Seven Days...

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Disclaimer: All characters in this story are fictional; any resemblence to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental and unintentional....this story was written couple of years ago, in the summer of 2005......Special Thanks to Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code"...which stood as a major inspiration for me to write this story on my journey to Mysore from Banaglore.

-Hemanth Kumar
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Seven Days...

Monday: - 7:00 A.M

“Please move…please move, photographers and journalists are not allowed,” said the fat policeman to a group of journalists who were rushing towards the great mansion of Sripuram.

Prasad, a noted writer had died under mysterious conditions earlier that day. He was a very well respected gentleman in the town and was famous for his writings and speeches against the government policies across the state.

The whole locality was filled with voices of siren and eager onlookers who were curious to know what was happening. The news had spread like wild fire throughout Sripuram and special taskforce was called upon to investigate the matter.

Mr. Ashok, the DCP of the place had just come to the site.

“Mr. Ashok….Mr. Ashok, what have you got to say about the whole incident?” the curious journalists were on a rampage.

“I can’t say anything about the incident; looks like we have got a tough case ahead…thank you”.

“Mr. Ashok……Mr. Ashok…”

He had barged inside the great mansion. “Oh! My God…what is this place? Looks like as if there was a earthquake last night,” exclaimed Ashok.

The house was in a horrible condition…books thrown away from various racks, the computer screen had crumbled into pieces, the kitchen was no different. Everything was a complete mess. It looked as if the man inside the house was “murdered” and someone might have done a thorough search for something…maybe something very important…something priceless.

“Ok, Fellas! We have a situation here. I am gonna call in the special task force in a few minutes. We are going to transfer the whole case to them and we will help them in every possible manner to solve the case,” instructed Ashok to his team, continuing,” For the world, Mr. Prasad has died of suffocation and paralysis stroke, but we gotta find out that one thing that will be most important for us because of this incident; the truth, the reason and the answer of every how, why, what, when!” “ That’s it, buckle up guys, its show time!”

Krishna, the newly appointed ACP to the town was listening keenly to his senior. “Brilliant,” he thought. He was determined to solve the case to prove his worth. He had rose very quickly to this status and was generally cursed and suspected of giving bribes.

Monday: - 8:00 A.M

The task force had arrived and was searching for the smallest possible clues in the house. All they could find in the house was books lying everywhere and perhaps; nothing was in its place at all.

John, the head of the team was a very intelligent young man. He was highly respected in police circles for his excellent capabilities in finding clues and solving all the puzzles in a case. But he had a bizarre past. In school he was caught several times for the attempt of cheating and indiscipline. As a child he was always pushed to accept things and never ask questions. But he always did and never in his life had he found a man who would encourage him to do what he does best until he met Ashok. John was a eager student who would always try to find the truth factor in everything and Ashok was a patient teacher and listener who would try to answer every question that John shot at him. There was a special bonding between these two and they had solved many complex cases as a team.

The task force had nearly searched for an hour and had found nothing except for a pen, a bullet shot through the window and the hole it made in the wall behind and of course loads and loads of footprints and fingerprints. They started taking samples and immediately forwarded them for analysis.

“John, may I have a word with you?” asked Krishna. “John, I found something near Prasad’s table when I was looking for clues earlier today. I picked it up and didn’t tell anyone about this. Maybe this will be of some use to you, so just wanted to keep it a secret.”

“Ok…what is it?”

“A white paper, a pen whose nib was dry and a glass filled with some lemon juice,” said Krishna. “hehehe….Krishna, do you expect a writer’s table to be anything different?”

“I don’t know…anyway take them and have a look. I have to go now. Ashok will be expecting me in his office. All the best John.”

“Thanks Krishna”

The paper looked very normal and the pen too. There was no reason to suspect anything. But as he was about to throw the paper away, he smelt it for one last time and he was right on track! The paper had a smell as if lemon juice was smeared over it. John smiled. This had been his favourite way of cheating at school. Write something on a white paper with the nib of pen dipped in lemon juice; it would be absolutely clean unless you take the paper near and smell it. And he knew exactly how to unlock this. He took out his lighter and lighted an old lamp and placed the paper above the chimney of the lamp. And just as he expected a message appeared in the white paper.

