It was midnight. There was full moon in the sky showering its moonlight on earth. John was standing holding the grill of a lonely fly-over staring at the skyscrapers ahead. His heart was unstable. Perhaps the hope in his heart, that he would get answers to all what he was seeking, was fading away. He never imagined that phase in his life what he was going through now.

                    “Whatever I imagined, has ended already. That was the first and most important case of my life. All I wanted was to solve that case. And now here I am, being a part of it myself. I want to get rid of it. But there is something hidden that is pulling me back to it. Perhaps having to solve this case is all that I am left with.” – While thinking of all this, John could clearly picture everything in his mind.

          It had been one month since John was appointed as a cop in that district. Commissioner Tom entrusted with him the first case of his life. Case seemed to be open and shut. All the points were clear enough. John had already imagined having finished it and sharing a drink with his colleagues to celebrate. Though owing to that case, he was now a declared a fugitive that police was searching for.

          The case concerned a dangerous killer named Johnson. All that was known about him was his whereabouts which made that case very simple. John had confidence in himself. He thought he could go in and come out like a wind. So he reached to Johnson’s address. That seemed like a haunted house. The silence everywhere, cobwebs on the walls, dust on everything, all these things were adding to the beauty of that horrifying environment. There was an old trunk but that contained merely some old and torn garments.

          While John was fishing through that trunk he suddenly realized that he was being watched. As turned up, he discovered Johnson and his men behind him. Still there wasn’t a single sign of panic or tension on John’s face. For an emergency situation like that, the police squad was on alert outside that house. As soon as John whistled the police force came into action. So did Johnson and his men and few bullets were blown off from both directions. Backed by his squad John was now taking over Johnson and his gang. All of a sudden a bullet blown from Johnson’s gun drilled the shoulder of John. John fell on the ground and hit his head with side of the trunk. He lost his conscious.

          A pair of eyes was slowly opened to see the doctor standing in front talking to Commissioner Tom. John looked here and there until he finally realized that he was in a hospital. John wasn’t able to recall what had happened a night before. What all had happened on his way from Johnson’s place to the bed of that hospital.

                    “No, no. The bullet didn’t do much of the damage but as he fell his head was injured badly as he hit the trunk. It seems we must thank God that he is saved without any sign of….Oh, here you are boy.” – Doctor happened to notice that John had regained his conscious.

                    “How…how did I reach here? And Johnson? What about him?” – John was very curious.

                    “Well young man, you see Johnson shot you and you lost your conscious. Johnson ran away. Our men brought you here and informed me.” – Commissioner Tom was looking very happy, “Oh, and don’t worry about that Johnson. We were informed by our sources that he is heading towards the south. We have already dispatched a unit after him. We will be busted soon.

Commissioner Tom along with doctor, exited out of that room asking John to take rest. However something was going on inside John’s mind.

                    “What a shame ! I lost the very first case of my life. I am not buying it. No way. I am going to finish it. Once and for all. That shall be TONIGHT.” – That was all John could think of at that time. Which he thought was something he must do.

          As night reached its peak hours, John exited out of the window of his room that opened to the backside of the hospital. He found there was no one and his line was clear. All of a sudden some noise broke the silence in the dark. John had sensed of some danger. He noticed some big boxes lying near to him. He immediately rushed behind those to hide himself. After those footsteps faded John rushed out and ran away climbing over the wall.

          The moon was covered by dark clouds by now. Winds were blowing strongly. John had reached to Johnson’s place. By then it started pouring outside. Rain drops were loud enough to be heard even from inside the house. It was the sure sign of an approaching thunder. John was searching for his prey. All of a sudden he heard footsteps near the main entrance. Johnson was standing there. He was holding a revolver and John was the target of his gunpoint.

                    “I am not scared of this anymore. I am not going without you.” – Said John. He was not at all scared of it.

                    “As you wish.” – Said Johnson with an evil smirk on his face, “So your corpse will be taken out from here.” With this Johnson’s finger went harder on the trigger.

          There was a loud sound of explosion and at the next moment everything was quit. There was an unstable thunder – inside and outside. John’s shoulder was hurt by bullet. He was losing his conscious again. He moaned out of pain and then everything became quite.

          Rain had stopped. The sky was slowly opening its golden eye in east. John opened his eyes. There was no one around. He was still in the Johnson’s place. He tried to recall the incident that had happened a night before.

