Srinivas stood drenched from his head to toe. He held a gun on his hand that was hanging loose from his bruised shoulders. He looked ahead at the frightened woman crawling to the corner of the hut that he had just stormed. She tightly held on to her falling sari and struggled to move her weight. Srinivas wondered why and then noticed that she was pregnant. She trembled in the cold rainy night and her teeth chattered looking at the blood lusting man standing at her doorway.

Unable to bear anymore fear she cried out, “What do you want?”

Srinivas awoke to her voice and looked at her. He remembered why he had come to this place. He took a step and lifted his hand as the water drained off his sleeves.

“I want it to end,” growled Srinivas.

“What do you mean? I have done nothing.”

Srinivas irritated by the woman’s ignorance shouted, “Not you. Him,” he pointed the gun at her belly, “Your son.”

The woman cried, “What has my child done? It is not even born yet.”

Srinivas ignored the hard-hitting fact because he knew something that the woman did not.

He steadied his hand keeping the gun pointed at her.

His finger froze around the trigger and he looked at the helpless woman and wondered if he was such a cold-blooded murderer. Then he remembered the future, the grim future and the man who caused it.

He said, “It will be born and then it will destroy this world and I won’t let it happen.”

Then he pulled the trigger.

Srinivas woke up wiping of his drool from his cheek. He clicked his tongue and tasted the dry taste that still lingered. He slowly lifted his half dead body and pushed it across the house. He had recently moved into this new apartment, a slightly bigger one from his previous. He staggered across trying to place the bedroom and the living.

He walked up to the front door and opened it. He liked the early morning sunlight and stepped out to get a dose of it. Instead of being bathed in sunlight he stepped on to the milk packet that had been left on his door step, breaking it and spilling it all over.

“Fuck!” swore Srinivas.

He cursed his way back into the house and now focused on getting his morning coffee. He walked over to the kitchen and began looking for the powder, sugar and mug. After a few minutes of hangover antics he managed to finish making his coffee and took his first sip. The caffeine moved quickly through him and triggered the signal. His brain awoke.

He was about to move over to the comfortable couch when his phone rang. A song from the 80s spread across the apartment filling it up. He managed to locate his mobile and answered it.

A woman on the other end said, “Is Mr. Srinivas there?”

“Yes this is Srinivas.”

“Sir, we are calling from St. Anne’s hospital. It is about Mr. Murthy.”

Srinivas wondered when the last time he heard this name was. A long time ago.

“Sir, are you there?

“Yes,” answered Srinivas caught by the word.

“Your name had been listed in the emergency contact.”

“Yes, correct. When was he shifted?”

“Yesterday night, sir.”

“Alright, what am I expected to do?”

“Sir, we regret to inform you that he has very less time to live. Since we do not have anyone else on the contact list could you please inform his loved ones?”

“Loved ones?”

The woman remained silent at the sarcastic remark by Srinivas.

Srinivas realized his outburst said, “Sorry, I am not sure how I can be of help. I hardly know him.”

The woman finding it hard to talk said, “I am sorry sir but we do not know anybody else. Please do come by as soon as possible.”

He found the conversation going in a wasteful direction and said, “OK,” and hung up.

Srinivas lay on the desk strewn with his work papers and drooled on them. The radio played in the back and his glasses hung from his face now stuck to the desk with his own saliva. The lamp shined on him with intensity and burned his cheek and ear. The alarm sounded and Srinivas woke up with few papers still stuck on his face. He slowly removed them from his face and arranged them on his desk. The papers were clearly important since he carefully arranged them in order and went through the equations while doing so.

He looked tired having worked the whole night and not much happy. He got up frustrated and slipped kicking the chair and table with anger. He had been drinking too and stumbled trying to find a balance. Then he collapsed and passed out.

He woke up to the sound of his doorbell. He wiped his face and went across the house to open the door. He opened it and found a few men dressed in a very religious attire standing at his doorstep. Before he could say anything the man at the front spoke.

“Do you believe you are leading a happy life?”

Srinivas surprised by the question thought about the answer.

The man continued, “I mean do you smile a lot? Is there happiness in your life? Have you recently discovered something?”

“No…”

“Hmmm…But you seem to be in trouble. Have you heard of Guruji Vishwas Singh and his quest to travel to the other dimensions? If you think your discovery has to do anything with the Guruji’s, you should come to Koti.”

