Kiara and Kevin

Author note - The final part of this chapter about the Darkness and world will has nothing to do with this novel for quite a while. That conversation and events are for my first novel LOAN which is connected to the scenes happening in ch115-117 of that novel. (If you are curious about what happened there and what it led to, do read those three chapters and you'll understand everything.)

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"Ali Arya, currently you're facing charges of disruption of public order, violence against the general populace, usage of unauthorized weapons and attempted murder. Anything you want to say in your defense?" Sophia said as she slammed the table with a thick file which contained all the statements and pictures captured by the crowd at the open road earlier.

"No words in defense huh. Well, even if you said anything to shirk it off, it would've been useless as there are so many witnesses and solid proof against you."

Sophia continued showing him the photos she got from the phones of some people nearby. Anything posted on social media was already deleted and buried underground, nowhere to be seen, as his family probably bought and paid various hackers and server control teams to maintain his image.

"What's the name of that guy you let go just now?" Ali asked as he had just seen Sophia and Kevin talking through the window panes.

Sophia frowned and coldly asked "Why, so you can ask your goons to find and kill him?"

"No" Ali replied "I'll kill him myself."

Sophia glared at him in anger, but Ali just continued "He gotta pay for what he's done. And I'll make sure of it."

"And what did he do, Mr Arya? Killed your friend by pushing him in front of a truck which just happened to have failed brakes? And all of this was only witnessed by you and your guards, despite the roadful crowd all around you. Coincidence much?" Sophia stated facts from her point of view, not believing a word she heard from his mouth.

"You can think whatever you want. It won't change a thing for me." Ali said as he pushed all the documents away without looking at them.

"Then I'll make sure to stop you." Sophia left a word as she stood up to leave, glancing at her phone which was constantly buzzing. She could guess the context of continuous calls or messages she was receiving. Nothing but a barrage of orders from her superiors and corrupted politicians to let him go this instant.

Ali just sat there in the room alone and kept staring at the empty ceiling in silence.

'I will kill him.' He thought…

Other than these two who were lost in their thoughts of revenge and duty, the whole city outside was talking about the weird phenomenon that had happened a few hours ago. Countess conspiracy theories and baseless rumors were being talked about on various media and news channels, that even without any effort from Arya family the news of his arrest never even interested anyone.

No one knew what happened or what caused that supernatural event which turned day into night and caused the whole city to go through a mass illusion of bending on their knees and crying in pain. And even after various debates, no solid conclusion was drawn.

People called it an illusion since if that scene of darkness was a reality then there should've been many deaths due to accidents on the road or medical practices or construction sites etc etc - but surprisingly not a single sure death scenario was found after much research. So everyone just termed it as some kind of hallucination or something which affected their brain's nerves.

The chaos of that situation had calmed down in the general public after government officials took a stance that they would investigate the root cause of this. And assured that there was no need for further panic.

Maybe it was true or not, but some officials even found a scapegoat and blasted an abandoned factory site calling them responsible. And explaining that the illusion scenario was caused due to a failed experiment.

Arrest a dozen or so people and show them on live camera after covering their faces, calling them masterminds behind that research programme. And that's all it took to calm a majority of the public.

It really is too easy to manipulate everyone if you have control over the media. Over what people see and hear.

Anyway the groups of teams were arranged secretly to investigate this matter honestly, but that was all above the paygrade of the normal population and was on need to know basis.

Kevin, on the other hand after leaving the police station directly went back to his dilapidated house.

His sister had called him multiple times after hearing he was in the police station. She even wanted to come there personally but Kevin resolutely refused her and had her talk with Sophia who reassured that he was just brought there as a witness and wasn't in any trouble. Only then did she give up and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ali Arya huh" Kevin said as he received another message from Sophia asking him to be careful and take care of his safety.

She also said she'll send two constables around his house for protection, which he accepted after hearing it was the young master of the Arya family who was after him.

Though he himself was just a lazy idiot who didn't know anything outside his home and school, but just a quick search on Google gave him all the information he needed to know, to be afraid of such a behemoth.

Even though he felt it would be fine , but just for his sister's sake he even got gutsy and asked Sophia to guarantee her safety.

'You better stay away from my life and my sister, or I'll show you what I can do.' Kevin said with clenched fists.

But his expression of anger and determination left his face and turned into a bright smile as he saw a beautiful young girl standing by the door of his house with an anxious expression, constantly taking worried glances at the corridor and empty roads.

He was living in a chawl building (a tenement) which was barely affordable to them with his sister's salary.

Even though his family were never particularly rich, when his father was alive they could still be considered a well off family. Unlike now when they had to barely cover their whole expenses and think twice before spending anything.

When his father went missing more than a year ago, that's when everything took a dark turn in his life. First he and his sister had to wander from door to door asking help from their relatives and father's colleagues, who only mocked them and kicked them away.

Even their own house was sold off when his sister hired a private investigator to search for his father. But the result was the same. Even he turned out to be a scammer, who went missing after taking their money.

After that his sister who was just a year older than him left her studies and started looking for jobs. Without proper qualifications and being young and inexperienced, all she could find were just some odd mediocre jobs which hardly suited her personality and moral lines. But she, who blamed herself for losing their house foolishly, gritted her teeth and did them anyway, just so she can take care of him better.

Kevin was just contemplating his life's miserable experiences and sacrifices his sister made for him all this time, when he saw his sister running towards him and shook his head.

'I found a job now Kiara. You don't have to do anything you don't like anymore. I'll definitely give you a life full of happiness that you deserve.' He declared with determination in his heart with a gentle look on his face.

But his smile stiffened and turned into anger as he noticed some ruffians who suddenly appeared and surrounded his sister.

"What's the rush, darling?" A guy with spiky hair and yellowed teeth smiled and raised his hand to block Kiara. "I'm not going anywhere my baby girl, come, I'll take you on a joyride."

Hearing the laughter and snarky remarks of those goons and seeing their unscrupulous gaze over his sister, Kevin clenched his fists and rushed forward in anger.

'Fucking bastard'