                    “I remember Johnson shooting at me. But I am still alive. Why had left me alive here and…HOLY SHIT !” – John happened to notice something that brought him in a state of severe shock. There was blood on all over his clothes and on the floor and at some distance was lying a corpse – the dead body of Johnson. Though it could have only been recognized by the clothes as the body was in a mess. Face was torn badly and stomach was stabbed all over. All the inside organs were visible from outside. For a moment John felt a sensation to puke. It was really a disgusting site to watch. Both of the eyeballs were popped out. John was shocked as he clearly remembered no one else was there during his encounter with Johnson. John, as far as he remembered, was shot by Johnson and he had lost his conscious. That made Johnson’s murder beyond any explanation. John knew that he would be considered guilty for this since he was already on investigation since he had escaped out of the hospital. John searched the closet where he found some clothes of Johnson. He put them on. He knew since the police encounter with Johnson’s men, there was a regular police check on that house. So he didn’t waste any more time and ran away. He went to his house but seeing police cops around he didn’t enter inside. Now John was left alone. He couldn’t think of any way to get out of it. He didn’t even have place to live. To him faith had turned on her back.

          John was standing on the lonely fly-over, holding its grill and staring at the skyscrapers in the loneliness of the night when all of a sudden a hand settled down on his shoulder. John turned back and found out that it was his friend Thomas. 

                    “Seems like things have gone too far, Thomas.” – Said John with a sigh of disappointment. With this John told all the story to Thomas.

                    “Well, nothing can be said with surety apart from one. That someone is trying to trap you badly. Someone who has been with you like your own shadow. Do you have anything bitter with someone on personal grounds?” – John thought for a while and shook the head in denial.

                    “Never mind, we got whole night thinking over this. First let’s get you settled. Let’s go to my house. It should be safe for you for time being.” – Said Thomas, patting John’s back slowly.

          Soon they were at Thomas’s house. It was a small apartment that Thomas took on rent. All the things required to live could be found there. The living room was in a mess. Thomas started to pick up clothes from the couch as he talked to John,

                    “Makes it look good, huh? That is how a bachelor’s house should look.”

                    “Don’t bother. I can spend the night on this couch.” – Said John, hesitating.

                    “I make some sandwiches for you.” – Thomas moved to the kitchen. John followed him to give him a hand. Kitchen was neat and clean and had everything there.

                    “Nice house.” – Said John.

All of a sudden there was a knock at the door,

                    “Oh, that must be Mr. Anderson, the house owner.” – Thomas poured the tea in the cups.

                    “I get it.” – John went to the door and opened it. The middle-aged man of short height, wearing a black suit, appeared. He was bald and a bit overweight.

                    “Who you?” – Said him making face as if he was annoyed, “I haven’t seen you before.”

John found him quite strange,

                    “Well, I am a friend of Thomas. My name is John”

The man stared at John from head to toe. Then he looked at Thomas who just entered into the living room,

                    “You got to pay me extra rent if he stays here.”

                    “Don’t you worry Mr. Anderson, I will get it settled.”

The man looked at john once again as if he is trying to read every detail of him. Then he went away.

                    “Well, he doesn’t seem to have liked me much. Does he?”

                    “Oh, don’t worry. He is just like that.” – Thomas handed over the cup of tea to John. They sat on the couch. All of a sudden something was recalled in John’s mind,

                    “Hey, how is your practice going on? I heard you got certificate from Red-Cross.”

Thomas brought certificate and showed it to John,

                    “I got it three months back.”

          John was looking at it. All of a sudden he felt a strange headache. His eyes were filled with dizziness. He started to lose his conscious again. Thomas immediately rushed to phone and called doctor,

                    “Doctor, there is an emergency. Please come soon. Note down the address please.”

          As Thomas turned back, he saw something that scared the hell out of him. Out of extreme fear not even a single word could he speak. And then everything was gone into darkness of the night.

          Hearing the noise, Mr. Anderson along with few other neighbors, had already reached at the door. They knocked at the door. John slowly came back into his conscious. He stood up, yawning. Then he looked all over. The things were scattered here and there. As he heard the knock on the door he moved to open it. But before that he noticed something on the floor. It was Thomas’s corpse. Before John could think of anything, the door knocked again. He looked here and there in a state of nervousness. Finally he tied two three bed sheets together with the help of which he descended down from the backside window and went away into the dark.

