Border of the sun (24 page)

  One week later.             

  The sun stood high in the sky. The wind blew from the east, making the sea churn into the shore. The seagulls elegantly skimmed over the water.

  They were standing in the middle of the Waverly cemetery, solemnly staring at the white tombstone on the ground.

  They mean Lilly, Piper and Jack. Piper was holding flowers in her hand. The wind ruffled her hair, but she ignored it and kept staring at the tomb in front of her.

  "He was a great man," Piper bowed and said, "We'll miss you... I'll miss you, Mr. Ford. And I’m sorry that I was not able to attend your funeral."

  "Is it done?" A voice called. They all spun around and saw Karthik climbing down the hill.

  Piper stared as Karthik approached them. She was still finding it hard to digest the fact that he had died one-week ago. That day felt like a dream to her. A dream she would never forget for the rest of her life. The day came back to her.

  "What is it ?" Piper asked impatiently.

  Lilly shook her head. Her skin had turned completely white.

  "What do you mean?" Piper cried.

  "He is not breathing."

  "NO!" Piper cried and pressed her ear against his chest. She didn't feel his heartbeat. "No! Karthik, you can't leave me like this! You can't!"

  Karthik lay lifelessly in her arms. She ran her hand through his hair.

  "Piper, get hold of yourself," Jack said squeezing her shoulder.

  "He can't die," She whispered and glanced at Dr. Alex Bill, and abruptly something clicked inside her as if someone has flipped a switch. She got up and glared at Dr. Alex Bill. Her cheeks were moist with tears. "Those serums... Give me that briefcase!" She ordered.

  "I only have one serum left," Alex Bill said timidly. He had realized what she was planning to do. "It will not work," he added.

  "Have you tried it on a dead?" She demanded.

  "No, we haven't. I just th—"

  "Wait a second. What are you people talking about?" Jack said.

  "She wants to bring Karthik back to life using the serum," Dr. Alex Bill said.

  "Will it work?" Lilly said.

  "I guess it won't," Dr. Alex Bill said.

  "Let me try it," Piper said. She made a grab for the briefcase, Dr. Alex Bill tried to swipe it away from her reach. But he was too slow for her.

  "Don't do it. It will not work." He insisted.

  "I know it will," Piper said and injected the serum into Karthik's body. For the first two minutes, nothing happened. And suddenly, Karthik's body started shaking like he was having some kind of a fit. His eyes snap opened. And his scream filled the warehouse. In a matter of seconds, he had turned into a seven foot giant. 

  “Whad haapened?” He said and got to his feet.

  “Didd youu guyss shrinkk or something?” He asked. Then he started at his own muscular hands. “Whaatt thhe.”

  “Karthik!” Piper smiled, staring at him.

  “Whatt—” They heard a zap. Everyone turned and stared at the supercomputer.

  “Oh! That thing is going to blow up!” Jack cried, “Everyone leave this place immediately!”

  They frantically looked around for an exit. Karthik smashed through the wall, making a way for them to get out of the building. Ten seconds later the supercomputer blasted into pieces.

  The morning air was now filled with the thumping noise. They looked up and saw more than dozen of  helicopters approaching them.

  A black helicopter landed very close to them, and Gari Simon jumped out of it. Her short hair waving in the wind generated by the helicopter’s blades. She strolled toward them. She said something but her voice was muffled by the noise of thumping blades.

  Piper placed the flowers on the tomb next to the flowers, which Karthik had kept just a minute ago and got to her feet. "Yes," she said.

  Karthik panted, regaining his breath and said, "Let's go then."

  "Whose tomb did you visit?" Jack asked him.

  "I know," Piper said, "He went to pay a visit to Sara."

  They silently trudged their way up to the hill and were soon back in front of the facade of the cemetery. A black sedan and a BMW car were waiting for them.

  Lilly and Jack got into the black car. Jack started the car's engine.

  "So what are you guys are going to do?" Lilly asked Karthik and Piper.

  Karthik shrugged. "We'll get back to our normal lives, I guess."

  Jack smiled and nodded.

  "What about you?" Piper asked.

  "We Just got an information about a lab where they are testing a gas that will kill people by making them laugh. We are going to check it out."

  "I wished we could join you," Karthik said and smiled.

  "You can. We never stopped you," Lilly said.

  "You can call us whenever you want," Jack said, "Okay guys, goodbye." The sedan zoomed to the main road. Karthik and Lilly climbed into the BMW.

  "I wanted to go with them," Karthik said and turned on the engine.

  "Me, too," Piper said.

  Karthik and Piper stared at each other, smile forming on their faces. They both were thinking the same thing. Karthik changed the gear and kicked the accelerator. The car zoomed forward, ready to chase the black sedan.

  First and foremost to my sister and critique, Meghana Mewati, for her reviews and tips. To Vanshree Bapat, and Neha Deshmukh for inspiring, editing and helping me to sharpen my craft. Thank you,  Sumedh Jadhav, Akash Mewati, Sumit Chakraborty, Akshata Kalchavkar, Sayalee Shilotri, Sayali Patil and Tejaswini Gupta  for supporting me and being there for me whenever I needed them.

  To Shivam Tyagi, Ravi Bhanushali, Vicky Das, Urmi Dhamnaskar and Ajay Tyagi for believing in the book.   To my friends from V.I.T and also from my hometown for their moral support and inspiration. Thank you, especially  to my wattpad readers for enduring my shitty first draft. To Thenovelpage.com for allowing me to showcase my first draft.