Strangely Familiar

“Strength is a matter of a made up mind.” – John Beecher

He gave her a winning smile.

Naina was sure she misheard him.

What would a person, if she could call him as such, with an unarguably inflated phenomenal power do with her loyalty? It does not even make sense.

Unlike his statement, it is the next thing that shocked her to the core. Placing her hands to her side, her eyes quickly retrieved a small circular ring rotating above their head, right in the middle. It was wrapped up in a golden band with lights twinkling from within like a thousand prisms reflecting at once.

Her neck inclined at an angle, vision equivocated if only to stay translucent and keep herself above him. She needed to hold a certain degree of power over him refusing her thoughts to reflect on her face. She took two steps behind to get the complete picture of the object that was still hovering over her head. Hooking her gaze and pouring every bit of concentration, she couldn’t help but find a curious resemblance to the mark she wore around her wrist since birth.

Almost intuitively, the palm of her other hand gripped it tightly in an attempt to wrap it around. She was trying her hardest to conceal it with subtlety.

“Can you give me some time to think it over?” She asked, accepting that she will need to think this through. He was the monster her mother warned about but that did not explain the whirlpool of emotions swinging inside her every time she borrowed his company. It was causing a predicament inside her mind.

Shaurya pinned her in an intensifying stare. Like he was trying to look at her very soul. It was almost unnerving. Naina looked elsewhere feeling the tension around her magnifying.

He shook his head. “It’s now or never.”

Her request fell on deaf ears and went unheeded. Although, she couldn’t act surprised having accepted her fate somewhere at the back of her head already.

Still securing her wrist in a tight grip, she felt herself losing in thought. It was a price she has to pay. Perhaps, if she can win his confidence she might be able to figure out how to end the entire ordeal once and for all. Deciding that all hope was not lost, she nodded to confirm her agreement to the current arrangement.

“Words.” He motioned her to speak.

Finding her voice, she acquiesced. “I offer you my loyalty.”

“Willingly.”

“Willingly.” She mumbled.

She witnessed the aroma around them shift gracefully. Colors merge into one another before one bright light claims all, enveloping them into one giant cluster. Before she could begin to justify the perplexity of her feelings, his voice reached her.

“Brilliant!” Shaurya beamed and clasped his hands together, rubbing them to ease, the excitement was evident on his face. The gleam in his eyes was enough to frighten the living daylights out of someone. Naina, however, stood calmly unable to understand the changing gears of her mind.

She wouldn’t be surprised to know that the Immortal in front of her was manipulating it.

But why would he?

What has she to offer?

Nothing was making sense to her.

Swimming in the pool of her vivid introspections, she failed to notice the scene around them dissolved, the gust of wind flowing around her and she was teleported to another place. The grip on her arms faltered and eventually left her side as the Immortal shifted himself to walk over to one large table.

Spinning on her heels, Naina noticed the obvious difference. This isn’t the place she often found herself tucked in.

Instead, it was a wonderland.

A plain clear sky looked down upon her as there wasn’t any roof above their heads. Surrounded by mountains followed by a stream of fountains whose mere existence created a huge question mark inside her mind considering there was no trace of the stream around the Mansion.

The place was filled with books and papers neatly set in wooden racks that nearly covered the entire perimeter. It was like a huge library in the middle of nature’s most beautiful setting. Naina couldn’t believe her eyes. To her, it seemed like the place was pulling her into its embrace. The selfish part of her was willing to forget everything and everyone only to stay here for the rest of her life.

“Where are we?” Her voice was filled with amazement.

“My home.” He answered, without sparing a glance at her, being too focused on one revolving object in front of him that currently held his attention.

She nodded cautiously, unsure of whether the sincerity in his voice is genuine or mere pretense. How can someone so evil live in a place so peaceful and serene? It was unseemly.

The surroundings were alien. For the briefest moment, she couldn’t identify if the place truly existed or if it was a mere illusion. Who knows what the Immortal was capable of? Tracing her fingers lightly over the racks, she peered curiously at the books and language foreign to her.

She meandered tracing her own shadow as the shelves came to life and opened on their own accord as if sensing the presence and willingness of the reader. The book flung open in front of her translating automatically into a language she could decipher. It was labeled ′Ancient Tempus - Before Time’.

