《The Tantric》 Prologue I had finally caught up to him. The path was steep and dangerous, with slippery gravel hell bent on sending you to an early death. I had been chasing after this holy man for over a week now. I had spent all my money four days ago and hadn''t eaten since the last two. I had begged food from local villages I had passed through, but my chase had lead me in to the deep woods where I had been living off the occasional fruits I could find. I thanked the Almighty that I was not denied water at least. The small mountain streams had the purest, coldest water I had ever tasted. It was a shame that a man can not just survive on water. Well, some men can.. but they have already transcended humanity and are now beyond such petty labels like man or woman. My target was one such man. It had started a month back. I had been on an office vacation with my colleagues to Dhanaulti. It''s a small hill station and my company had booked a hotel there for some nice R&R after we had finished a big project. There were nice hiking spots and the snow covered mountains were beautiful. The locals were warm hearted and humble, and the place had a tranquil vibe that really calmed our city-frazzled nerves. We started our day with breakfast at our hotel, usually some bun-omelettes and buttered toast, aloo-paranthas and hot tea. We''d go down to the lake and fish there, sometimes we''d try and flirt with the pretty village girls. My buddy Rohan was a real player. He''d flirt and tease the simple-minded girls, who''d giggle back at him and shyly went on with gathering wood and other chores. I''d roll my eyes and curse Rohan heartily, and he''d always smile and say, "Bro, I''m just having some harmless fun." I wonder now if I had just punched him back then, we could''ve avoided so much pain. All of us had our own room on the second floor of the hotel. As night approached, we usually had bonfires in the courtyard where all of us idled around drinking booze and smoking some weed. I was hanging out with this cute sales executive Naina and we had a good vibe going. I''d been flirting with her ever since this vacation started and it seemed that tonight was the night. Naina had dark brown eyes and long curly hair which she usually tied in a ponytail. Tonight she had let her hair down and had my head in her lap. We shared a joint as she ran her fingers through hair. Her dark hair brushed me as she leaned down and kissed me. Her lips were incredibly soft and I could taste the strawberry chapstick she had on. "Mmm. Never figured you to be a strawberry girl." She laughed and kissed me again. I could hear a couple of catcalls from a few dudebros nearby. She broke off and looked away, a faint blush on her face. I mentally cursed those idiots who had to ruin my moment. I caught her hand, and gave her a small tug. She turned towards me and said, " Do you want to go join the party with the sales team." Awesome. She was feeling shy. Thanks a lot bastards. I knew If I let her return to her friends, I wouldn¡¯t be getting her alone tonight. Today was the second last day of the trip and I had to make my move. Tomorrow we''d all be packing and then go to bed early, since we had to catch an early flight back to Delhi. It was now or never. "Come on bro. We''re gonna make a bong out of this Pepsi Bottle." yelled Zaid, another one from the sales team. Bingo. I turned towards Naina, "You know, I''ve this really great weed from Kerala back in my room and some packets of Mars Bars. Why don''t we go pick them up and go join them." "You can''t pick up and ounce of weed and some chocolates by yourself." she giggled. "I also have some Hershey''s Kisses which we can snack on." I smiled winningly at her. She perked up at the mention of chocolates and reached out to hold my hand. I told the others we''ll return soon with the good stuff and went back to the hotel. Another colleague told me to get back soon and not get lost in Naina¡¯s eyes up there. Very smooth Nitin. I can see why you spent the entire vacation drinking and not hooking up. She started going towards the stairs but I pulled her towards the elevator. "You''re so lazy!" she teased. Yes. I definitely want to walk up two flights of stair when I could make out with a hot girl in the elevator. "And you''re so sexy!" I teased back. "No, I''m not!" The little minx was having fun. Give a girl a compliment and they start fishing for more. Luckily, I''ve never been good at giving compliments. So I just pushed her against the elevator and leaned in, gently caressing her cheek with my fingers. Our faces were so close that I could count her eyelashes. I put my hands around her waist as we both moved in for a kiss. I brushed my hand against her tight rear and then slowly caught her by the hips. She gripped the back of my head and slipped her tongue in my mouth. Things were getting hotter as I lifted her against the elevator. She