7 days

September 26

The lights were off in the apartment, the only illumination was the faint balcony lights. Shubman gulped in fear.

‘ Babe’ his voice trembled.

Silence.

‘ Ishaan ... .this ..this isn't funny’ he tried to sound angry but failed.

‘ You didn't think I would leave you that soon, did you?’ a voice whisper near Shubman's ears.

‘ Kaka, wake up, you are having a nightmare!’

Simran's voice brought Shubman back to reality. He sat up startled, drenched in sweat, hyperventilating. He looked around to the familiar surroundings of his room.

‘ I….it was a..where's Ibrahim?’ Shubman asked as he got off the bed.

‘ Baby..what's going on?’ Simran walked after Shubman.

‘ Ibrahim!’ Shubman called out.

Ibrahim looked up from his tablet. He had a few security men with him.

‘ What's going on?’ Ibrahim asked.

‘ Ask them to leave please’ Shubman said, still trying to catch his breath.

Ibrahim dismissed them and sat down with Shubman.

‘ it's…it's not over is it?’ Shubman struggled to ask.

Ibrahim and Simran exchanged fearful glances.

‘ it was…it was in my dreams again. It was the same voice as before. The same voice of that….of that jinn’ Shubman cried.

He rubbed his hands on his thighs trying to calm himself down.

‘ Shubman sir …we, we wanted to talk about it, but waited till you recovered a little bit’

‘ Talk….talk about what?!’ Shubman yelled.

‘ The jinn talked about the other half, right? We….we interrogated Mayank about it…and uh ….he won't tell us anything. We did everything, he….he won't break, even under third degree’

With every word Ibrahim said fear crept up Shubman's spine and settled on his scapula, dripping down to his heart.

‘ We searched through his apartment here in Mumbai, and.. there was nothing there. It was an empty apartment, with a mattress and basic necessities’ 

‘ What….what am I gonna do?’ Shubman screamed and buried his head in his hands.

‘ Absolutely nothing. You will pretend as though nothing happened. Your fans….they are getting suspicious about your lack of activity…’ Shubman's father interrupted them.

Ibrahim stood up as he entered the apartment.

‘ Dada…what…? How do you…how do you expect me to be okay, with all this happening?!’ Shubman got up in frustration.

He paced around the room, fearful of what Mayank could be hiding.

‘ Sir, he's right….’ Ibrahim quietly said.

Everyone turned around to look at him.

‘ Then ….what…what, what am I supposed to do?’ he asked through the tears.

‘ Uh…remember in Harry Potter, the dementors, they uh . They feed on the person's negative emotions, right?’ Ibrahim asked coming towards him.

Everyone stared at him, confused.

Shubman thought for a while and nodded.

‘ These things ….these things are like that. They will feed on your negative thoughts. Sir, there's nothing attached to you anymore. What's left…it's with Mayank, and I swear to God, I will find out what it is..’ Ibrahim said.

‘ You have to be strong till then, you need to call your friends over and sit with them, you need to be seen outside. You need to sit with your family instead of being isolated,’ Ibrahim instructed.

‘ I…I don't know if I can, I'm…I'm petrified' he whimpered.

‘ Shubman, tu toh Mera sher hei. You can do this my son. You have to be strong and make a recovery, remember all your dreams that are still left to achieve?’ his father said, taking his hands.

Shubman looked around at the people with him. He was afraid, extremely afraid, but they were right. He needed to be strong. There were still things left for him to do. He thought of Ishaan, he still had to ask for his forgiveness.

‘ How….how will you find out what Mayank is hiding?’ he asked after a while.

‘ I'm going to Kolkata. That's where he grew up…maybe I will find something there’ Ibrahim answered.

‘ Alone?’ Simran spoke.

‘ With Abrar…’ Ibrahim said, avoiding her eyes.

‘ Wait…if you go, who will stay with my son?’

‘ Don't worry sir, I hand selected some men to stay with him. They will be under my command, they have been instructed what to do’ Ibrahim answered.

Simran watched Ibrahim change colors to a military man. He stood firm, with his hands behind his back, chest out chin slightly lifted. The soft sunlight filtering through the curtains fell directly over his eyes. She tilted her head as she realized that he wore eyeliner.

‘ Do what you must, but bring an end to this’ Shubman's father sounded stern.

‘ Yes sir’

‘ Are you ….are you going to be okay?’ Shubman asked fearfully.

‘ Yes sir. Kolkata is my home, I have nothing to worry about,’ Ibrahim smiled slightly.

‘ When will you be back?’ Simran asked.

‘ When I have enough answers,’ Ibrahim answered.

Ibrahim avoided her eyes again.

Shubman sensed Simran's anger as she continued to stare at Ibrahim. 

‘ Dada, can you help me to the room please?’ Shubman said getting up.

Shubman secretly winked  at Simran as they left together.

‘ Why are you avoiding me?’ Simran whispered to him as soon as she heard the bedroom door shut.

Ibrahim bit his lower lip, looked down and shrugged.

‘Are you going to be gone for long?’ she asked, standing in front of him.

‘ I don't know,’ Ibrahim answered truthfully.

Simran played with the ends of her shirt, not knowing what else to say.

‘ I need to go and finish my work’ Ibrahim said, clearing his throat.

He glanced at Simran and paused for a minute before he turned to leave.

‘ib…Ibrahim?’ she called out.

Ibrahim turned around and raised his eyebrows at her.

‘ call me every night’

Ibrahim nodded and tried to suppress his laugh.