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Dec-7-2018 16:55

It could not have been more than a week since they defeated the mysterious Jack, the mastermind behind the Order of the Sphinx, and his dastardly plan to create a "perfect world", a world full of eunuchs making everyone the same.

In that time, Marc made an enemy and then a friend though Edward Carlyle, a soon-to-be disgraced FBI agent. Edward's team died fighting Sphinx, he was held responsible for each of their deaths. But it was Jasper who sacrificed himself to create the perfect distraction.

Marc sat alone in the dark nursing a bottle of gin, reflecting on the past events. He jumped at the sound of a lout rapping on his door.

"It's open!" He called out without looking up.

Riza walked in. "We're heading to the train station. The train leaves in an hour to Karachi. You ready?"

Marc gulped the last of his gin and tossed the bottle behind him, shattering the glass against the wall as he stood up. He heafted his bag over his shoulder and smiled.

"Let's go get our friend."

Dec-18-2018 06:09

‘What do you mean he never showed up?’ Molly clicked as the attendant leafed through his record for the sixth time.

‘Mr. Edward Carlyle, correct? C-A-R-L-Y-L-E. I’m so sorry Madame, but the private jet never arrived. I am still waiting for the telegraph to confirm if the plane ever took off from Shanghai.’

Even Joseph was able to sense that Molly’s irritation was about to flare again, and everyone in the group kept quiet. ‘How can a plane just go missing? I’ve arranged this private flight for Mr. Carlyle myself. He is supposed to be here at least 2 hours ago!’ The team indeed came directly from the train station to the Karachi air strip, knowing Ed may have been waiting for them for a while.

‘In truth, Madame, planes do go missing. A while back an American woman pilot has lost contact since their plane left Calcutta, and on-going search has reaped nothing.’ The attendant replied politely, but the way he uttered “woman pilot” sounded as if he was about to spit.

Joseph noticed Riza was going through the staff bulletin board pinned with the latest communications. He walked up next to her and started raking through the notes as well. There were a few fading updates on the American pilot Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Electra 10E Special. Many radio voice signals on 3105 kHz, as well as Morse code messages via 6210 kHz were reported in Central Pacific but the analyzed post-loss signal reports determined most of them to be hoaxes.

So many hoaxes? Joseph asked himself, but he never voiced out his queries, especially not to Riza, who seemed to have given him the silent treatment ever since they left the train. Was he missing something again?

Dec-18-2018 06:10

Another half hour pass and a telegram reply was finally received:
FOUND PILOT IN SHANGHAI STOP
HE WAITED FOR MR CARLYLE FOR HOURS STOP
CARLYLE DID NOT SHOW UP STOP
PLANE NEVER LEFT SHANGHAI

Molly remained uncharacteristically quiet for a full minute. She then took a deep breath and concluded, ‘Well, one missing person at a time. We deal with Anais first. Ed and Shanghai will have to wait.’ Molly turned with determination and strode back to the Jeep she purchased for their search in Karachi. Joseph started the truck and the four rode silently back to the city.

Dec-30-2018 19:09

As the hot desert sun beat down relentlessly well before its zenith, Anais took a moment to wonder, sipping her hard earned water, if Amelia had been able to get her warning to her friends. She knew she had been duped. She had made sure Amelia knew the trap that had been set for Anais, and the new trap waiting to be sprung on her friends. She had been so blinded by her hubris that she thought herself to be more intelligent than O Lýkos. The situation was helpless. She knew she would never see her daughter or her friends again, even if she managed to live, which seemed doubtful each passing day. The Wolf had punished her severely when it was found she had passed a message, but she had escaped, eventually. Escaped and, by a fortune Anais still could not believe, stolen the map from Bhediya. With the amount of time that had passed, she was sure her friends had respected her wishes. It gave her a measure of peace that they would not be in danger because of her stupidity. Anais scrabbled at the rocks, desperate to make it back to the cave she had found to hole up in, to survive in, before the sun rose even higher. It was too risky to venture out to the ancient well at night, too cold and too many predators. The only cave she had found big enough took an hour to travesre safely up the rock from the well. She had no canteen. There was only food she had left was what she was scavenging. Wild roses were particularly good. And after awhile, eating tarantulas had become second nature. All her life was good for now was to guard the map.

