Present Time 12:00AM
Vicky saw the time, and then hastily but carefully, closed the lid and locked the laptop. It was going to be past midnight before he finished going through all the files. He then carefully laid it on the bedside table, grabbed the Holy book that he had left on the bed earlier, and just like that, started reading the prayers intently.
Zeke's P.O.V:
Zeke was scared, terribly scared. What was the reason behind all this and why was he brought into this? This was all becoming a little too much to digest. He was a student of a decent enough college and had an almost decent enough life. He had a decent enough girlfriend, a decent enough circle of friends and lived in a decent enough city. If someone were to ask him if he were happy with his life, he would have given them a satisfactory nod. But right now, none of that seemed to matter.
He had a memory of the past, one he believed didn't belong to him at all. This memory was somehow connected to a strange symbol found tattooed on his shoulder. It was a seemingly deformed blend of a cross and a pentagram kinda thing. In fact, he could be wrong, but he was sure he never had any tattoos. He could still remember the first day he had seen the thing. It was like he had seen it just for the first time, to his horror.
He remembered the day when it was done. One of his friends had taken him to a club. A rave. It was the first time he had stepped out since he got accepted in the college. And this was where he saw it for the first time. The same symbol, carved in the arm of some weirdo. He didn't have a name, or a face or even a tag. That's what he gathered from the sound of the voice. He couldn't see the face with the music blaring and lights flashing and spinning. In fact, there was nothing he could remember except that symbol.
After Vicky reached home, he took a quick bath and started reading the Holy Book.
He was really fond of the Book. He strongly believed in it and read the Book every day. He lived in a town founded by his ancestors with a religion that was significantly devoid of rituals. His family too followed it strictly. They followed the book. They did the right thing.
He was an honest high school teacher, often trying to inculcate the values of the book in his students. However, he was also a teacher of physics and this had often come as a reason of disagreement between him and his father. His father insisted that a teacher should ensure to pass on the values of the book in their teachings. Zeke could always counter a temporary way of saying this with his own argument - After spending some time in the children's class, he was especially surprised to hear the kids recite their 'Talibah Killer' quotient at a certain place in the year book. This was yet another clash between his father and him, and it was followed by an even bigger argument with his father over this, especially at the celebrations at the end of the year. And, by the end of the year, Zeke had resigned. He could never agree with his father's opinion.