                    “We never saw him in this vicinity before. He told me that he was a friend of Thomas. Thomas was also looking a bit tense. As far as I think, Thomas didn’t have any bitter relationship with anyone. That stranger told his name John. He had athletic appearance. Young enough, hardly crossed 26. He was wearing blue shirt and black trousers.” – Mr. Anderson gave his statement to Officer Alfred and Commissioner Tom. After that, they both returned back to police headquarter.

                    “Look Alfred, the statement of Mr. Anderson proves that the guy was none other than John, the one we are looking for. We got to nail him.”

                    “I will do my best sir.” – After Alfred left. Commission Tom was sitting alone in his cabin thinking about John,

                    “This should not have happened. However I guess it was rather destiny, not you John, that played.”

Commissioner Tom recalled that night, when they found John in wounded condition,

                    “His brain is hurt with the thrust.” – Doctor told to Commissioner Tom. John had to pay heavy cost for that encounter with Johnson. Commissioner Tom kept his hand on the shoulder of doctor while he asked, “Is he going to be alright?”

                    “Well, physically he should recover soon. However the damage to his brain that might cause change in his personality or behavior.”

                    “What kind of change?” – To this doctor didn’t reply. Perhaps he was not sure enough about it. But it was now when Commissioner Tom was getting his point.

Sitting on a bench by the side of a lonely road and watching the red sunlight melting slowly in the evening sky, John was thinking,

                    “What is this all about? Seems like my destiny is playing games with me. There is death wherever I go and that all comes upon me. Is it true that I am responsible for all this? During my encounter with Johnson I was hurt. It is possible that my brain is hurt or damaged in such a way that sometimes my personality changes. Something that I see that makes me lose myself. Johnson shot me down with his revolver. Before losing my conscious what did I see last? Johnson, his revolver, he was wearing a red shirt. He had a locket in his neck, the locket of The Christ. I guess the last thing that I saw. And then later at Thomas’s place he showed me his certificate, The Red Cross certificate. It had a Red Cross printed on it. Now I am getting it. It is the mark, the cross mark that makes me do it. Whenever I see the cross mark I lose my conscious. Now the next thing is that I got to find out the connection between me and that mark.”

          Alfred had set up strict security check on all the highways or main roads that leaded out of the Mexico. Apart from that he was searching and inquiring each and every family living in the area where John was seen last. There were posters on wall to warn to people against John.

                    “I have gone through other information about him. He lives #47 M street, in a small apartment that was on rent. The owner of that apartment, Mr. Stone told me that he often came late at night. He lived there alone. And that he used to send a part of his salary to someone. He said John used to send money order. I inquired in the post office and got full details on that. He used to send that money to someone named Mr. Daniel, who lives in Boston. We might get something from there.”

Commissioner sent a special unit to Boston for the job.

          Mexico, it was clear sunny day. The door of a house opened and a man stepped out to pick up the newspaper from the porch. It looked as if he had just awoken. He was going through the newspaper when suddenly his eyes stopped on something written.

                    “A psycho on loose. $5000 as reward. Dead or alive.”

He immediately got ready and rushed to police station. And somewhere there was knock on the door,

                    “Yeah, yeah. I am coming.”

Mr. Charles opened the door. He was a psychiatrist. The person who appeared behind the door was a strong athletic figure having his face half covered with a hat. He had dense beard.

                    “I am sorry but have we met before?”

                    “Well, we haven’t. Your secretary gave me appointment after two days. I couldn’t wait that longer so I came here to meet you. My name is Robinson.”

                    “Robinson? Oh, yes. I remember her saying something about you. Come on in.”

After a while they were sitting on couch and talking over a cup of coffee,

                    “So, you say that the cross mark has something that derives you mad. You lose your conscious and become someone else who, after you regain your conscious, can no longer remember about.”

Robinson shook his head in affirmation. Dr. Charles continued,

                    “And you think there in some manner you are connected to the cross mark.”

                    “Yes.”

                    “Well, you could be right. Sometimes during an accident or in some unfavorable conditions, people see or feel something that remains in their subconscious. It lies there in the depth of the layers of their mind for days, weeks……sometimes years. But in some cases it is seen that the impression of those memories is so strong that it takes several…….lifetimes to forget about it.”

