"Hayden! Hayden! Wake up, buddy!"
I fluttered my eyelids. My mind was fuzzy. I was finding it hard to wake up, needless to say that I was in la-la land with her, the girl of my dreams, who eventually turned into my virtual companion. Last remnants of my dream was slowly fading away with sudden interruption of someone calling my name. Irritated, I slowly managed to open my heavy eyes. I lifted my head up to look briefly at the tiny clock resting on my table beside my half- opened diary. I was even more frustrated when I realized I was forced to wake up at half part two in the night. I tentatively presumed it was Tyrell's voice ringing in my mind but knowing it was still middle of the night and that I might just be imagining, I cleared my mind and dozed off picturing her again.
"Hayden! WAKE UP! PRONTO!"
I jerked and swiftly opened my eyes. Finally pushing her away and focusing on reality, I discerned Tyrell's panicky voice talking inside my brain for real. I immediately checked my clock for confirmation.
"Tyrell!" I gasped, "Is it the sunny two-thirty already? Did I oversleep?"
"No, it is still the night two-thirty."
"I guessed it so. What happened? Is everything okay?"
There was certainly a slight strain in his voice. Tyrell seemed in stress. But I didn't worry about it. That was how he usually reacted whenever he failed to find a matching cap for his shirt.
"Oh, of course," he said, his voice turning screechy, "I am just holding this stupid phone against my ears and actually talking in my mind with you, if you call it is okay."
"Er...what?"
"Look, don't speak, only listen. Dude, I am stuck in jail. You have come and get me out of here."
I stood up, pushing away my blanket, totally dumbstruck. Did he just say jail?
"What! When...how?"
"I can't explain right now. Just come to Bay plain county police station and help me get a bail."
I paused for second to clearly understand his situation. "Are you serious?"
"Wha...now why would you think I would say something like this in the middle of the night?"
I began striding all around my room, scratching my head, my total body shaking with anxiousness. I still wasn't able to understand if this was some kind of joke. I mentally began scrutinizing the calendar. This wasn't Fool's Day. It was neither my birthday for him to trick me into something like that nor his birthday, nor anyone else's.
"You are stuck in jail?" I asked again, "J-A-I-L jail?"
"Yes, Mr. Smarty pants!"
"Alright," I said quickly, "Just stay put. I will talk to Doctor."
"No!" he squeaked, sounding terrified, "Do not tell Doctor. He will be so mad. If he comes to know I sneaked out of the academy late in the night, he will ground me for lifetime."
I hung my head, shoulders slumping and placing my hand on my hip.
"Then why the hell did you sneak out, without even telling us?"
"Look, stop asking questions." his voice suddenly turned low, "This police officer is now right across me with not only his eyes, but his ears and nose and everything upon me. I cannot explain. For the love of god, understand."
"Okay, I get it," I said quickly not wanting all the details, "what do you want me to do? You know I can't walk outside the academy. I am still a super wanted criminal. And out of all places you are stuck in a police station, thank you very much."
"I don't know, dude. Just figure out something. And yeah...you are welcome!"
Tyrell was gone. I was startled as someone has suddenly hung up a real telephone on me. I still wasn't able to digest that my friend was genuinely in jail. I shook my head and then tried to contemplate hard. I sighed aloud with relief, when my mind reminded me of my other best friend. Quickly, I contacted him.
"Pruthvi, can you hear me?"
Pruthvi Krishna was one such person who wouldn't even wake up even if it was an end of the world. I still wouldn't quite get it how he had slept for more than two days when he was kidnapped by Shourya months ago.
After calling him for more than fifteen minutes finally he woke up, groaning a little and then said with a trilled voice, "What is it, Hayden? I am too tired. Can it wait till morning?"
"If I tell you Tyrell is stuck in jail, will that boost you up?"
"Tyrell is in...wait, what? Ouch! I hit my head. Stupid table!"
"Open your door. I am coming in."
I rushed outside. Making sure the corridor was clear, I quietly tip-toed towards Pruthvi's room. But before, I didn't forget to check on Tyrell's door that was right now closed shut, just to make sure if he wasn't toying with us.
"What do you mean he is in jail?" Pruthvi asked, who was now close to hyperventilating.
He was in his old and saggy pajamas. His thick hair was total ruffled. His glasses weren't on, revealing his black eyes which appeared smaller than usual.
