"Who said I was different?" He taunted me
"Heh." I grinned.
And that was the last time I saw my brother, Suraj, again and then I knew that I didn't end or changed anything at all. The cult, Magna Carta still lives and I was still at the centre of all these.
"Are you going to be okay? Seems like you are all stressed out after what happened last year." Zayne asked this.
"I am going to be just fine, but I don't know what more troubles are heading towards us. He's back you know?" I spoke.
"Who the hell are you talking about?" Zayne asked.
"Let me tell you about my estranged brother Suraj Kashyap." And then I began narrating about the dark phase of my childhood.
Suraj and I grew up in Ujanbazar, Guwahati in a healthy yet dysfunctional family because Suraj was always a troublemaker and I had to save his ass a multiple times. My father, Anirudh Sharma and my mother, Anita Sharma were always seen in the parents and teachers meet not because of me but because of him.
Years passed but Suraj never changed, he even got 7 years of Juvenile imprisonment for an attempted scam and after he got out, he was banished from our family and since then he grew a hatred against me. He wants to see me fall.
"So, you are telling me that the infamous hacker Spyder is your estranged brother and now he's like out for revenge?" Zayne was shocked.
"We will have to stop him anyhow." I spoke.
"So, what's the gameplan?" Zayne asked.
"He won't strike head on; I know him very well. He would try to target and manipulate people closer to me and more importantly he would try to break EMBER SCARS. So, I must warn Trisha first and then the rest." I knew what to do.
"But first I need to put my head on the recording process of the new album REBORN and put up some gigs to promote it." I wanted to go back to the basics and play gigs.
"That's about right. Well, I am done for today at the gym. See you tomorrow at the Jam pad?" Zayne was excited about our first Jam of the new year it seems.
Elsewhere
"Enjoy the little calm before the storm brother because I am going to take everything away from you." Suraj fuming with anger.
"What do you plan to do?" a cult member asked.
"Hit him where it hurts the most but not just yet. We wait for the right time and right moment." Suraj, with a manipulative tone.
Next day at the Rhythm and Groove jam pad
"Last call for lost souls to join our cause
To fight and take back what us once ours
We will destroy everything and rebuild again
We will restore the glory of this broken nation." That was our new song lost souls.
"The song sounds great." The Jam pad owner was complimenting us.
After the jam was finished, we were heading towards our homes.
Life was going good so far but for how long will that last I had no clue. I was still getting PTSD attacks from the events a year ago when I couldn't save David. His death was on me.
"You still blame yourself for his death, don't you?" Trisha asked me.
"It's not like that; I could have saved him Trisha. I am at fault here that I always saw him as villain while the main mastermind was Vikram all the time." I reflected on the events that occurred last year.
"Stop beating yourself Aaron, and move on like I did." And then I interrupted her.
"Have you? For real? I still see you crying at night for him. Admit it Trisha, he is your brother and you have not moved on. You too want a payback from the cult as much as I do." I vented out.
"Calm down, will you? All I am saying is that you need a fresh start and being engaged with me comes with some responsibilities until our marriage." She was lecturing again.
"Trish, I love you and I am gonna marry you but I cannot put you and others at danger. This is my fight alone." I made her understand.
"No matter what you do Aaron, I will always be by your side." She spoke with a softer tone.
Elsewhere, from a distance.
"You want a payback eh brother? Oh, this is going to be fun." Suraj after dropping his binoculars down.
The album release was closing in and we needed to put together a lineup of gigs in and around the city and so we decided to plan the second edition of Scarfest.
"Are you sure you want to get back on stage?" Zayne asked.
"Hell yes, I am." I was sure about this.
"Then I'll get the things prepped up. First things first we need to check out the venue before the gig." Zayne was way ahead of himself.
"Alright, to Dragons Bar it is then." The place was a big venue that is dedicated to the anime and J-Rock culture. So, holding a metal gig was going to be a challenging there as the crowd was basically not into what we had to offer. Which is why we decided to make it a both music and anime themed event that day.