John came out removing his hat and artificial beard. He was walking on street and thinking,

                    “So all that goes to my pre-birth. I got to inquire it to the next level then.” – John went away from that are for he knew he would be recognized if he stayed for long.

          And far from Mexico City, somewhere in Boston, an officer from the special training squad of FBI was sitting in the living room of Mr. Daniel Scott. Daniel forwarded the cup of tea to Kevin,

                    “Sugar?”

                    “Yes, one spoon. Thank you.” – With this Daniel continued what he was saying, “Since when John has been sending you the money? And since how long have you known him?”

                    “Well, I know him since last two years. He was my paying guest. Few months back he had some financial problem and so he left that house. However he told me that he would return back to that house and requested me not to give it to anyone else. Since then he has been sending me the money for it.”

                    “John was promoted to senior officer and transferred from Boston to Mexico City about two months back. That means since he left Mr. Daniel’s house, he was living somewhere else till the time he came to Mexico City.” – thought Daniel. Then he said, “Please inform me if you get any information or money from him. Call me on this number.

John reached to a small guest house. He went inside and asked for stay for one night.

                    “That will be $10. Meals will charge you extra.” – John took the room. The owner of the guest house showed him the room.

John was now inside the room. It was no better than a haunted house. Things were spread here and there. All the corners of walls were covered by cobwebs. It was a double room consisting of two old wooden beds that were rotten from the sides and chirped if someone would sit on them. There was a tube light that was dim enough that it didn’t make any difference whether it was on or off. John laid down on the bed, thinking,

         “Something happened in my pre – birth life has got to do with that mark. Some incident that is still alive below some layer of my mind. Such kind of problem can only be known and solved by some hypnotist. But who?” – John recalled that once he read about a Hypnotist named Bill Dexter. He was about to go out to the reception and ask the owner of the guest house for telephone directory when all of a sudden a drunken man entered inside the room. With him was the owner of the house,

         “He will stay here with you in this room.”

                    “I don’t want anyone in my room.” – Said John as he wouldn’t like much of that man’s company.

                    “You yourself don’t have enough money to pay for this room. If you can’t afford private room for yourself then better adjust.” – And the owner went away leaving that drunken fellow inside. He moved with undetermined steps as he was drunk enough and fell upon the bed right by the side of the John’s. Then he took out a quarter of whisky from the inner pocket of his coat that was torn from here and there and very dirty. He started drinking that.

                    “Listen, don’t mind. But it would be better if you rather didn’t drink here.” – Said John.

                    “Alright dude. You asked for it.” – saying so that man stood up and took out a knife from his pocket. John became alert too. That man tried to charge on John but somehow John escaped his attack. And downstairs the owner heard noise from the upper floor while he was busy having a drink with his friend.

                    “God knows what are they upto now. Those two men are really a mess. I shouldn’t have given them room here.”

                    “Sounds like they are fighting.”

                    “I go upstairs and check it.” – But before he could do he noticed a human body falling down on the street. It was clear that something happened in one of the rooms of upper floor.

                    “Seems like you don’t need to go upstairs.” – said his friend looking outside the guest house, “He is sent down.”

          It was the corpse of the drunken man. People gathered outside the guest house surrounding the dead body. It was completely soaked in blood. The corpse was holding a knife in his hand that had a cross mark on it.

                    “The other man !” – The owner along with his friend and other people who were gathered there, ran upstairs. As he reached into the room he found, blood stains everywhere and John was lying on floor, slowly gaining his conscious.

                    “This is him, this is him. He did it.” – Shouted the owner pointing at John. By the time John came into his senses. He stood up and looked here and there. The next moment everything was clear to him.

                    “I can explain you all the matter. It is not exactly as it looks from here.”

                    “Had I known that you are such a psycho I would have never let you inside my guest house. He was just a normal person looking for some shelter for the night. You must pay for your crime. I am going to call the cops.”

          He went downstairs to call the cops. John was surrounded by people who were looking at him with eyes full of hatred. John was completely trapped. And at the reception,

                    “Hello. May I talk to inspector Alfred? Yes. There is an emergency over here.”

Inspector Alfred understood at once and rushed to that place. On the other hand John was still thinking of some way to escape from there. All of a sudden he came up with something in his mind.