Jan-10-2019 18:46

Edward finally arrived in Karachi. He stepped off the train with the sick feeling from missing the plane that Molly arranged for him. The sickening feeling only grew with each moment as he feared seeing her face. No doubt she was angry with him, and she had every right to be.

"Oh, God," he whispered to himself as he beat himself up in his thoughts. The sick feeling only made him long for a drink even more. Something he'd have to get used to fighting.

As he collected his bags, someone caught his eye, standing in the station. Vulkie? Edward blinked and wiped his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He ran into the building to greet her. She noticed him and motioned for him to stay back.

"What?" he mouthed to her.

She shook her head and waived her hand at him, again, motioning for him to stay back. Edward sat down at the nearest seat and grabbed a magazine. He held it up as if he was reading, but peaked over the top to watch. A large man walked up to Vulkie and reached to grab her arm. She moved quickly throwing something into his eyes. He screamed and grabbed his face.

"Run!" she yelled at Edward as she ran past him. Without thinking about his stuff, he got up and ran, following her into the crowded street.

Jan-11-2019 01:19

***The following morning, before arriving at Karachi Station***

As Vulkie softly opened her eyes, she could feel a burning sensation around her throat. As she grabbed her pocket mirror out of her purse, she looked it over; it was all reddish and at the mere touch, Vulkie winced.

"Someone played a bit rough yesterday," Vulkie pondered, remembering the mysterious man who had asked what her business in Karachi was.

Immediately alert, she grabbed her Colt 1911 and checked it. The mysterious man had removed the clip and even the bullet loaded in her chamber, leaving her unarmed.

As he stept into the train car with two cups of coffee, Vulkie aimed her gun at him automatically, but then recalled she had no bullets.

"Don't bother dear; that won't help you at this point. To be fair, I doubt you'll ever get rid of me," the man confidently said, while handing her a cup over.

As she examined the cup and wondered if it was poisoned, the man smirked. "Don't worry; it's not poisoned. No, I have great plans for you. But drink up; we're almost at Karachi Station." he confessed, before taking a sip himself...

***Karachi Station***

"You stay right here. I'll be back shortly." the man whispered, while walking off. Vulkie looked around, scared but determined, to hope someone would help her.

As she was about to make a break for the streets, she noticed Ed Carlyle rushing into the station, with a slight wave of his right hand. From the corner of her eye, she could see the mysterious man return.

Immediately, Vulkie waved Edward back, trying to tell him to stay away. "What?" Ed mouthed.

Again, Vulkie repeated the same signalling and Ed understood; he needed to lay low for a while, as Vulkie planned her escape from this man.

"I'm back dear. Now, we will continue our journey together. Shall we?" the man spoke, before trying to grab her arm...

(Cont. next part)

Jan-11-2019 01:21

Looking around, Vulkie saw a man sipping a cup of coffee. "Karma" she thought to herself, as she grabbed the cup and swung it right into the mysterious man's face.

The man grabbed his face and screamed in agony, as the hot beverage burned him temporarily.

"RUN!" Vulkie yelled, as she sped past Edward, who had been watching from a distance.

Edward immediately got up and gave chase to her into the streets of Karachi.

Jan-11-2019 19:03

"Most uncharacteristic." Molly said from the front seat of the Jeep, as Joseph navigated his way back towards city center from eastern Karachi. She was consulting a tourist map that they had picked up at the train station.

"Turn onto McLeod Road here." she instructed as Joseph braked for a cluster of pedestrians. "We can find lodging at one of the hotels we passed, near that beastly clocktower."

"Merewether Clocktower." Riza supplied helpfully.

"Yes, Riza, how helpful. As I was saying," Molly continued. "It's rather uncharacteristic of Ed to just miss a private plane, don't you think? It's not really done."

Joseph glanced over at her. "Perhaps he was unavoidably detained."

They all thought on this for a moment. After all, it was possible that something had come up...but in all the recent madcap ordeals they had faced together, it was more likely that something terribly grim had occurred.

"Well, you never know." Marc said charitably. "He could just turn up somewhere out of the bl-"

WHUMP.

A rather familiar short-haired woman had run full-tilt across the road, striking the Jeep. She rolled unceremoniously across the hood and off the other side, hand brandishing a familiar Colt revolver as she flashed across the view of the dumbfounded crew.