"That was what he told me," I said, closing the door behind.
His room was the best room ever, filled with all different gadgets and appliances. He lit a small scented candle at the corner that transformed the odor of the room into the smell of the fresh early morning winter garden.
"Are you sure he is not messing with us?" he asked, putting his glasses on that were kept on the table beside his and Leena's photo frame. "Did you check his room?"
"It is closed and I don't think he was joking. He really seemed pretty serious."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go to doctor and inform him," he suggested.
"No, we can't," stopping him when he stepped upfront towards his door, "Tyrell doesn't want him to know. And I think he is right. Doctor will definitely cancel all his rights to step outside the academy. Trust me, we don't want that to happen to him."
He stood akimbo slightly frustrated.
"So?" he asked, "What are we supposed to do?"
I looked aside, away from him. My eyes fell on the new beats headset he bought last week when he went to the mall to shop with Leena.
I brainstormed and an idea struck to me. "Come with me."
Pruthvi was now trying to open the door of the convenience store without jiggling his keys much. I stood beside him, checking around at all directions to make sure none has spotted us walking around in the middle of the night, especially Doctor and the new kitchen chef Ira Zutshi. Doctor has told us she was an accomplished witch and that she can keep tracks of everyone's location. She was the one who located Yamini, our ex-chef and now Doctor has asked her to keep checking on the whereabouts of my dear friend and my guide-Celina Hanslay.
I was missing her, I cannot deny it, I was missing her badly. Her decision of leaving academy to take over her Late Uncle's bar was something we never saw it coming. Her absence was creating a sort of incompleteness in our lives. Three months ago, Doctor has allowed us to meet her, giving us one hour permission to be with her in Dakshinpur. One hour wasn't enough for the five of us spend a quality time. Tyrell urged her to keep visiting academy frequently but her responsibilities towards the bar never allowed her to. In the past six months, to Tyrell's utter shock, we met her only once.
I always knew there was something between them and all those days they were just in denial. They maintained their relationship in a calm manner rather than forcing onto each other. When they finally came together and acknowledged their feelings towards each other, in no time they fell apart. Tyrell and Celina were now a couple, or for namesake, they still were. There distant relationship wasn't going on well. Neither of them was happy. But they were willing to give up all their dreams to be together as they had this understanding of respecting each other's decision.
The crackling sound of the door pulled my thoughts to the present. As soon as Pruthvi opened the door wide, together we dashed inside and hurried towards the Call Log section.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pruthvi asked skeptically. "If doctor comes to know..."
"We have to make sure he doesn't. And yes, I do want to do this," I said, sternly, "It's been ages since I talked to my aunt. She always promises to meet me but she never shows up. She has been dodging me all the time. I think it's the time we meet at least now."
I quickly selected one of the call logs and dialed the number.
"Hello," said the female operator from the other side, "Thank you for using the call logs. Your voice shall be recorded for the safety purposes. Now whom do you want to speak with today?"
"Tanya Galloway."
"Place?"
"Orlando."
"Reason?"
"I need to see my uncle and it's urgent." I blabbed the first thing that came out my mouth.
"Thank you for your patience, you may continue."
It began to ring and it took a several rings for my aunt to pick up the call and that seemed like a lifetime.
"Hello, who is it?" said my aunt in droopy voice.
"It's me," I replied.
"Mr. Marin," she said, her voice sounding stunned, "Are you alright?"
I hated when she called me by some other name. I had no other choice but to continue with the flow.
"Yes, Mrs. Galloway. I was looking forward to discuss with you about the condition of a patient..."
Okay, here we go again. I was being Mr. Marin and according to me Tyrell was the patient. My aunt was a nurse by profession and whenever I called her we always pretended to talk about a random hospital case. Reason- police has tapped my aunts' phones and we were forced to be very careful. Single clue and I could be busted, not to mention the whole academy. It came to my attention that once police has kept an enquiry at and around the orphanage, where Ira was working as one of the admins. She was the one who saved me and the academy that very time.
"Er...I am really sorry," my aunt said, "I am still unable to meet you. Police is keeping a close eye upon us twenty four seven."
"I know that," I mumbled quite angrily.
Pruthvi then mouthed to talk about Tyrell and leave everything about me for later. I quickly changed the subject, "Mrs. Galloway, is it possible for your husband to come down to Tampa. Actually one of my patients, who happens to be my friend, is stuck in jail and he needs to get a bail."
