"It is a vampire hunt, mates. We are looking for a heartless blood sucker or many of them.", Jake turned around to imform the team. He seemed too confident about it. Everybody in the room turned silent and looked at the white board where Becky had written 'VAMPIRE HUNT' in capital letters.
We were a team of nine. Jake was our leader and Becky led the girls. Our leader was smarter, sharper and stronger but the girls, being girls, would not admit. Then there was Smith, Alex, Lisa, Emma, Ron, me and Barney, the dog.
"Oh my God. I am sorry, Captain. I won't be able to work on this case. Even if the vampire spares me, my mom won't. Call me back if you need someone to find a lost Grand dad or a dog.", Alex got up to leave. Did I mention that Alex was a chicken heart? And that her mother was the scariest creature I had ever seen on animal planet? If I ever had to choose between being Alex and being Mowgli, I would have chosen 'being Barney'.
"Stop that chicken, Barn.", Jake shouted. Barney was the smartest member in the team. He was Jake's dog. Jake believed that he and his dog were over qualified for the job and that they were doing a favor to the team by being there. I was a fan of Jake too but that was not important right now. Barney pulled Alex back to his seat. Jake went to him and asked, "Are we a team of cowards, mate? Do you not remember  the pledge we took when all of us joined this team?", he turned and said," Becky, please tell one of your girls to repeat the words we swore on."
"That we would protect the dogs and weak old grand parents of the society", Lisa volunteered to speak these words.
"But this is a cat, captain.", Alex protested.
"I get your point, Alex. But tell me, what do our dogs feast upon on their birthdays? The cats. Don't they? Every cat issue is a dog issue.", Becky said. Everybody clapped and praised her smartness. Alex couldn't say no to this and stayed. This was one of the rarest moments when Leader Jake praised Co-leader Becky too.
Jake pointed towards a table that was lying in a corner. It was a wooden plank adjusted on few bricks. There was a board by the right leg which said 'Examination cell'.
Jake started walking towards the table and we followed him. He took a stick from the small box that was lying next to the table and said," Look, mates. This is Mrs. Doyle's cat, Jess. Smith found it in the garden. See those marks?", he pointed towards the wounds on Jess's neck and continued," These are bite marks and I believe.. Ummm..  I mean Beckie and I believe that these are caused by a vampire." He wouldn't have mentioned Beckie if she hadn't given him an I-will-kill-you-stare.
"And we have to find the... ", Beckie stopped and I uttered "sucker?" She didn't seem very impressed by my remark. Every face turned towards me, then looked at Beckie and turned back to the dead cat.
"Barney? Jake, I think Barney smells something. Some clue, may be.", Alex exclaimed. Barney was sniffing around the body and then licked it. "Oh yes, look our genius Barney smells something. I guess food. Any other guessess? Anybody?", Ron laughed and other girls followed.
Jake assigned work to everyone. Smith, Emma, Ron and I went to check the garden. Alex and Lisa were sent to check around the city if there were any other victims. Jake and Beckie took Barney along to talk to the Mrs. Doyle.
In the park...
"Does anybody know what exactly are we looking for? Because I don't.", Ron sounded disappointed. "A fallen vampire tooth? Blood? I don't know. Foot prints?", I thought of few things we could be searching. Emma looked around and said, "All I see is our footprints all over the wet muddy place. Why do Jake and Beckie get to do the cleanest job always?" She didn't like all the mud sticking to her shoes.
While the three of us were talking, Smith was busy smelling the flowers and watching the plants.
"Done, mates. I collected enough stuff to catch the murderer. Let us head back.", Smith pointed towards a translucent bag in his hand and smiled proudly. Ron and Emma exchanged looks. Emma took that bag from Smith's hand and said, "Let us see what has Detective Smith got in his little magic bag."  We didn't call each other as detectives unless meant sarcastically. Smith let her take the bag easily but with a warning,"Easy, Emm, you wouldn't want to ruin the only clues that can lead us to the killer."
"Ok, Smith", Emma put her hand inside the bag to take out things and said,"A biscuit pack because?"
"I believe these biscuits were used by the killer for snacking with the blood.", Smith replied.
"A toothpick because?", Emma put her hand in again and took put a used dirty toothpick. Ron had an eww look on her face.
"Because I think that the killer used and threw it here.", Smith said.
Emma didn't want to put her hand in again. She returned the bag to Smith. "And Detective Smith, how will we know if these things you believe are true or not?", Ron asked. "I don't know. I can't do everything. That is for the team to decide.", Smith said and walked to the exit.
Back at the shed...
By the time we got back, everybody had come. Beckie was telling everyone how useless had the chat with Mrs. Doyle gone. "We returned her cat's body. All she said was that she will kill the monster who did this to Jess.", she said.
"Hey, guys. You are back too. Any luck?", Jake looked at me with a raised brow. "Luck favored Detective Smith only. He has something for you.", Ron winked and sat on her seat.
Jake checked the bag, the things and asked the same questions, "How can we know if these were killer's? And how will these things help us to catch the killer?"
"We can take these to Paddy's lab. I am sure he will know what to do with these.", Alex said. Jake was not happy with the idea. He ignored Alex's remark.
There was a reason behind our all-kids-team and that was that Jakr made us realise that our parents didn't take us seriously because we were 'just kids', 'good for nothing kids', 'can do nothing on their own kids' etc.
"You mean seek help from an elder, Alex?", Beckie said, "No. We are not doing that."
Jake seemed disappointed. He took the marker and made a small circle on the board. "This is our today's progress. Zero. We need to work harder, mates.", he said.
"Yes. Tomorrow Jake and I will take Barney with us and talk to Mrs. Doyle again. And you all can get back to your work. Results, people. We want results.", Beckie continued when Jake finished talking. 
Next day, Jake and Beckie left with Barney to visit Mrs. Doyle again. Rest of us stayed. "I am not doing garden again. You boys go to check the garden and we will go around the city.", Emma said.
"Yes. And you've got Detective Smith with you. No worries. Right, girls?", Ron giggled.
We went to turn the leaves in the garden. Girls wandered all around the city.
Later that day when we returned to the shed, girls were already back. Jake and Beckie were sitting there in their chairs. Barney was tied with his chain and he was sitting so quiet. Jake always left Barney unchained.
"Something is wrong.", Smith whispered. Even the girls were silent. We just pushed each other forward and sat down.
"Jake?", I called his name. Everyone was eager to know whay had happened. "Guys, turns out that our guess about a vampire being the killer was wrong. We will have to drop this case.", Jake said.
Beckie interupted, "Seriously, Jake? This is how you tell the truth to our team? You promised you won't hide anything. Ok, guys", she turned towards us and continued,"We went to see Mrs. Doyle today and we took Barney along. Mrs. Doyle recognised and almost killed the 'Monster' who killed Jess. Turned out that our victim cat was Barney's birthday feast food."
The room roared with exclamations. All thought so big of the smart dog Barney. But now he was a culprit tied in chains.