“It may seem like we harass,

But never mind someone has to be a victim,

It will be a turn to abyss if you get this wrong,

For the land where we are is so famous,

Unlock my words and the great lord seated under the tree shall guide you to me.”

This message was unlike any other puzzle he had seen before. The words were very oddly arranged and John had just managed to understand what each word was in that format. He slipped the paper into his pocket and straight away headed home.

Monday: - 9:00 P.M

Trin…trin…

“Hello John…this is Ashok.”

“Yes Sir….John speaking.”

“So, how far have you been successful in the case?”

“Sir, we have started to analyze the clues that we have with us. I think we can solve this case in a short time. And Sir, I need the address of every possible relative of Mr. Prasad.”

For some reason, John decided to keep the information about the clues a secret, even from Ashok.

“Ok...John, I will have them faxed to you in an hour.” “Thank you….Ashok”

John had been working on the message for nearly 13 hours now and he still wasn’t sure of what the message indicated. He began to concentrate on the 1^st and the 4^th line…

“It may seem like we harass

For the land where we are is so famous”

In the past few days, he had read thousands of articles on various places, but nothing was referring to this. What does this mean….? We harass….V harass (this form of writing “we” as “v” was very famous among mobile and internet users) V harass…V haras…or maybe Viharas!

Oh….Can this be true??...!!!

This refers to the land of Viharas. People interested in literature and history knew exactly what this meant. It indicated only one place, BIHAR…the land of Viharas. Viharas are the resting places built by the Buddhists. The place was so famous that in sometime it came to be know as Bihar…the land of Viharas.

And the last line…

“Unlock my words and the great lord seated under the tree shall guide you to me”

This could be the only thing that was in his mind. The great lord referred to Gautam Buddha and the tree was in Gaya. The place so famous across the world is believed to be the tree under which He attained the status of God and the place was in Gaya, Bihar. After an hour, the fax from Ashok had come. And at the bottom of the page was the address of someone named Priya who was the grand daughter of Prasad. And as he expected she lives in Gaya, Bihar!

Tuesday

Tuesday: - 7:00 A.M

“But John, try to understand. We need you here. You can’t just leave the case like this and go to a please which is least associated with this case.” Ashok and Krishna were pleading John. But John could see the bright glow in Krishna’s face that had a hint that John might have cracked the clue.

“Don’t worry Ashok; I will be back in a day. My grandmother is very ill and she expects me to be beside her in her last moments. You know how much I love her. I promise, I will be back in two days. Any problem, just give me a call.”

“But John…oh…it’s of no use arguing with you. Come back soon, we need you here.”

“Yeah…I do understand that…but you know sometimes we just have to let the consequences judge our actions.”

They all understood what he meant.

“Bye John…” And then the DCP and ACP turned to go. After sometime John was about to take his seat in the train, he saw some middle aged man looking at him with great curiosity and intensity. He crossed John and boarded in the next compartment. John couldn’t forget his distinct face. He had serious blue eyes and a long scar on his forehead which looked like a small stick imprinted vertically. The journey from Sripuram to Gaya was five hours. The train started and so did his journey into a different world…..

Tuesday: - 8:00 A.M

Station: Afzalgunj (Somewhere into the forest of Sripuram)

The thin clouds which had been hovering for a few days over Sripuram had suddenly turned pitch black. It looked as if it will never stop raining and the surrounding became very gloomy. John was recounting everything that had happened in the past 24 hours. Something else had been worrying him too. Maybe he is being followed….maybe someone was something precious in Prasad’s house…or maybe…maybe they are going to kill everyone related to him…oh…oh…Priya! Is she next on their list? No! I am not going to let that happen. I cannot let an innocent girl lose her life. He got down at Afzalgunj which was a border town between Bihar and Orissa. The path from Afzalgunj to Gaya on road was short but the journey was very tiring. The land was completely green and the area was completely gripped in floods.

“Sir….Sir….where are you going? It’s not safe out there while raining,” the station master was yelling at John. But he was already out of sight. The person who was sitting in a compartment behind that of John’s was observing keenly what John had been doing. Hi name was Rohan. But in his world he was called Rocky. “Sir, target missed….it’s gonna take me a long time to see what he’s doing,” said Rocky over the phone.

