"Wake up Krish. " A female voice made Krish jump up from his sleep. His hand went for the wooden torch as he bought light to the face of the female voice. A young woman in her late teens with black hair and blue eyes.
"Wh-What? Grace! Are you really in front of me? " Krish asked as tears rolled down his eyes. He opened his arms as grace fell into his embrace. It went for a little bit longer when Grace got out of it.
"Krish, I don't have much time. I have a favor to ask from you. " She said holding Krish's hand.
"Why are you speaking like that? You know I will do anything for you. You and I are -"
"Krish stop. I really don't have time. Tell me can I trust you with something? " She cut Krish in between as her voice was getting nervous.
"Hey, hey. It's ok. Tell me I will do my best. " Krish said as he tried to comfort her. Suddenly a chuckling of a small child reached Krish's ear. Grace also turned to pick up the child.
"I want you to take care of her." This was the last sentence before Krish snapped out of his dream. He got up with his head still groggy. He opened his eyes to see Layla lying in front of her.
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"Are you all right? " The old man asked.
"Yeah fine."
"Good now that you have the curse inside you..... You will start to hear voices sometime soon. This voice will ask you what your greatest wish is and then it will take you on the path to making that wish come true. Remember to be specific about your wish. Don't say anything arbitrarily. But that is not the only thing it-" Before the old man could finish his sentence Krish began panting. The whites of his eyes became visible.
"- do you want? " Krish slowly opened his eyes as he found himself in a pitch black place. Even the ground was black so it felt like he was flying.
"What do you want? " A voice from the darkness asked him again. Krish couldn't tell the gender of the voice by hearing it. Then again it was a curse so it wouldn't matter what the voice sounded like.
"I want to..... " Krish stopped as he remembered what the old man said. He wanted to save Layla, but does saving her mean that she has to be alive? What if it interprets it differently? Krish began thinking about what he should ask for.
"Looks like you are having problems in making a decision. Let me help you. " The voice said with curiosity. Suddenly his whole life of Krish flashed before him. Good, painful, ordinary everything that had happened in his life was relived by him again. The expression on Krish's face changed. It felt like he was another man.
"I want to be strong enough to protect everyone close to me. "
He said it. He said what was always in his mind but suppressed because he was just a normal human being. But now he had a way to get stronger and he clenched the moment. The curse made the true Krish make the decision.