(Chapter - 23)

  [Tushar Nobin Nishan (2)]

  Tulshi is playing alone in the front yard, with her dolls and toys. Suddenly she sees a boy wearing a dark red cloak, staring at something from afar. His face can't be seen but he seems around Tushar's age. Also, the hair strands covering his forehead are yellow. So, Tulshi mistakes him for Tushar.

  Tulshi : Brother! Brother is home!

  Tulshi runs to the boy on her small feet. Softly grabbing the sleeve of his cloak, she calls to him.

  Tulshi : Brother, play with me. Come.

  The boy slowly turns his face to Tulshi and she realizes that this is not her brother. His fiery red eyes make Tulshi shiver and she lets go of his sleeve in an instant.

  Tulshi : Ah. *This is not brother. He looks scary!*

  Boy : You wanna play?

  His eerie voice deepens Tulshi’s fear. The boy forwards a hand to her, but she pulls herself inward.

  Boy : Let's go.

  Tulshi : No… No!

  Right at that moment, Tushar returns from school and sees them. A sudden shock mixed with anxiety takes over him. He starts running towards them. The boy, without noticing Tushar, grabs the hand of Tulshi to take her away.

  Tulshi : Ow!

  Boy : Come with me.

  Tulshi : NO! Let me go!

  Tushar : Hey! Let go of my sister right away!

  Boy : …Your sister, huh?

  Tushar tries to pull Tulshi from him, but he blocks and pushes Tushar.

  Tushar : Let go of her!

  Boy : Hmm… You both look alike.

  Tushar : *His eyes are red. Does he have powers?* Don't you dare hurt her!

  Boy : Or what? You can't do anything anyway.

  Tushar : Get lost!

  Tushar grits his teeth in anger and strikes him with ice powers. The boy dodges it perfectly, though a fragment of ice remains on the shoulder of his cloak. He nonchalantly looks at Tushar.

  Boy : That's not gonna do anything to me.

  He throws Tulshi on the ground. This triggers Tushar. As he's about to attack again, the boy strikes the ground with his fire and a fierce blow pushes Tushar to the back.

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  Tushar : Agh!

  Tulshi : Brother!

  Boy : All I want is the destruction of you. The ice powered people.

  The boy traps Tulshi inside a ring of fire so she can't escape. Tulshi keeps shaking in fear and calls her brother desperately.

  Tulshi : Ahhh! Brother!

  Tushar : Don't hurt her! Please! Let her go!

  Boy : I don’t wanna.

  Tushar : Please… *His hair is yellow itself. Then why does he want to destroy people with hair similar to him?* She's just a small kid! Don't hurt her!

  Boy : You think I care?

  Tushar creates a glass-like shield made of ice covering Tulshi, so the heat of the fire doesn’t reach her. The boy increases the temperature of the fire, which makes Tushar use his strength more to keep the ice from melting, something that is too much for a child like him to handle.

  Tushar : Ugh!

  Boy : You guys don’t deserve to live.

  Tushar : What did we even do to you?

  Boy : What did you do? Haha… Your powers are a curse for our lives!!

  He ignites fire in his hand and hits the ice with full strength, breaking the glass into pieces. A small shard of broken glass causes a deep cut on Tulshi’s right leg. Within moments, blood stains her soft, fair skin.

  Tulshi : AHH!

  Tushar : No! Stop! Please! Don't do anything to her!

  Boy : I can't stand you people with ice powers. I just can't stand you! I'LL BURN YOU ALL!!

  He creates an intense wall of fire in front of Tushar so he can't come towards him, then picks up a big broken glass, sets it on fire and slowly walks towards Tulshi. His evil expression and glowing red eyes lock on her. Tulshi covers herself with her small hands. Since Tushar wields ice powers, the high heat of the fire is unbearable for him. He can barely stand still.

  Tulshi : No! Save me!

  Boy : I'll burn you all.

  Tushar : Stop! She doesn’t have ice powers!

  Boy : ?