                    “May I have a cigarette?” – He asked to the people.

                    “Sure. We grant you your last wish.” – Said one of them and handed over a cigarette to him. John lighted it up. He was smoking slowly, taking long puffs allowing the cigarette to burn slow but steadily. All of the sudden he dropped the cigarette on the floor where all the whisky had spilled while the drunken man and John were fighting. Next moment the room was on fire. All the fire alarms went off. People started rushing out of the room as now they were more interested in saving their own lives. John quickly jumped through the window that was already broken as he threw the corpse through it. He fell on the road. He was hurt a little but since the first floor was not too high from the ground, so he didn’t get any severe injury. He ran away leaving the people in a confused state of mind, wondering what happened. Till Alfred reached there, the whole guest house was on fire and no one was left there.

                    “Strange. They should have called fire engine, not me.”

John had reached near the main gate of a cemetery.

                    “I should get away from here as soon as possible for there must be a lot of cross marks here.” – As he turned back he found a gunpoint at him.

                    “Who are you?”

                    “Doesn’t matter. But I won’t let you run away. You are now my captive.”

                    “Are you a cop?”

                    “No.”

                    “Then why do you want to capture me?”

                    “Do you know how much they are rewarding if someone captures you and give to them?”

                    “I won’t let you.” – John started to regress slowly but this was seen by that man, “Hold it. For your kind information that notice also said ‘Dead or Alive’. So do as I say. Move inside.” – Said that man.

                    “You are making a big mistake. I lose my conscious whenever I see the cross mark. It relates to some dark incident of my pre-birth life.”

                    “Sure. Now move inside.”

                    “Listen. I also didn’t believe in that. There are two kinds of people in this world. One who believes in UFOs and the other who don’t. And I was in the other side until it happened with me. Take me to police station right now but not into that cemetery.”

                    “And would you mind to explain your relationship with the mark of cross? Oh, wait. Don’t tell me. Let me guess. Your teacher said you are a jerk because you always get cross in your test papers or Lord Jesus blamed you for being crucified. Enough now, keep moving.”

                    “But…” – Before John could speak that man pointed the gun at John’s head, “Do you know that you are too young to die?”

          John understood that it is worthless to indulge into any argument with that person. So he made a move. He was moving inside the cemetery with that man following with a gun pointing at him. John already had an estimation of what was going to happen there. And he was panicking imagining that. All of a sudden the silence was broken by loud noise of the police siren. That man turned in the direction from which sound was coming. That one moment John was waiting for. He jumped aside and ran away. When Alfred arrived there he discovered a man holding a gun looking here and there.

                    “Hey, what are you doing here?”

                    “I am Leonardo. I was the one who inquired you about the reward on phone. And I had captured him right here. But he got a chance to escape. I was searching him. He couldn’t have gone too far. He was here just a moment ago. “

                    “If he is nearby then he is ours.” – Said Alfred. John was running on the lonely street when all of a sudden he came across a telephone booth. He fished into the telephone directory and dialed a number. He took an appointment from the secretary and reached at the clinic of Prof. Bill Dexter.

                    “So you are the one creating sensation these days. I heard they kept some reward on you too.” – Said Prof. Bill Dexter.

                    “So do you believe what I said?” – John asked. Though he doubted if Prof. Bill had any patronage with him.

                    “It is difficult to believe. But I would rather say it is not impossible. I am a hypnotist. I have come across several of such cases where something is hidden in subconscious mind and comes out any moment without being in the acknowledgement of the person. Person doesn’t remember when he gains his conscious back. In your case, however the time space is beyond the boundaries of normal investigation. We usually take person back in time when he was child. But not beyond that because when the person is an infant he doesn’t know anything, too speak or too understand. His mind was at an early stage of growing. So he can’t comply with what we ask him to think or to tell. So in your case taking you back in your previous birth is even more difficult because for that we have to cross that stage when you were an infant. Even we have to cross the stage when you were unborn. It is not easy. Besides it is dangerous. If your mind couldn’t bear that much pressure you might end up in limbo.”

                    “Limbo?”  - John was shocked.

                    “Yes. You will be lost in the eternal space of time. Your mind will never be able to return from there until you die.”

                    “I have to take that muck risk to get out of that. But how are we going to do it? You said crossing my infant stage would be difficult.”