responded by wrapping her legs around me and moaning in my mouth, suddenly gripping my face and kissing me with a passion that surprised me. Pretty soon, we were on the second floor but I lingered in the elevator, making out with Naina. I stuck my foot between the elevator door and kissed her heartily for a while before the siren in the lift went off. I dragged away a giggling Naina before the noise summoned a security guard to badger us and we headed off to my room. As we passed Rohan''s room, we could hear sounds of the bed creaking and woman''s soft moans. My boy was getting it on. Naina had started blushing again, her face red like a tomato. I gently squeezed her hand and took her away from there. Then we went back to my room and lost ourselves in passion. After we finished our lovemaking, I rolled up a joint of that Kerala weed and lit it up. Naina soon passed out after a couple of puffs and I was left to finish the whole joint myself. I blew smoke rings in the air, listening to the sounds of insects from outside my window. Soon, I drifted off to sleep, lulled by the weed and post coital bliss. As I fell asleep, I briefly wondered who was it that Rohan was having sex with when all of our colleagues were at the bonfire. ~ Apparently, it was one of the village girls. Rohan had charmed one of the daughters of our neighbouring farm owner. The girl had gotten up at the crack of dawn to get back to her house, thinking nobody would find out. But through plain rotten luck, her mother had gotten up for a drink of water at night and had noticed her daughter missing as she passed by her room. She had raised a ruckus and her father, uncles, and brothers had spent the whole night looking for her while being armed to the teeth with knives and axes. They had thought that she might¡¯ve been dragged away by a tiger or panther, which is not uncommon in their mountain village. They were not amused to see her returning after an obvious amorous encounter. For a while they had surrounded the hotel, leading to a tense standoff between the staff and the villagers who were demanding that they give Rohan to them for dishonoring a girl from their community. They were planning on a shotgun wedding between the two. The girls from my office were having a field day with such scandalous news. Rohan was understably unamused. ¡°It was just a little fun bro. I¡¯m not marrying some stupid village chit just because I had sex with her once.¡± He was hastily shoving clothes in his suitcase as he dashed around the room looking for the rest of his stuff. ¡°I¡¯m getting out of here in a this afternoon, you can bring the rest of the stuff later when the others return.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t very nice to run away from your girlfriend now.¡± Nitin was lying down on Rohan¡¯s bed and relaxing. He had dropped by to help Rohan pack but after passing him a couple of T-shirts, he was apparently exhausted and started rolling a joint. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°First of all, fuck you! I don¡¯t need this shit from you right now dumbass.¡± He lifted up a case of single malt whiskey which we hadn¡¯t gotten around to opening last night. He frowned as he looked at his suitcase, ¡°I don¡¯t think I have enough room for that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what she said.¡± Nitin and I say reflexively at the same time. The tense atmosphere broke as we all started laughing. Nitin lit up the joint and passed it to Rohan after a couple of puffs. Rohan took a few drags, then sat down on the floor with his legs folded like a yogi. He closed his eyes and started slowly cracking his knuckles. He would take a puff, then slowly crack one knuckle. I counted seven before I coughed and held out my hand. The fucker was hogging the whole joint! He looked embarrassed and passed me the joint. He then lay down on the bare flower and asked me in a serious tone, ¡°Tell me honestly Vijay, I¡¯ve made a real mess of things haven¡¯t I?¡± I passed the joint back to him, ¡°Well yeah, but you can still salvage it. Just meet the girl¡¯s family and apologise.¡± ¡°You can always get married to her bro. Vaishali seems nice. Girls from the mountains make really great wives. All traditional and shit. Plus they have great stamina¡± Nitin winked at Rohan. ¡°Fuckers, why don¡¯t you both marry her and take turns fucking her if you like her so much. I¡¯m done with this bullshit.¡± He picked up his suitcase and headed to the door. He turned towards us while opening the door with one hand, ¡°I guess I¡¯ll see you guys back at the office.¡± ¡°Ummm¡­¡± Niting pointed towards the door where Rohan¡¯s ¡®girlfriend¡¯ Vaishali was standing, apparently listening to everything we said. She was a beauty, with long brown hair and a fit, curvy figure. She was wearing a traditional choli made of bright colours and silver jewellery. She was also royally pissed. Her eyes burned with a cold anger and when she spoke, it was in a low calm voice that send a shiver up my spine. She looked at Rohan and asked, ¡°What about the promise you made me last night, when you said you¡¯ll never let go of my hand after I gave it to you?