“No…I don’t think so,” replied Srinivas.

As soon as the man heard Srinivas’s answer he continued, “Ah…then you are not in the right path. Take the three-day spiritual tourism in the valley of Koti under the aegis of Guruji Vishwas and rediscover yourself. He will take you with him to other dimensions and show you things you cannot imagine.”

“I am sorry but…”

“That is not just that. There is more.”

“No I really…”

“Do not decide now. Take this flyer…,” the man turned around to one of his associates who handed him a flyer, and thrust it into Srinivas’s hand and continued, “Read this. Take a look at what we offer and spend some time thinking about yourself and what you can do. Then decide. Is that a lot that I am asking you to do?”

The men all joined together and folded their hands and chanted something before taking leave. Srinivas looked at the flyer which had a picture of the guruji sitting in a serene valley with the Milky Way galaxy on the horizon. Srinivas frowned at the insanity of the picture and closed the door.

Srinivas stumbled across the village grassland falling around the mounds and ditches. It was raining heavily and he could hardly make out anything in the dark. He finally reached the house. He remembered it and crouched next to the wall and waited. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. He clicked open the chamber and checked the bullets. All six of them were loaded. He clicked it back into place and put it back in his pocket.

He waited as the rain poured on him. Then he stood up to enter the house.

Srinivas stood outside St. Anne’s and stretched his head all the way to the back looking at the statue of Jesus Christ. Then once his neck started hurting he walked into the hospital. He found his way to the ICU section and walked up to the nurse standing behind the wing reception.

He asked, “I am here for Murthy Kannan.”

The nurse looked up at him as if she had found someone she had been looking for years. She replied while going through some file, “And you are?”

“I am Srinivas. I was called from here.”

The nurse looked completely irritated with him and retorted, “Yes, yes Mr. Srinivas. Mr. Murthy is in room 3. Please follow me.”

She came around the desk and walked into the hallway followed by the reluctant Srinivas.

They came to the room 3 and the nurse stopped. She opened the door and signaled Srinivas to go ahead. As he walked by her she said, “Do not be loud. Make it quick.”

Srinivas opened his eyes and found him staring at an evening sky. He suddenly heard noises of men shouting and rolled over to his side and looked at the source of sound. A group of men chattered angrily and carried sticks and torches and walked past him. They did not seem to notice him and as soon as they passed, Srinivas got on his feet and followed them. As he tip-toed behind the men he patted his pocket and felt the bulge.

They soon reached what looked like the outskirts of the village and a lone house stood. The men walked up to it and banged on the door. It was opened by a woman draped in a sari. Srinivas hid at a distance and could not make out the face of the woman in the dark but the men were shouting at her. They seemed to be threatening her and then after a few minutes turned around and walked away returning back in the same path. Srinivas hid and made himself invisible. The men again walked past him.

Srinivas entered the room and saw the old professor lying on the bed with an oxygen mask fit on his face and medical equipment connected to monitor him. He walked over to the old man and peered. The old man had his eyes open and as soon as he saw Srinivas he started shaking. He pointed to the oxygen mask and Srinivas leaned over and removed it. The old man took a deep breath and whispered, “Come close.”

Srinivas leaned even closer and kept his ears on the man’s lips almost touching it.

The old man said, “This is very important. This is about the device. You remember?”

Srinivas looked at the old man questioningly and nodded. He went back to hearing him.

The old man continued, “I finished it. I built it and tested it but I made a mistake. I put a spinning light source on this end and the door opened up.”

Srinivas listened carefully noting down everything that the man said.

“If the door remains open than anything can go from here and come from there.”

Srinivas looked at the man and said, “What do you mean anything?”

The man coughed and said, “I do not know what is on the other side but it is better to stop it. These people are behind it and if it falls into their hand and then all hell will break loose. I made a mistake and you have to help me fix it.”

Srinivas shook his head and said, “I cannot. I told you this earlier. I want nothing to do with this.”

The old man shook in anger and whispered louder, “It is too late for that. I am in no position to do it and that is why I am asking you. If you do not act now than the world would be destroyed by you.”

Srinivas cursed the man under his breath, “You should have listened to her in the first place.”

The man blinked and a tear rolled out of his eyes.

Srinivas felt the inability of the man and said, “Alright, I will do it. Where is it and what should I do?”

The old man answered, “Come close.”