"Is that Vulkie?" Riza craned to look, just as a sheepish-looking Edward approached and slowed, jogging to a stop and helping Vulkie to her feet.

Molly blinked once, taking in this new development. "Oh, what a convenient plot twist." she said to no one in particular, before peering over the side door of the Jeep.

"My goodness Vulkie, you really ought to watch where you're going. Always rushing about-- WATCH THE HAIR!" she screamed this last part as Vulkie grabbed onto the Jeeps frame and threw herself into the front seat, mooshing Molly in the process. Ed cast an eye at the backseat of the Jeep and wisely decided to jump onto the step and grasp onto the metal frame.

"Drive!" Vulkie ordered Joseph, and he obliged.

Jan-12-2019 07:42

The seven days of inebriated celebration almost came to an end. The scent of Marigold and Mehndi mixed with turmeric and mustard oil lingered through the lavish dance hall, but only the sounds of veena and sitar now accompany the departing parties.

‘Finally,’ Camak thought as she gave her blessings to the last few guests. Her chelas had performed brilliantly, with heartfelt singing and vibrant dances that marked their near divinity. Camak knew the groom’s family would tip them handsomely, not that they needed it. Their main income lied elsewhere, but performing in these celebrations upholds their reputation as the best and most feared Parivaar - a reputation that had served her well for many years.

Camak wondered how her dear wolf is doing. He should be onto the friends of that good-for-nothing prying ferret by now. Camak knew right away that the ferret was not one of them, but her chelas were too trusting and welcomed her into their embrace. Well, no one could steal from Mother Camak and get away with it. She could hide all she wanted, but what she had suffered so far was only a trickle of what was to come.

The hall felt empty now. Suddenly a few chelas cried out.

‘What’s going on my dear daughters,’ Camak calmly inquired.

‘Dear Mother,’ an older chela with a silvery voice ran into the hall, ‘please help Aarti!’

Camak quickly scanned the name in her mind and remember Aarti to be one of the many younger cousins of the bride. He was at the edge of puberty but already a great dancer, who was very kind to her lot. The boy was now badly injured and several chelas carried him inside.

Krishna, the older chela explained, ’His father was angry with him for dancing the female parts with us, he called him a freak and beat him on his head repeatedly.’

‘He said he will douse Aarti with gasoline and light him on fire!’ cried a younger chela.

Jan-12-2019 07:43

Tears rolled down Camak cheek. She cradled the boy in her arm, ’no one is a freak here, everyone is blessed.’ Her stubby fingers were wet with blood from Aarti’s forehead. The poor boy was still whimpering.

Camak had made her decision, ‘we are taking Aarti with us.’ She smelled fear from a few younger chelas.

‘What is going on here?’ The father of the bride stood by the doorway, looking onto his bleeding nephew, but his tone of voice betrayed that he knew exactly what went on, both with what Aarti’s father did and with what the Parivaar was about to do.

Krishna reassured the rest of the Parivaar in her silvery voice, ‘they cannot touch us. Aarti is meant to join us. So say the gods!’

‘So say the gods,’ the chelas repeated, and they all began to clap in unison. The man by the doorway knew all too well the warning sign, and he swiftly stepped away, not wanting to be cursed, especially not at his daughter’s own wedding.

As they exit the hall, Camak felt a subtle burning sensation on her face. Somehow she knew it was tied to Bhedyia. She must return as soon as possible.

Camak made a hand gesture and the Parivaar hastened their retreat. Soon they were quiet far from the wedding ground. Camak could feel Aarti gradually relax beside her. His bleeding had finally dried, but he was still weak and emotional.

‘You are mother goddess Bahuchara Mata incarnate,’ the boy told Camak between sobs, ‘I am forever in your debt.’

‘Don’t you ever worry, child. No one will ever beat you again. You will come with us to Gujarat. Our home is your home now. You are free to be whom you are born to become.’ Camak reassured the boy.

From squeezing Aarti’s arm and cradling him earlier, Camak could tell the boy would grow up to be thin and not very tall. A fine Hijra he will become. She could not wait to perform his nirwaan soon, to preserve the divinity as much as possible. Such fine specimen will have many buyers over and over again.

Jan-12-2019 07:43

Camak could feel a satisfaction flooding in but not of her own. She was still unsure where the unseen tie between them two came from, but she was certain her wolf had succeeded in setting the game afoot.