                    “We have to Jump.” – John had no idea what Prof. Bill was talking about. And soon started the psycho-analysis,

                    “John, now look at my eyes. You are travelling through endless space of time looking into my eyes. Your eyes are filled with a strong slumber. You are going into a slumber for years, decades. You are feeling dizzy now and as I say three, you will go into sleep. THREE.” – And John was lost in timeless sleep. Prof. Bill continued,

                    “Now you are sleeping. However your mind is still connected to my voice. You can hear what I say. Now I want you to travel slowly in the timeline of your life. Slowly move back. Go back in the time you have spent till now. Think when you were 15 years old, what had happened. Think where were you at the age of 10. Think how you behaved when you were 8 years old. Now go back further. 7….6….5. Now you are 5 years old. Your mind is very fresh but still fully grown up to be compatible of following commands and respond to words. You can understand each word very well that are coming out of my mouth. Now I want you to jump. Jump back in your lifetime. You are now 5 years old. I want you to Jump back in your timeline. Jump back to the space of 5 years 9 months and 2 days. That would be right one day before you died. JUMP !”

                    “Sir, as you told me that he went nuts. I mean he was affected with that brain damage. In that case he might try to contact some physician. The street where we lost him had a phone booth. I guess he might have called to some doctor from there. Let’s try to find it out from telephone exchange.” – Alfred suggested to Tom.

Great Britain, two people were sitting in the restaurant somewhere in Manchester. They were drinking beer and talking,

                    “So at what price goes the deal?”

                    “$50 million. And I got 20% of my share in that.”

                    “He should not get any air of this.”

                    “You mean Robert? Don’t worry about him. It will keep going as always. Take away few buckets of water from the ocean. Do you think it matters anyhow? Let him prey. He cannot eat it whole. We always get good share out of it. And Derik, what happened to Christopher’s deal?”

                    “Well Patrick, everything is as per schedule. Deal goes at $250 million. And we are going to get 40% this time. Their deals leave us a little share only. Our real earn lies in this. “

                    “Right you say. Let them fight like this. When two tigers fight the winners are always jackals.”

          Robert was talking to a person of his syndicate. His name was Jones. Jones was incharge of the truck loaded with cocaine that was doing for deal from Robert’s side. But Derik and Patrick had stolen it in the way. Robert was blaming Jones for not being careful enough. Finally Robert didn’t listen to any excuse from Jones and shot him dead. Then he turned back to his other men,

                    “It was stupid and careless of Jones. But the truth is that the truck was stolen by Christopher’s men. They really crossed their limits this time. Now it is high time that we do something about them.”

                    “Like what?” – Asked one of Robert’s men.

                    “Christopher wants something. And we must give it to him.”

                    “You mean money?””

                    “No. I mean death.”

Christopher was going in his car over a bridge when all of a sudden his car stopped.

                    “What happened?”

                    “Boss, there is something wrong. I guess the car is heated up.”

                    “Holy Shit ! Shouldn’t you have got it checked?”

                    “I checked everything before we departed.” – Said the driver, “Wait. There is nothing wrong in the car. There was some sharp object in the way. It punctured the pipe. Petrol is leaked out.”

          Christopher looked back and found out a long trail of petrol to the car. All of a sudden that trail was followed by a fire flame rushing towards the car. Christopher came to know that this was a snap. But he didn’t have enough time to run. As the fire reached to the car, it exploded. Christopher died along with the driver.

          Next day Robert’s place was attacked by Christopher’s men. Robert was totally unaware and unprepared for this sudden attack. His men tried to fight but couldn’t stay for long before the fully equipped and well planned men of Christopher who were being led by his brother Fredrick, who was there to avenge Christopher’s death.

Finally Robert was caught by Fredrick.

                    “Now you got to pay for my brother’s death.”

                    “What? I don’t understand what you are talking about. I have nothing to do with Christopher’s death. It is my bad luck that someone killed him before I could.”

                    “Your bad luck is standing right next to you Robert. I am going to send you to the place where you sent my brother. Patrick, grab him and take him with us.”

          Patrick who was one of the important men in Christopher’s syndicate grabbed Robert and they all went to the nearest cemetery. They parked their cars outside the cemetery and moved in. They kept walking till they reached to an empty grave.

