Nine: Vengeance of the Warrior (5 page)

‘Ravi! Let’s go! Hurry!’ she shouted. ‘Come on!’ She slammed the vehicle. ‘Move, Ravi, move!’ Quickly, without even opening the door, she jumped into her seat.

‘What happened?’ Ravi asked, making no effort to rush. He flicked the cigarette butt and got into his seat.

‘Move, move!’ She checked if the yogis were coming after her. She could see the shadowy figures watching from a distance. ‘Those people are going to kill me.’

Ravi shook his head, turned on the ignition and, with a metallic grating of gears, launched the vehicle into reverse, heading towards the city.

‘There’s no one here. What happened?’

‘Too much knowledge can be dangerous,’ she said, still shaking and trying to process everything that had just happened. She felt as if she had been in a different time portal. She looked back. A cloud of dust rose and shone in the backlights of the jeep. That is what the knowledge had been to her—unclear, yet shiny and attractive.

3

Raakin

Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat

Warm sunshine filtered through a smoggy sky and smudged windows. The Paranormal Subdivision, the special branch of the Research and Analysis Wing, was an unknown, invisible entity. The subdivisions were located all over the country. An obscure entity, the office in Bhuj was in the south section on the fifth floor of a commercial building. It consisted of a large featureless enclosure of efficiently sized cubicles with desktop computers linked to an external hard drive the size of a refrigerator. Ten investigators were sieving through the databanks, searching for unusual activity.

Raakin’s office had a small glass window that allowed in some apathetic sunshine and brought warmth to the cold soulless atmosphere. He stared out at the landscape. Raakin Pant, senior intelligence officer, was in a foul mood. And it was not his natural state of mind. He prided himself on his ability to face life’s undulating flow without emotion. For his innate ability to maintain a rigid focus and cold logic in the face of every daunting situation, he had earned a reputation for being as emotionless as a robot. He picked out a brown volume from a stretch of wooden shelves nailed to the wall and sat down. A chakra was embedded on the cover of the brown book which opened like a box. He extracted a metal object shaped liked a pyramid and placed it in front of him. Closing his eyes, he focused. The object was a symbol of his strength, of his ability to keep his mind in neutral mode—no positive or negative intrusions. His room was quiet. The office outside was deserted, the officers were busy on outdoor assignments.

Raakin would have preferred to be up on some mountaintop contemplating life. But in these times of strife, his destiny dictated that he be the point-man of the Nine. He did not choose to become part of the special division. It chose him. He had been invited, more like arm-twisted, to give up his post in America, to live in India. He had agreed. At this point in time, he couldn’t remember why he’d agreed.

Raakin was able to solve strange cases because he kept an open mind. When he was asked to find out about unusual incidents in a house, he explained that ghosts were the cause. The city-dwellers snickered at him. But he believed that ghosts did not just exist in the realm of the uneducated or the illiterate. His belief had nothing to do with superstition. Entities existed, and the sooner people believed that, the easier it would be. He was matter-of-fact about it.

In the case of the haunted house, there was a graveyard in the vicinity. He had contacted the local church, asked them to perform some prayers, sprinkle holy water and, oddly enough, that was the end of that. Raakin Pant was a man of science and believed in the paranormal. The combination worked in his favour when he was asked to head the department.

Raakin was in the business of being scoffed at. You talk about ghosts and spirits, and people would rather see you locked up than running a paramilitary operation. Therefore, he maintained a distant, often expressionless visage, divulging none of the emotional turmoil that passed through his mind like thunderclouds.

There was a knock on his door. Raakin put the object back into the box and placed it in his drawer. ‘Come in.’

It was Jake, his lead investigator. ‘Sir, there has been news of strange vampire-like sightings,’ Jake said. He was of medium height and roughened complexion, like he had been in a few too many fights. Alert and careful with his words, Jake made a good addition to the team. Out of a hundred applicants, Jake and the other nine staff members were the only ones who cracked Raakin’s test. They genuinely believed in ghosts.

‘Where?’

‘The Banni Grasslands. Some gruesome murders, dead animals and strange objects. Seems like ritualistic killings. The police have asked for our help.’

Raakin stood up. ‘Strange objects?’ he asked.

Jake filled him in on the police reports. They made their way out of the office and through the corridor to the elevators. ‘It could be a hoax. A murderer covering his or her tracks.’

‘That’s what the police want us to examine,’ Jake replied.

They drove off in an unmarked car.

On the outskirts of the city, near the salt marshlands, where life was more conducive to vegetation than to human habitation, there was a flutter of activity and a crowd of curious onlookers, mostly half-naked farmers and herders. Jake parked by the kerb. They exited the vehicle and walked towards the cordoned-off area. The police ensured that the humming crowd stayed back. ‘What’s going on, officer?’ Jake asked the policeman on duty as he and Raakin showed their badges.

‘Three dead bodies, two puncture marks on their necks … look like teeth marks. Two decapitated wild cats and three voodoo dolls,’ the police officer said, leading them towards a clearing. Low-growing forbs and graminoids sprouted sporadically. A cluster of ganda baval or
Prosopis juliflora
trees abutted the clearing where the corpses lay. Pastoralists called the
Prosopis juliflora
the Devil Tree. Raakin and Jake studied the bodies—two men and a woman. He slipped on gloves and kneeled next to the female corpse. The two puncture wounds in her neck, possibly bites, were similar to the injuries on the other two corpses. The cats were symbolic. ‘They are to protect the people when the dead rise,’ the policeman said.

Jake picked up the dolls. ‘Voodoo and vampires? Not a good partnership.’

Raakin found the surroundings odd. His senses bristled. The temperature was much lower at that spot; sunshine didn’t make it through the dense foliage. He could hear the rushing waters of a river nearby, just maybe ten feet away, he thought. Jake was scouring the area. The air was still. Oddly, no mosquitoes buzzed, nor were there any insect or bird calls. It was completely silent.