¡± Rohan, like a mega-asshole, just shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t remember any such promise.¡± ¡°Do you remember what happened what between us last night, or have you forgotten that as well?¡± she was crying quietly now, ¡°You said that you love me.¡± ¡°I say that to every girl I meet. It¡¯s not my fault you¡¯re a silly girl who believes in that love crap.¡± Rohan looked uncomfortable meeting her eyes. ¡°You¡¯ll believe in love, I¡¯ll make sure of it even if it¡¯s the last thing I do.¡± she nodded at Rohan, and then smiled at me before she turned and left. There was a moment of silence in the room. I looked at Nitin, who just shrugged and started opening the case of whiskey which Rohan was trying to pack. Rohan lit the joint which had gone out during all this drama, and then looked at me, ¡°Well that went okayish?¡± Feeling irritated, I just walked upto him and took the joint away from him. Fucker had been hogging that weed all day. Greedy Bastard. There was knocking at our door. I went and opened it, saw Naina standing outside. She smiled when she saw me. I moved in to kiss her lips, but she turned her face and I got her cheek. This cheeky girl. ¡°What it is Naina?¡± I asked her after inviting her back into the room. ¡°Well we might have to extend our vacation here for a couple of more days. There¡¯s been a landslide last night and the only road down this mountain is blocked.¡± ¡°Well shit.¡± Rohan responded, eloquently as always. He opened his suitcase and dumped all his clothes over Nitin, who just lay there on the bed like a beached whale. He was on his second whiskey and only his hand holding the glass was visible beneath the contents of Rohan¡¯s suitcase. He passed the bottle to Rohan, who took a long swig straight from the bottle. He took another shorter sip, then passed the bottle to me. I wiped the mouth of bottle before I took a sip. Who knows where that guy¡¯s mouth has been. Naina told us that the evening bonfire party had been cancelled because of Rohan¡¯s scandal, and the hotel owner had asked us to inside till we left. The hotel owner was an older gentleman, from an old rajput family. Old Mr Bisht took hospitality very seriously. His staff was polite and hardworking, and apparently doubled as bodyguards as well. I saw atleast ten men near the Hotel gate, armed with rifles and hunting spears, a couple of the guards had lathis, which were six feet long hardwood sticks that could crack a man¡¯s skull open. His guys were just at the gate to make sure that none of the girl¡¯s family snuck in later at night to do some mischief to us. He was a wily old goat who knew his neighbours very well. Me and my friends spent the whole night awake, in the event something bad did happen. We spend the whole night playing silly drinking games and drinking some absolutely awesome coffee Nitin made. Nitin really was full of surprises. Soon enough, the night passed and we could hear roosters crowing. Dawn had come and there had been no trouble from the girl¡¯s family. I finally let out a sigh of relief. We went down to the dining room for our breakfast. I saw Mr Bisht speaking with Zaid, who looked ill. Mr Bisht looked uncharacterisically serious. My heart started beating louder as he just kept looking at us, his eyes moving over all of us before finally landing at Rohan. He just kept staring at Rohan with increasing intensity before he collected himself with a deep breath, and then turned and walked away to his office. I went down to the dining table and started buttering a piece of toast. I needed something greasy after a whole night drinking. Naina and the others sat down next to me and started pulling eggs and sweet rice porridge towards them. Zaid sat down in front of me with cup of tea in front of him. He added some sugar and started stirring it with a spoon. He kept looking out the windown as he kept stirring for a while. He finally took a sip from his cup, then told me the news. Vaishali¡¯s whole family had been found dead this morning, poisoned to death. She was missing and nobody knew where she¡¯d gone away. ~ The whole village was in an uprorar. The men of the village had broken off into groups of five and started scouring the nearby areas. The women were making preparations for the last rites, gathering wood and other essentials the cremations. Mr Bisht had ordered a full lockdown of the property. We were not to stray outside because the village was simmering in anger over last night¡¯s incident. My colleagues were full of nervous chatter. So far, not all of them knew the details about Vaishali and Rohan but it was only a matter of time before it was known. Me and Rohan was holed up on our hotel roof, waiting for Nitin to return with more whiskey. We were really drowning ourselves in booze, Rohan was drunker than I had ever seen him. He kept drinking with that steady pace and glazed eye of a person drinking to forget everything. All of a sudden, he gave a startled gasp. He put down his glass of whiskey and starting waving his hand in front of him, liking trying to wave away a buzzing fly. ¡°Are you seeing this shit?