He doesn’t remember the last time he genuinely closed his eyes and prayed to god. The smell of incense sticks and the continuous ringing of the temple bell in his in-house temple always made him a little woozy, but he didn’t mind it today. It's the least he could do in return to the almighty that helped him turn the tide in his favor. Sticking to the morning protocol, his wife’s wrinkled, frail hands put the vermilion mark or the teeka on his forehead. The vermillion was part of his distinctive look; it added to the whole aura of a warrior fighting for a cause. The cause, he had been passionately fighting over the last 10 years - A separate state for his fellow men. Today is an important day; the rally he’s hosting today might well be the epic climax of the revolution he had started. He will get to live his dream finally – that of becoming the most powerful person in the state.
Little did he know, someone was meticulously planning towards a different climax - one which involved a sniper taking orders from a Hitman who rarely missed.
***
He couldn't believe what he saw on the other side of the road. A man, who looked his identical twin – nose, hair, eyes, everything looked the same except for the clothes. He was wearing really outlandish clothes, which looked like it was made of really cheap, flashy leather.
If this is some kind of a practical joke, he surely chose the wrong time.
He saw that the person other end too was equally mesmerized by the sight he saw on the other end. It seemed so surreal, the notion that he had been in the same situation before hit him. This was just the beginning; the rest of the evening was just about to get worse.
He followed him for a good kilometer now; they crossed the MG Road and sprinted towards the Ranigunj Signal jostling through the crowd. His stamina was giving away, his lungs running on the reserves made him stop to gather his breath. He was just starting to regret for giving his double a considerable lead, he looked up to keep a tab and his surprise knew no bounds. To his astonishment, his double too stooped in the exact position to catch his breath. A rush of adrenaline gave him the vigor to sprint so that he can get to the root of this bizarre happening. He took his first vigorous step; the double too started sprinting at the same time.
That's it - enough was enough. How’s he doing it?
He frantically called for the nearest auto and asked him to follow the guy ahead.
"Which guy? The one who got into the auto right now?" The auto driver inquired.
He stared blankly ahead. It was too paranormal for his logical mind to handle.
"Follow the auto then!" He yelled.
An actor? A mirage? An identical twin that he never knew of? Insanity?
His mind worked out a rational explanation to the events unfolding. By now, they traversed the whole of Hussain Sagar, crossed the necklace road and took the right from James Street, back to Ranigunj. He quickly jotted down the auto’s license number in his hands just in case if he had to make further inquiries. He looked up to keep a tab on the auto amongst the bustling swamp of traffic ahead of him. To his utter dismay, he couldn't find it.
It was gone. No, No, No!! This can’t be happening!
He quickly got off the auto, walked towards the signal and searched through the disarrayed early evening traffic in the busy Ranigunj road. He saw a distant speck of the yellow colored vehicle speeding through the road to his left, which utterly baffled him.
"Why the hell is he going back to Paradise Restaurant? "
With a seething rage, he got back into the auto and tried catching up, but to no avail. They completely lost track of them. He reached back to the Paradise restaurant, where it all started. Various thoughts struck him like an avalanche.
Why was he here? He had a job to finish, what was it?
He knew he was forgetting something. His chain of thoughts was broken by the auto driver asking him to pay up. He paid up and noticed the numbers written on his hand while reaching for his wallet. As the auto started leaving, out of curiosity he studied the license plate.
No way!! That's just impossible
He was astounded to see the exact alphanumeric combination written on his hands being etched on the auto. This hit the final nail, he was dumbstruck. He could feel the throbbing pulse on his temples. His sweaty palms forced his wallet into his pocket, and it slipped. He bent to pick it up, and that's when he saw a person on the other side of the road coming out of the restaurant.
Oh god! Not again!
A prominent thought hit him like a bolt of thunder. He half smirked to himself; all this made sense now.
He was stuck in a time loop.