"Music and cosplay huh? You are a mad genius, bro!" Yugal was complimenting me.
"[Announcer] Alright boys and girls, it's time for some rock and roll with our esteemed guest tonight that is EMBER SCARS. So, make some noise and get ready to rock."
"Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for coming out tonight to Scarfest 2.0. We really appreciate each one of you showing up and buying our new album. I know that the anime fans were expecting something different tonight which is why we have surprise for you all. So, get ready to rock with us." I took command of the stage.
"Alright, this next song is called DARKNESS DESCENDS, this one's for all the anime fans out there." The song was inspired by the dark shonen genre so they were kind of feeling it.
After our set ended many fans along with cosplayers met us back stage and one particular group called us an unexpected raging storm.
"Thanks, and yes, we are into anime like a hell lot and the last song was sort of inspired by a shonen Manga I read a while ago." I wasn't lying at all, DARKNESS DESCENDS, the manga our song was inspired from is the dopest manga to exist.
"You are a fucking nerd, you know that, Aaron?" Zayne was teasing me.
"Better to be a nerd than to be a total asshole, bro. Well, I am all tired and I could sleep like a bear when I head home." I was all beaten up.
"You guys were nuts the bar owes you one." Anurag, the bar owner complimented us.
Back home
"Had a great show I heard!" Trisha was asking about it.
"Yes, but I missed you there." I did; she stayed home because she needed to finish writing her book.
"I wanted to go but the deadlines… ugh!" She was annoyed.
She was writing a book on her theories about criminal law and it had its own deadlines which is why she cannot move around and I had to wait for the marriage now. On the top of that my asshole brother was hellbent to wreak havoc into my life and to those who are closer to me. This was just fucking great, ain't it?
My life has indeed turned into a shithole all of a sudden since the events of last year and hell, how the fuck's my brother even alive after what went down 10 years ago?
I need to know, which is why I decided to take a trip to where it all started. Ujanbazar, Guwahati.
"Why the hell did I had to end up here in this hellhole?" I wasn't liking a bit of it, bit of being here.
"Hello, Aaron." Got greeted by an old ally, Vinay.
"Vinay Da, nice you see you again. You've got the intel I asked for?" I asked.
"Ten minutes and you are heading straight to business ain'tcha? You need to slow your role kid, tea?" He was all relaxed about this whole "business."
"Sure. So, how is the fucker still alive after what went down 10 years ago with Jay and his gang here?" I tried to dig up an old ghost.
"10 years ago, your brother raised some serious hell by picking up a fight with Jay and his punks, didn't he? Jay stabbed him to death but he made it out while you ran, ran like a coward without saving him. Which is why Suraj now wants to make you suffer." Vinay knew everything it seems.
"You still didn't give me a fair answer. So, cut to the chase and cough up the truth brother." I demanded.
"You want answers? Then go to your old house and the area where it all began, when you two twins became the two musketeers and began raising hell. Where you two grew up as misfits and cause all sort of troubles. Where you turned onto each other and became enemies from being brother. All I can say is that, that day Suraj didn't die because some good Samaritan decided to save him and then took him under his wing but who? Still a question for me too." A half-baked answer, and all I got was the instruction to go to my old house near Beli View.
I Guess that it's time to visit my old ancestral home then.
"Why do I had to end up in this wretched hellhole again?" I muttered to myself.
I entered the old house and all I can see were cobwebs and dirt and then the memories started to flash.
Caption:-Giggles and laughter!
"Catch me if you can brother!" A glimpse of all the mischief and fun.
But I couldn't get distracted, I had to gather evidence and dig out the truth about how the hell my brother survived!
Suddenly
"Looking for something?" a tall looking guy showed up.
And it was not looking good as I saw him with a weapon. I guess my brother didn't want me snooping around and so, he sent a thug to off me.
I managed to beat the shit out of him and he mentioned that a storm is coming.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
And then he swallowed a cyanide to kill himself. And I had to flee from the place with nothing in my hand. (So what I thought.) but something caught my eye....
"What the hell?" I squirmed.