The warm sunlight hit the faces of the two boys as they sat silently, scrolling through the group chat.
Aryan: Should we meet?
Nex: yeah
Gaurav: oh, first time Nex has written something in the group!
Anvit: it seems dangerous outside though, the government says we should stay at home
Akshil: scaredy cat as always, Anvit. You can stay if you want
Pranidhi: Anvit is actually right, I think
Aryan: but we can't just keep sitting and doing nothing
Anvit: have you seen the news of what's happening?
Akshil: but we also have powers
Anvit: have you forgotten what happened 2 days ago?
Akshil: that was a different case
Gaurav: now don't fight, we can decide by voting
Aryan: it's a good idea
Pranidhi: but not now, not everyone is online
Aryan: then let's do it in the evening. Pranidhi, tell the girls to be online. Who will tell Mayukh?
Nex: I will
Aryan: then let's talk in the evening
Anvit: ok
Gaurav: see ya all
Akshil: ok then
Pranidhi: bye brothers
Nex put his phone aside and looked at Mayukh.
"Want to meet them?" Nex asked.
"Maybe we should," Mayukh replied calmly.
"Ok then, I'm going home. Come online in the evening," Nex said, standing up.
After teleporting home, Nex went straight to bed.
Hours passed like minutes. When he woke up, it was already evening. His phone was filled with new messages. Sitting up, he opened the chat.
Gaurav: everyone online?
Pranidhi: yeah
Anvit: Nex is still offline
Mayukh: he'll come, don't worry
Aryan: then let's start
Akshil: according to me, we should meet. We've been at home for days with no clue what's happening
Anvit: but it's dangerous
Akshil: you said it once already
Tahira: we aren't here to fight, are we?
Janvi: I think we should meet
Ridhima: I saw some army vehicles but… if you all are going, then I'll come
Gaurav: now, now, let's just vote
Nex stared at the screen, thinking, hmm… so you're really not gonna tell them what happened?
Akshil: I vote yes
Anvit: no
Gaurav: I'm with Anvit, so no
Janvi: yes
Tahira: I don't want to meet outside
Ridhima: if you guys are meeting then me too
Pranidhi: I think it's dangerous, so no
Aryan: I vote yes
Mayukh: yes
Janvi: so it's decided
Gaurav: wait, Nex hasn't voted
Tahira: he rarely talks in the group, you think he will?
Nex: I vote yes
Tahira: WHATTT??
Janvi: yeahh, then it's decided
Nex looked at the screen with a small grin. Strangely, that reply gave him a tiny spark of joy.
Ridhima: then where are we meeting?
Aryan: Ghata Wale Mataji temple
Anvit: we can meet there but how will we reach? No vehicles are running
Akshil: we have Nex, did you forget?
Gaurav: yeah, Nex can teleport us, right?
Nex stared at the messages and cursed each one of them a thousand times in his mind.
He typed yeah, I'll teleport you to hell but deleted it.
Nex: I can do that, but it'll take at least an hour. I need rest between each teleport
Aryan: an hour is fine if we can meet
Janvi: then let's meet after two days
Akshil: sounds good
Anvit: there's no choice anyway
Gaurav: ok
Pranidhi: ok and I'll be back in a while. Wait for me
Mayukh: ok
Tahira: I don't want to
Ridhima: yeah
Nex: ok then, bye guys
I think I made a mistake by saying yes, Nex thought as a drop of sweat slid down his forehead and the smile faded.
---
The next two days passed just like every other day since the lockdown began, and then the day finally came.
It was high noon, and the sun was right above.
"I'll be back by evening. Don't worry about me, I'll just teleport back if anything happens," Nex said to his mother as he walked toward the roof of the house.
His mother didn't say anything, but her face was clearly filled with worry for her son. She wanted to stop him, yet no words came out.
As Nex walked up the stairs, he thought, 'It really took everything to convince them.' A small bag hung from his back.
He reached the roof and muttered, "This meeting is gonna be a headache," before teleporting.
He appeared next to Mayukh, who was standing outside his house.
"Knew you'd come for me first. But why teleport here? Aren't you wasting your so-called precious stamina?" Mayukh teased.
"Teleporting myself takes less stamina. And if I'm touching someone, it consumes less for teleporting them too. Now shut up or I'll send you to some forest," Nex said.
"Like you could," Mayukh replied with a small grin.
Nex teleported both of them outside the temple. It was huge — large enough to hold five hundred people or more. The Diwali decorations were half done. On one side was the parking lot, and on the other were the empty stands where vendors usually sold things. It was all too quiet now.
"Isn't it too quiet? Last week it was filled with people, and now there's no one… Well then, I think I'll go and maybe do some prayers," Mayukh said.
"Well, I already did, so you can go. I'll rest awhile and then teleport the others," Nex said, sitting on a nearby bench. It was metal, painted black, and rusted in a few places.
