Ch 3- Black rain 

She will be full of mysteries.

Knowing her was complex even before but now it has become less complex.

“I can see it,” she said to me.

“I can see your Tattoos on your neck and hand.” She said, slowly turning her face to me casually as we were sitting on a park bench. The sun was warmer and the clouds were white, scattered all over the blue sky. The heat was somewhat bearable with occasional bites of ice Gola* from the front ice Gola stall. With crickets chirping and most birds taking shelter under the tree like us, we sat there, half drenched in sweat. 

I couldn’t blame the summer heat for what had happened and what I had heard.

“I have it too. It is on my forehead, but it can only be seen when I use my powers.” She said to me. I was anticipating a show but apparently, she was expecting a response from me. 

 “Is that so...but how can you see them and..... how do you have it too?” I asked her, trying to be calm about it too.

“Will you believe in what I am about to say? Don’t say that I am a crazy person after hearing it. Okay?”

“O...Okay.” I took out the ice Gola from my mouth and agreed to her.

“I have a power too. I have the power of vision. It was not inherent obviously. I got this power after that night. That night, it was raining heavily. The sky was dark red and black and it was glowing… yes…glowing red in patches, in the night. But the rain was not any normal water, it was 'black blood'.”

“B…Blood?” I popped out the ice Gola from my mouth again to speak.

“Yes, black blood. It was the blood of all those creatures that were killed by the players. I was drenched in it.”

“Drenched? But what about your bodyguard, Mr. Gopi, who is always stuck with you, wasn’t he there with you?” 

“Pfft!” 

“Well…I sent him on an errand saying it was an order from my father, faking his voice in a mail with the voice changing app that I made myself- like I did the other day to go to that café with you, alone. And also, count in today. Maybe he will find about this trick sooner or later as well.”

“Hahaha, you are really a plotting master, Nina. Trickster Nina!”

“Yeah right!” she chuckled. 

“So, continuing…I was drenched in that black blood and a green hologram-like thing appeared in front of me. I was standing alone beside the traffic signal pole and weirdly all the vehicles stopped and the people around me became like statues, stuck in the same position. Even the coffee being poured by the waiter in the coffee shop behind me was hanging in the midst of air. Only I was able to move, talk about fear and mystery at the same time. I was so scared, you know. Initially, I thought I was going mad because of my prolonged medications or that it was an after-effect of my weakness since birth or a delusion. But it wasn’t.” she stopped. So, I pointed out the similarity between our situations.

“…umm, you know the green hologram thing also appeared in front of me. Did it probably do something to you, Nina?” I had finished eating my ice Gola and I was aiming to throw it in the trash can. But Nina wasn't responding.

“Nina? Are you crying? Nina?” I wiped my hands with the tissue and scrooched towards her. Her head was drooping and she was on the verge to burst out in tears. I held her in my arms and gave her a tight hug. 

“Nina, if something is bothering you then you can share it with me. I am here. But there’s no pressure that you have to speak about it with anyone, even me.” I patted her head and tried to console her. We had known each other for about six months but I had never seen her like that.

“Toya…you know… what that green thing did to me… (Sniff) it penetrated its tentacles…in…inside me…in the down area… and… it was laughing … and (Sniff) its eyes were glowing red, and when I …saw them, mine started glowing too. By the time I realized I couldn’t move, I found that I was in the mid-air with its tentacles all around me. And that was it. When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the bed in my room and everything was normal except me.”

TO BE CONTINUED.....