  Tushar : Don't hurt her, please! She doesn’t even have ice powers, I do. So let her go…

  Boy : …

  Tushar : I beg you.

  Tushar's eyes become tearful but the boy's face holds no sympathy. Still, the boy stops the fire, doubting Tushar's words.

  Boy : Well. What should I do if I find out that you’re lying?

  Tushar : I'm not… Lying. Ugh…

  Boy : Let's see then.

  He grabs Tulshi's hair. His cold, stern voice remains.

  Tulshi : Ow! Let go!

  Tushar : Hey! Leave my sister alone now!

  Boy : Show me your powers.

  Tulshi : It hurts!

  Boy : Show me if you want to live.

  Tulshi creates a yellow light beam in her hand. She keeps shaking and weeping. Once the boy confirms, he lets her go. Tushar gets up and comes running. But the boy stops him again.

  Boy : No, wait.

  Tushar : You saw it right? Now please let me take my sister.

  Boy : She doesn’t, but you have ice powers. I can't let you go, you know.

  Tushar : My sister is bleeding! Please let me save her first. I haven’t done any harm to you. Please leave us!

  Boy : Only on one condition. If you want to live, run away. Run far from here, without your family. Otherwise, your family will be burnt alone with you. Because… Your house is the last house of ice powered people with warm hair that I have yet to burn. Actually it's you two, since your mother has dark grey hair.

  Tushar clenches his fists. He must accept it to save his sister and family.

  Tushar : Ok, I'll do it.

  Boy : Good. Take your sister.

  Tushar rushes to Tulshi and temporarily covers the wound with his ice powers. He picks her up and runs towards the house door.

  Boy : I’m waiting here. I'll make sure you leave.

  A twisted smile forms on his face. Tushar runs into the house and hands Tulshi over to their mom. Mrs. Aloka gasps in shock, concerned to see the two in such a state.

  Mrs. Aloka : Oh my god! What happened? How did she get hurt!?

  Tushar : Mom… I need to run away. Please take care of Tulshi.

  Mrs. Aloka : What is the meaning of this, Tushar?

  Tushar : The boy who was behind all the houses burning in the city… Is here. He attacked us!

  Mrs. Aloka : What!!?? Oh no. What now? What should I do? Where do I go now!?

  Tushar : Mom! Listen. He was almost about to kill Tulshi and burn our house, but let us leave on one condition… That I must run away from you all. Then he'll let us live.

  Mrs. Aloka : No way!!

  Tushar : Please, mom! For the sake of Tulshi! I must run away. I'll just trick him into thinking that I ran away and stay hidden until he's totally convinced. I can do it.

  Mrs. Aloka : Don't even think about it! You're not going anywhere!

  Tushar : He'll kill all of us if I don’t! Please mom, I promise I'll come back after tricking him!

  Mrs. Aloka : Tushar, what's gotten into you!? Have you gone crazy??

  Tushar : Trust me mom.

  He holds Tulshi's hand, who's in their mother's lap.

  Tushar : Tulshi, please stay safe, ok? I'll be back soon and we'll play a lot.

  Tulshi : Brother, no! Don't go, please…

  Tushar : See you soon, Tulshi and mom!

  Mrs. Aloka : Tushar, no! Wait! Listen to me! Wait!

  Tushar runs out of the house fast, before their mother can catch him. Mrs. Aloka puts Tulshi down on the couch and runs after him. When she comes out, she sees the burnt grasses and broken pieces of ice glass in the front yard, but Tushar is nowhere to be seen. A chill runs down her spine seeing such a view. Her heart drops in fear, and she bursts into tears.

  Mrs. Aloka : TUSHAR!!!

  Tushar is running inside a forest, sometimes glancing around to see if he's being followed.

  “I may be mischievous, silly and carefree. But when it comes to the concerns of my family, I don’t take things lightly. And that day, I was determined to save my family.”

  Since no one is following, he stops to take a breath. Then a sound takes his attention and he looks back.

  “I thought I'd trick the boy and go back home safely once everything had calmed down. But I never even imagined that I'd be the one tricked instead…”

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