                    “See this grave Robert.” – Said Fredrick, “This is my present for you before you sleep in peace.”

          There was a grave stone in cross shape that was fixed right in front of the grave. Fredrick pushed Robert ahead. He fell on his knees before the open grave. But all of a sudden he started to laugh. No one could understand the reason behind it.

                    “Seems like you have really lost it Robert. I wouldn’t find it funny if I were on your place.”

                    “You are right Fredrick.” – said Robert laughing, “I am laughing because you are on my place. Read the stone.”

The grave stone was bearing name of Fredrick. Fredrick was shocked,

                    “What the hell ! Patrick, what is written here you moron.”

In reply to this a bullet was blown in Fredrick’s head making him quiet forever. Robert turned to Patrick,

                    “So it was you. You betrayed your own gang. You killed you boss so that I should take the blame. All these men who were working for Christopher were actually your men. During all these years, being inside Christopher’s gang you created a syndicate of your own.”

                    “Well, it is not only Christopher who was being betrayed, Robert.” – A voice came from somewhere. Robert turned in that direction to see Derik, standing with all those men Robert would claim to be his syndicate.

                    “You are not brought here by Fredrick,” – Said Derik, “We brought you. Fredrick didn’t even attack at your place. It was us who planned it. Fredrick didn’t even realize that he is just a pawn that was moving according to our plan. And as the plan was over we killed him. Just like we killed Christopher.”

                    “And now you too are no more needed here. The syndicate is ours now. You can share this grave with Fredrick. We will write your name too on that cross.”

          They grabbed Robert’s hands and made him sit on his knees in front of the grave stone. Before Robert’s eyes was the cross and a revolver was held against his head. And the next moment everything was lost into dark. And in the darkness a sound echoed,

                    “Here ends the last hour of your pre-birth life. Now I want you to delete the last one hour of your pre-birth life from your memory. Remove that memory completely out of your mind. You haven’t gone through that moment ever. Now you are one hour before the end of your pre-birth life. I want you to jump back in timeline. Jump 5 years and 9 months ahead in your present life. And then slowly move ahead in the time line upto this moment. Ok? Ready? JUMP !”

          It was a bright evening. John was moving on the street. He was feeling delightful from the depth of his heart. He was wearing a cross pendent that Prof. Bill gave him. He was now perfectly fine as he got over that scary part of his life.

All of a sudden his attention was diverted by a police siren from behind him. He looked back and found that he was being chased by Alfred in a police jeep. He rushed on the street but all of a sudden a bullet blown went inside his shoulder. He fell down on the street. By the time he got up Alfred has reached to him. He grabbed him and handcuffed his hands.

         “Wait, I can explain. I am not that person anymore. Listen to me.” – John tried to explain but it was in vein.

         “Explanation? What will you explain? I can understand about Johnson’s murder. You tried to avenge yourself. Besides he was a criminal. But what about all the other cold-blooded murders? How could you, being a cop yourself could have done such a brutal act?”

         “I was not well. I had a serious mental problem. Go ask Prof. Bill Dexter. I m coming from there.”

         “I know. From the telephone exchange we got the track of your phone call to him. That is why we were able to trace you. Now come with me or I have to force.”

John realized that there was no way out now. So without trying anything further he boarded the police car along with Alfred. They were on their way to police headquarters. The weather was showing some sudden change. Dark clouds covered all the sky. Breezes were blowing strongly. It seemed like a thunderstorm was approaching slowly. The patrol car as moving smoothly on the road when all of a sudden a strong lightening struck in the middle of the road. It didn’t do any damage to the car but for a moment Alfred was shocked and diverted. He couldn’t maintain the balance and the car turned over. Alfred was wounded badly and he was unconscious. John somehow came out of the car. He too was bleeding. Moreover he was handcuffed. He tried to run away but then he thought,

         “I did all those murders because of that mental illness. In real life I am still a cop. And I can’t leave Alfred here to die. I must take him to hospital.”

By then it started raining. He looked here and there on the street and suddenly found a taxi coming from there. He waved his hand, trying to stop it. He was succeeded in it. The taxi stopped. He rushed to the driver,

                    “Please, there is a wounded cop over there. We got to take him to hospital. Help me in bringing him here.”

                    “Get inside the cab.” – Said the driver.

John reached to the hospital.

