Cursed

Episode 05

The next morning everyone met, and they informed all the details to everyone. Suraj had already come up with a plan.

'If we break the chain of communication, this evil practise would come to a halt. We have to stop Pitobash.' said Suraj.

Everybody agreed.

'But how?' asked Alok. 'We have nothing to stop them.'

'I have a plan.' said Suraj.

Pitobash was going back to his home. He looked happy. His business was doing good, and so was the other work which he considered as noble. The last discussion had turned out to be good. They had new work to do. But he was not aware of the danger which was lurking him from behind.

Two pair of eyes hid behind a tree and were following him. They were waiting for the right opportunity. Pitobash took a turn. It was a shortcut towards his house. Generally, he avoids this route during night-time, but tonight he wanted to reach home early. So, he took that route. The eyes followed him.

The route was very narrow and was surrounded by trees on both sides. He heard the distant shrieking of insects, hooting of owls and some growls as he kept on crossing the route. Suddenly he hears a rustling sound. It was from the dry leaves fallen on the path. He did not turn back. He kept on moving ahead. Again, he heard that sound. He stopped. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He had heard the stories of the path being haunted, but he never believed it. It seems his pessimist belief could cost him his life. He slowly turned around. His heartbeat was faster as he kept on turning slowly. As he turned, there was no one behind him. Winds were ruffling the leaves on the path. That made the sound. As he turned out, he was shocked to see two dark shadows standing in front of him. The shadow struck him on his head, and he lost consciousness.

In an unknown location

His head was still dizzy when they removed the black hood from his face. It was a semi-light room. Many people were standing in front of him, but they covered their faces with black cloth. They tied him to a chair. They muffled his mouth with a cloth so he can't shout. He could see some iron rods, sickle, wooden sticks, ropes kept on a table. He was shaking in fear and mumbled in fear. One of the hooded person comes ahead and removes the cloth.

'Wh... Wh... Who are you? What do you want from me?' said a shaken Pitobash.

Thud. A tight slap on his face and his mouth was again covered with the cloth. His cheek turned red. Fear was dripping from his face. He was still confused why the people have kidnapped him. Maybe they want money. He can give them. He mumbled something again. The same guy came ahead and opened his mouth.

'If you want mo....money, I can give you, please don't hurt me.' said Pitobash.

He covered Pitobash's mouth again and punched him so hard that blood dripped from his nose. Another strong punch and his other cheek turned bluish-black. Tears came out of his eyes. Another hooded guy comes ahead and punched him so hard on his face that blood came out of his ears. Slowly, the cloth on his mouth turned red as he started bleeding from his mouth.

Another hooded guy came front and slapped on both his cheeks. Pitobash was now shaking in fear. He still could not understand what was going on, who were these people and what do they want from him? He started crying and mumbled something. Another hooded guy came forward, came closer to him, looked at him and punched him in his nose. The chair became unstable, and he fell down along with the chair.

Two hooded guys lifted the chair up, removed the cloth from his mouth, and threw a glass of water on his face. He was shivering in fear as the fearful eyes looked at him. One guy spoke.

'We know what you do, and we are not talking about your business.' the eyes turned red as he spoke.

'Wh... What do you want from me? Please tell me and I would tell you everything.' a fearful Pitobash spoke.

One hooded guy dragged the chair and sat in front of him. 'Give him some water to drink.'

He gulped the water in a single go and requested for another glass of water. They gave him another glass of water. After drinking two glasses of water, it relaxed him.

'Tell me what you discuss with the people coming to your house every day and with the people you meet in the local bar every day? Asked the hooded guy.

Pitobash was silent for some time, and after that he spoke, 'They are just people who are known to me and I meet them to talk about normal things and about my business.'

Without another word, the hooded guy in front of him, slapped him so hard, that Pitobash spat out blood from his mouth.

'I won't tell you again.' said the hooded guy.

'The... The people I meet in the local bar are the local guys from Motu village. I collect information from them and provide it to the people I meet in the evening at my house.' said Pitobash.

'What kind of information and who are all the people?' asked the hooded guy.

'The Sarpanch of the village, his deputy are the people I meet in my home. The three people I meet in the local bar are Sanket, Ramesh and Joginder. They provide me with the information about some families in Motu village, and I inform the Sarpanch and his deputy about it. After the discussion, I inform the three guys to monitor those families until further order.' said Pitobash.

Another slap on his face and tears continued rolling down his face.

'Please don't beat me. I am telling you, please. The information is about those families where they are expecting a child. Many are trying to hide it due to the fear. So, the head of the village opted such a method where they can keep an eye and the families would not be aware of it.' said Pitobash.

The hooded guy again covered his mouth, rose and asked everyone to come to the other room.

'We need to catch those guys as well. Do you know them, Shyam? asked Suraj.

'Yes.' nodded Shyam, still under his hood.

'We need to kidnap them also and as soon as possible. They may not be as easy as Pitobash, but we need to take them as well' said Suraj.

'What are we going to do about Pitobash?' asked Swayam.

'For now, tie him up and put him inside the third room. Someone has to be here from time to time to check on him. We can't kill him.' said Suraj.

Everyone nodded as they moved towards the other room. Two of them dragged Pitobash to the third room as he mumbled in fear. They tied his legs and hands and threw him at a corner of the room and closed it. A small light was glowing in the centre of the room. Pitobash kept on looking at the room, thinking about the dangerous time coming ahead.