¡± he continued to wave his hand through the air. ¡°It¡¯s like a floating piece of burned paper, some kind of Sanskrit writing on it.¡± Why do I put up with this idiot? I asked myself again today. Then I made the mistake which changed my life forever. ¡°Well, what does it say?¡± I got up from my seat on the roof railing and stood up next to him. This fucker is hallucinating, might as well enjoy his imagination. ¡°??? ????? ?? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ? ???????¡± The words echoed around me and I felt as if they were vibrating, slowly sinking into my flesh and travelling through my blood into my brain, and then into my consciousness. As Rohan was reading the words, I felt a sliver of lightning shooting up from the base of my spine. It seared my spine for a couple of inches before suddenly disappearing. The words were still echoing around me but I could now understand them, and with that understanding came a fear that made me almost piss myself. The Sanskrit words now could be understood, and in Vaishali¡¯s voice they said. ¡°I curse you with my pain and with the blood of my family.¡± I saw the burning scroll that was floating in mid air, my mind was screaming at me to get away from Rohan, from the roof, even if I had to jump off the roof. I saw Rohan down on his knees with tears in his eyes. Suddenly, the wind around me picked up, and I heard an extremely old and venerable voice whisper in my ear, ¡°My child, quickly grab the scroll.¡± I felt like somebody had slapped sense in me that moment and I saw Rohan reaching out with his hand to touch the scroll. Some instinct told me that I would be very, very, very sorry if that happened. I leapt towards the scroll and yelled, ¡°Rohan, look behind you!¡± Rohan quickly turned back to check and I grabbed the scroll. It seared my hand with it¡¯s heat and I felt burning pain in my right hand which suddenly cut off with a hiss of burning flesh. Time slowed to a crawl around me as the scroll¡¯s burning ashes floated up from my arm and arranged itself into words in front of me. Name- Not bestowed/Unearned Karma- Chaotic (Curse of the Kichkindi) Chakras- N/A Divine Alignment- Not chosen Gurukul Lineage- None Parakram (Power)- 0.8 Manobal (Will)- 1.3 Atman (Soul)- 1 Universal Energy (Available)- 5 1.1 I stared at the scroll floating in front of me. Things were not making sense at all and I was a hair¡¯s width away from a full blow panic attack. Last night¡¯s murders and now this unnatural looking magic scroll made me wish that I should never have decided to come to this cursed place. I look around me but something about the scroll would not let me drag my gaze away from it from long. Just go away. I prayed. I just wanted this fucking thing to get out of my face so I can start drinking and pretend it was a bad hallucination caused by some drugs or a prank or whatever insane justification my mind would come up in the morning. Hanuman Ji just give me the strength to bear this. Parakram (Power)- 0.8>>1.3 I felt a dull ache starting in the pit of my stomach, which slowly spread towards all of my extremeties. The ache increased till it became a sharp pain, which soon turned into a feeling like something hot and molten had replaced my blood. I could feel my body shutting down as the scroll disappeared and I felt everything go dark around me. I heard the same old voice whisper in my ear, ¡°So rash my child. But nothing happens without a reason and yet nothing is beyond our power to overcome. Remember, Lord Agni protects all mortals from evil.¡± I tried to get up and failed. I could hear Rohan¡¯s step coming towards me and stop nearby. ¡°What did you do?¡± I don¡¯t know. ¡°I said.. WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!!?¡± he yelled at me as he caught me by the throat and started choking me. ¡°Nothing..¡± I tried to tell him as I made an effort to raise my hands to stop him. He applied more force as he came and sat on my chest. He was putting his whole weight down on me and it was getting harder to breathe. Suddenly, the weight was gone as Nitin tackled Rohan off me. He smacked Rohan hard in the face and then hit him twice more. Naina was right behind him and she quickly came and helped me get up. The pain was slowly lessening but I had to lean on Naina to stand properly. ¡°You stole from me, bastard.¡± Rohan said. ¡°Now she will kill us all.¡± ¡°Do you want another slap or will you SHUT UP?