“Ok. Do what ever it takes,” the voice said. Beep…..the telephone was hung up.
John had covered the distance in quite a short time. He reached Gaya almost an hour earlier than the scheduled arrival of the train he had taken earlier. He enquired about Priya and went to her home.

“Ding….Dong,” the doorbell rang. “Arey baba…I am coming…one second,” answered Priya from inside. “Ok….I will wait,” said John.

“Yes…what can I do for you?” asked Priya with the most gorgeous smile that John had ever seen.

“Ma’am I am John. I am from your grand father’s town. Can I talk to you for a minute?” John requested.

“Oh….Ok…come in. take your seat. Yeah…tell me,” said Priya.

“I am really sorry ma’am, but I have to convey this message to you.”

“What is it?”

“Your grandfather died yesterday morning.”

She went pale….not a word from her mouth. “How…..did it happ…en?” she was stammering. “To tell you the truth, he was murdered; but to the world it has been declared that the cause of death was “stroke of paralysis”…”

“What!!! He was murdered? But how can this be possible?” there was something wrong and John could sense it. “Is there anything you want to tell me Miss Priya?” asked John.

“No….it’s just…just like déjà vu. Last month I got a letter from him saying that there’s something wrong. Someone is trying to kill him. And the day is gonna come soon.”

“Oh…so your grandfather knew that someone is going to kill him?”

“Yeah…I think he did.”

“Can you tell me anything else?”

“Why are you asking me all this questions? Who are you?”

“I am the head of STF investigating about your grandfather’s murder. And nobody knows that I am in Gaya, interrogating his grand daughter.”

But John was wrong. Rocky was sent for him. And his mission was to erase any trace left of Prasad and everything that comes in the way. He was few yards away from her house.

“Ok…I can trust you. Can I John?” ”Yes…of course.”

“A month ago he sent me a letter terming as highly confidential and to be opened only upon the news of his death and that this was his last wish. Perhaps you would like to see it, John,” said Priya.

“Of course…. I would be willing to do anything to help you out to solve this case,” said John. As her steps moved across the floor towards a locker, a bullet with a force of thunderbolt pierced the window sailing towards Priya.

“Priya……!!! Get down…now…,” shouted John. The bullet had narrowly missed Priya. “Thud…..thud...,” Rocky had gone mad. He was literally emptying his ammo.

“We have to get out of this place. Now!” said John. ”Ok…I should get that letter now before leaving.” “Run…..”

Rocky had ducked beneath the rocks to conceal himself from the curious onlookers who had started shouting in the street. And there was panic all over the place. “Oh…shit….shit….i missed them again,” thought Rocky. “Boss is not going to be happy about this.”

Tuesday:

Afternoon: - 1:00 P.M

John and Priya had been running for an hour now. They took a brand new Toyota Innova from a rich businessman by force who was talking to his friend on the road. When they reached an abandoned fort 100kms away, they decided to see what was in the letter.

Before they could tear open the envelope there was another message in a separate piece of paper attached to this envelope. It said

“And when you leave, don’t leave anything.

Because if you; you will never reach me.”

John thought,” Oh…this man knew that the people who were about to kill him will also come for his granddaughter and maybe everyone else associated with him.”

“Ok…lets’ see what’s inside it.”

Once again, it looked like some kind of puzzle.

“Take a rope and pull me down,

Something turns me on.

When I stand and pray the sun,

I feel as if my life is still a circle undone,

Have a look at the sun because something will shine.”

“What is this thing?” asked Priya. “Maybe this is a clue, which might lead us to something else,” said John.

“Ok…but why does he need to tell it like this? Why couldn’t he write a simple sentence what he was trying to convey?” exclaimed Priya.

“I don’t know….maybe he didn’t want this to fall in wrong hands,” said John.

“Let’s work it out. Maybe we two can decipher something out of it,” said Priya.

“If you look at this letter, he mentions about “Sun” twice….that means he’s trying to imply something related to “Sun”….what can it be…?”. “Where do people stand and pray the sun….?”

“I guess in every house….while doing Surya Namaskar. It’s a ritual of Hindus,” said Priya. “Maybe something more specific….hmmm….what is it?.....what is it?” John was trying to think hard.

The mid-day sun was very hard on them. Priya couldn’t bear the heat and found a small stream downhill from the fort.

“John…lets go down and drink some water…I think there’s a stream there.”

