asked casually. 

“Uhh...yes you do, sir. Very much at ease.” Dexter said and tried to smile. 

“Yeah, that’s good. So let’s just get one thing straight. You lie to me again and I will hand you your skull. Okay?” Thomas said, standing up and launching his chair backward. 

“Yes sir, truth is good,” Dexter said, taking a step back. 

“Good, now I wanted to share something personal with you. I was wondering if maybe you could help me out with something that has been puzzling me. You look like a smart guy.” Thomas said, walking up to Dexter and putting his hand on his shoulder. 

“Yes sir, what would that be?” Dexter asked, looking down. 

“Come sit with me,” Thomas said and pushed dexter forward using his hand on the latter’s back.

Once Thomas sat on his chair and Dexter took a seat across the table, Dexter looked around the room and noticed the painting on the floor. He also noticed that Thomas’s hand was somewhat sticky. 

“So the thing is, I never knew your boss. I never talked to him, I never respected him. I am just an assassin who did his part in this miserable world and retired on the snowy mountains, trying to find something that doesn't exist. 

So one day when I look out of the monastery I was residing at, what do I see?” Thomas said and looked at Dexter. 

“What?” Dexter asked. 

“I see a flash of light exactly like the ones I used in the path. Do you know what that felt like?” Thomas launched another question. 

“N...No,” Dexter said, growing interested. 

“It felt crushing. I felt like being driven back into a sewer after you had spent all your life cleaning yourself and getting rid of the waste. It felt devastating. 

Now I knew that my past had caught up with me and there was no choice for me but to go back in. So I went to see who they and sent them to get me. And it was none other than my boss, along with a fool who had managed to stab himself on his way back in time. 

So we took the man to the monastery to be healed. But he was too f****d up to live. And hence when they said he was going to die, I went to pay my respects to a dying man. But that was when he played a trick on me.  

As I was standing by, looking at the light fade from his eyes, he called to me. I kneel and leaned my head forward to listen to what he had to say. And to this day I do not understand, I am unable to comprehend what he said to me that day.” Thomas said in irritation. 

“well, what did he say?” Dexter asked. 

“that is a good question right there. Well, among the usual "); border-bottom: 1px solid transparent;">sheet a dying man says to someone beside him, he said something that doesn't make any sense. He said ‘Samatraa’.” Thomas said and exhaled. 

He felt a rumble in his chest, and he felt the liquid vibrate that was stuck on his hands. It may just have been that his mind was playing tricks on him. After all, he hadn't slept in a day and he was under too much stress to be thinking straight. But Dexter seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. 

“I know that word,” Dexter said, suddenly becoming a whole different man. 

Thomas watched in horror as Dexter's eyes changed from black to blue. His voice became deep and his breathing became slow. 

“you mother...” Thomas said and pounced on Dexter. 

But Dexter raised his finger and pinched the pendant on Thomas's neck, activating some kind of a forcefield. Thomas stopped mid-air and was launched backward. It seemed like the pendant reversed the direction of the flow of energy. And as a result, Thomas was lying down on his back, unconscious. 

“I am sorry Mr. Thomas, but you still have a lot to learn,” Dexter said as his eyes returned to the normal color and his breathing became the nervous kind.