A series of unforeseen events that have truly and really occurred in Spacebar office, in an alternative universe.
In the voice of Tristan Fernandes.
“Hahahahahahah hyuk hyuk hahahahah hyuk hahahhaha” I laughed when Rohan told me about what happened with him last evening. Upen wasn’t laughing though. Strange. I wonder what he’s up to from time to time. He’s the silent, brooding types. Must be plotting something.
I went back to my work. Alpana was pushing for excellence suddenly and I needed to spend more time doing research. I ran my finger across the top row of my keyboard, every so lightly, to ready myself for the typing ahead of me. I looked at my screen. I couldn’t get over how awesome my chromebook looked. Even that Ankkit liked it; the guy who would otherwise have a different opinion from me on everything under the sun.
I started typing, my left hand more furiously than my right. I had to pour out everything my mind had absorbed in the last hour of research. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. 15 minutes. For 15 minutes, I typed without a break. Not even for breathing space. This was going to be my best article yet. I must have typed too fast for too long because my fingers felt hot. It was only a few moments later that I realised that my chromebook was the culprit, getting warmer by the minute. I moved my hand away from the keyboard. Behind my screen, I could see a blue glow reflect from the wall. I reached out to shut my screen to see what it was but had to immediately retract my hand. My chromebook was burning hot!
I took a step behind in my chair, in astonishment. Varun and Alpana had caught my actions and were staring at me. Rohan was already up and retreating towards the door.
“This shit’s getting real.” said Rohan.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“It’s crazy. Like yesterday. I spoke to my father about this last night. He warned me that we are in danger. It’s the rise of the Jivaku.” Rohan shuddered.
While I tried to digest what had just been said, I turned back to my chromebook. It had started radiating heat around, burning a hole in the table. Alpana and Varun dashed towards the door.
“Move away, Tristan! It’s not safe to be around that!” exclaimed Alpana.
BOOM!!!
A loud explosion was followed by a blinding blue light and a piercing war cry. I had not been ready and had been hit by shrapnel as the chromebook blew up into oblivion. While I could deal with the multiple gashes on my face and tears on my clothes, I could not deal with the pain I felt in my stomach. the explosion had caused a huge chunk of metal from the laptop to pierce into the left side of my abdomen as I had turned to walk towards the door. I was now lying on the ground below remnants of the whiteboard, its rubble surrounding me.
As I cringed in anguish, I looked up. The chromebook had been disintegrated and in its place was a hole from which blue light shone upwards to the ceiling. A winged beast emerged from it, dark and hairy. It looked like a bat, but had muscular arms like a man. The whole body was covered in hair, pitch black. It screeched and howled. And then there were more. Tens came out. Then hundreds. The office was dark, full of them. Some of them crowded by the door to make sure that nobody could leave.
And then I heard that war cry again. I turned my head to the left and saw Upen stand. His arms outstretched, the winged beasts perched themselves on him. He laughed, and as he did, he seemed to grow in size. His body turned blue and, in mere moments, he was transformed into a hideous creature, bending against the office ceiling. He roared the war cry again, and this time, his cold breath was in my face. I wanted to move but I couldn’t find the courage to.
“It is the time of the Jivaku, mortals! It is the time to DIE!”