"What, right now?" she asked, "In Tampa? Are you serious?"
"Yes. In Bay Plain County jail."
"But..."
"Please," I said, "Please don't deny it. He is professional lawyer and I need his help. My friend is innocent and he really needs to get out of there."
There was a pause for a moment before she said, "Alright, I'll talk to him. But how will he recognize your friend?"
"I will be there," I said and then as I knew what her reaction would be, "Don't worry I'll be safe. Tell Mr. Ryan I'll see him in an hour or two. Bye"
I hung up before she could make anymore excuses. Pruthvi was staring at me like I was one daring idiot.
"Don't look at me like that," I whimpered.
"You know you are risking too much, don't you? If anything happens, Leena is going to kill me and leave alone Doctor."
"Do we have another option?"
Pruthvi shook his head unable to answer me. But watching his expression I understood he actually liked my idea of taking my Uncle's help, only that he didn't want me to land into any troubles.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" he said, "Doctor always seals the entrance door."
His words stopped my momentum of walking just like a seatbelt in a car on hitting the brakes.
"Tyrell was successful in breaking the seal," I said, but being unsure, "We should figure out something."
He nodded reluctantly. We both started walking outside the store, lost in our own thoughts. Pruthvi removed his keys from the pocket of his pajamas to close the door. But before we could even step outside the shop... Boom! I bumped into him and I, at once, came to a conclusion - today was going to be my death day!
"Going somewhere, my heroes?"
Dr. Krishant Veer was standing right across the door looking murderously at me. Wearing a pure white cotton night dress, holding the same old stick in his hand, his salt and pepper hair slightly messy and eyes full droopy, he looked rather old than he usually did. My mouth fell and my shoulders shuddered. How on earth did he know about us? And then I got my answer promptly. Ira Zutshi walked in and stood next to him. She was in her blue floor length nightgown and her hair tied in side plait that reminded me a lot of my mother.
"Hey Doc!" said Pruthvi, trying to act as normal as possible. "We were just..."
"Save it Pruthvi. I know about Tyrell," Doctor said and then turned to me, "What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking my friend needs my help."
Pruthvi shot me a look.
I was sick of doctor blaming me for everything. I hated when he always thought of me as an incompetent in handling things on my own. So I straight up gave him the answer but obviously, that didn't come out right.
"And we are all on a hike here?" doctor retorted with a raised voice.
That shut me up. How I could tell him, that we were actually worried about Tyrell's punishment aftermath.
"Doctor," said Ira stepping forward, "We should worry about Tyrell first."
"That kid is going to put me in so much trouble one of these days," muttered Doctor.
He was completed enraged and tensed. His only problem, he cared too much about twelve of us and that was making his hair fall out of his head rather than his old age.
"Both of you," said Doctor firmly, pointing his finger at us, "Go to your rooms and begin you day as usual. Ira, please come with me."
"No, wait," I said quickly, "I want to come with you."
"Seriously, Hayden?"
"Doctor, please," I urged, taking a step forward, "I already talked to my aunt and I want to meet her."
"Worry about yourself first," he said, "Police is keeping a close eye on your uncle and aunt. They already came to know someone is calling them from orphanage. Now if your uncle Ryan comes in aid for Tyrell, it might just create another suspicion. And I can never put you in danger, ever."
Then he mumbled something beneath his breath, biting inside of his left cheek. I understood nothing but I was sure I heard him saying- 'Harsh'.
Oh, Yeah! Did I forget to mention? I am related to King Harsh, by the way. I am his freaking grandson!
"Doctor, I'll come with you," said Pruthvi, "I can be some kind of alibi..."
"Thank you Pruthvi but no. It is good that you care for your friend but you need to stay here and leave Tyrell to me."
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Clock struck five. Doctor hasn't come back yet nor we were able to contact Tyrell. We eagerly wanted to know what was happening down in the police station. For more than two hours, I and Pruthvi have been waiting for them impatiently, checking on our clocks and watches continuously. We tried to kill time by talking all the possibilities about what might have had happened to Tyrell and how he was successful in getting out of Doctor's 'after seven seal' entrance doors. We even went so low in imaginations and formulated a thought that what if Tyrell has stolen some of the Chandrika powder from Doctor. But then on realizing Tyrell wouldn't do such a thing, we ruled that thought out. He was a skilled humorist, not a thief.
