Hidden behind the mask

Fateful Night

After a very exhausting day, Ariana finally slumped on the small couch of her living room. Although her whole body was in turmoil and needed rest, she forced herself to switch on the telivision and turn on the news channel. There were a lot of things which were going in the country at the moment , a lot of things which she as a citizen needed to be updated with.

As soon as she turned on the channel, a familiar face which had been appearing on the news channel for a few days now greeted her. It was general Noah. She read the lines which were appearing at the bottom of the T.V. screen.

'Mr Dravid, one of the members of the elite group, vanished without any traces from his house. This has been the third known disappearance so far.'

"Another one", muttered Ariana to herself. Though it was certainly bad news but not unexpected . She had already witnessed all this before. Although the memories were not very clear but she still remembered the incidents which had happened back then. It was hard to forget after losing her parents in the incident. Though no one had any idea about what had happened to them when they went missing, but most assumed that they had fallen prey to the unknown danger and were no more.

Ariana remembered how everyone at that time was going into hiding, collecting food and other necessities before going underground. They were dark times where nobody knew what was waiting for them when they went back. Nobody was able to save the other, as they were already having a hard trying to save themselves.

"I just wish it's over soon", thought Ariana, switching off the T.V. and going to the kitchen. She was already feeling sleepy and could feel her eyelids becoming heavy. Her stomach gave a huge growl.

"I will just eat something tomorrow", she thought, as she started walking towards her bedroom.

Boom... There was a deafening crash somewhere near her. It was so loud, that it just consumed all Ariana's desire to sleep. It sounded as if a bomb had crashed in her house.

Ariana, casually, picked up the nearest flower vase, switched off the lights in her room and sat behind the sofa, waiting. If it would have been a normal day, she would have went towards the source but under the present circumstances, it seemed like the most foolish thing in the world to do...

She heard light footsteps in the balcony, and moments later a dark figure entered in the room. It was somewhat tall and shadowy, and somehow seemed more interested in hiding than in attacking. The figure crept up close to the bed and snuggled inside it. From the light of the lamp on the street entering through the window, Ariana could see faint traces of blood on the tiles.

The door blasted upon. This time, two strongly built and somewhat dangerous looking people had entered the room. They looked menacingly all over the room. The room had stuff all around and had not been cleaned for ages. It looked like an abandoned and deserted house where nobody lived.

"He shouldn't have gone too far", said one of the man, to the other.

"I saw him enter this place. Mind you, if he doesn't die, we will", said the other man.

"Nah, he will be somewhere here. We just need to look closely", said the first man.

They started coming towards the direction of the sofa. She had a flowerpot. They had guns. It was no match.

She looked around herself. All where she could go was the bed underneath which the boy was also hiding. He certainly looked less dangerous than these two who looked ready to shoot and kill any moment.

Sweaty faced and without making a single noised, she inched forward. One word and it would all be over for her. 'No, don't think about all that. You're going to live, yes you're Ariana ', she thought as she nudged herself forwards.

Suddenly, one of the men turned towards her side. In a flash, she felt a hand tighten around her wrist, and she was pulled underneath the bed.

"Who are you, and who are these people?", she whispered, indigantly to the boy whose face was not at all visible to her.

" Long story ", said the boy," In short, these people are here to kill me and if you don't want to die as well, just stay silent and say nothing".

As much as Ariana wanted to know what was going on, she did want to live. So they both just lay there holding their breaths.

One of the men said," I don't think anybody's here. We should go and check somewhere else. He might run away while we're wasting our time here".

" I still feel that he's here", said the other man.

" Fine, you stay here in the house and do a throughout check of the house. I will just go outside and see if he's gone out", proposed the first man.

" Ok", said the other man.

The first man opened the door and went out in the balcony, while the other man went it to check in other rooms of the house. Meanwhile, Ariana got a chance to talk to the mysterious boy lying neat her, who was so deadly silent that it felt that even a fly could result him to get him to the deathbed.

"So, who are you and why are all these people following you?", Ariana asked.

" Can't tell you about that. But I expect you must already have a pretty good idea about all of it, it spread like wildfire in the whole country, well, unless you don't watch news", whispered the boy.

" So, it has to do something with their lot", whispered Ariana.

" You ask too many questions. Trust me, the best thing for you would be to remain hidden here until this i***t gets out of the house", said the boy.

" You don't need to tell me what is good for me and what is not, considering you're lying in my house at the moment".

" You know, there are some people who just go looking for trouble without any reason. You certainly belong to that category ".

" Shhh... he's back inside the room", said Ariana, and they both fell silent.

The man looked somewhat confused. He checked around himself one last time.

"Definitely not here", he said, and just when he was about to leave...

Ring, Ring... Ariana 's phone started ringing. She swore under her breath. Out of all the times, she could have recieved a call, the person had to chose this time..

She put the phone on silent mode, but it was no use. The man had already heard it, and was advancing towards the bed.

"Just stay here and don't come out, whatever happens ok?",said the boy as he tore a piece of cloth and immediately tied it around his face, except for his eyes and then went out from the hiding place.

It was indeed a boy, Ariana saw as his body became clear in the light. He looked very handsome,like a statue carved in marble.He had silvery eyes and a well toned and thin body. His clothes were completely stained by blood, and was torn at places.

" What the heck?", she thought, "Am I going to witness a murder. No, no, that can't happen. What should I do?.. What should I do?".

"I knew you were here", said the man, as he took out a gun from under his belt, "Well, I'll make this a short game, boy. You've troubled me a lot already".

Ariana slipped out from under the bed and crept to the sofa. She knew what she had to do. She picked up the flowervase which was lying next to the sofa 's end and just when he was about to shoot...

Bang. An exceptionally heavy case had collided with the head of the man. He was instantly knocked out, and fell unconscious on the floor. The boy looked very surprised and at first glared at Ariana from head to do.Then, he bent down to check on the man who was now bleeding heavily. He tore out another cloth and tied it on his his head. As he was doing so, the cloth on his face fell down without realising it, and Ariana saw his face.

When the boy stod up and saw Ariana staring at his face, he realised that his cloth had fallen. He hastily tore another large piece from his jacket and tied it more securely around his face, but the harm had already been done.

" What happened to you? Are you alright?", she asked and a panic instantly displayed on his face," Oh no, what do I do now? ", he said frantically.

" It's ok. I am very bad at remembering things. I am not going to remember your face at all", said Ariana, trying to comfort the boy.

"Listen to me carefully, I am going and I am taking this man with me. Whatever happens, do not disclose my identity to anyone. Leave this house immediately and remain underground for few day, that would be the best", he said, as he picked up the man on the floor.

"Am I in danger?", asked Ariana.

"Not at the moment but you're going to be if you don't do what I say", said the boy.

"Well if they try to kill me, what am I supposed to do?",asked Ariana.

" Don't go to the police for one.Someome of their lot can get to you easily", said the boy.He took out a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket and write down something .He gave it to her. It was a phone number.

"Call me, if anything happens and do not panic".

He then went to the door, unlocked it and went out of the house.

" What in the world just happened? ", Ariana thought, as she sat down heavily on the sofa.