          “Will you please take him upstairs to the emergency ward while I do the paperwork? John said to the taxi driver while handing over some money to him. Taxi driver took Alfred upstairs. John silently exited from there. For he knew he couldn’t be at public place. It was moving on the street, being cautious of police patrol and other people lest he could be recognized. All of a sudden a car stopped near to him. John was shocked for a moment. The driver was wearing a huge hat and overcoat. He peeped out of the window,

                    “Want a life young man?”

                    “Ah,” – John was little suspicious, but he didn’t want to be on a public street for long. So he got into the car,

                    “To the Mexico highway, please.”

And the car went on. John was sitting inside the car, thinking of his future. All that he could do now was shifting to some other city and living the rest of his life in disguise. With a new identity, a new name. All of a sudden, John realized something.

                    “Hey, this is not the way to Mexico highway. Where are you going to?”

In reply the man turned and said,

                    “Shut up.”

                    “Oh, no. Not you again.” – John was anxious now, seeing Leonardo on the driver’s seat.

                    “So,” – Leonardo looked back to John, “Now I will take you to the police station and get my reward. You always knew this was your final destination, didn’t you? And now that I have…..” – With a thrust the car stopped and Leonardo went unconscious.

                    “Sorry dear,” – Said John while getting out of the car, “You must have watched on front screen instead of talking to me.”

John got out of the car. Fortunately it was quite a lonely street. John was deciding to move further on foot as he didn’t want to take any more risk trying for lift. But as he turned up, he found Alfred standing there.

                    “You? How did you get here?”

                    “Well, I wasn’t hurt so badly so they let me go.”

                    “I mean, how did you come to know I am here?”

                    “Well, one of the police cops spotted you sitting in that car. But he was clever enough not to put the siren on but silently reporting me.”

                    “So, I saved your life. So in return……huh?”

                    “No need for explanation. After I got the information from telephone exchange that you called Prof. Bill. I set off to chase you. Meanwhile Commissioner Tom called Prof. Bill Dexter and inquired about you. When I was in hospital I received call from Commissioner Tom. He told me all what he had heard from Prof. Bill. That proves you innocent.”

As they turned back, they found Leonardo holding a gun.

                    “Hello. Did I miss something?”

                    “Leonardo. There is no need pointing gun at him anymore.” – Said Alfred, “He is proved innocent.”

                    “Because he has connection with cross in his previous life? I am not buying that.” – said Leonardo, “Now I shall take you both to police station. One is a psycho killer and other is a crooked police officer supporting him. I must get double reward now. And wait…in John’s case, he can be taken dead or alive. Isn’t it right?”

Leonardo pointed gun at John. A loud noise of gunfire and everything became silent. Few people who were walking on the street immediately ran away, scared,

                    “Must be some police encounter. Let’s go.”

Leonardo’s body was lying on street and the street was getting red with blood. John and Alfred were standing there looking at the corpse of Leonardo.

                    “Don’t worry guys. You can’t get everything right unless you get something wrong.”

          John and Alfred looked back and found Commissioner Tom standing there. They were surprised to see him and moreover at what he did there,

                    “Sir, you killed Leonardo?”

                    “I also got information that John was spotted somewhere near the Jesus and Mary hospital, boarding a car. I asked the officer to keep track of where John is moving to. But after I came to know that Alfred was wounded and was admitted in hospital I immediately came to know it was none other than John who admitted him there. And I also came to know that by then Alfred must have got information about John from the wireless network. So I decided to follow Alfred. And that would lead me to here.”

                    “But why did you kill Leonardo?” – Asked Alfred.

                    “Because there was no other choice. He would have claimed his reward at the cost of John’s life and your future.” – One single man must not cause future of two bright cops go into dark.”

Alfred and John were looking at Commissioner Tom. They really didn’t know how to react or what to say on that. Commissioner continued,

                    “John, you leave the city and go back to Boston. Mr. Daniel still has that house left for you. I was call Boston police station that your job should be fixed there. Alfred, you go to police headquarters and report that this man, Leonardo tried to shoot in public and we had to fire to stop him. In that encounter, he died. And both of you, get along with your life.”

                    “I inform police squad on wireless to come here and inspect this body.”

And they moved back. It was full moon night. Leonardo’s body was lying on the street. And sound of police siren was slowly approaching.