The Hidden Truth

It was an air that had gone stale in the very laboratory itself, and Sam and Arjun could almost feel it sitting on their skin as they continued downwards. The dim light seemed only to just light the place, scarcely throwing rays on the concrete walls, and shadows cast by old medical equipment gave an impression as if tortured souls chatted about the failed experiments and the forbidden knowledge.

'Arjun, this is Akhtar," Sam said, introducing his friend, his words shivering in the large open chasm. "He is the one, who can help us to get what we are looking for." A figure emerged from the shadow, his eyes sparkled, and a quick smile passed on the rough face. "Hi there you have been an absent stranger for quite some time," he said to Arjun in an inviting tone rather unusual for the snowy day. "It has been a while, they call me Akhtar now, but perhaps you knew me as AK." Smiling briefly his eyes looked sad for an instant then regained the old spark. Arjun's face could only manage to force a smile on his lips and thoughts were a storm of questions and anxieties. "It is true pleasure to meet you Akhtar," he said when it was hard for him to get the words out due to the sandpaper like feeling in his throat. "So, would anyone like to explain how we get inside this one?" Akhtar was now smirking, the humour lines creasing the corners of his eyes. "Well, what say you would like to know?" He seems to ask it at the right time, as he raises his eyebrows in a very provocative manner. "I think I have something that might be useful – but we decided to head to your place for it." Arjun scowled. "Our place? What do you mean? We live in small hut in the middle of nowhere; there's nothing just remnants of memories and dust in that place. 'Akhtar chuckled, a deep sound that vibrated. "Oh no kiddo, not that place," He corrected me. "The house you were born in," I said, I continued "The one your father got as a gift from the American President, the one that hosted this whole… experiment business." The breath hitched in Arjun's throat, his heart pounded wildly against the cage of his ribs. The puzzle was coming together, piece by piece, in that perplexing way one puzzles a mystery. "You are talking about. our house? The one that we left, years and years ago?" he croaked and felt a cocktail of emotions inside him—from excitement to the sheer emotion of the unknown. Akhtar looked at me and gently nodded as that sparkle lit up his eyes—the understanding. "That very one," he was saying, his instincts now nudging him that there might just be something there, something that might unravel all this. Steely resolve replaced the phase of anticipation and confusion in Arjun's eyes. "Absolutely," he said with resolve now in his tone, pointing at her. 'Shall we go? Akhtar nodded, and, with silent, unspoken threat that made each one conscious of the other's existence, they skirted further into the small house which held their past.