Siren's debt

Blood-Stained Fair

[Previously on siren's debt...]

Dussehra, the festival of good triumphing over evil. But for Alex, the light of Indore's biggest fair turned into a terrifying dream. His uncle Vikram, blinded by greed for the mysterious sea land left behind by Alex's father, surrounded the entire family. A slap, a signature, and a blow to the head with an iron rod. As Alex lay dying in the dust, he saw his mother and sister dragged into the dark abyss before his eyes... NOW CONTINUE.

The flickering lights of Indore's Dussehra grounds no longer shone; they seemed to drip with blood.

The noise of the crowd, which had seemed so festive just moments before, now felt like the muffled cries of thousands of spectators watching a warrior fall. Uncle Vikram stood there, his shadow like a monster in front of the huge, rotating 'Giant Wheel'. He looked like a king fresh off his kill. His expensive suit was completely untouched by dust, while I, the eighth descendant of King Vikramaditya, was licking the ground.

"Hahaha! Bhabhiji, how long will you hide?"

Vikram's voice pierced the air, smooth and arrogant. "Did you think you'd disappear in this huge city of Indore? You should stay under our protection. After My brother departure, it's our duty to take care of this family's only heir and his wife."

My mother's face was pale with fear, but behind that fear, I could clearly see the fire of a woman who had lost everything except her children. She pulled Liama closer, her fingers turning white as she clutched at her sister's frock. Liama was trembling so badly that even over the noise of the fair's loudspeakers, I could hear her teeth chattering.

I took a faltering step forward. My legs felt heavy as lead, but the royal blood coursing through my veins forced me to stand. "Uncle! Don't bother us!" I yelled, my voice cracking but strong. "We're happy here. We've given up the palace, the wealth, everything. Just go away and leave us to our own devices!"

Vikram threw back his head and laughed loudly—a devilish laugh that even frightened the nearby balloon sellers. "Why, nephew? Don't you want to stay with your own uncle? You're our blood, the pride of our ancient lineage. It's time to go home."

Suddenly, his smile vanished. His eyes became like two cold lines of steel. He reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a bundle of folded legal papers. "But first, like a good nephew, sign these."

I looked at those documents. My heart sank. That very seaside land. That village by that mysterious ocean. The land that had caused more fights between my father and Vikram than anything else.

"What is this? I will never sign these!" I spat, my spit mingled with blood. "This is my father's legacy. His last memento. You already have the palace, so why do you want that shore?"

Vikram didn't argue. He didn't even yell. He just looked at me like a butcher, as if I were a piece of meat. Then, with the swiftness of an attacking cobra, his heavy hand swung through the air.

Crack!

The blow was like an explosion. My vision blurred, and I fell to the ground. A sharp whistling sound echoed in my ears, and I felt a hot trickle of blood rush from my lips. The dust of the fairground, mixed with dried mud and garbage, filled my mouth.

"Do as you're told, child!" Vikram growled, leaning over me. His shadow completely obscured me. "Don't be stubborn. Your father died protecting this land. Do you want to go to him so soon?"

Liama's scream echoed in the air. "Brother! Leave him!" She tried to run toward me, but a thug grabbed her hair and threw her back toward my mother.

I looked around. There were hundreds of people. Fathers held their children, couples munched on cotton candy, guards whistled. They all saw it. And they all turned their eyes away. In that moment, I realized that Indore, the city I loved, was as cold as the iron rods in the hands of those thugs. No one was coming. Not the police, not God, no one.

The fear of what they would do to Liama crushed me. With trembling hands, I grabbed the pen. My fingers were shaking so badly I couldn't even hold it properly. With a heart that felt broken into a thousand pieces, I signed it. I had just traded my father's soul for a few minutes of life.

Vikram snatched the paper, a mad glint in his eyes. "Well done, Alex! In exactly three days, the court will process it. Everything your father owned is finally mine! Hahaha!"

"No..." I gasped, trying to grab his polished shoes. "You cheated. You forced me. I'll tell everyone... the judge... the newspaper..."

Vikram's smile didn't disappear, but it grew even more deadly. He looked at the thug standing behind him—a huge man with an old scar on his face. "Kid, who said you were going anywhere to tell me anything?"

He made a small, slight gesture. A slight flick of his wrist.

Damn!

The world didn't go black immediately. First, there was a white blast of light, as if a camera bulb had exploded inside my brain. The iron rod had smashed directly into the back of my skull. I felt my brain thrumming inside my bones. Then a cold wave came.

I fell face down in the mud. I couldn't move my arms. I couldn't even blink. Amidst my fading consciousness, I saw the SUV doors open.

"No! Please! Let me go!" my mother screamed as two men dragged her toward the car.

Liama was fighting, biting, and kicking. "Brother! Save me! Save us!"

The last thing I saw was my sister's tiny hand trying to get out of the closing door of the black SUV. Her eyes were wide, filled with tears, looking at me—her 'big brother' who was supposed to protect her. And I just lay there, dying in that mess.

The SUV started up with a roar, sped away in a cloud of smoke and dust, leaving me behind like a piece of garbage.

Silence fell. The music from the fair now seemed to come from another world. I was dying. I knew it. But then, deep in my chest, a feeling began. It wasn't pain. It was a cold, throbbing rhythm. A flutter. Like a heartbeat that wasn't human...