¡± Nitin roared at him. He is usually a pretty chill guy but he was totally flipping out right now. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I have to get away from here.¡± Rohan broke away from Nitin¡¯s grasp and started moving towards the stairs. Nitin tried to get in his way but he was too quick for him. I dashed towards Rohan and caught him by the bicep. He tried to yank his arm away but he couldn¡¯t break my grip. ¡°Dude, let go of my arm you¡¯re using too much power.¡± He grimaced as he kept struggling. Nitin had caught up to us by then and slapped him again in the face. ¡°You have no right to say that you dumb fuck. You were trying to kill him a minute ago.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand. I had a vision, where we are overrun by monsters. Listen, bhai, we have to go. You know I¡¯m not lying right?¡± He looked me in the eyes. ¡°When we saw the scroll, I heard Vaishali telling me that she will visit me again tonight, just like she used too.¡± He was sweating like crazy. ¡°She didn¡¯t sound right.. I-I know that it doesn¡¯t make sense, but she said that by the Accords I have my chance to live.¡± He started hitting me, kicking and pushing. ¡°Just let me go.¡± I just stood there and let him hit me. He wasn¡¯t hitting me very hard, more out of protest. But I knew that Vaishali hadn¡¯t been there on the roof with us. But I also knew that if I brought up the scroll, Nitin and Naina would think us mad and lock us in our rooms, before we were carted away to an asylum. I didn¡¯t know what Vaishali was up to. I just knew that she had killed her family, and done some curse magic or whatever bullshit this was. I had to quickly think of a way to buy some breathing space. I knew just the thing to do. I raised my hand, motioning Rohan to stop hitting me. He slowed down with his his kicks, but still kept punching my arm. ¡°Listen to me Rohan,¡± I slowly reached out to grab his other hand, ¡°Listen, dude, I can get us out of this.¡± Rohan stilled, finally giving me a moment to clearly look at his face. He looked hysterical. I arced my head back and smashed his face in. I could feel the wet blood on my forehead as it rearranged his nose. I heard Naina gasp in shock behind me and Nitin took two steps away from me as he came crashing down between us like a felled tree. He was out cold, bleeding everywhere. Naina stuttered, "Di-Did you kill him Vijay?" I knelt down to check his pulse. It was steady. I heard a melodic chime and focused on it. Manobal (Will)- 1.3>>1.4 Huh. Will went up. I looked at Nitin who still looked a bit wary. ¡°Let¡¯s take him down to his room. Maybe he¡¯ll be more reasonable when he wakes up.¡± Nitin nodded and grabbed hold of Rohan¡¯s legs. I picked up his arms and gestured at Naina to hold the door open for us. She gave me a reproachful look as I passed her by but didn¡¯t say anything. I appreciated it that she didn¡¯t. I was going to have to figure out this magic scroll stuff if I wanted to regain control over this rapidly deteriorating situation. But before that I had to prepare for a late night rendevouz between two lovers. 1.2 We managed to sneak Rohan back to his room without anybody noticing us. Most of my colleagues were down at the bonfire. The mood was a bit somber but a lot of the people were having a good time. People are generally resilient. They have the ability to move past a lot, or just plain ignore it. Looking at my co-workers laughing and drinking right now, I wonder, do they even give a damn about what¡¯s happening down at the village. I look around for Mr. Bisht and see him standing next to a couple of his men. He was good naturedly refusing drinks offered to him and egging some of my colleagues to go try the buffet. He must have sensed me staring at him because he suddenly looked right at me. He gave me a nod and started to move towards me. I waved a hand at him, silently asking him to come a secluded corner. He sharply gestured his men to stay away and beckoned me closer to the hotel gate. His men stopped by the Neem tree near the gate and languished, lightly holding their Lathi sticks but observing me with a careful intensity. These Gurkha employees were usually cheery and hardworking, but ever since last night they had become taciturn and refused to engage in any small talk with us guests. They still did everything we asked them but there was a distance now. I saw one of them put a hand on a Khukhri knife he was carrying, and nodded towards Mr. Bisht. ¡°You have misplaced your friend.¡± He observed. ¡°He¡¯s.. resting right now.¡± ¡°Hmm. He must be stronger than I gave him credit for, to rest.. so calmly after what he did. He is responsible for a lot of suffering in my village. Or maybe he just doesn¡¯t care about his actions.