The Destiny Eclipsed

Hari went to change his drenched dress without locking the door; while he was slipping into his pyjamas, the door slowly moved; instantly alerting Hari's sharp senses.

He abruptly wore his shirt and turned around; in fact, both happened in the same instant. Such quick actions were impossible for normal humans.

*phew*

'That's a close call. Just false alarm; it's the breeze, luckily no one's around.'

Hari was determined to keep his army life hidden, if anyone happened to see those scars of his, then hiding his past would be nothing but a pipedream.

Only after seeing Shreya in the kitchen did he relax; after all his encounter with her a few minutes ago proved her uncommon background.

A few minutes later, they started their first post-marriage dining. Needless to say, the atmosphere was awkward and very uncomfortable for either of them.

*Cough*

Hari broke the silence with a mild cough.

"Everyone has their secrets, the only reason I agreed to this marriage was to safeguard mine. Like you guessed, I have a disturbing history and the past filled with mysteries.

Hari finished his piece in a single breath and waited for an agreement from the other party. Hari was threatening her indifferent cold voice; though she didn't seem intimidated.

Shreya nodded in response after a small hesitation; after all, she wasn't silly enough to break the contract herself. Seconds later, the tension and awkwardness slowly vanished.

Both of them started having a normal conversation just about everything while having dinner; they carefully avoiding s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e topics involving their real background or occupation.

"So, what happened? Shemo's familiar around you, awfully accustomed to someone he just met?"

Shreya casually enquired.

"Ahh... Shemo is it this fella's name?" Hari asked with hesitation.

"Yes, it's this fella. I found it by a remote shed in the city; he was nearly flooded. Someone has been treating his wounds, but the unexpected downpour nearly ruined him."

Shreya exaggerated the facts a little bit to probe him. Hari was utterly lost.

'I've been treating the little guy for a week now, but I never gave him a name, but this woman just found him this evening and has already named him, that too Shemo..

Hari could only mentally cry in bewilderment, and then he patiently narrated the accident one week ago. Through which that stupid driver earned a round of rebuke from Shreya.

Slowly both of them started having a lot more casual conversation before they retired to their rooms.

As for as the new member of the house, Shemo; he went to his cosy new bedding with Shreya completely ignoring Hari.

'Dogs are supposed to be loyal.'

Again Hari could only mentally complain of injustice.

*****

11:00 am, 25th July 2018, Wednesday, Chennai.

Hari slowly awoke, yesterday was simply a roller-costar ride, he was thoroughly beaten. Thus he slept 12 hours straight to revitalize the energy he expended.

In the Hall, he found a small note on the refrigerator.

He just shook his head seeing the clock, he was a bit too late for breakfast. Hari tried calling Anil a

couple of times, but the opposite party's line was engaged.

Since he was too bored, he sat before the television and picked a Zombie horror movie. Actually, Hari would rarely spend time on the tv but today the time seemed to have slowed down, each minute seemed like an hour; maybe, he was just too excited to meet his brother after two years.

When the clock struck 8:00 pm8:00 pm Hari left the house in his trusty motorbike. He reached the park half-an-hour later thanks to the traffic.

The Velox Banyan Park, Chennai.

Humongous Banyan trees blanketing the entire park, hiding the park from the moon; creating beautiful scenery in the middle of the city.

Hari was rushing through the crowded park without admiring the breathtaking scenery before his eyes, while his eagle eyes scanned the crowd for his friends.

The phone was dead, he could only curse his carelessness and grit his teeth look around for them.

After ten minutes, he finally found his brothers. They were sitting under the tree and happily chatting; from a distance, Hari noticed this group of misfits.

Behind them, three women, each of them had seductress hourglass figure igniting the belly fire even to the smallest man out there.

He swiftly ran to the group of five under the giant Banyan tree. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the two guys jumped up and dashed to Hari.

Hari spread his arms for a huge bear hug; unfortunately, all be received was a good round of thrashing.

The six and a half foot monstrous fatty rammed into him, sending him flying. Then build man overtook Hari and cruelly pulled down.

Hari was ruthlessly crushed on to grass fields, even a couple of grass went through his mouth nearly choking him; three more joined trashing. Hari turned to a human punching until everyone vented all

their frustration.

Resistance's futile, fighting them is akin to crushing rock with an egg or even worse. They were elite soldiers, while Hari's a retired military man and crippled one nonetheless.

Hari was expecting a drama but not a one-sided thrashing, though it didn't leave any permanent injuries his mobility would be severely dampened for a couple of days.

Actually, he was to blame, after all, they were left them hanging for a good 2 years.

"So What happened during these two years.?" Hari casually asked without turning his head.

"Nothing much, once you left, we all were reallocated to different squads. Then we all got…."

The fatso started to narrate the two years tale, but Hari interrupted.

"Got into fights and again reallocated again and again till you voluntarily retired."

Hari looked at fatty for confirmation.

"Yeah, we.."

All the five of them hung their heads down while the fatty admitted him heavy guilt.