She tried to get hold of it when a hand came in view and snatched it away from her grip. Following her gaze, she matched it with the man himself who watched her for a moment before speaking again. “For your sake, I hope you realize what loyalty means.”

Naina tried to appear offended. Of course, she realizes loyalty. She just signed herself to protect the secrets of the monster himself.

“That I must stay faithful to you.” She answered.

He came closer, shutting the book before keeping it aside. “If you as much as think of deceiving me-,” Shaurya stopped himself from speaking further, a grin dominating his face. “Perhaps, you should and find out what happens.”

Naina looked at him funnily. Does he expect her to play tricks on him? Was that even possible? She mused.

“Will I die?” She asked. It appeared to be a probable factor.

He did not answer, not straight away anyway. Just looked at her prudently. Naina was surprised to see he owns an expression marked by utmost wisdom.

“That would be a logical conclusion considering the Manor did try to kill you once.” He looked at her reproachfully further resigning his thoughts with a sigh before turning away from her.

“The Manor?” she asked with obvious disbelief reflecting in her eyes, “or you?”

“This is what you get when you live around mortals far too long, Akira. You start believing in their lies.” He closed the book and dismissed himself, shifting toward the other racks and scanning its content.

Naina felt she was thrashed by a sharp cold wave plunging into her, making her descend towards gravity at a disturbing velocity catalyzing her inner turbulence. She stormed in the direction he just disappeared, halting only when she reached arm’s length.

“What did you just call me?”

“Akira.”

“My name isn’t-,”

“It is.” He suddenly gripped her wrist snatching it away from her concealing embrace and brought it out in the open revealing the same circular band tattooed on the inside of her wrist with the words ‘Akira’ imprinted around its circumference.

“This is what they called you in the orphanage, didn’t they? Akira?” He asked holding her wrist tightly. Naina was sure it will leave marks.

Attempting to evade the residual feeling and shake her wrist off from his grip, she pulled her hand back caressing it in gently. Although her brain refused to signal her of the throbbing sensation itching along her skin being too focussed on the fact that the Immortal in front of her somehow knew about her years ago.

“How?”

He raised his hand in front of her to slightly touch her forehead. She retreated immediately to make some distance gulping the lump down her throat.

When she didn’t move an inch from her final place, he motioned her forward and spoke in a confident voice. “I’m only trying to answer your question.”

Use words. Naina wanted to say but stood there frozen as he reached forward, his hand touching her forehead. A memory started edging around the boundaries of her mind trying to shove its way in.

She held the nearby shelf, embracing a light headache followed by an unrelenting heaviness as the vision of her early childhood memory came raging back with full force making her almost shriek in the process.

Young Akira was riding her bicycle back from the store. Her basket was full of sweets and goodies. It was her fifth birthday in two days. The matron and caretaker were kind enough to lend her some money to treat herself. It was unlikely for either of them to leave the kids alone but the store was less than two hundred meters away. She guessed it was okay provided she went to the store and brought it in broad daylight.

Akira was far too happy and excited to think any further. What could possibly happen in two hundred meters?

A woman suddenly charged herself in front of her on the road and she had to pull the brakes to stop her bicycle causing the tires to screech and slip making her tumble and fall. Her sweets and goodies were all scattered and wasted on the road.

She was on the verge of crying when the woman in front of her shushed her. “I can get you some more. Why don’t you come with me?”

Akira remembered an important lesson her caretaker taught and made them rehearse the line every morning. ‘Never trust someone you don’t know.’ She shook her head in response, eyes full of heavy tears as she watched her sweets crushed on the road.

Dejectedly, she went back to grip the handle of her cycle when the woman offered again. “Come on. My house isn’t far and I have lots of chocolates and candies with me. You can have them.”

Akira bit her lips. She wanted candies. Her greed was clouding the warning inside her head.

Maybe she isn’t bad. She wondered.

Her eyes were hopeful. She smiled and proceeded to thank her for her generous offer when a hand landed on her shoulder stopping her in her tracks.

“There you are. I told you to slow down,” another voice, this time a man intervened looking down at her.

Young Akira arched her neck and gaped at him.