Protégeme

The silhouette of the moonlit curled and contorted branches on my wall only got scarier day by day. They would form a new pattern every night. I spent nights with my head burried under the rug, watching the spooky figures dangle in breeze. I heard voices which I always wanted to believe were only in my head and not for real but I was not sure. Tonight was no different. I did not feel safe in this house anymore, not since Julian left.

Dad got a call this morning that we could have her back. I was really glad about it. I believed things will be back to normal once Julian is back in the house.

About two months ago, the family had to move to this new place. We were rich enough to buy the biggest property in the town. I loved our new house unlike Julian who always had a problem accepting the change. "Big houses like this one are usually haunted. You watch movies, don't you?", she had this habit of scaring me by telling me such stories and it worked everytime.

Ours being the biggest property covered a large area. The house stood in the extreme right corner of the land and to the left of it was a big garage. Rest of the land had not been put to use. Dad was working on a plan to make that land useful.

Julian and I took the two adjacent rooms in the first floor of three storeyed house. The outside view from both the rooms was almost same. At the back of our house was a land, which once was a cementery. The land now belonged to some I-do-not-know-who. There stood an incompletely built structure on that land which did not seem to be completed anytime soon. There was a tree close to the wall of our house whose branches extended to the windows of both our rooms. Mom and Dad took the one room downstairs.

First three nights went so well. Everybody, Julian included, was having a great time. We all liked the new place a lot. Until on the forth night we heard some cries. "Honey, What is it?", mom asked. "Julian's room.", dad pointed and rushed upstairs to check on Julian. Mom and I followed him. Julian was standing near the window, weeping. Her eyes were all red. Mom held me closer to her. "Julian? Julian, what happened? Why aren't you in your bed?", Dad asked as he pulled her away from that window. She didn't speak a word. She was scared but what frightened her, she won't tell. Mom stayed with Julian that night and Dad stayed with me.

