Identity

The only audible sound was his heavy breathing. It was dark in the cupboard and his back was hurting sitting slouched in there for the past hour. Maybe it was over. Maybe it was safe for him to come out now.

Vishesh moved his head forward to the glass and squinted his eyes to look outside. The low light made it impossible to see but there was no sound. He pushed the cupboard door and climbed down. The electricity seemed to be off. The main door stood ajar which was the only source of the little light illuminating the house. It did look like he was safe now. He swiftly moved towards the door and slammed it shut.

Vishesh put his head on the door and heaved a sigh of relief. He raised his head a little when suddenly someone grabbed his feet and pulled him back. He fell headfirst on the floor. Immediately he flipped around, frantically looking for his assailant, panting and his face dripping with blood. He took out his phone and switched on the flashlight, moving it all around the house. He touched his face and could feel a cut on his forehead. His head was throbbing with pain now.

“What do you want? Why are you after me? Why do you want to kill me?” Vishesh shouted at the empty room.
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The room remained silent. He got up shaking his head and trying to focus again. He moved forward shouting the same thing again.

“Who am I to kill anyone?”, a voice boomed from across the room. Vishesh stopped in his tracks on hearing the reply. He tried to look through all the blood running into his eyes. Raising his hands, he wiped away some blood and saw a silhouette in the dark near his balcony window.

Vishesh raised his mobile and gathering all his courage, moved forward towards the balcony. He opened the balcony door and was greeted with a cold wind across his face. Shielding his face with his hands, he moved outside. There was a guy standing there, with his face covered behind the hood of his sweatshirt. The sweatshirt looked familiar.

“Who are you?” These were the only words Vishesh could get himself to speak. The figure moved further out towards the railings. Vishesh quickly moved to the right to switch on the balcony lights. He shouted again, “Tell me who are you?” As he did so, the figure grabbed Vishesh by the arm, pushed him towards the railing and moved in to stand at the center of the balcony.

“You!”, the voice boomed and the figure turned around.

As Vishesh lost his balance and turned over the railings, the light fell on the hooded figure’s face. The last thing he saw as he fell down the building was himself, standing under the balcony light, with a menacing smile on his face.

***

“What can you tell us about the situation here?”, the reporter asked, her face glowing as if a 5-year old had been brought to Disneyland.

The inspector stood upright, with his cap under his arms. He began, “What we gather from his parents is that Vishesh had been hallucinating these last few days, telling them about something that was after him. We did our thorough investigation but could not find anything. There was no forced entry, no other fingerprints, nothing to suggest there was another human being in there last night. The neighbors did hear him shouting but they say it had become quite common these days. We are looking into that but for now, it seems he committed suicide…”

Across the road from this interview, a hooded figure walked away with a slight smile on its face.

This story was written for Tata Steel's Write Brain Challenge on the theme of identity.

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