“Ok…I guess you are right,” said John. They both drank some water and John sat down to take some rest. He was probably looking at the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Something attracted him towards Priya. She was his only concern now besides the case. Just as he was about to think more about her, his eyes shot at a tattoo on Priya’s shoulder.

“Priya…what is that on your shoulder?”

“This…this is a tattoo of my sun sign…Libra.”

Yes. It did look like that….

But something struck John….he couldn’t take his eyes off that tattoo…does this imply anything?? Is this related to the clue? He began to analyse the puzzle which Prasad had set with this tattoo…..this tattoo could be thought of having one line which is horizontal and two lines inclined to each other and an arc joining these two lines.

“What’s a circle undone?.....it’s an arc….so here there’s something on an arc. It looks like a sleeping K…oh…oh…wow…this sun sign is like a K on arc. Yes….Konarc…maybe Konark….yes it’s Konark, the place of sun temple, the only one of its kind.”

And there was a broad smile on his face. Priya couldn’t figure out what it was. John said, ”Priya I know what your grandfather indicated in that letter. The place leads us to Konark, the land of sun temple. Yes, it’s true; your grandfather’s statement of praying the sun refers to the Sun Temple.”

Maybe we will find something there. That was their next destination. And yeah…their date with death was waiting for them too there…..

Wednesday...

Wednesday: - 9:00 A.M

Konark….

“Come on Priya. Get down…we have to reach there soon.”

“I am coming….hold on for a second,” answered Priya who was washing her face. The train halted on time.

“Cab sir….cab sir….,” shouted a cab driver.

“Where do you want to go Sir?” asked the cab driver to John. “To Sun Temple.” “ this way Sir...,” said the cab driver to John.

In less than 15 minutes they reached the temple. John had this gut feeling that someone was following them for a long time. They got down the cab and started walking towards the sun temple.

“So….what are you looking for, in this place?” Priya asked.

“I don’t know….maybe an inscription or a transcript, a direction or even a symbol…”

“Symbol! As in?”

“Symbol…maybe of some God, some animal or bird and….what happened? You remember something?” John said looking at the amused look on Priya’s face.

“I think I remember something…some kind of phrase which my grandfather always used to tell.”

“What is it? Pop it out…”

“It goes something like this:

“When the sun is over and under you,

Take one step forward, two steps backward,

And there you will find something unreal,

You will be one step closer to your goal “

“What’s the first line?”

“hmm….when the sun is over and under you.” And they both looked out at the open courtyard inside the main temple.

“I think, I got the symbol… It’s the inscription of sun here…somewhere on the ground,” said John.

“Does that mean that we have to wait till 12:00 P.M?” asked Priya.

“Yeah…looks like it.”

As they were going in depth of the present situation, someone was watching them…..very closely. It was Rocky. He had followed them for a very long time now. This time he didn’g want to miss his target. He had missed once in Gaya, but considering the development in the past 24 hours, he thought it might be a better idea to contact his boss. He took out his brand new 2 megapixel camera phone with an MMS service.

“Boss….this is Rocky.”

“Yes…Rocky. What is it? Is the work done?” the voice said.

“No Sir, I think you better see this.” He sent the pictures of John and Priya he had taken a little while ago.

“hmm….this seems interesting. You better find out what they are upto and come here as soon as you come to know what they are going after,” said the Voice.

“Ok…boss.”

Wednesday: - 12:00 P.M

The sun was almost at the top of the temple now. And something happened there what they had been waiting for. The sun rays started kissing the courtyard and something started shining as bright as the Sun. it was sun itself. And inscription of sun…..and the phrase made perfect sense.

“Excellent,” thought John.

“When the sun is over and under you,

Take one step forward, two steps backward,

And there you will find something unreal,

You will be one step closer to your goal”

He moved towards the illuminated side and stood over the inscription. And the phrase went he took one step forward and two steps backward; he found something unreal….an unreal brick. He removed the false brick and found another inscription on a paper. And it read….

“Go to the nearest place where I am still alive,

And ask for my last,

And look out for the holy number

Of the saint who has no form

Yet he is resting in a holy grave across the continent.”

“Oh….God! Another code! Where is this heading us?” thought Priya.

