I did not expect someone to greet me like this. None of my contingencies had catered for such an eventuality. I had planned to creep in the devil’s den, mix potion in the blood bucket and then sneak out from the back side but what I did not plan was any confrontation with him. I was a trained fighter and a self-proclaimed brave person but right at that moment, I was riveted. It might be because of the reason that I was immensely surprised. I was sure that my life, which had just begun, had suddenly reached to an abrupt end. I started cursing the moment when I had consented to kill the beast who was now sitting right in front of me. I was lost in my thoughts when he got up from the seat and took a few steps forward. I was stunned, my feet stoned and my mouth tightly sealed. I closed my eyes and started reciting the holy verses when I heard his laughter. He was standing so close to me that I could smell his breathe. He stopped laughing after a while and then I heard his freaky voice.

“Open your eyes.”

I obliged. The dark room was now lit. I looked at him and was mesmerised to see my own self. The only differences were few grey hair and red eyes. Rest of his face had strong resemblance to me. It appeared as I was looking in the mirror with my reflection smiling at me. I was dead scared. He put his hand on my shoulder and said in a relatively less bizarre voice.

“Don’t be frightened. You are my son,” he revealed to my utter astonishment, a fact that sealed me where I was.

My frightening expressions got turned into bewilderment. I knew he was some kind of magician. It was possible for him to befool me in any way possible. But then I thought that why would he feel the need to look like myself. The scene did not appear logical to my mind unless he was telling the truth. So, I decided to listen to him. I had no other option either. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what was to come next. He was now holding a glass of water which he extended towards me. He asked me to sit down and drink water. I took the glass from his hand and sat down on the nearest seat. I was a little reluctant to drink water but somehow I gulped it down in one go. He pulled his chair towards me and sat on it. Sensing no immediate threat to my life, I started feeling a bit relaxed. I opened my lips and heard my own strange voice.

“How come you are my father?” I asked him.

He looked at his watch and replied, “I think I don’t have much time left but I will tell you everything.”

He paused, looked at his watch again and continued in a wretched tone.

“Your grandfather was killed by Nawab Sadiq. He had done no harm to anyone. I don’t know much about him as I was born after he was executed. Your grandmother was rescued by her father who brought her here. She gave birth to me but could not survive. Her father handed me over to shrine guards and went back to Bahawalpur. I was brought up here as an orphan. I was once visited by my father-in-law who narrated me the story of your grandfather. He told me that your grandfather had some weird disease. A devil worshipper advised him to drink blood and he started drinking blood of animals and corpses. Someone from his village saw him doing so in a graveyard and the matter was reported to Nawab Sadiq. Your grandfather had never killed or hurt anyone still he was murdered. I inherited the same illness from my father. It is a strange kind of disease in which the patient’s body starts shaking uncontrollably. I would sometime fall down on ground while walking and my body shivered for hours. My father-in-law gave me the same prescription which was given to my father. This is how I developed the habit but it’s now a curse. I can’t live without consuming human blood.”

He stopped talking and lifted a bowl filled with blood and started drinking from it. I looked at him and saw my own future fading in vain. I was though curious that I did not have any such problem till now so I popped up a question.

“If you are my father then why don’t I have this disease?” I asked.

He put the bowl on the side table then looked at me and said,

“You have it. It takes time to show its ill effects. I started having dizzy mind and shivering body when I reached the age of 20. You are still younger than that, I assume.”

He was right. So I will need to feed on blood too. I had this bizarre thought and I shook my head. A mere thought of it made me feel nauseous. The time was running fast. I knew that Rehman Baba and his party would raid this house at dawn. I had already spent almost an hour in the house with Ghulam Mustafa and the people outside must be getting anxious. I was left with very less time to get to know the whole truth.

“How come you are my father?” I asked him.

He looked at me with an intriguing smile and started narrating the story again.

