Free Tantrics Of Old by Krishnarjun Bhattacharya Page A

the compartment was empty. The siblings crept in after him, and stared as Adri approached the sleeping man, weapon raised.
    The man appeared to be a homeless—old clothes, cap pulled over face. Adri stood in front of him and slowly eased his weapon barrel towards the man’s forehead. The siblings watched, frozen. Adri gently lifted the cap with the barrel until he got a glimpse of the man’s face. Then he turned around and lowered the shooter.
    ‘It’s okay,’ he said.
    A chair car. The seats weren’t in as bad a condition as the train itself, and Maya and Gray sat on the other side of the aisle from Adri. Every available inch of the compartment was covered with old, frayed leaflets and posters, scratched messages, and amateurish graffiti. The windows were open; the shutters had long broken away. The platform lights were so dim by now that they could see nothing but darkness outside.
    ‘How long is the journey?’ Maya asked, peering out of a window.
    ‘About six hours,’ Adri replied.
    ‘Not that long, huh?’ Gray commented.
    ‘Gets boring,’ Adri said, leaning back into his seat, his bag on the empty seat beside him.
    Gray turned around to look at the man in the back row, still sleeping. ‘What did you suspect him of being?’ Gray asked. ‘A Demon?’
    ‘He could have been a lot of things, Gray,’ Adri replied, shifting in more comfortably.
    ‘You mean the train isn’t safe?’
    ‘Even New Kolkata isn’t safe. Nowhere is safe.’
    Maya spoke up. ‘You’re always so vague.’ She wondered if the Tantric was concealing information, or hiding his ignorance. Either way, it was about time she got to know a bit more about him than he intended to reveal. His origins or background wouldn’t be a bad start. Any information was crucial, just in case he turned on them later on. She had already bound Adri’s diaries in brown paper—now she readied one inside her bag, keeping a watchful eye on the young Tantric. He looked ready to sleep off. She would wait until he was, in case he felt any magical vibes from the book or something—she could never be too sure. The train started, sluggishly at first, picking up speed soon. They rushed into an endless tunnel, the darkness outside deepening. Gray peered out of a window, while his sister seemed to hunt for something in her backpack. All he could see was black—the New Kolkata tunnel lights had clearly not been installed on the way to Old Kolkata. He wondered if this train was a secret from MYTH, or if they allowed it to run. The next instant, he froze. A figure was moving towards them through the aisle. A huge man in a blue uniform, the cap pulled over his head, casting his face into shadow. He was built well, his muscles pushing against the uniform’s fabric as he walked. He blocked the lights with his size as he approached.
    ‘A-A-Adri!’ Gray stammered, looking to his left. Maya was staring at the figure, while across the aisle Adri was sitting straighter and searching his bag for something.
    The figure stopped in front of them. Then, in a voice that was more like a grunt, something Gray heard over the noise of the train, he spoke. ‘Tickets.’
    The siblings looked at the man with their jaws hanging, eyes wide in surprise. In the darkness of the man’s face, something moved.
    ‘Here you are,’ Adri said.
    A red cloth bag, tied at the mouth. The man took it, felt its weight, and grunted.
    ‘All three of you?’ he asked.
    ‘All three,’ Adri replied, praying he hadn’t miscalculated.
    The figure moved past them towards the sleeping man in the back.
    ‘Who was that? You paid for us?’ Gray asked, while Maya looked on.
    Adri took a moment before he replied. ‘He’s called the Driver,’ he said. ‘We do not talk about the Driver while we’re on the train.’
    ‘What was in that bag?’ Gray persisted.
    ‘Later. Believe me, now is not the time. His hearing is
quite
sharp,’ Adri replied, leaning back again. Shuteye. This was probably the last