Next morning Dad tried to talk Julian into what happened the previous night. She didn't remember anything. She was very normal in the morning. Julian and I went out to see the market and get us few things. We stopped to grab something to eat. "Ben, did you see what happened last night? You were there, weren't you?" Julian started talking. I was surprised to hear that. "But you told dad that you did not remember anything about last night. Why would you lie?", I asked. "Yes, I lied because I was not sure about what I saw. You know I heard some voices last night. Somebody was outside my window. He was dragging something, made from iron perhaps. When I got up to look out, I saw a...", Julian stopped when I interrupted, "Julian, if this is one of your ugly tricks to scare your little brother, then let me tell you I am not a little boy anymore." I, however, was scared to the bones.

After the dinner that night, we helped mom with dishes. Mom and Dad were trying to make sure that Julian was fine. "Do you want me to stay with you tonight, Jules?", mom asked. "No, mom. I will be fine.", Julian smiled and ran upstairs. I, on the other hand, wanted to ask mom to stay with me but I had to stick to the manly words I said to Julian about being a grown up.

Later that night, I was fast asleep when I heard some cries again. This time those cries were not coming from Julian's room but my room. I turned and tossed off the bed to find Julian standing at my window shouting at somebody, "Get out of here. You can't scare us. Do you understand that? Don't you dare frighten my little brother or hurt him, you scar faced ugly man." "Julian, what is wrong with you? What are you doing in my room? And who are you shouting at? The tree?", I hated her for making me shiver with fear. "Shhhhhhh, Ben. Get back. I don't want you near this window. That man standing there with an axe says that he wants to hurt you.", she pushed me away. I ran downstairs to my parents. Dad came upstairs and found Julian sleeping in my bed, like she had been sleeping there for a long time.

"Benno, why don't you go and sleep with your mother? I will close the window and be back in a while. Ok, son?", Dad asked me to leave the room.

"Did Benno sleep?", I heard Dad talking to mom, "I checked everything. The window, her room. There is nobody there. Must be a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

Next morning again, Julian was as normal as she was the day before. "Good morning, parents. Hey, Ben. Sleep well?", she took a loaf of bread from the table and sat down on a chair. I prefered to not look at her. "Julian, are you fine?", mom asked. "Yes, mom. Never been better. Why?", she replied. Mom just ended the conversation with a nod. Dad left for work and mom went back to the kitchen. Julian looked at me. I am sure she could see the fear in my eyes very clearly. "Ben, I am not letting him hurt you. You don't need to worry about it. Alright, brother?", she whispered. She remembered last night too. Why was she lying to mom and dad? What was going on in her mind?

Things worsened when Julian disappeared one night. Dad found her in the garage next morning. "Julian, what is going on with you? Why were you in garage last night? And how did you leave the house? I found the door locked from inside this morning.", Dad interrogated but Julian was in no mood to tell the truth. "She is lying to you, dad. She lied about the other two nights too. She remembers everything.", I had to let them know. But who believes the youngest kid when the older one cries. "Ok. Ok. Now here is the deal. None of you two leaves the house without telling your mom or me.", Dad set the rules.

That afternoon I was busy drawing pictutes in my room. I didn't leave the room till mom called us for lunch. Julian was already there. I didn't talk to her and sat on my chair. "What do think you were doing this morning? You know telling them the truth can cause you trouble. I am just trying to protect you.", Julian sounded so furious. Mom came with the food and she stopped talking. She gave me an enraged look and started eating the food.

She came to my room later that day. She talked with a nicer tone, "I jumped out of the window last night and hurt my ankle.", she showed me her swollen ankle.

At first, dad thought he could handle the things himself but then he gave up and went for some medical help. Doctors told dad that Julian's presence in the house could make other kids uneasy. So, she was sent to an asylum.

After having her locked up for a month, they were letting her out tomorrow. Next morning when I got up, I got properly dressed and combed my hair well. I was all ready to see my sister. I went downstairs to find mom working in the kitchen. "Mom, where is dad? He has to go get Julian back from the assylum.", I pulled a chair out and sat on it. "Yes, son. Yiur dad left already. They must be reaching home anytime.", she replied.

I heard the car engine come to a halt right at front of our door. I ran out to see Julian. Dad took out a bag from the back of the car and asked me to take it inside the house. "Julian? Where is Julian?", Mom came running. "Julian, get out of the car. Your mother and brother are eager to see you.", Dad knocked at the window of the back seat. Door opened and there she stood right in front of us.

We all brought her in. Dad asked her to go and freshen up. She went to her room upstairs. Julian looked different. She was quiet and frail. The dark circles under her eyes made her look weaker.

"Doctors said that they did a lot of  tests on Julian. The results were normal. She behaved normal. No violence, no crying, no nightmares. So, they discharged her sooner.", Dad passed Julian's reports to mom. "Dad, is something wrong with the house? Because Julian has been behaving weirdly since we moved here.", I was not finished yet but Dad hushed me. He welcomed Julian to have breakfast with her family after such a long time.

