Thursday, September 25, 2014

The Spellbinders: Chapter 17 - The Dungeon

We are a team called The Spellbinders. We are collaborating and writing a story for the Blogadda challenge "Game of Blogs". The team is diverse, and we are having fun interacting with each other creatively. To know about us, join us here.

The team members are Farida Rizwan, Sunita Rajwade, Bhavya, Ankita Singhal, Bushra M, Ryan Fernandes, Kunal Borah, Ritu Lalit, Deepa and me (Ankit Mahato)
 
The story so far:
Chapter1 – Room No 4
Chapter 2- Table No 4
Chapter 3- If Looks could Kill
Chapter 4- The Flower That Never Bloomed
Chapter 5 – The Elephant Parade
Chapter 6 – Chance Encounters and Changed Plans
Chapter 7 – Relationships
Chapter 8- When Dreams Come True
Chapter 9 – Runaway Brat
Chapter 10 – Where is Roohi ?
Chapter 11 -The Investigation
Chapter 12 -The Backstabber
Chapter 13- Breaking Bad
Chapter 14 - Mixed Feelings
Chapter 15 - Broken Dreams, Sleepless Nights
Chapter 16- Get Shekhar Out On Bail



“Where am I?” Aryan said, his voice groggy. His mouth had a metallic taste and he was thirsty. The voice echoed. Was he drugged?
“Where am I?” the echo said.
It was so dark that he could barely see his shadow. The darkness hid the dimensions of the hallway. It was definitely big as his voice echoed.

“Why is it so damp in here?” he wondered. That echoed too. He must have spoken aloud.
“What am I doing in this dungeon? Is anybody here?” he tried to look around.
There was a movement in the shadows. Something stirred the air.
He was sitting on his knees, holding something in his right hand. It was tightly gripped.
He tried moving his arm, but it was futile. His entire body was stiff as if it was not under his command. The horror petrified him.

He sniffed.
A circle painted in blood enclosed him. He could smell it.
He felt a strange turbulence in air from all directions.
The faint shadows started converging at the circle.
In a few seconds, he was surrounded by hooded creatures.
“You want to sacrifice me? Do it fast!” he said, with false bravado, his stomach fluttering with panic.

Whispers, a strange chant, he could barely make out the words.

“Hail Darkness,
Within you reside,
Cleanse yourself,
Shatter this bond,
And release your shadow.”

Crik.. Crik.. Crik .. There was a sudden jerk in his bones. Aryan’s right hand was now close to his throat. A knife firmly gripped. He was pale. His body was rejecting any impulse conveyed by his brain. He had no motor control. He slit his own throat in one clean stroke and fell forward. His eyes could faintly see the creature hiding under hood in front of him, those brilliant blue eyes.
“Cy…” his voice came in a gurgle as life ebbed away.
“The ritual is now over.”

***

“Wake up pal.”
“Cyrus!” Aryan said, surprised that he was able to speak.
“Are you alright dude? It doesn’t look you were dreaming of a girl.” Cyrus asked in a worried tone.
“Yeah Nothing. It was just ...” He stopped and looked at Cyrus. His face certainly bore a resemblance to the hooded figure.
“No, it can’t be him. He is my best buddy. I would have known,” he thought and smiled.
“Will you continue your story pal?”
“It was a dark place. A ritual was in progress. A blood sacrifice …. ”
“Where Count Dracula took over your body and killed you. Ha Ha ..” Cyrus interrupted.
“It isn’t funny!”
“It seems you lost too much blood. Hospitals are macabre places with blood in pouches, corpses in cold storage. Do they have zombies walking the hallways?” Cyrus pointed to the blood pouch attached to a drip.

“Sleep, dude. The Count is in Transylvania if he ever lived. Shall we parcel Malik to Transylvania to catch him?””
“Yeah, good idea,” Aryan said with a smile and closed his eyes.
Cyrus left the hospital ward.
“I hope you are not the one .. Cyrus .. I hope so.” Aryan muttered and went back to sleep.

***

Jennifer was worried. Something was bugging her. She opened her laptop and googled – Shekhar, Cyrus, Tara, Aryan … That was it! She made a note and called her Uncle who lived in Kochi.
“Hello!”
“Hello Uncle!”
“Jennifer Mole. How are you?”
“I am fine uncle. I have something important to tell you.”
“Yes Mole, tell me.”
“Not over phone uncle. I have sent you a message. The hash key is SCAT.”
“I will read it beta. Take care.”
Jennifer hung up the phone.
“Urgent .. going to Kochi .. c u soon” - She sent a sms to Cyrus.
As she was checking out of Hotel Tulip Star, she saw someone familiar waiting for her in the hallway.
“Going somewhere ..” Cyrus said.
“Yes. I am going back to Kochi.” – Jennifer picked up her luggage and starting darting out.
There was a sudden jerk in her arm. Something was holding her back.
“I won’t let you go!” – Jennifer looked in his blue eyes. A chill ran through her bones as Cyrus fixed his eyes onto hers.

***

Malik’s phone beeped.
He read the message, kick started his Bullet and within 15 minutes he was standing in front of Aryan’s apartment. He wondered how he had missed interviewing Aryan when he was investigating Roohi’s case.
He took a skeleton key and jimmied the lock. “Why would Cyrus search this place?” he asked himself.
The house was turned upside down. He entered the study room. There was no computer, TV or any medium of entertainment. Just an old clock with immobile hands hanging on the wall. A couple of chairs were scattered in the room near a table. Bookshelves with some books on them, others thrown on the floor near the shelves. He wore gloves and started picking up the books and reading the titles.

Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of “Brainwashing” in China, The Psychology of Mind Control, An evolutionary psychology perspective on the origin of Dattatreya cult

Not the usual kind of books that a young man reads, thought Malik. He drifted towards the study table. Aryan’s notes and research papers were scattered all over the place. Six copies of the best-seller Mind Freaks by Aryan …. was also kept on it. Malik called his driver. Together both of them gathered all the notes and the books into neat heaps. Malik’s phone beeped but he ignored it. Both the driver and Malik took Aryan’s studies to the car and left.

***

What happens next?


Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at 
BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us

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