‘Any witnesses?’ Jake asked the policeman as he surveyed the onlookers. They appeared to be mostly local cattle-herders. Two medical examiners, dressed in black T-shirts and trousers, were working on the bodies. They searched the pockets of the victims—no identification or wallets.

‘Any idea of time of death?’ Raakin asked.

‘Difficult to gauge, but appears to be less than ten hours ago,’ the taller medical examiner said. He was kneeling, his gloved hands checking the dead eyes.

‘Cause of death?’

‘These wounds are not teeth marks,’ the tall guy said. ‘They were made by long sharp objects … could be sticks. There is no blood, the puncture wounds were made after the victims died.’

‘So you suspect poisoning as the cause?’

‘We won’t know until we take them back to the lab.’

‘You want to give me your take on this?’

The short examiner shrugged. ‘I would say these kids were poisoned. They probably drank some local brew, and when they died, the locals robbed them and turned this into something else.’

‘Typical of youngsters to want to venture out into the unknown. Got themselves killed,’ his partner added.

Raakin turned to the policeman. ‘Anyone recognize the dead?’

The policeman seemed unnerved. He was gripping a religious pendant. ‘They were strangers in these parts. No one seems to know their purpose or why they were here. Shall I get the medical examiners to take the bodies away?’

‘Before you do that, I need to speak with the local doctor. You know what I mean, don’t you? The voodoo doctor or any black-magic practitioner. I want to speak with them, here.’

‘Now?’ The policeman had fear written all over his face. ‘You know all this is bad luck, we must remove the corpses and wash this area with holy water.’

‘I know. But first I want to check the surroundings and see if the locals recognize the bodies. Now go and ask them to come here immediately.’

‘Yes, sir.’ The policeman trudged away.

‘There are some strange patterns on the trees. They could be symbols,’ Jake said as he ambled towards Raakin, his shoes muddied from the marshland. ‘Nothing else in the area.’

‘It is a warning of some sort,’ Raakin said. He circled the area again and made notes on a small notepad. The three corpses were positioned with their heads touching. Two males and one female. They appeared to be in their early twenties, probably college kids. Their clothes were only slightly dirty and they wore sneakers. What were they doing in these parts?

‘Any abandoned cars in the area?’ he asked a policeman standing by the cordoned perimeter.

‘No, sir.’

Jake headed the other way. ‘I’ll check on the witnesses.’

A tall man in a black robe and bandana, carrying a staff, muttered angrily while he was led by the policeman.

‘This is the local tantrik. He says he removes the evil eye from people.’

Raakin didn’t expect to see such anger in the man’s expression. ‘What happened here?’

‘Are you accusing me?’

‘No, I am asking what is the meaning of this symbol, the way the corpses are spread out like windmills, the voodoo dolls and the cats.’

‘It refers to the power of black magic. The dead cats are guardians of the spirit world, and the dolls refer to the fact that humans are not in control of their lives.’

‘And these dead bodies?’

‘They mean something to you, don’t they?’

Raakin shook his head. ‘No, not at all.’

‘Well, they should. You care about two males and one female. Their lives are about to change.’

Raakin was shocked at the connection. He didn’t want to believe the tantrik. But his words were ominous.

‘How did these people come to be here?’

‘These three have no identity, no families, they are bodies from another timeline. They are here to warn you.’

Raakin shook his head, finding the whole scenario bizarre. ‘You can leave.’

‘Don’t forget, this area is full of spirits. You have heard of the chaar batti, the ghost lights? They are restless souls. People have seen these unexplained phenomena occurring on dark nights. They are as bright as a mercury lamp that changes its colour to blue, red and yellow, and resembles a moving ball. These lights have been here for centuries; no one knows why, but we know. Sometimes, they manifest into humans to send a message.’ The tantrik turned away. ‘Believe me or not, but this is the truth. Those bodies will disappear.’

Jake joined Raakin. ‘None of the eyewitnesses has a clear idea of how these people turned up here. It could have been that they came via the river, but there are no boats. It’s a mystery.’

‘The post-mortem reports will give us something to go by. The medical examiners will do a primary and let us know soonest,’ Raakin said, turning away. Then, on a spur, he returned. ‘Jake, get me those voodoo dolls.’

Jake brought the evidence bag. Raakin fished out one of the dolls. The eyes were two crossed stitches in black, and the mouth was a line of three criss-crossed black stitches. He turned it over. There was a small letter etched in the back. It was the letter T. Raakin felt a cold shiver. The other dolls, too, had letters etched on the back. Z and A.

‘Shit!’ Raakin said before shoving the dolls back into the evidence bag and handing it over to Jake.

Raakin couldn’t shake off the bad feeling. It was definitely a sign of dangerous times ahead. He would contact the councillors.

They returned to the car in silence.

Raakin’s phone buzzed. Glancing at the site, he saw the bodies being loaded into a van. The police had managed to disperse the onlookers. Soon, there would be nothing out of the ordinary at that spot and, in a few hours, people would forget the incident.

Jake drove quietly. Raakin read his messages. ‘The Three who fought the Kalingan will be tested again. The senior councillors have received a premonition of powerful negative energies arising in the near future.’

‘Shit!’ Raakin said softly.

Jake glanced at his boss. ‘Is everything all right?’

‘No,’ he replied.

‘Would you like me to do anything?’ He removed his sunshades and placed it in the glove compartment. There was a small revolver inside. Just in case.

‘Yes, find out if there have been any odd happenings near the Ashoka pillar sites.’

‘What am I looking for, sir?’

Raakin turned to him. ‘I’m not sure … anything unusual.’