Julian stayed in her room all day long. She had locked herself in the room. We got to see her only at the dinner table. "Julian, if you have any problem staying alone in your room you can shift to Ben's room and stay with him.", Dad told her. I was glad that I would get to spend more time with my sister but she refused. She finished her food, went upstairs and locked her room from inside.

Following day went well too. Julian spent most of her time with the family. Mom and Dad were really happy to see Julian well and fine.

One fine morning, mom came to my room to wake me up, "Ben, wake up. Granny is not well. Your dad and I are going to see her. Look after your sister and the house well. We will be back tomorrow."

They left. Julian and I waved them off. Julian had not had any real conversation with me since she got back. "Do you hate me?", I asked. "No, I don't. Go to your room and study.", she replied. We didn't see each other during the day. I went downstairs for lunch but she didn't come. She didn't come out for dinner also. I was worried for her and angry with the way she had been behaving.

I went to Mom and dad's room and started crying, "Why, mom? Why did you think that it was safe to leave me alone with her?" Julian heard me and came out of her room to look for me. "Ben? Ben, where are you?, she entered the room, "what are you crying about?" She found me sitting in a dark corner with my head down on knees. She tried to reach me. "Why are you acting so different? I thought things would be same when you are back but now I don't like having you back.", I told her.  She walked a step back , "it is because, Ben, I don't like it anymore. Lying to mom and dad is not good."

"But you said you would protect me.", I looked up to see her. "I did, din't I?", she sat down at a distance and sighed, "and I am still protecting you, Ben." Just then she looked at something and shouted, "What is that on your arm, Ben? Is that blood?" I looked down and saw a lot of blood oozing out of that wound. "Did you hurt yourself?", she asked. "No, Jules, you hurt me.", I replied, "I just cut myself with this knife, like this." I made another incision on my arm. "Stop it, Ben.", she shouted at me. "No, Julian. I don't stop, you protect me and if you can't do that then Daddy's favorite kid may have to go back to the assylum.", I continued cutting my arm. She slapped me hard to get me rid of that knife. I ran out of that room and hid in a kitchen almirah. She came after me but she couldn't see me. "Ben, please come out and talk to me. Tell me what do you want me to do?", she demanded, "I lied to our parents about my health. I never let them know that it was you who cried all the night and not me. I never told them that I spent that night in garage because I saw you leaving the house through the window and followed you. And then you locked me out. I prevented you from going to that assylum by not letting them know that you were the one who needed medical help, Ben." She searched places to find me as she continued to talk, "But, Ben, we should tell them. They will help you. This thing with your virtual scar faced friend is getting ugly now and see, you end up hurting yourself." She started looking in the kitchen. She had the knife in her hand. She reached the almirah I was in and before she could open it, I pushed the door hard and she fell down. I ran upstairs now. I stumbled over the stairs and hurt myself.

"Shhhh. She is looking for us. She hates you and if she tells mom and dad about you, they will hate you too.", I talked to Scar. That is what I called my friend. He was always there. When everyone thought that I was alone, he was with me. Julian knew about him. I told her and showed her Scar's pictures too. I had drawn a lot of them.

I never had any problem with the moving but I didn't like leaving my friends behind. I met Scar in this house and he said that he would never let me leave. He said that he would find a way and make me stay forever. I told him that I would take him along when we move next time but he said that he could not leave the house. So, I had to stay for him.

Scar was now scared that Julian will tell Dad everything and they will take me away. So, he asked me to let him handle it his way. He had a plan and cutting me was a part of it.

Julian came into the room. She knew I was hiding in one of my almirahs. I came out and hit her hard with my baseball stick because Scar asked me to. She fell unconcious. I sat besides her. I didn't like hurting my sister. She should have listened to us.

Next day began. Julian was still sleeping on the floor. "Ben? Jules?", I heard mom call out our names. They were home. A few slaps to myself and few head to wall bumps and I was all set to face mom.

"Mom.", I ran downstairs and hugged her. "What happened to you? Where is your sister?", she made me sit down on a chair and checked my bruises. She called out for dad. Dad saw me and went to check Julian. "She hurt me. She cut me with a knife and hit me. Please call the doctor to check her again.", I said. 

How could they let a monster, who hurt a liittle boy, stay. She had a story to tell but nobody believed her. They called the assylum and sent her back. After everybody believing that Julian had shown some violent signs, they were not letting her out anytime soon. Scar was happy that our secret was safe.

