sas chp 12

CHAPTER 12 - the goodbye
Dravya was so angry that he wasn’t paying attention to me. It was a risk I’d taken. He could’ve escaped like he did with Shera. But I didn’t give him time to think. I stroked my own heart, twice. Or rather, I saw myself plunging my heart twice. Because immediately after I instructed my brain, I left my body…
I wasn’t sure if I could pull this off all by my own. But I did. I couldn’t see myself, because I had no body. I had no eyes. I was just a presence, just a soul; a bodiless soul. But still, I could see. I could see everyone surrounding my body and crying in pain. Aksha lost her voice, I hoped it was temporary. She tried waking me up like I was asleep and will open my eyes soon. John held my hand, silently crying. Clark and Martika were crying heavily. All the other guardians were watching with speculation. I tried to speak, to tell them that I was alive I was right here. But I couldn’t, probably because I had no physical ‘vocal cords’. I could only see and hear stuff. I couldn’t touch anything, neither could I speak. I gave up trying to convince them I was here and moved, or rather drifted, to the other way. Armaan was standing still, like a statue in the same pose. He didn’t even go near my body. Nevertheless I could see pain in his eyes. I’d seen him break down twice today, both times he cried. His eyes silently grieved. But seeing me there, he didn’t shed a tear. He felt bad, I could see that, but didn’t shed a single tear. I wasn’t so important to him I suppose, though, I expected at least one tear.
As I drifted nearer to him, his head snapped up. At first I thought he recognized me, but then I saw him taking a defensive position. More offensive, may I add. He took out some bottle from his shoulder bag. From what I assumed, it was a soul-extinguisher or something. Guardians could sense a soul. But they couldn’t guess who it is, since souls are not actually tangible. Was he really going to kill me? I might as well have died with Dravya within. “You killed two of the people I loved the most in this world…” he growled, assuming I was Dravya, who managed to escape again. Two people, Shera and his dad. No mention of me anywhere. Clearly my death didn’t affect him at all. “Both of them were closest to me. And now, when I thought I was about to fall in love for the first time, you’re the reason I lost her too…” With that line he opened the bottle. My instinct said that I should flee, but I stayed. Shocked by his words, and I saw more tears trickling down his face. I felt like crying myself, but obviously, I couldn’t. He was ready to run, chase, but became surprised when I didn’t move.
 “Why haven’t you moved? I’m gonna kill you!” What was he thinking? Talking to Dravya? Asking him why he was so still? Very mature Mr. Devoul.  Well, he was smart. He figured Dravya wouldn’t stay in one place and wait for him to attack. “You’re not Dravya are you?” Well, how was I supposed to answer? I couldn’t speak. I just passed through him. Right through him, through his heart. I half expected a breeze to flow, guitars to play but none of that happened. He remained sweaty, muddy and bloody, and I still remained, well, a ghost.
But somehow, he felt it. That’s what's important, right? “Sana…” he whispered my name, and I felt something. Even if I didn’t have a heart at the moment, I still felt it. He smiled, for the first time and my heart stopped. Damn! I kept forgetting I didn’t have a heart now, but I had a similar feeling. He turned around to tell everyone, and that’s when we both saw the others still crying over my dead body. He soon gathered himself and said, “Sana, you’re no longer human.” While he said that, he looked straight at me. “I don’t think telling them would be a great idea. Souls turn corrupt when they search for soul hosts. If you did find a willing soul host, trust me, I’m willing enough to share mine with you, you’d still become immoral one day.” I can see what he was saying, all the legends said that souls, one free from their body, lose their characters. Maybe because they wouldn’t have a brain to think and heart to listen to. And there was no point giving everyone false hopes that I would return one day.
I didn’t even know how to host a body. I drove once more through Armaan’s heart and sped away from the cave. I had to get away from here. I went unnoticed. Until I reached the forest boundary. I knew this is where souls couldn’t cross. Since I was a soul now too, it stopped me as well. When I tried again, nothing changed. Well, I gave it a last try, and this time I passed it easily. I turned around and found Armaan walking. So he’d controlled this then. “Go Sana, go far away where the guardians won’t find you. Else, they’ll kill you. You’re just like any other soul to them, they won’t be able to differentiate. Even if I tell them it’s you, they won’t believe that I ‘feel’ it’s you. With no concrete proof, they’ll slay you”
He had concern for me. He wanted me alive, tangible or not. His tears hadn’t stopped yet. This was a goodbye from him. He didn’t leave, and that satisfied me. I left soon, and he was still standing there. I was wondering what to do with myself, when it struck me. All souls don’t turn bad. A secret that I hadn’t shared with anyone out there was that Shera’s soul lived in Tiara. I could do something like that. I needed to gather some information. But I couldn’t research in Phargadh anymore, the guardians would simply kill me. Well, the universe was a huge place. I was sure I’d find help somewhere. I was glad to know Tia was safe now, and so were the others. I almost flipped out when I realized I’d put my parents through so much. I wished they could handle this loss. I decided to visit them once, before I could start my quest. Damn, I wished I had my GPS at least. Well, I had been successful in stopping an evil spirit at least. Here I was, a free soul. Ready for my quest for knowledge on souls and soul hosts…