Daughters of Kalika

২৬. girl of heart

Don't become the monster that you hate.

****

This time, the victim wasn't alone. She was accompanied by the whole village, and together they headed towards the temple. Sticks, torches, butcher's knives– the common folk brought whatever they could collect. And two prominent men– Sundar and Aadi Babu– carried their pride– a rifle and a revolver respectively. All in all it looked quite promising, but they knew they were going to face the paranormal.

They were to meet Lucifer.

Was it then, all enough?

"It is unbelievable that he was living amongst us all this time and we never knew," Sundar said. He had taken the solemn duty, along with Aadi Babu and Nathu, to surround Maya and be close to her all the time. "I wish this murderer death."

Aadi Babu and Nathu had their lips sealed. The old man spoke up after heaving a sigh. "We need to be strong. We all know the culprit. It might come as a shock."

"I understand, Aadi Babu. I wonder, though, where is Hrishav? He should have come home by now. Maya, did you send him for some secret mission?"

Maya stumbled on a pebble and slipped. Nathu held her on time, but she had stubbed her toe.

"You will meet him on time," Maya said. "And don't let that rifle in your hand shake in fear."

"I fear no man or god."

Maya's mirthless smile made Sundar feel chills. He kept quiet, waiting for her to reveal everything on time.

Manas, who was there in the crowd, placed a hand on Sundar's shoulders. "Babu, life is a maze. We never know what is to come next."

"Why are you speaking like this?"

"Maya forbids me from speaking any revelations. All we can do is wait."

At last, they all reached the temple gates. Chaos erupted and people began throwing pebbles at it. In the claws of wrath they forgot that it was still the home of their beloved Kalika. Aadi Babu calmed the crowd with a sight of his revolver. When the restlessness submerged, Maya and Nathu took the very first steps.

"Ah!"

Just before touching the temple gates, Nathu felt a surge of shock course through his veins and ignited an unimaginable pain in his body. He quivered like a man prone to fits and fell on the ground.

"Nathu!" Anandi shouted and ran to him. A group of people knelt at his side and rubbed his palms and feet. Anandi fanned him with her aanchal. Slowly he opened his eyes.

"That-that gate is possessed. It hurt so bad..."

"It didn't hurt me..."

Maya gulped. So that was what Sahiba meant?

Aadi Babu took cautious steps ahead and attempted to touch that invisible barrier with his forefinger. He too screamed and retraced his steps.

"Lucifer allows only the sacrifice to come ahead. No one else."

The voice didn't come from the crowd. Everyone looked ahead at the temple. There, on the stairs was standing a smirking Shekhar. He had braided his hair and embellished it with jewels of rare kind. With an air of superiority and chin up, he declared, "Lucifer allows only the victim to take a step. The rest, if they try, shall go closer to death every attempt. Unless you want to succumb to an untimely end, stay away, and let only Maya come forward."

"Swine," Manas cursed. He pushed the crowd and stood beside Maya. "You are a spineless man!" he shouted and spat on the ground. "You gave in to greed. You don't know punishment is near."