John began rumbling his head. “He’s still alive? Where is a dead writer still alive….maybe someone’s heart…..in his writings…..yes! It is his writing. And his ‘last’ refers to his last book.”

They came out of the temple and looked for a book shop around; they found one few yards away.

“Hello….can I get the last….hmmm…the latest book by the Indian Writer, Prasad?”

“Yes Sir…right away,” said the book shop guy. He handed them his latest and took the bucks. What was next on the line….

“Look out for the holy number……of a saint who has no form, but yet he rests in a holy grave across the continent.”

Holy number….is a number considered holy!!! Well John knew about the evil number “666” which was mentioned in Bible as the number of Satan. But he had also seen this number “786” which is considered holy by Muslims around the world. Yes…at last he had found the number….it was indeed 786. And we do see it almost in every front door of Muslims. And the ‘saint’ was their God; Prophet Mohammed, whose gave rests in Mecca. John turned to Page 786….and somewhere in the middle he found….

“There lies a very old saint in a place as small as a nut. It literally translates as a place to go and come. When you reach here, search for a place, where two sisters meet and stretch their arms across a continent. Dig a hole there and you will find the truth. Something which one person knew… but could reveal nothing. But the power is in my blood and that’s my last wish.”

“Does this look like a passage rather than a code?” asked Priya. They read the whole thing again. And it felt that this referred to a place in India where an old saint is resting. The name of the place translates to Go and Come. And it is as small as a nut.

A place as small as a nut in India….lets see in a map…there are only few places…Delhi, Sikkim, Pondicherry, Yanam, Mahe, Daman and Diu, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Goa…..

Goa; John thought was the closest to the description. It we split the name into two, we get...Go and A; and A, if written in Hindi literally translates to "aaa" which means "come" in English.

Perfect. Goa is our next place. And an old saint, rests there for a long time who belongs to Christianity. The description suits Goa. They took an atlas from the same shop and looked for Goa. Trying to find a place where two sisters meet and their eyes lied on one thing. Panaji.

Panaji is the coastal town; the capital city and its location was such that two rivers Zuari and Mandovi meet the Arabian Sea. “Yes….” They both screamed on the top of their voice, inviting attention from everyone around.

“So…Panaji is the place where we are to go now,” said Priya in a relatively higher voice. “Sssshhhhh….don’t scream. Keep your voice low,” said John. Before she could rectify her mistake, nothing could have been changed, because something which was to be kept a secret was no more a secret. And someone who had been looking for this couldn’t have been much happier.

John looked all around to find any suspects who were following them. But he vanished and fear shall have a new face now….

Thursday

Thursday: - 6:30 A.M

Somewhere in Sripuram…

“Yes, you look perfect now. This should be enough,” said the voice to Rocky. “Ok Boss. What do you want me to do now?”

“Nothing… Just go to your target and kill them both after getting what they were searching for.” And they both started laughing. But it didn’t last long for it was disturbed by a sudden jerk.

“You!... What are you doing here?” screamed the voice. Rocky pushed his boss and jumped out of the open window. “No…you can’t do this to me,” said the voice to the person in front of him. “You do something so scandalous and you expect me to spare you!” exclaimed the man who came under the light. He was Krishna…..and the silent morning of Thursday was disturbed by two bullets which blasted the body of “the Voice”. It was Ashok….Krishna couldn’t never have imagined that Ashok would do something like this…..”AS in any famous novels or movies this “voice” turns out to be one of the most trusted guys….Ashok!” thought Krishna. He had been tapping Ashok’s phone for quite sometime and suspected something fishy. Krishna heard some quick footsteps heading towards Ashok’s cabin. Krishna broke the glass window and quickly ran through the dark path following the same trail as that of Rocky’s.


Thursday: - 9:30 A.M

Somewhere in Central India….

The train was roaring ahead towards Panaji. John and Priya were alone in their first class compartment. They had rarely got time to talk to each other in the past 2 days. They both started talking about their lives and John asked, “What do you do in Gaya?” She said,”I teach there…I have been there for quite sometime now.” And she slipped into some deep thought. “Actually I am a journalist. I have been looking for some special issues to investigate upon. Last time I was working on how the downtrodden in Bihar were being harassed by the rich moneylenders. I didn’t want my name to be disclosed anywhere. So I became a full time teacher to keep everything a secret.”

