1 The great deception and even greater beginning

'What the hell?' I shrieked when I learnt that Gati's class had been awarded the prize money which I had been expecting.

How could this be? I was the one who had worked day and night preparing the students for a big competition whose first prize was a check of 5500 US dollars. I had the bags and dark circles to prove it. Hell, I had the certificate of participation to my name. So why was it that her class was getting the money for her to implement the way she wanted? I had already called the dealers to book the new projector and speakers that my class needed.

'Can you explain what is happening?' I angrily asked Claudia, a close friend of mine. She had the class two doors away from mine and we often met for lunch. Today was one of those days.

She got up from her seat and carefully closed the door after making sure there was no one around.

'Ash, calm down. I know you're feeling bad, but there's nothing you can do now. As you know, Gati is friends with the fiancee of one of the trustees of the Khoon Academy.'

'What does that have to do with the money my students and I won fair and square?'

'It has everything to do, in fact. As you know the prize money is awarded to the institution for it to use in important projects.'

'Yeah, my project of improving the audiovisual facilities for my class. You know my kids worked hard for it,' I half-whispered in agony.

'Well, news is that even Gati worked hard for her class to be awarded the prize if it is to be judged by her sore hands and mouth,' Claudia said dramatically taking her middle finger and mock-thrusting it in her mouth.

I was so perturbed by the news that it took me a few seconds to realize what she meant.

'You mean she slept with her friend's fiancee?'

Claudia nodded sympathetically and patting me on my forearm, she said,

'Ash, forget about it. Not everyone is as honest as you. Go home, relax. Tomorrow's a new day.'

***

It took three cups of warm chamomile tree to reduce my anger by half. I would have preferred something stronger, but the most intoxicating substance I had in my house was one quarter of a bottle of cough syrup left from a previous bout of flu.

I was lying in my bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling of my bedroom. Grandma and I had painted a mandala motif on it in red paint during one of her good days. She provided the design and I was the artist. My eyes traced the intricate design one more time, around the swirls and loops, until I could not bar it any longer. One lone tear rolled down my right cheek, but I managed to capture it just before it hit my pillowcase.

'Oh Nani, why did you leave me alone in this world?' My grandmother had left her earthly abode a few months earlier. The doctor said it was due to the dementia that had set in with old age. This was why in her last days she had almost forgotten all of our relatives, and there weren't many names to remember. She didn't even remember grandad.

'Ashu, one day even I will leave. Take this locket,' she had said one day when she was still in her senses. 'It will bring you close to people who care about you.'

I had not thought about the locket since her death and I wondered why I remembered it today.

'You're desperate my dear,' I whispered to myself. I had reached such a stage in my life where I felt I had nothing worthwhile left in my life.

With weary steps I got up from my bed and went to the only other furniture in my bedroom, an old cupboard which had been granny's previously. I opened it and it creaked while moving on its rusty hinges. There was a drawer at the back and on opening it, I found what I had been looking for, the old locket.

The locket itself was tied by a small silver chain which had seen better days. It had become yellowed with age and with regret I thought of how I liked to clean it with toothpaste when I was still very young.

'Take care of the necklace and the necklace will take care of you,' Nani used to say.

The locket was a small square of about 4 centimeters wide. It had the same design as the one on my ceiling, but in the center was embedded a small ruby. The edges were no longer so sharp, it showed that the locket had been handled by loving hands quite often. The locket could be opened as well, but I hadn't been able to open it. I didn't want to try to force it open lest it should break.

'Well, today is the day. I'm going to take care of you my lovely.'

I took the locket and went down to the kitchen where I took a small stainless steel dish and from a bottom drawer I took a new toothbrush I had got at the dentist after a root canal. I went to the bathroom where I put some toothpaste in the dish, along with a small flannel rug. Finally I settled down in my bedroom, at the foot of my bed where was laid an old rug with oversized pillows.

After 15 minutes of brushing and rubbing, the locket was like new and seeing it back in its glorious state, brought tears to my eyes.

'How I miss you Nani.' and lifting the locket to my mouth I gently kissed it.

I felt a jarring pain in my jaw line as a beam of light just burst out of the locket, which started to heat up. I could no longer bear to hold it and it fell down, rolling a few times to stop a few meters away. There was a deafening roll of thunder and a blazing light which temporarily blinded me. Then everything stopped just as suddenly as it had started.

I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and index fingers and cleared my throat hoping it would cause my sense of hearing to be restored.

What had just happened? Leaning my now aching head in my hands for a few seconds, i took a few deep breaths hoping to clear the confusion. A loud oath, followed by a string of curses broke the silence and sent me soaring to my feet in fighting stance. Legs spread hip-width and both fists ready to hit any intruder, I tuned around at the source of the noise.

'Holy shit,' I exclaimed at the sight of the naked intruder standing next to my bed. The only object guarding his dignity was my pillow which he was currently using to cover his private area. I knew I should have been freaked out, should be running for my life at that point. But the day's events had been too much for me and I started laughing like mad. I could barely catch my breath and the laughter seemed to go on. My belly was aching with the shudders that were running across my body and the heaving caused by the laughter, which was then replaced by a coughing fit. I pinched my nose shut and used my other hand to block my mouth, all while staring at the stranger who remain unmoved in front of me. Even in the state of unease, punctuated by a dose of fear, I couldn't help but appreciate the shape of his body. I had seen enough pictures of fitness instructors and models to know that such chiseled abs didn't come without efforts. As for his face, I barely had a glance at it, but that brief look was enough for me to know that he was handsome.

'Done?' he finally asked.

Gulping down the laughter that was threatening to make an apparition, I nodded.

'Hey, who are you and what are you doing in my bedroom?' Then as an afterthought, I added 'Naked.'

'Oh, I hadn't noticed that I was naked in your bedroom,' he replied with mock surprise. 'That's your fault, in fact.'

'Huh, how am I to be blamed for you coming here?'

'Did your grandma not tell you not to call anyone after 8?'

Call? When did I call him? My phone was still charging in the kitchen. Rolling his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

'Not through your phone!' How did he know what I had been thinking of?

'Your thoughts can be read on your face, I don't need any special powers for that. Your locket. Given that you are the only one in this bedroom right now, I suppose that you are the one who made use of the locket to bring me here.'

I was growing more and more confused and this was visible to my intruder. Sighing heavily, he asked, 'You don't know anything about the powers of the locket, do you?

I mutely moved my head and indicated that I had no idea what he was talking about.

'The locket that you have in your possession is a key that gives you access to different worlds. You didn't think that only humans and animals populate this earth, do you? You must have heard of vampires, have you? And werewolves? The silly way that they are portrayed in your movies, I tell you.'

I was still stuck on the part where he had started talking about other worlds and it was becoming harder and harder to follow him. The pressure in my temples intensified and the last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was a pair of shocked green eyes with little flecks of hazelnut in them and a glint on his teeth.