He placed the bag beside him and opened it. Inside were five bottles of glucose water.
Nex took one out and chugged half of it in a go. He sat for another minute.
'Let's get to work,' he thought as he stood up from the bench.
Aryan was standing outside his house scrolling his phone, completely unaware of his surroundings.
Nex teleported behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Reflexively, Aryan used his speed and appeared two meters away before looking back.
"Chill, bro, it's me," Nex said in a calming tone.
"Man, you scared me for a second. Don't do things like that, I'll get a heart attack," Aryan said, still a bit shocked.
"You should be a little more aware of your surroundings. Now hold my hand, let's get going," Nex said, reaching out his hand.
Aryan held it, and they teleported to the temple.
Next was Akshil. He was sitting in his garden waiting for Nex when Nex suddenly teleported in front of him.
"How did you know where I was?" Akshil asked curiously.
"Well, I just know," Nex replied, placing a hand on his shoulder and teleporting him.
"Man, no matter how many times you do it, it's amazing. You should start a company and teleport people wherever they want," Akshil babbled half-jokingly.
Nex laughed a bit, then walked toward his bag to drink more water.
Anvit was on the roof of his house, petting his wolf. "You've grown a bit these days," he said.
Suddenly the wolf ran toward the side where Nex had just teleported and began rubbing against Nex's feet.
"I think he likes me more than you," Nex teased.
"Not more than me." Anvit blew a whistle, and the wolf immediately came to him.
Anvit picked the wolf up. "And I've named him Zero. Try calling him by his name."
"You and your naming sense…" Nex said as he touched Anvit's back and teleported them.
"Uhh, I feel dizzy," Anvit said with unsteady steps. He put Zero down. "Well, what are they doing?"
Aryan and Akshil were trying to break a brick they found.
"I can easily break this brick with my fist," Akshil boasted.
"Try running with me, you can never match my speed," Aryan said, sprinting to the other end of the parking lot.
"Leave those two," Nex said as he went to the bench. "I'll go get Gaurav now."
Nex teleported a few meters behind Gaurav, who was watering plants with a small watering can, completely unaware.
Seeing this, a small idea sparked in Nex's mind. This is gonna be fun, he thought as a grin appeared on his face.
He quietly walked up behind Gaurav, touched him with his index finger, and teleported him — watering can included.
Still unaware, Gaurav kept watering without looking. Then he glanced around and saw Anvit standing in front of him. As he turned his head, he noticed the others staring at him.
"Oh… when did I get here? And why are you all staring at me like I did something wro—"
He paused mid-sentence as he looked down.
He had been watering Zero's head the whole time. He froze, staring at Zero until the water ran out. The watering can slipped from his hands as he hesitantly stepped back.
"Umm… Anvit—"
Before he could finish, Zero charged at him, and Gaurav instinctively ran for his life.
"Nex, you bastard! I will kill you! Anvit, help me!" he screamed while running around the temple.
Revenge completed, Nex thought with a cunning smile as he took another bottle from his bag.
"Umm… what's happening?" Mayukh asked as he came out of the temple after finishing his prayers.
"Don't worry, just revenge," Nex said with a smile.
"So… are you gonna teleport the girls now too?" Mayukh asked.
"No, I'll teleport them from here. I don't wanna go to their houses," Nex said indifferently.
"You know you'll die single like this," Mayukh teased.
"Care about yourself. And I consider them my sisters anyway," Nex said while chugging water.
After about half an hour, everyone had arrived. They all stood outside the main gate of the temple in the parking lot, talking about their powers and showing what they had learned these days.
"Shouldn't you be there?" Nex asked Mayukh as they both sat on the bench.
"You should too. And I'm not interested in their babbling about powers," Mayukh replied, still watching the group.
"I'll go after a bit of rest. You go and listen. Maybe someone else has seen the men we saw," Nex said while opening his bag.
"Well… you're right," Mayukh said as he stood up and walked toward the group.
Nex, now alone on the bench, checked his bag. 1 hour and 20 minutes… there's some improvement, he thought.
He looked at the last bottle. Maybe I'll need this later.
Meanwhile, Mayukh listened to the others.
Tahira said, "Two days ago, there were so many army vehicles near my house."
Anvit added with trembling legs, "I also saw smoke rising from an explosion far away."
Everyone spoke about the same things—army vehicles, the news, the fear.
No clue about those men… Mayukh sighed.
Then Ridhima said quietly, "Some days ago… I saw some men in black dresses wandering the streets with guns."
Her voice was small, buried under the others' chatter — but Mayukh caught it. His eyes widened slightly.
"Wait—what did you just sa—"
He pointed toward Ridhima, but before he could finish, an explosion thundered nearby.
Everyone instinctively snapped their heads toward the source — thick, black smoke rising.
Not far at all.
Barely a hundred meters away.
The highway.
To be continued…
---