DEVIL'S SHADOW

THE DEVIL'S SHADOW

The hours pass, yet not a single vehicle or human is spotted. It's 3 AM; they didn't even get any sleep. They were exhausted and just sat on the footpath, waiting. They start to hear music all of a sudden, and the volume is rising. A vehicle with a lot of lights on is driving down the road, blasting loud music. They stood in the middle of the road, blocking the way. When the van stopped, they felt strange as they saw the many bright and discordant colours it was covered in. They approached the person driving the van and requested a ride. The driving person looks around and says, "I'll do it, but you have to pay for an adventure, a race, a thrill... Are you able to afford me?" Dev laughs out loud, saying, "We have all, but can you drive fast with this weird-looking old van?" The person replies, "Mmm, do you know Fast and Furious? It's my story; I gave them permission to make movies. And coming to Van, you young guys don't know the value of the old. Never mind, you're saying you have all, so get in". Karthik sits in the front seat next to the driver of the van, while the other members rest in the back seats as they board the van. Due to the size of the vehicle and their exhaustion, they slept peacefully and comfortably.

The sun rises, and after a relaxed sleep, Karthik gets up, and he sees the person who is driving is watching him. He feels awkward and asks for his name. The person replies, "I am... Brahms". Karthik, in a confused state, says, "Drums...". The person replies, "No, Brahms". Karthik is still confused and, with a smile, says, "Great and weird name like your van." Dev also gets up to go to the bathroom. They stop at a nearby hotel and freshen up. Till now, not a single person has been seen. They started travelling towards Preethi's home as per her suggestion. Everyone started talking and sharing their stories. Aditya, with a lot of curiosity, asks Karthik about the last night he said to the attackers that made them so afraid. Karthik replies, "It's just a little knowledge. You and she are from ROI backgrounds. I... sorry, I think everyone learned about this ROI and became aware of them through books. I also read about the person who used to be called "THE DEVIL'S SHADOW. His most famous dialogue is the one I used yesterday: I just tried my luck, whether they fear or not. Yup, I was lucky, and it worked. I don't know who that person is, but he helped us last night. Are you clear, or any more do you wanna ask?"

Aditya spoke the phrase "THE DEVIL'S SHADOW, mmm" in a deep voice. Aditya is questioned by Dev about the person they are referring to. Aditya begins by describing the person: "India is split into five regions: North, South, East, West, and Central. Every portion will have a single ROI leader who will be in charge of that specific area. These five resemble a hand's fingers. Everything was good until the central leader went AWOL. It is unknown who committed the crime. All of the other leaders in the region recruited several bodyguards for security, but it went to veins. Each leader and their gang members perished in the North, East, and West, respectively. Then, after extensive tracking and analysis, we found out who was responsible for all of this: he was born in central India. He... At the age of 15, he took the Central Leader, and up until this point, we weren't sure if the Central Leader was still alive. Then we gave that unknown monster a name: THE DEVIL'S SHADOW. He is more deadly, yet he is unable to annihilate the South Leader. He lost to him and fell silent. The world had forgotten about that monster and had never heard of him until now; he had become like a fog in the dark."