Sitting in Pruthvi's room, we passed another hour staying mum after making out all the possibilities. For a while I watched Pruthvi browsing internet to see if there was any news circulating about Tyrell. Pruthvi raised a point which I couldn't deny. What if Tyrell used his deadly lightning in the outside world and his Fulgurkinesis was caught in camera just like my Pyrokinesis. Wow, that could be a real deal!
Then as clock struck six, Pruthvi's alarm rang aloud, making me jump on my heels. But I didn't complain, Pruthvi needed such horrendous sound of alarm.
"Time for yoga," he said, shutting his computer down.
Grimly we walked out of the room to begin our day. I had this nasty feeling filling in my guts. It definitely wasn't going to be a normal day as it has been from the past six months since we came back from Dakshinpur learning a few spine chilling truths about our parents.
Anila Vanderpol, the Samagraha with the power of enhanced memory termed Memoclain, was our yoga instructor and that was her daily job. She stated that all her family members were yoga lovers and that has made her memory so strong. But we all knew that was not the case. She was also Ruchin Daniels's girlfriend, the one with the power of long distance hearing. He, unlike the others, was a sensible Breaking Samagraha. He was the only person I liked to hang out apart from my friends.
The last person, entering the training room (of course keeping Tyrell as an exception) was my other dear friend and Pruthvi's girlfriend, Leena Savant. She usually took ample amount of time to get herself all dressed up. Tyrell always joked that the two things that lead her to live other than oxygen were her make-up kit and a mirror. Only six months ago she came to know that she was also the Princess of Sharad Dynasty. Since then, on observing carefully, she began applying even more color to her face and wore sparkling outfits that made Pruthvi immensely attracted towards her.
"Tyrell is in jail?" she shouted, really loud, making several heads instantly turn towards us.
That was how Leena reacted when we told her about Tyrell and what had happened few hours ago with Doctor.
"No, everything is okay," said Pruthvi to the curious turned heads, "We were just joking."
"Hey, Krishna," shouted Anila who was standing at front, and ready to begin the session, "Where is Kissler? It's almost time to begin."
"Oh! Er..." he said glancing at me and trying to frame a lie, "He is not feeling well. He won't be joining us today. We can start without him."
She shrugged and positioned herself. "Alright everyone. Let's begin with the warm up. Two Sun Salutations. Here we go. Deep breathe up..."
"You really need to calm down," said Pruthvi to Leena lifting his hands up on Anila's instruction.
"I don't know how else to react when you give me a spooky news flash like that," she snapped.
"We shouldn't talk about this here," I suggested, looking at Ruchin and reminding them about his power, "Let's finish with our session first."
"Shhh..."
A voice came from the left, hushing us. It was Maahir, the most punctual and loyal member of the academy. We smiled at him awkwardly and resumed our work out.
Forty minutes past and we ended our practice with the cool down. I wiped my sweat with my sleeve and checked my watch. It was seven o'clock and yet no sign of Tyrell or Doctor or either Ira. Now my heart began to drum faster than ever.
"How can Tyrell be in jail?" Leena shouted, as soon as we entered Pruthvi's room, "When did he even think of sneaking out? And even if he did walk outside, what crime could he possibly commit that landed him in jail? There must be some mistake. We should connect him and..."
"Okay, calm down, Leena," said Pruthvi rounding his hand over her shoulder, "Take a deep breath. What did you learn from yoga, huh?!"
"Can it, Pruthvi," she said as he laughed.
"I don't think worrying too much would be beneficial," I said, sitting on Pruthvi's bed, "Doctor will get Tyrell back, anyhow, whatsoever."
I didn't actually believe that. I was the one worrying more than they were, but I tried calm myself by firstly soothing them.
"I know doctor is a genius," said Pruthvi, "But remember, even doctor was backstabbed once. Shashi and his men can do anything. They can jump from Paramarashtra to USA as easily as jumping from trampoline."
I didn't realize I haven't actually closed the door properly till it suddenly burst open leaving the three of us stunned.
His baggy pants and shirt drenched in mud, his head without holding a cap, his frizzy hair totally messed up, standing before us was the guy we were waiting since a long time.
"Hey guys! What's up?" said Tyrell Kissler, wearing a gentle smile on his face.
-x-