Chapter Thirty-six: LOCKET

"Holy shit. This guy is all bones. He was only 300. Even his teeth fell out."

Jeremy was standing in a small apartment room. Near him was a corpse of an old man. The cause of his death was death by ageing. Aarav was standing near the table. On the table, there were some pictures. It had a picture of the man with his family. He looked happy and looked like someone in his forties by Earth's standard. He observed his room to look for the amber locket. There was no sign of the locket. The dead guy must have had the locket. He died when it left his hand. So there is going to be a fifth victim. If they don't find it any sooner, another guy will be dead.

It made him think. If the locket was the cause of these deaths, then how was he alive. Not to mention the locket had already passed several hands. It was a family heirloom and not a cursed object. If it were cursed, nobody in their right mind would try to get it back so desperately. Was it because it was in the hands of men? Then he too was a man and still alive. Maybe because he was not owning it and meant to deliver it to the right person. These people coveted something that was not theirs. Was that the cause of their demise?

He looked around various things in the room to find something that solely belonged to the victim. It will help him get a better view of his death. The previous victim did not have any worthy belongings, so he could only get vague images.

He checked the bedside table to find a golden pocket watch.

He touched it and focused. He could visualise clearer images of the man's memories.

He finally found something worthwhile. He went to another room to focus on it.

Slowly, everything around Aarav grew silent. There were no voices. He was no longer in the room.

His surrounding grew darker and darker.

Several images passed him by as he glanced at them. They were a glimpse of the life of the victim.

There were too many images. Aarav quickly passed through them stopping at the very last image. He observed the image. They were his last moments before dying. He focused on it.

The man was sitting on the chair. Suddenly he got up the chair and flung it. He paced the room. He then picked up the chair and put it back on its place.

He started seeing outside the window.

It was drizzling. The city appeared blurred by the rain.

He walked back to the bed. He sat on the side of the bed while thinking something. He suddenly raised his hands. His hands appeared wrinkled. He went to check in the mirror. He was scared of what he saw.

He was growing old, his hair had turned white, his skin was getting wrinkled. Slowly his hair started falling out. Even his teeth started aching. When he opened his mouth. He coughed, and there were few teeth in his hands. He coughed violently, coughing out his remaining teeth.

His face was getting wrinkler and wrinkler.

All his teeth fell out. His clothes hung loosely on his body.

He could hardly support his body. He could not even call out for help.

Everything happened too soon. Then, his eyes turned dim. And he fell on the floor. He breathed his last and passed away.

The image crumbled.

Aarav came back to senses. He was breathless, his lungs felt like they were filled with water. He was choking, and he stumbled gasping of air.

The image was too surreal. He wanted to pull out earlier, but everything happened in a few seconds. He witnessed death too closely. He loosened his collar and tried to breathe.

"Aarav, what happened to you?"

Gasping for breath, he gestured Jeremy that he was okay. He could not find anything useful.

The experience was too painful, and he still had to check a few more images. He felt exhausted. If he continued, he might not be able to come out. Collecting himself, he went out to breathe fresh air.

Aarav was standing on a balcony. Jeremy came behind him.

"Want one?", Jeremy lit a cigar and offered Aarav one.

Aarav took it. A bitter taste filled his mouth. He was gasping for air a while ago, and now he felt like smoking. Smoking was a luxury. There were cheaper cigarettes, but Aarav did not find them to his taste.

"It's good, right? I stole some from my father,"

"Cough,"

Aarav coughed out a mouthful of smoke. Jeremy was quite eccentric, a rebel like his past self. Despite being from an aristocratic family, he joined city guard on his ability. He could have held an office in some government department, but he chose a hard life. His reason was that clerical jobs were boring. Because of that, Aarav grew closer to him even with his non-stop chatter.

"I'm going back."

"Already?"

"We don't have enough time. The victim's memories will fade away from the objects. I need to hurry up."

"Alright, go ahead. We don't want a fifth victim. Go break a leg."

Aarav focused on other images. He tried to find the traces of the locket. After a lot of searching, he found it. He concentrated his power and went into that memory.

The victim was drinking from his cup while sitting in what looked like a coffee house. He was looking out of the window.

There was another man with him. He was sitting in front of him. Focusing on his face, Aarav found out that he was the third victim.

He looked haggard, nervous and totally out of wits. He was biting his nail.

A waiter came and placed a cup in front of him alarming the man.

He relaxed his brows.

He was on edge. Any slight movement was enough to scare him.

"What's wrong with you?" The fourth victim asked the third victim with displeasure.

"I_I need Need He-help," he was stuttering. He was in a very pathetic state.

"What help?"

"Space_Spaceship. I need to leave this planet. I have to leave. Do you hear me? I need to leave,"

"That's it? I will arrange it. Come back after two days."

"NO, I have to leave now. Somebody is after me. Do you hear me? Please."

"Alright. Let's go. I will make arrangements for you now."

With that, both men got up from their chair and left the coffee house. Aarav quickly followed them. They got into a car.

The third victim was frantic. He was putting his right hand over his chest all the time, patting his chest. Aarav thought it was because he was scared. What made him that scared? His actions were incessant. Slowly they reached a hangar. There were a lot of airships on the hangar.

"I will call for the pilot. You wait here."

Saying that he went away. Aarav could only stay with the fourth victim. It was his memories he was checking. He was not there physically. The man went inside a building and observed the other guy from the monitors. He was not calling for a pilot like said. He waited there for a while. He then pulled a drawer and took out a gun from there. He hid the gun behind his back and went out.

"Looks like there are no pilots available today. What to do?"

While saying that he went behind the guy. The other guy was absorbed in agony that he did not notice the changes in the expression of his helper.

"How can that be? There must be away."

He was clutching his head. He then felt a sharp metal pointed at the back of his head.

"Hand it over,"

"What? What are you doing?" He was shocked. He clutched his chest.

"Hand it over. I will not repeat it. Take it out whatever it is in your chest pocket."

"No. You can not do this to me. You are my friend. No."

"Stop yelling and give it to me or I will blow a hole in your head."

"You can't, Please."

He was crying and pleading. But he did not take out whatever it was in his pocket. He clutched more tightly.

The other man angrily hit the back of his head, making him faint. He then mercilessly turned him over and checked his chest pocket, pulling out an amber locket.

He was mesmerized by the appearance of the locket. His face changed into that of avarice. He turned extremely greedy to the point of craziness. He started laughing crazily. He admired the locket like it was his lost child. He kissed it plenty of times. He then walked out of there.

Aarav also came out of the dream field. He was more puzzled than he was before. The fourth victim had a clean record, had a family, and he was loyal to both his family and friends. There were no stains in his career. He had a much cleaner record than the previous victims. But he turned out someone who would point guns at their friend. Why did he do that?

He could not forget the expression he saw on his face. It was too ugly.