Chapter-16

Her eyes were entranced by the musical hum like some sort of magical spell in the air, her feet were walking on their own and she had no idea that she was moving deep into the forest colored in dark shadows with fainted light offered by the stars. 

Hrida's feet abruptly stopped when the hum evaporated leaving no trace behind and her eyes snapped shut and opened again like the magic spell was broken and now she could see clearly.

Hrida is in confusion, she scratches her head and looks around, questioning herself in a light tone,  " How did I get here? I was singing some song at the entrance of the forest and now I am deep in the forest. Was I thinking too much that I unconsciously plunged here? But I don't see, Tapish with me. Did I…Huh! Did I leave him alone..? How could I do this? How-"

Her rambles stopped when she saw three girls in the middle of the forest digging up the ground with bare hands only but since it was dark, she couldn't see their faces. Then she heard the same tune which she heard after musical time at the entrance of the forest. She felt her feet trying to walk involuntarily but she forcefully controlled her feet and swiftly hid behind a large bush. She spied their action through the bush and kept a close eye on them with a keen suspicious eye following their movements.

Hrida thinks," I don't feel good in my gut. It is logically skeptical also because in such a dark hour, why they are digging up the ground in depth as if…Ohhhhhh... Like in the movies are they burying someone in that pit? No! Their figure seems to be of older females and they are too mature to do such a horrific act. But these days, what I have seen has made me realize that cruelty can come in any age or form. Let's see what they are up to. "

Those three girls were of nearly the same height and weight, her eye caught on their shadows which ringed only one thing; madness and not a positive one at all. Hrida noticed that they finally stopped digging and stood in a kind of prideful way as if they discovered something, it might be the case. One of them turned on the torchlight and flashed upon the pit and the pit was hollow like a grave, now Hrida felt her chest tighten because she didn't feel safe anymore. The girl holding the torch directed the flash upon her friends and she could see their features.

The middle one had long hair twisted in a braid, her face hollow and sharp, her eyes had a malevolent glint with her lips smiling wide terrifyingly complementing her dark grayish green outfit and she held a sharp two-edged knife in her hand. The other girl on the left came across as a violence-craving person, which certainly shows in her wild hair covered with slimy things, her sharp nails like wolves, her stature like a hyena and she too held the same knife as the middle girl.

Then, the girl with the torch moved the torch under her face like a wiper, but she caught her features, she looked crazier than those two, her eyes were bubbling with sadistic glint and cheeky plaster smile, frequent moving hands like trying to squish someone.

Hrida was crept out to the core by their shady aura reflecting in their personality. But the horror seemed to run grimmer as she discovered that the crazy girl at the right side brought two dead birds within her palm but the cruel part was those poor birds smashed heads roughly by uneven heavy objects. That crazy girl directed the spotlight which glared on those unmoving bodies of birds.

Hrida felt her throat urging her to vomit, she resisted the vomit but their action didn't stop at this. The wild girl snickered at that crazy girl as if challenging her or mocking her for her action in a twisted way, she brought a bruised dead dog with wide eyes open staring at the sky, his innocent body was trapped in her choking arms. Hrida felt a rush from her stomach to her throat with a burning feeling, she still somehow resisted as she didn't dare to make a sound before these unpredictable girls.

  The middle girl grabbed those bodies as if they were minor objects and threw them into the spacious hollow pit and remained silent which made her doubt that they might be praying which didn't make sense but she didn't know what to make of it. Out of the blue, instead of expressing their regret or weeping, they let out a playfully cruel giggle as if this was some kind of fun activity.

Hrida felt clueless, she felt again those shivers on her skin whenever she faced some kind of maniac. Their giggle turned into a full laughter sound, which rang unpleasant and worse to her ears. Hrida rants under her breath," How could these sick older girls perform such an unthinkable act! Omg, maybe these are also pupils of the shadow king 'Kali'. I can't let them give those animals a torturous burial, they deserve peace. But I can't emerge in front of them like a fool, it would be similar to the proverb 'अपने पैर पे कुल्हाड़ी मारना (to shoot yourself in the foot ). I will appear after they vanish from here till then I will wait for the right moment."

The crazy girl spoke up in a baffled cheesy tone," Ambar….These birds lasted longer than my previous puppets, I think, my love extended their life span. Don't you think? But you know, I liked their chirpy voice but surprisingly their silent tone is a far more pleasant experience to feel. These birdies were talking so chirpy today which I didn't like at all and I thought I decorate their faces with a hammer, aren't I creative?"