“Impressive,” John thought. They continued to talk about their lives and other interests. For a moment it looked as if they forgot about the case.

Thursday: - 10:00 P.M

Panaji…

“Better, we take a room tonight,” suggested John. They went to a hotel named “the Ritz” and took a room for the night. “Room no-303, Sir.” They went to their room with a smile on both their faces. But they least expected that their death was waiting for them in room no-503. “So, is tomorrow the end of this quest??” asked Priya. “Do you want it to happen so?” “Yes…I mean no…I….I never want to go away from you.” “And why is that?” asked John expecting a gentle reply. “Because….because you are the only guy I trust…and to be honest you are the only one I ever loved.”

“Priya, remember one thing now….in these circumstances…don’t trust anybody. DON’T TRUST ANYBODY. The world is a very dangerous place, always waiting to push you down. I want you to have this,” saying this he placed a gun in her hand. “It’s a 9mm pistol. You should keep this always with you and when the time comes don’t hesitate to shoot.” “Even you, John?” asked Priya. “When the time comes, you will know,” smiled John.

Friday...

Friday:- 9:00 A.M

Priya and John walked together to the restaurant in the ground floor. They finished their breakfast and john had gone to wash his hands. It took a long time for him to come out and Priya was worried. When he came out, Priya asked, ”Are you alright?” “Yup….just slipped in there,” John replied. “What happened to your voice?” “I think something is stuck down my throat,” replied John. And Priya seemed quite pleased with the reply.

They went to the place where the two rivers met the sea. During the journey John was very quiet and Priya thought maybe he was thinking about the case. But she was wrong. John was planning something that soon was going to be a nightmare to her. What was it???

Priya began to dig the sand near the place where they thought they might find something. And then she hit something hard. John took over now and dug the entire thing out. This was something they had been looking for all this time. And they found it.

“Yes…I found it,” screamed John. “We have found it John…we have found it.”

Just then as they were celebrating their find, Priya heard a gun being loaded few metres away. She was about to turn her head. And when she did, her face was smeared with John’s blood.

“Thud…thud.” Two bullets pierced into John’s body. “No!!!!!” screamed Priya. She took out the gun she had and blindly shot at the guy who had shot John. It was Krishna, the ACP from Sripuram. She hit him twice. He was wailing with acute pain and screamed on top of his voice with the last amount of energy left in him.

“He is not John. John is lying unconscious in the hotel. His name is Rocky, he had been trying to kill you for a long time.”

Priya was shocked beyond her belief. She couldn’t hear another word. “The DCP of Sripuram was Rocky’s boss and made him look like John. It’s a life size mask and there’s a voice transmitter on his throat.” He was indeed true. She started moving towards Krishna but the poor soul had already started his journey towards heavan.

Friday: - 5:00 P.M

John woke up in a hospital. “Aaaahhhh…..where am I?” he said with a low voice filled with pain. Priya told him everything that had happened in the past 8 hours. He took a deep breath and thought for a long time.

“Oh….John! I am so happy that you are all right. I lost my senses when that guy shot you in front of me. But later I realized that it wasn’t you,” she said in a heavy relaxed voice.

“So?”

“So….what?” Priya asked.

“What do you plan to do now?”

“I don’t know. Probably would want to spend the rest of my life with the guy I loved.”

“What about your grandfather’s last wish?” “Yes…that too.”

“By the way what was there in that box?” And she told everything, something that would rock the nation. It had everything that CBI was ever looking for. Every detail about politicians, officials, Police everyone involved in the system. That is why it had claimed so many innocent lives. “Priya, your grandfather was a strong man, and he believed in you. You have a gift, Priya. You have to bring this thing into the limelight,” John said in a soothing tone.

Saturday

Saturday: - 7:30 A.M

Every major newspaper published this report written by Priya and she became a star overnight. The entire day she was busy giving interviews to news channels. And she was also dreaming of a long life with John. But destiny had different plans for her. She spent the whole day with John and they both bade each other before sleeping.

Sunday...

Sunday: - 7:30 A.M

The headlines said,”Miss Priya, the star that rose yesterday was found murdered this morning in her flat.” The country was shocked and so was John. He had a new job now. And this he was going to fight for a reason. This was going to be his fight against the system which made it happen……

**** THE END****