Raastein

5. Two Alike

It was a sunny afternoon outside the Istanbul Airport and Jai Dixit had just landed from Prague. He was back after two years.

Jai had started a career in journalism four years ago, and he was finally an accomplished journalist. His work was known in parts of Prague as well as some parts of Spain. During his time in Prague, Jai had met several people. He'd made heaps of new friends and even had a longterm relationship with a girl named Anezka.

Anezka was a half Czech and half Indian girl. She was a permanent citizen of Prague and had been living there her entire life. Jai and Anezka had living together for a while and they thought it was time to take the next step. They had decided to get married a month before Jai had to leave but when Imran, Jai's brother, got into contact with Anezka. Imran called Anezka and told him that Jai was a player—that he was going to leave Anezka at the alter. As she was easily convinced, Anezka left Jai. She fled a day before the wedding and stole most of Jai's money. Jai lost any contact of Anezka forever and afterwards he was heartbroken.

Now that Jai was back home he wasn't in the mood to face Imran. Imran had ruined everything, and there was no way he was going to earn Jai's forgiveness. He had also heard of the recent attacks back home, so he was well and truly prepared to leave. Only he didn't realise that that day was today.

"Bhaiya!" cried Mahira, Jai's sister, as he walked into the house. Mahira ran into his arms, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"What's wrong Mahi?" asked Jai intently.

"I know you just came back...but w-we have leave with Nani before Imran comes back," stuttered Mahira.

"Why what's wrong? Isn't he in jail?"

"He escaped," Mahira mumbled. "He can't come back into our lives Jai."

"He won't, which is why we're leaving now. Grab Nani (Grandma) and your things, we'll take the next ship to India."

With that, the Dixit's grabbed their things and left to the boarding area. They were leaving mainly because of the threats from the attacks, but also from the threats of their vicious brother. By the time they had reached the docks there were already a few families waiting for the next ship. The ships horn had blown and they had started to board families. The Dixit's were the last ones to board the ship. As they were going forward, a sound from behind them made them stop. In the shadows they could make out three figures. As they came closer to the ship it was very clear who the people were.

There was Imran, running with all his strength towards his family and behind him were two police officers. Clearly, Imran's so called escape didn't go that well. He needed a place to hide from the officers, and by the way he was looking at them, he wanted help from Jai and Mahira. 

But Imran would never get that help.

It looked like Imran had gotten the message from his siblings so he rushed past Mahira and Jai, elbowing the two as he got past into the ship. The officers hastily went after Imran going into the shop as well. Jai and Mahira knew that there was no way they would get rid of Imran from their lives.

They just has to live with the burden that their brother was a wanted criminal psychopath.

✿✿✿

Inside the ship all the families were gossiping and getting to know each other. As they got seated into the dining room the captains voice blared through the speakers.

"Ladies and Gentleman, we hope that you all are having a lovely time onboard. If there are children onboard then we'd like to let you know that your parents have paid a great deal for this luxurious ride."

There were some whispers and murmurs.

"So, since we don't have any other families coming on board, the ship has already set sail. In a couple of hours we'll be well and truly passed Turkey and we'll be headed towards Saudi Arabia. We may need to stop over at Egypt and the Farasan Island for a check up and restock of supplies, so until then, please bare with us. If you ever get bored, there is a bar and pool as well. You are also allowed on top and bottom deck. Thank you and stay safe!"

As the announcement finished everyone went back to socialising except for Shayla. Shayla was still disappointed that she had failed her second last year of college. She could redo the year, but where would she do it? India? All of this frustrated Shayla so she went out to the deck to clear her head. As she made her way upstairs, a figure ran past her. The figure was a female; tall and beautiful. When the lady turned around to apologise all Shayla could do was look into the lady's  eyes. Those eyes were very similar to Shayla. They had the same glow, the same colour. As Shayla looked at the the rest of the lady's face she was shocked. In front of her was well—Shayla.

The lady was an exact replica of Shayla. That's why her eyes looked so familiar. But why did she look exactly the same? There had to be an explanation as to why this person was a doppelgänger.

In a flash the lady continued going in the the direction she was headed. It all happened so fast that Shayla took a good couple of minutes to take in what had just happened.

There had to be some way in which the two of them were related, these things aren't just coincidences...

✿✿✿

The Mehra family had to deal with the situation at hand—an injured Kyra. Kyra had been shot in the leg by one of the soldiers and was bleeding really badly. The paramedics on the ship had arrived into their room and had set up an area where they could maintain her heart rate and blood flow. They gave her an anaesthetic and then began the procedure on the injury.

After half an hour the surgery was successfully completed. Kyra was in the recovery room and the doctors had said that within a few days she should be walking with ease.

Almost all the young adults had come to see how Kyra was doing. Even though they didn't know Kyra they acted like they did. Within a couple of hours, the Mehra's had befriended the others.

By the end of the day everyone was seated at the dinning table ready for dinner. Everyone knew one another and they were all comfortable with each other as well. Shayla kept what she saw to herself, the Dixit's ignored Imran and the Singh family ignored the fact that their parents were on another ship. Even the parents and Nani mixed with each other.

It was a great start to something that would fall out into a dramatic mess.