¡± He took out a cigarette pack, Wills Navy Cut, and offered me a smoke. I nodded gratefully, accepting one and started checking my pockets for a lighter or matchbox. Mr. Bisht nodded at one of his men, and the man strode forwards with a lit matchstick. He helped light my cigarette, and then lit one for Mr. Bisht. ¡°He¡¯s not a bad man. But he sometimes doesn¡¯t think.¡± Something was nagging me as I saw Mr. Bisht light up his cigarette. ¡°Mr. Bisht, I seem to have forgotten, but who is Lord Agni?¡± Mr. Bisht gave a wry smile, ¡°God of fire. Don¡¯t tell me me smoking reminded you of him?¡± I shrugged sheepishly. He seemed to be lost in thought, smoking slowly as he looked down to where the village was. He seemed to be a relic of the old times, a loyal, traditional man, a dying breed. I was suddenly filled with a reckless urge. ¡°Mr. Bisht, do you believe in magic?¡± He snorted, ¡°There is no such thing as magic nowadays. I think we have lost the knowledge and ability to do any magic in this age, even if it existed once.¡± He slowly turned towards me, ¡° I do, however, know that there are some rules to follow when you live so far away from your modern cities. When there are a lot of people in a place, the supernatural find it hard to exist. Only the most powerful can manifest their mischief. But out here, in secluded areas, especially untamed, uncut forests which rarely know the presence of man, you can experience things which can¡¯t be explained.¡± My throat was dry. I managed to ask, ¡°What rules?¡± He looked left and right, as if to see if there was anybody listening. His men also looked wary. ¡°It is considered foolish to speak of such things at night, but since the sun hasn¡¯t set let me share some of the ancient wisdom of our hills. First, never travel alone after midnight on mountain roads after midnight. Specially in the forest. If you come across any old shrine near a tree or idol, never desecrate or disturb it. Don¡¯t even step near it, but always pray for protection from a little distance. Never speak to any women you hear calling your name. Never turn back when you hear your name. Even when you feel somebody whispering it next to your ear. In fact stay away from women at night in any hill area.¡± He suddenly guffawed loudly, his men joined in. The coarse laughter broke the fearful atmosphere, dispelling the tension. I chuckled nervously, but Mr. Bisht was not done speaking. He gestured to the men with the matchbox, ¡°Bhuvan Singh has run into one of those female spirits. She chased the poor fella for miles before he ran into a temple for shelter. He spent the night on consecrated ground. At least that¡¯s what he claims.¡± Bhuvan Singh shook his head seriously, ¡°No Sahib. It wasn¡¯t just any ghost. It was a Kichkandi. It was a women back from my neighboring village.¡± Mr. Bisht waved his hand, as if dismissing the whole matter. ¡°All of this ghost talk is enough for this night. I had a call from a Police Inspector earlier. They have managed to half clear the blocked road and will be here by tomorrow afternoon.¡± He looked at me intensely, ¡°I imagine that they will be interested to speak with Mr. Rohan, if he wakes up from his.. rest.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°We might have trouble coming to us tonight. Vaishali might try and get to Rohan in his room.¡± I gestured towards the party going on behind us. ¡°After what she did to her family, I¡¯m kind of worried what shit she¡¯ll pull here.¡± ¡°I have more than ten men patrolling inside the boundary of the hotel right now, all armed. Don¡¯t worry, as long as you are in my hotel not even the Prime Minister can lay a finger on you.¡± With that macho dialogue, Mr. Bisht walked away. Bhuvan Singh and the other Gurkha, Ram Singh (he told me) stayed near me as I pondered my next steps. So far, I knew that Vaishali was coming tonight. I knew that Lord Agni was the god of fire. I knew that I should be wary of female ghosts. But what I didn¡¯t know was how to assure my safety. Luckily, I had a source of local folklore right next to me. ~ ¡°Is he still out of it?¡± I asked Nitin as I approached Rohan¡¯s room. He had dragged a small couch over from the hallway and was now lounging over it. Naina was down somewhere, doing something. I hadn¡¯t really spoken to her except asking her to keep others away from us. I told her to make up some crap about Rohan tripping and falling down the stairs. ¡°He is still out cold.¡± He slapped his face with both hands, trying to stay awake. ¡°It¡¯s around 2 am right now. I¡¯m kind of worried he hasn¡¯t woken up. You really hurt him.¡± I nodded, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean too, but I guess I have a pretty hard head.¡± Nitin chuckled, ¡°Nothing we can do about that brother.¡± Nitin was right though. I had hit Rohan pretty hard, even though I hadn¡¯t realized at the time. I had Bhuvan Singh get a few things for me while I tried to understand what the scroll had done to me. It had increased my strength by at least thrice. I had tried and do pushups earlier and I had gotten to a 100 before Bhuvan Singh came and found me. I could only do thirty before at a time. My body felt more solid in a way which was hard to define. I felt ready for tonight. ¡°Nitin, there will be some trouble here. I need to know if you will help me.