Prologue
It was a bitterly cold night. Pratham was running down the street on his way home. He was late, his mother was constantly calling him as she was worried about him. The wind started to howl at a high speed and it was about to rain but before he could get wet, he reached home.
His mother was waiting at the door as he entered. She sighed a deep breath of relief
“Where have you been so late at night?” his mother asked, as his father also joined them.
“Don’t ask, mom, had too much work in the office. As you know, the elections are coming up. Had to double my efforts,” Pratham answered her.
“How many times I have told you… please come early… We both are not accustomed to this new house. We feel unsafe here,” She told him.
“Okay mom, don’t worry. I will try to come early from now on.” He assured her.
“Good. Your food is ready. Go change your clothes. We are waiting for you in the dining hall,” his mother said
“Sure,” Pratham replied and rushed towards his room. He changed his clothes got freshened up, and joined them in the dining hall.
“Beta, can we win this time?” his dad asked, as they started to eat.
“Yes. I am confident. Around 75 percent of the voters are in our favor. Let’s see, fingers crossed.”
“That’s great! I wish you all the very best,” his Dad wished
While they were talking and having dinner, a loud burst came from the outside. They rushed to see what happened and saw that a car had hit their house’s front wall.
“What the fuck?” Pratham was infuriated.
He stepped in close to the crash site and looked for the person who might have been driving. He was angry and started abusing repeatedly. His mother tried to calm him down but to no avail. He peeped through the windshield but couldn’t see anyone. The driver’s seat was empty.
He looked at the back but it was also empty. His anger was growing intense. He started to look in every possible direction inside and outside the car. He was irritated now and didn’t stop abusing and became excessively loud.
“Come outside, you bastard!” he shouted.
He could hear some spanking noise coming behind the bushes. He ran towards it to check it. As he turned to take a glance at it. He was hit by an iron road on the head.
“Pratham!” his parents exclaimed. They both were scared. His father shouted for help but no one was there to hear him. The unknown man hit Pratham several more times to make him bleed.
Pratham’s parents didn’t know what to do now. Their son was bleeding profusely. He was wreathing with gruesome injuries, and blood stumbled all over his body.
After attacking Pratham, the unknown man started to move towards his parents. His father skipped a beat and fell down at the spot. The unidentified man smiled. He still attacked Pratham’s father and he hit him on the back. He died on the spot. His mother ran to save her life.
She scuttled as fast as she could, shouting the whole way in the hope that someone would spot her and help her, but destiny wasn’t on her side. The mysterious man chased her down and smashed the same iron rod on her neck. She fell down.