“When my father-in-law told me about your grandfather and what happened to him, I decided to take revenge from Nawab Sadiq. I was too young back then just like you

but was very emotional. One day, I reached Noor Mahal and begged the commander of guards there to enrol me for a suitable job. I was keeping a small beard and used a fake name. Physically I was fit and very tall and hence given requisite training of one month and employed as a guard initially on the outer perimeter but within few months I was shifted to inner circle. I was very efficient and obedient. The commander really liked me a lot. I was though unable to reach Nawab’s quarters but got in touch with your mother who worked there. I trapped her at first just to get an inside access but with passage of time I fell in love with her. I was too weak and alone back then. I wasted almost one year there but was unable to get even close to Nawab Sadiq. He is a very cautious man. He remains surrounded by his loyalists. So, I decided to come back to shrine, multiply my power and then return with full force.”

So, he was really my father. There was no other reason for us to look alike. I still did not feel any sentiment in my heart for him. I certainly was feeling bad as I came here to kill my own father. I also felt hatred for Nawab Sadiq who killed my grandfather and was now after the life of my father. Both of them had done no harm to him. Now, I had to ask him the real question which was boggling my mind.

“If you knew all along that I was your son then why did you try to kill me first at Pir Baba’s Ziarat in Fazilka. Then you tried to poison me in the train and then you burnt down the hotel in Jaipur where I was staying?”

“I knew you would think that it was me,” he answered in a soft voice while taking a sip from the bowl.

“Who else would try to harm me?” I asked him in a frustrating voice.

“Nawab Sadiq,” he replied subtly.

“Why would Nawab Sadiq try to kill me. I am his most trusted man. He sent me here to kill you,” I said surprisingly posing him with a question.

Still very calm, he said, “Because Nawab Sadiq came to know that you are my son.”

Today was the day of amazing revelations. “How and when did Nawab Said found out that I am your son,” I asked.

This time he again narrated the complete story. “You must be aware that Nawab Sadiq had earlier made an attempt to kill me. He sent his five best soldiers and I killed four of them. Sparing the fifth one was my mistake. The surviving solider, before departing for Bahawalpur, told my story to Rehman Baba who then sent Kamal Khan to Nawab Sadiq to ask more details about me. They knew me before as I was brought up at this shrine but after I grew older I bought this house and shifted here. I cut off all my links with shrine guards and got busy with my life. I did not bother anyone in this area hence I continued unabated and unsuspected. Nawab Sadiq told Kamal Khan all he knew about me and my father. He also told him that he had sent you to kill me just a few days ago. Nawab Sadiq also showed him your picture so that he cold find me when I reach the shrine. Kamal Khan had also seen me so when he saw your picture he realized that we were related somehow. He told Nawab Sadiq that you looked exactly like me. This was when he summoned your mother and she was forced to reveal the truth about her relationship with me. Nawab Sadiq knew that when you find out the truth, you would not be able to kill me and instead might become his enemy to take your grandfather’s revenge. He, therefore, bribed heavily Kamal Khan to get you killed and also asked him to get me arrested for your murder.”

It was now all making sense but then another doubt hit my mind as to how Ghulam Mustafa knew about the deal of Nawab Sadiq and Kamal Khan and I got to know about an insider in Noor Mahal who was keeping Ghulam Mustafa aware of all the affairs. I now looked at the watch and it was 3:45 a.m. The dawn was close. I had to do something or tell him at least that Rehman Baba and his party is about to raid here. Before I could say anything, Ghulam Mustafa said, “I knew that one day my son would come to meet me. But I have no future left in this abode. I will be arrested soon and the dead bodies in my basement will render sufficient proof to get me hanged publicly. Rehman Baba and other guards know about your relationship with me but they also know that you have not done anything wrong. They sent you here deliberately. But I choose to die at my own terms. I will drink the potion which you have brought for me. This way, you will never be blamed for my sins. Rather, you will be regarded as a hero.”

I was unconvinced but he continued, “I have also saved a lot of money for you. When you are free from here, you should go back to Hakeem where you left Shahzadi. Someone will contact you there and hand you over my legacy.”

I was holding the bottle tightly in my hand when he came and sat next to me. He touched my hand and it got opened. His cold touch made me shiver. I looked in his eyes and I saw my reflection there. For the first time, my heart missed a beat.

I was sitting so close to my real father.

I couldn’t say anything.

He took the bottle from my hand and mixed it in the bowl of blood. He was about to drink it when I got up from my seat and snatched the bottle from him. I then hugged him tight and without saying anything left the room. I couldn’t see my father take his own life in front of me.