Srinivas walked back holding the flyer in his hand back into his study. He went to his desk and looked at the papers he had been working on. The strewn papers with the unsolvable equations frustrated him and he banged on the desk in anger. He took out his mobile and dialed a number.

“Hello,” said a voice.

Srinivas replied, “I am going crazy. I am unable to solve this. I need help.”

The voice listened for a few seconds and replied, “Relax now. You will get it.”

“How will I get it? That old bastard made it so complicated. If I have to reverse what he has done then I have to first close the door and in order to do that I have to introduce something to counter the spinning light source…wait,” Srinivas pondered while still on call.

“What happened? Did you find something?” the voice asked.

“I have an idea. I will call you back.”

Srinivas hung up and went to his desk.

Srinivas stepped out of the room and looked around. The nurse was still at her desk. He quickly walked to her and crossed without making a noise. She did not look up and he exited the building without anyone asking him anything.

He walked across the street and hailed an auto. He got in and quickly told the address to the driver who immediately shot out into the traffic.

Within minutes Srinivas arrived at an apartment and walked in. He caught the elevator and reached the ninth floor. He found his way around and came to the apartment numbered 903. He reached into his pocket pulled out a key and opened the apartment.

Once inside he looked around and carefully moved across without touching anything and reached into a room. He pushed the door open and peeped in. The room was filled with books, papers and boards. He carefully stepped over the books and reached the wardrobe. He opened it and bent down. He reached down and moved a pile of clothes and put his hand. He felt the cold metal and then pulled it out using both his hand.

Srinivas waited for the men to go past the hill. As the noise subsided and he saw the torchlight dim away in the distance, he came out of his hiding and walked towards the house. As he stepped away a heavy downpour started. He quickened his pace but within seconds was completely drenched. He moved towards the house.

Srinivas was bent over something and moved about as if a sculptor was creating his art. On his work desk stood a metallic object that was vibrating and making a humming noise barely heard. He brought about another two apparatus and made it stand next to the object. He bent over the apparatus and modified some setting by moving the knobs.

Just then he got a call on his mobile. He looked at the number and answered it.

“I have done it, “said Srinivas.

“Good, finish it and then we will celebrate, the old man would be proud of you,” said the voice, “Make sure you document what you changed.”

Srinivas nodded and hung up.

He went back to his work and then changed few more settings and then finally pressed a button. He stood back. The apparatus lit up and a light emerged out of it and beamed on the metallic object. The object started vibrating even faster and then a bright light spilled out of it blinding Srinivas.

Srinivas walked through the hospital hallway hurriedly and into the ICU section. A different nurse sat at the desk. She looked up at him and frowned questioningly. He walked up to her and said, ‘I need to see Dr. Murthy. He is in room 3.”

The woman looked up and then checked a file. Her expression changed and she said, “I am sorry but Mr. Murthy passed away this morning. He has been shifted to the morgue.”

Srinivas stared at her in horror. He stepped back and the woman said, “Sir, are you ok?”

He turned around and ran.

He bumped into a group of men and then slowly recognized them. They were the same who had come campaigning for the guruji. The same man now at the center recognized Srinivas and helped him back to his feet. Srinivas started apologizing.

The man stopped him and said, “Hope you find what you are running for? Remember our offer. Whenever you are ready, come to guruji and he will help you.”

Srinivas frowned and started running again towards the exit. He caught an auto and reached his home. He went into his study and walked to the object still at his desk vibrating and the apparatus next to it. He looked at it and stood confused. Then his eyes fell on the flyer still on the desk below the apparatus. He noticed something on it that he had missed earlier.

He pulled it out and observed it closely. The serene valley and Milky Way galaxy looked as if they had pulled out from the internet. His eyes fell on the guruji sitting in deep meditation. He noticed the man and his features. Then it dawned on him.

It was him. It was him as the guruji with a flowing beard and a white gown and in deep meditation.

He picked up his phone and texted.

I screwed up. It’s not him but I who opened the door. I am going in to fix it. Goodbye.

Srinivas recoiled when the shot was fired. The sound deafened him and the woman shouted at the top of her voice. She cried out thinking that it was her last moments but then realized that the crazy man had missed his shot. She looked up at the man.

Srinivas stood there still holding the gun and crying. Tears poured out of him as he cried, “Mother. I am sorry.”

Then he pointed the gun at his temple and pulled the trigger.