¡± He shrugged, then gave me a look. ¡°Fair enough.¡± I grinned and extened a hand towards him. He laughed and caught it, then tried to pull me down. I easily jerked him up to his feet. It was time to check on Rohan. I opened the lock outside and stepped in to see Vaishali sitting near Rohan¡¯s head, stroking his hair. She glanced up when we entered, and gave a wide smile when she saw me. As she kept looking at me, her smile kept growing wider and sharper while her face lost all it¡¯s colour, making it deathly white. Her eyes took on a milky tint as she looked at us. She was still caressing Rohan¡¯s head. Rohan was awake under her but he was deathly still, his eyes were darting to and fro. ¡°I was coming to see you, dear Vijay.Why don¡¯t you come here?¡± She stated, her voice sounding like many different voices but still feminine. It had a deep alluring quality which I could feel across the room. It made me want to go to her and lie down at her feet, like a loyal dog. I could feel Nitin behind me stepping into the room. I reached behind me with my hand and stopped him. NO. Manobal (Will)- 1.4>>1.9 I could feel her geas losing power over me as I stepped forward. Vaishali, the kichkandi, smiled even wider. Her teeth were very white, and very sharp. She looked hungry. I could hear Nitin praying behind me. I tuned him out as I remembered what Bhuvan had told me earlier. Khichkandis prey on travelling men, Vijay Saab, but they also return to torment men who had caused their death or pain when they were alive. They can only be destroyed when their bodies are given last rites and destroyed. Spirits can be repelled by substances and herbs which purify the atmosphere. That¡¯s why our ancestors did Havans and Poojas. But the million dollar question was how do I scare away this spirit who is also puppeting a body? When you think about it simply, it¡¯s really not complicated. First you deal with the body. I slipped a hand in my jeans pocket, and grabbed out a handful of sea-salt. I then threw it in it¡¯s grinning face. It stopped smiling really quickly when the purifying salt went down it¡¯s throat and it¡¯s skin started bubbling. It let out a wail that shattered the glass windows, and brought all of us down on our knees. It clutched it¡¯s throat and took a step towards Rohan. I threw another handful of salt on it. I felt another melodic chime from my scroll and resisted the urge to check it. ¡°I¡¯m going to fucking deep smudge you from existence, you rotting bitch.¡± I roared at her. It dashed over to the window and looked back at me hatefully. If looks could kill, I would be dead and buried. I grabbed hold of a lighter and grabbed a bottle of Axe spray from the nearby dresser. I sparked the lighter and spread flame all over the Kichkandi. It gave a tremendous screech and suddenly black smoke rose out of it and flew out the window, leaving the corpse of a young woman burned to death right in the middle of the room. 1.3 Old Mr. Bisht was furious. Furious would be an understatement. He would happily wring my neck if it didn¡¯t mean leaving another dead body for him to clean up later. Nitin and I had been locked in my room with a guard posted outside. After we managed to drive away the khichkandi¡¯s spirit, it left it¡¯s mostly intact original body in order to make a quick getaway. Now we were suspected of murdering the poor girl. Not only that, but we were actually suspected of gruesomely torturing and murdering the poor girls with fire. Everyone at the hotel was avoiding us like the plague, and nobody was willing to believe that we had acted in self defence. I didn¡¯t tell them that it was an evil spirit we were fighting off. No need to get committed to the asylum along with getting charged with murder. Instead, I had fibbed a little and said that Vaishali had managed to sneak in Rohan¡¯s room and tried to kill him. And we defended him. ¡°With what weapon did she attempt the murder?¡± Mr. Bisht had asked. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just overpower her with the two of you? She was alone and a woman to boot!¡± A vein throbbed in his temple, ¡°Or are you two men that weak that you can¡¯t subdue an unarmed woman?¡± Well it¡¯s not like we wanted to get bitten in half, Bisht Uncle, those teeth looked mighty sharp. Nitin attempted to persuade Mr. Bisht, ¡°Bisht Uncle, you have to believe us. She was going to..¡± Mr. Bisht waved a hand to cut him off. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what I believe. I¡¯m handing you over the the Police when they arrive tomorrow. I suggest you think of a better story for them, unless you want to try the insanity plea. Stay in your room till then.