Hrida was completely speechless by her statement, she felt extremely sorry for those animals that unfortunately appear in their sight. She wanted to teach those old girls a lesson but she needed to be practical and not rush things up.

Ambar ( The middle girl) gleans with a deep tone," Disha! Just quit it. You are too kind to them. I would have been better merciless than you. Pets or animals are entertainment for humans so we can move with just fingers from this to that, here to there. I am impressed by Drishya who first tortured the dog slowly and then made him beg till his soul escaped his body. Good job, Drishya!

Disha, I hope learn from us and don't be too merciful next time otherwise you might be excluded from our group. Do you get it? I have a reputation to maintain and your silly poor acts are staining my achievements. Ughhhh. Still, since you have been indebted and loyal to me, I am willing to give you chances to prove yourself in the future. Now, do you remember that cute puppet of mine that I had a few weeks ago?

Those days were the loveliest days when I rescued a fish from the river and then I kept it safe under a glass bowl of water and fed it food till he became healthy and then I invited a friend to play with him and I enjoyed watching their playtime as the cat friend tried to grab him out of the water and bopped him until that cat engulfed him slowly and slowly. Woahhh, it was an amazing sight."

Disha reassures, " Ambar, I have always admired you for your brave acts. I am sorry that I performed weakly in your eyes but I will prove to you someday that I can be merciless and cruel too."

  Drishya exclaims," Good, Disha. But I must admit that your attack seems sharp, which was visibly evident on your pets. Ooops…I mean your ex-pup-pets. Heeheeehee. Heheeee. Haaahaahaa"

Hrida's lips frown deep and it leaves a bitter and gross taste in her mouth. She sighed a breath of relief in her head," Thank God, I didn't bring Tapish with me and Tapish didn't follow me. I don't want to even think what would happen if their treacherous eyes fell upon his brother. No, no, no." She lightly pats her cheeks to not even imagine or bring it even in her thoughts.

She heard a sharp metal sound and she looked front and saw them grazing the blade of their knives against their fingers like gliding their skin against a fluffy cloth, their eyes had a satanic mischief gleam in their eyes and a sick wide smile spread up to the ear, their gaze shifted from their knives to those poor animals.

Hrida realized their hidden motive and it shook her ground and felt like the ground slipped beneath her feet and she felt dizzy at just the thought of their motives. She couldn't bear it, not anymore, her eyes filled with raw anger burning like magma. She growled out loud like a wild angry cat,  " Stop! You inhuman girls, let those poor souls rest in peace at least now. Isn't your sadistic soul satisfied even after murdering them? Venomous trash, you all are. I bet you don't have a heart left in your hollow soul."

Those three girls looked here and there as their movement halted hearing an intimidating voice but they didn't cite any person there except them. Disha's gaze fell upon a cat coming forward with glowing green eyes like a lantern, she knew this was the moment to prove her credibility to her team; she nudged Ambar and Drishya by her elbow and gestured with her eyes to look front.

Disha giggled, followed by Ambar and Drishya's giggles which were audible to Hrida, she hissed and mouthed out ' Enough is enough '. But then she heard Disha declaring in a villainous tone with sick sweetness," Wow, Ambar, we found a new pup-pet for ourselves. We are gonna share him, right for equal entertainment time for us. Ooohhh.. I like his greenish glowing eyes, I am having a blast of ideas about what to do with his eyes. And-"

Ambar interrupts," Excuse me !! I am going to be the first to have him as my pup-pet, and then later you can have it to Disha and Drishya. " Drishya remains uninterested, " I don't mind, after you, Disha can have it. I am not a big fan of cats, you know."

  Ambar reminds her," Drishya, then you should have the cat first because it is more fun to torture what you are not a fan of. Don't you agree…? And I prefer entertainment over power as you know that's why I would give you the privilege to have it as your pup-pet first."

Disha gasps with a hint of jealousy," I want it first but still, I am happy that you got the honor to have someone as pup-pet before Ambar. Let's celebrate by trapping his claws in our net."

She knew that they had found another target which was another poor animal, her hands turned cold when she found a glimpse of the soon-to-be victim, her own brother, Tapish, she started rubbing her palms to feel warmth and act fast before they could. 

Those three girls almost looked like a trio of hyenas ready to pounce upon prey, she jumped in front of him standing tall and defensive before Tapish with a cold glare sending bone-chilling shivers which shook those girls for a second but they didn't flinch either way.