"Hearth"

Baburam stirred the boiling tea, raised the spoon to a height and then dropped the tea back into the vessel. 'Tossing the tea like this makes it more tasty.', he explained to the new help standing right next to him, while greeting the customers who had just joined.

The arrangement of Baburam's tea stall was simple yet warm. There was an earthen hearth under the wooden roof, which itself stood on wooden pillars. There were no walls but plastic sheets covering the four sides, leaving a little space open for the boys to leave. Outside this small kitchen lay a few wooden benches for the customers to sit on and a large plastic sheet covering their heads. The mixture of aroma of tea and the incense from burning wood made the place so warm.

I had been sitting there in my special seat for five minutes, looking at the ways Baburam played with the boiling tea. He poured tea in three steel mugs, smiled at me and said, "Bas, sahib, do minute aur.(Sir, just two more minutes.)" The tea vessel was placed on the stove again. Extra milk, scent of cardamoms and the cream floating in the mug made my tea different from others'.

The special treatment I got in Baburam's tea stall always flattered me. "Yeh hamare master ji hain. Inke liye inki khaas kursi lao. Yeh baqi sab ki tarah in phattun par nahin baithte. Khaas grahak hain hamare. Samjhe? (This is our master ji. Get him his special chair. He doesn't sit on these benches like everyone else. He is our special customer. Understand?)", he explained to every new helper in his stall.

The cream swimming over the casserole of redolence of cardamoms was lying on my table. I was served by the owner himself. Baburam carried a small table and placed it right next to me, sat on it and said, "Sahib, kal pehli taareekh hai. Khatt likhwana tha. (Sir, tomorrow is the first day of new month. Write a letter for me, will you?)".

On the first of every month, Baburam would come to me and ask me to write a letter to his son. His son was away working in some city. Baburam would send him some money and a letter every month.

"Zarur. Baburam, har maheene ek he baat likhwate ho. Kabhi jawab bhi aaya kisi khatt ka?(Sure. Baburam, you ask me to write the same things in your letter every month. Does he ever write back?)", I said as I took out the pen and a notepad from my pocket. "Sahib, woh janta hai ki uska pita padh likh nahin sakta. Kya jawaab dega? (Sahib, he knows his father can not read. What will he reply?"), he smiled and looked down to the ground.

I started writing the letter- 'Dear son, hope you are doing good. Sending some money. Your mom misses you and wishes to see you soon. Take care.' That was all Baburam would want me to write always. He missed his son too but never wrote about it.

Two days later, while I was reading a book at my desk in my room, I sighted Baburam running towards my house. It was raining very heavily. He had covered his head with a piece of cloth that would usually hang around his neck. He took big steps to run faster and prevent his feet from falling into the ruts filled with muddy water. I got up and opened the door. "Kya hua, Baburam? (What is the matter, Baburam?)", I asked. He was in no condition to reply and let himself fall to the ground. He covered his eyes with the cloth and said, "Sahib, meri biwi bimar hai. (Sahib, my wife is sick)".

I had never seen Baburam so helpless. He sat there at my door, panting heavily. He managed to wipe the tears off his face. "Sahib, mere bete ko khatt likhiye aur usse kahiye ki uski maa bohat bimar hai. Usse kahiye ki woh usse bohat yaad karti hai aur ek aakhri baar usse dekhna chahti hai. (Sahib, please write a letter to my son and tell him that his mother is very sick. Tell him she misses him a lot and wants to see him one last time.)", he cried.

"Sahib, Main bhi usse yaad karta hoon lekin uski maa usse bohat yaad karti hai. Isi wajah se woh bimar padh gayi. Doctor kehte hain woh nahin bachegi. Woh bete ke baare mein har waqt poochti rehti hai. Main usse kya kahun? (Sahib, I miss him too but his mother misses him more. That made her sick. Doctor says she won't survive this. She keeps asking about her son all the time. What shall I tell her?)", helpless Baburam expected a solution from his master ji but how could I help when I didn't even know if his son got any letters I wrote.

"Ghar jao, Baburam. Apni biwi ke paas jao. Main tumhare bete ko jald se jald khatt bhej dunga. (Go home, Baburam. Go to your wife. I will post a letter to your son as soon as possible.)", I tried to make him feel better. After he left, I started writing a letter to his son. I told him how much his parents missed him, how thankless he had been for all these years for not replying to any of his father's letter and how he made his mother so sick that she would die soon.

I never saw Baburam after that day. That cold rain destroyed the warmth of his stall too. I wasn't sure if his son got my last letter too or did he not get any. People say that Baburam was not seen by anybody after his wife died.