¡± He stepped out of the room. Nitin rounded on me as soon as he left, ¡° Why didn¡¯t you tell him about the Kichkandi?¡± I chuckled mirthlessly, ¡°Because there is no proof bhai. You give me one solid evidence we can present to the others and I¡¯ll follow your lead.¡± The corpse had turned back to normal after whatever unholy powers using it had abandoned it. ¡°I¡¯m with you all the way bro, but I can¡¯t say anything about that chickenshit Rohan. I¡¯ll bet you a grand that bastard will mess everything up.¡± Nitin got up and sneaked towards the door, looked into the small keyhole. ¡°That security guard is still camped out there in front of the door.¡± ¡°Which room is Rohan in?¡± I gestured at him to get away from the door. Nitin nodded and came back. He took out a cigarette and lit it up. ¡°They took him down to guard¡¯s quarters. Naina went with him.¡± He took a few drags and passed me his cigarette. The smooth tobacco smoke did wonders for my bleak mood. Truly, it would be the worst day of this world when a guy can¡¯t share a smoke with his friend. There was a small conversation going outside our room. Our guard was speaking to someone. Soon afterwards, there was a knock at the door. I got up to see who it was, Bhuvan Singh was standing outside holding a tray with tea on it, along with a plate of Coconut biscuits. This guy was the best. ¡°Sahab, have some tea.¡±, he turned towards the other guard, ¡°Go take a break Shyam, stretch your legs while I serve tea.¡± He took out a Bidi and held it towards Shyam, who took it with a grateful nod and went away. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°What¡¯s going on out there, Bhuvan Singh?¡± I picked up a clay cup of ginger tea, tea always tasted the best in these baked earth cups. I took the cigarette from Nitin and signalled him to light another one. ¡°Bisht Sahib is in his office with his brother Omveer. Omveer Bhaiji has brought another four men with him to the hotel. They have spears and knives, they are a really tough lot. Naina madam has gone over to Rohan bhaiya¡¯s room to look after him.¡± ¡°Has he woken up yet?¡± I flicked some ash away. Bhuvan shook his head. ¡°Ok Bhuvan, so here¡¯s what we need to do now.¡± I gestured Nitin to come nearer. He took out another cigarette as we sat down and decided what we¡¯d do next. ~ Rohan My head was killing me as I gained consciousness. One moment, Vijay was speaking and the next I felt my face got hit by a hammer. I groaned as I tried to get up, but my head was still spinning. I heard rustling from my left and saw Naina getting up from a seat in the corner of the room. ¡°Naina¡­ wha¡­ ¡° she shushed me by placing her hand on my lips. It was freezing. ¡°Not Naina, beloved.¡± She said with a small smile as she came and sat on my bed, pulled my head into her lap. She started stroking my hear as she crooned a simple haunting melody. Rather than soothing me, it sent cold shivers down my spine. ¡°We¡¯ve had our fight, now it¡¯s time we reconciled.¡± She looked contrite, ¡°I admit I got carried away when I came to your room earlier. But you were also at fault.¡± I tried to brush her hand away but she caught mine in an iron grip instead. It felt like ice had covered it. Cold and unyielding. ¡°I never want to see you again.¡± I growled. Naina was crying now, but the tears were blood. They fell on my face and dripped down towards my mouth. I tried to spit them but she held my face with her other hand and she was so, soo.. strong. Why the hell is everyone so fucking strong. Is this bitch drinking steroids? As she bled those tears in my mouth, I felt a deep ache building in me. It was a longing for pleasure, a desire to please the senses and all wants which my mind could think of. It also felt like everything around me was ash, every pleasure was an illusion, and this feeling just build up till it peaked in my head, almost inquiring something from me. ¡°We are meant to be one, my love. Forever and ever, till Shiva destroys this universe and Brahmna creates a new one.¡± She whispered as she wiped away her red tears, ¡°Choose me like I chose you to be my lord and love.¡± A deep drum sound rang out across creation, as my eyes rolled back and I saw bloody mist swirl around me and form into words. Name- Not bestowed/Unearned Karma- Chaotic (Beloved of the Kichkindi) Chakras- N/A Divine Alignment- N/A Siddhis (Divine Arts)- N/A Spirit Familiar- Choices Available Parakram (Power)- 0.2 Manobal (Will)- 0.6 Atman (Soul)- 1 Universal Energy (Available)- 5 I force away my mind and focus on Naina.. No, Vaishali¡¯s eyes. They had gained a demonic red tint. She had let go of me now, but I knew it was futile to try and get away. I could run away from humans, not whatever abomination she was right now. I hardened my heart because there was no way I was fighting or running my way out of this. I had to figure out a way.