Hrida groans with a bitter tone, " You know, it is ironic that you are the opposite of your name meaning. Heartless and pitiful you look according to my vision, I mean, look at you; you look like satanic pup-pets yourself wanting to make pup-pets of others. You all appeared to be older than me, at least behave like that. Do you realize what kind of sinful unforgivable act you have done but good news is that you will be punished for your actions soon. Ambar, right-"

She gets interrupted by Ambar's imitation of her words in a mocking tone, which she ignores as she should. Hrida resumes with a raised tone," Ambar, you know that your name means sky, the representation of boundless love but you are just boundlessly selfish. And Drishya, your-" Hrida saw through the corner of her eyes that Disha was trying to sneak behind her and capture Tapish, which provoked her crazy side.

Disha intended to drive her knife against her torso but she couldn't though it left a deep slash on her arm. Hrida muffled her hisses and dodged another attack from Ambar. During the fight, she pointed Tapish to run away but he didn't listen instead he used his claws to leave an impression on their legs making them whine and hiss in an irritated tone.

Despite Tapish's impressive claw fights and Hrida's smooth dodges and attacks, they were still invincible, Hrida saw Tapish's fur standing sharp all over his body and then she too felt the same experience, the same spine-chilling coldness, and then only one name hit her brain; '  The King of Darkness and Demons: Kali '.

Hrida dodged an almost fatal attack to her neck in an attempt to impale her with one strike, she felt her heart stop as she felt her knife pass in the air near her neck region; she glared with intense wrath at Drishya. She was panting hard but they didn't even tire a bit, so she knew that soon she would fall in if she kept fighting like this, she needed another plan. She tries to think while dodging their attacks, and then an idea ignites in her brain but for that, she needs a phone which was currently with her instead of quietly resting at the temple. 

Hrida knew she had to distract them to get back to the temple and then she could get her phone to call the police. She purposefully pushed them away in an aggressive manner and hurried back to the temple. Tapish climbed on her shoulder and she kept running till she arrived at the entrance of the forest, then carefully climbed upstairs into the temple and snatched her backpack, peeking from the wide-squared window, she discovered those girls searching at the entrance of the forest.

  Hrida's arms had gone stiff and the slash on her arm was burning in extreme pain, in addition to this, she stumbled badly over the raised edge inside the temple, and her knees were scratched, she unzipped her backpack and tapped her phone but it wasn't responding at all. Suddenly, she remembered that after memorizing the map, she switched off her phone, so she pressed hard the switch button but still the phone screen remained black and now she felt black as the phone also betrayed her.

She has been ignoring her pain although her body expressed her pain by silent tears falling on the floor leaving dots of sadness immersed into the floor. She took out the book ' Yuga: The Circle of Eras' and opened the blank note page, and she had no other choice then to rip out a portion of it to write something down.

Hrida held her blood-marked tip pen and wrote a message in simple common handwriting not her usual handwriting style," Near the Parvati Hill temple, a trio of girls named Ambar, Disha and Drishya tortured and hunted 2 birds and a dog for their sick sense of entertainment. Come quick! You might catch them near the forest surrounding the temple or near the temple. Please, it's urgent. And take care of the messenger who delivered it to you and don't let him wander back into the streets."

She folds the paper, making it small enough to fit inside Tapish's mouth, and then she places the paper in his mouth. She orders him in a strict tone," Tapish, listen carefully. Those girls might find us anytime, we need to be quicker than them, then only we can be safe. So, this note that I put in your mouth should be delivered to a police officer whomever you see on the street or in the road or anywhere, okay?

In case, you don't find anyone, then here sniff this dried blood smell and using your detective instinct sense, deliver to that familiar police bhaiya (brother). Okay, now go and beware of those girls and sneak out."

Tapish took a long sniff of the dried blood to remember the faint smell of dried blood but Tapish was still hesitant to leave her alone and remained static. Then, suddenly he crawled over her lap and snuggled her head against her torso letting out a low sad purr, which almost made Hrida change her mind but she remained strong because it was best for his safety and to catch those ruthless pup-pet girls.

  Hrida consoled Tapish by rubbing under his ears gently and placing a kiss on his head, Tapish let out a long 'meow' in an adorable way. She whispered under her breath in a sad tone," Never come back. It is for your safety and the best of you. I will miss you. Bye… Tapish ."