“And who might you be?” The man asked the pedestrian, inclining his head in her direction.

“I’m her mother.” She said in a sweet tone.

“Funny, I’ve never seen you before.” His tone was slightly traced on the edge of sarcasm. Before the woman could respond, her face paled, she grew tense and turned on her heels fleeing the place.

Shaurya opened his eyes reclaiming their original shade, shaking his head before glancing down at the girl who was still confused by the two of them.

He hoped to wave his hand to aid the wound from the fall as she scraped her knees, and wrists and earned some scratches on her skin here and there.

Only to find there weren’t any.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, he, nonetheless, waved his hand to fix her cycle.

“Are you a a a,” Akira struggled for the word but couldn’t pronounce it.

He squatted down to her level and responded to her query. “I’m magical.”

“Woah!” She exclaimed and cried in happiness. “I love magic.”

“Maybe you can learn someday.” He suggested. “Do you want to?”

“Yes,” she nodded in excitement. “Can I?”

This time he did not even wave his hand and all the candies and goodies restored their original form in the repaired basket

Nodding his head, he further negotiated.“But I need you to promise me something.”

She nodded vigorously, clutching the handle of her now-mended bicycle.

“You shall keep this meeting a secret.”

“Okay. I promise!”

For young Akira, it was easy to keep secrets. She has kept many secrets of her friends in the orphanage. This would be no different. However, at the height of her inexplicable excitement, she failed to notice the shift in the atmosphere around them.

Shaurya smiled. “Then I shall see you again soon. Until then, Akira!”

And he vanished in thin air. Young Akira stood there gazing at nothing. She frowned, unable to recollect what was she doing standing in the middle of the road. She hurried and mounted her bicycle and rode back to the orphanage.

Naina felt the strings attaching themselves inside her head as the memory flashed in her mind before bringing her back to reality. She gasped heavily, and the sudden sensation became too overwhelming to endure. She clutched her hands closer to her chest in a futile attempt to control her heartbeats.

They’ve met before. Why? She couldn’t fathom.

“Doesn’t answer how you know my name?”

“Saw your wrist when I healed it.”

“So you assumed my name just because of the letters imprinted on my wrist?” Naina questioned him, her glare directed his way without an ounce of fear. The fact that she was stripped of a very important memory felt like a personal violation and she would not stand it.

When he did not respond, she continued, adjusting her vision that was otherwise getting blurred with tears. “You stole my memory.”

“I didn’t steal your memory. Your promise caused your magic to restrict your mind from accessing it.” He countered her statement.

“I don’t have magic.”

“Is that what your adoptive mother always told you?” He asked curiously.

“How did you know my name?” Neglecting his question, she asked again, whisking around the flame of her flaring anger, she did not see that she stepped right into his personal space.

“Is that important? Aren’t you curious why your adoptive parents changed your name once they adopted you?” His eyes narrowed at their mere mention, vision down at her as he answered carefully.

“Do you think I’m going to trust you over them?” She asked scornfully. “You tried to kill me. She, on the other hand, saved me and gave me a better life.”

“I didn’t try to kill you.” He raised his voice at her for the first time. She flinched slightly at his tone not accustomed to harsh tone. “The Mansion did. The magic of the Mansion tries to kill people. You only survived because of this.”

He gripped her arms again, shoving the sleeves upward to reveal the mark on her wrist, without breaking eye contact with her.

“Your tried to kill me.” She repeated her words. It’s hard to forget considering the night is still in her memory like yesterday.

“My portrait tried to kill you. My portrait. It is painted to kill. For centuries. The very purpose of the portrait is to lure any inhabitant or outsider with the least bit of traces of magic inside them. Moreover, it was the magic of your mothers’ ancestors that made it all possible.”

“Why would they do that?” Naina refused to believe his lies. “My mother is only trying to protect me and my brother.”

Shaurya snickered at her false sense of reality.

“Do you really think your adoptive mother brought you and your brother here to save you?” He sneered and shook his head. “No, she brought you here to kill you.”

He whispered as she stood there close enough to feel his breath on her face. The shock on her face was too tangible to overlook that it took every bit of strength inside the Immortal not to reach out and taste it.