Edge of The Abyss (Part V)
Links to the previous parts:
"You got the gift?"
"Yes,
Ma! What is in it?"
Swastik
heard his mom taking a deep, trembling breath.
"I'm
sorry, beta. Know that Ma and Baba will always love you. No matter what,
they're with you", she said in a shaky voice and hung up. Swastik ran to
the hall room and tore through the packaging, unable to hold his excitement.
There was a brand-new iPhone inside complete with its packaging. He let out a
squeal and carefully opened it. Elsa made her way to his side and sniffed the
box. Swastik switched on the phone and found a recording on it. Curious, he
pressed "Play".
He saw his
parents holding hands, sitting upright next to each other and "25th
December 2018 15:32" was written at the bottom of the screen. The wall
behind them seemed oddly familiar to Swastik though he couldn't recall exactly
where he had seen it.
"Hello,
Swastik. Hope you're doing okay", said Mom.
"Hello,
beta", said Dad.
They looked
at each other once.
"I
never thought it would come to this day."
"Swastik,
we're not coming back", said Dad after taking a deep breath.
"We
don't have an option. We have to let you go for your own good."
"Your
needs will be taken care of. You won't face any difficulties."
"Please,
beta...don't try to find us", said Mom her eyes welling with tears.
"We
love you, beta and know that it's not your fault. We were blessed to have a
child like you. Know that though you can't see us, we're always looking over
you. Also, check the box. We have few more things to give you."
And the
video ended. Swastik was slightly surprised. This surely was some prank, he
thought to himself. He went to his room and dialed Mom's number. It was
switched off. So was Dad's. He tried time and again but to no result.
Unable to
decide how to respond, he went and checked the box again. Inside was a frame
with a map fragment inside of it. There was a point marked on it. On close
observation, he saw that it was a map of their locality and his home was the
marked point. At the bottom right corner, something was written in italics.
"The
beginning. Merry Christmas, Swastik"
Elsa nudged
him and put something in his hand. It was Mom's ring.
"Where
did you find this?"
Elsa
pointed to the box and barked. The ring dropped from his hand in shock. He ran
to his room and sent a voice-note to Mom.
"Mom,
where are you? This is not funny. I'm scared, Ma. Please call me"
The message
was not delivered. He tried again but to no end. He ran to Mrs. Coelho's door,
his eyes welling up already. When she opened it, he hugged her and started
crying. Shocked, she hugged him back.
"What's
wrong, beta?"
"Ma...papa...no
one is picking up the phone."
"I'm
sure they must have left it somewhere. Don't you worry, Swastik. Here, call her
from my phone."
With shaky
hands, Swastik dialed her number.
"The
number you are calling is currently switched off. Please try again later."
The phone
dropped from his hand as Swastik fell to his knees. Tears streamed down his
face but he didn't make a sound. He felt light-headed. Mrs. Coelho rushed to
help him up.
"Talk
to me, beta. (Looking behind) Help me! Help!"
Mr. Coelho
rushed to her aid. They tried to console Swastik but couldn't. After a while,
they made him lie down on the couch. He fell asleep soon. In his sleep, he kept
mumbling, "Ma, don't leave me."
Worried the
Coelhos tried contacting their parents but to no end. Mrs. Coelho called
Swastik's uncle.
"Hello,
Mr. Sen?"
"Yes,
who's this?"
"It's
Amanda Coelho. Neighbor of Amar and Esha."
"Oh,
yes Mrs. Coelho. How're you?"
"We're
very well, thank you. Do you know how Swastik's parents are?"
"I
talked to them yesterday at night. They're recovering quite well. Is something
wrong?"
"Thank
Lord! Swastik had us worried sick about them."
"Sorry
for the trouble. May I ask what he did?"
"Amar
and Esha didn't receive his calls and their phones are switched off. Swastik
fainted."
"What?!
How is he now?"
"He's
sleeping now."
"I'll
be right over. Thank you for looking out for him."
"Oh,
don't worry about it. He's like our son. Try contacting his parents and yes, he
could use some emotional support."
"I
really appreciate it, Mrs. Coelho. I'll be right over."
In about an
hour, Aman reached Mrs. Coelho's place and found Swastik sound asleep.
"Could
you contact his parents?", asked Mrs. Coelho.
"No,
ma'am. Still switched off."
She let out
a sigh and put a hand on Swastik's head. He opened his eyes.
"Mom?"
"Oh,
you poor creature. (Looking at Aman) See what I was talking about?"
"That's
odd. He never acted like this", said Abhilash.
"He
hasn't seen his parents in weeks, idiot!"
Aman sat next to Swastik.
"Beta,
I'm here. Your uncle. Can you tell me what happened?", he asked softly.
"Ma...Papa...left.
They're not coming back. They're not."
Mrs. Coelho
gasped. Aman was unfazed. He held Swastik's hand and asked, "Why do
you think that, Swastik?"
"Ma
sent something."
"What
is it?"
He pointed
to his apartment. Aman got up.
"I'll
go see what Swastik's talking about. Please keep an eye on him, ma'am", he
said to Mrs Coelho. She nodded.
When
Aman tried to enter the apartment, Elsa started barking. Aman tried to
enter but Elsa just wouldn't let him. Hearing Elsa, Swastik rushed to his
apartment. Mrs Coelho couldn't stop him.
"It's
okay, girl. That is Aman uncle", he said to Elsa. She smelled Aman and
slowly backed away.
"Thanks,
beta", said Aman and ruffled Swastik's hair.
He went
inside and found the box. Esha's ring was on the floor next to it. The new
phone was also there. Swastik pointed to the phone.
"Mom
and Dad sent you a new phone! That's nice!"
"Check
it", said Swastik, expressionless.
Aman opened
the phone. There was nothing in it. No contacts, nothing in the gallery.
"There's
nothing in it, beta. What do you want me to see?"
Swastik
snatched the phone from his hand and opened the gallery. There was nothing. He
refreshed and checked again. There were no pictures or videos in the gallery.
"But...but,
uncle, there was a video in there."
"I can
see nothing, beta. What was in the video?"
"Ma
and Papa have left me. They said they won't come back. They sent Ma's ring and
this small gift."
He showed
Aman the framed map and the ring. Aman was genuinely concerned now.
"It's
all in your head, beta. They're okay."
"Call
Ma. I want to talk to her."
Aman hesitated while taking out his phone and called Esha. The phone was still
switched off. He tried calling Amar but to no result. Swastik was looking at
him all this while.
"I'm
sure they must be busy somewhere. Don't worry", said Aman. Swastik ran to his room, buried his head in a pillow and started crying. Aman sat next
to him with no words to console him.
To be continued...
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