An encounter with evil

“The witch was seen beyond the Sami river,” Ananya gasped as she shared the most distressing news of the day with her best friend Tanvi.

“Sami river?” Tanvi's heart started beating fast. Her mother had accompanied a group of women to that very same river to wash clothes.

“Yes,” Ananya finally collapsed on the ground and lay there taking deep breaths.

“I will check on Ma,” Tanvi's panic was clear in her voice.

“No, wait,” Ananya grabbed Tanvi's ankle and pulled at it so that Tanvi had to sit on her haunches next to the supine figure of her friend.

“Don't worry,” Ananya let go of Tanvi's ankle. “The hunters have gone there.”

Tanvi sat heavily on the ground and a sigh escaped her.

“The hunters? What good they would do? The last time they had chased the witch, they had lost one of them. What was his name?”

“Darpan!” Ananya said.

“Right. Darpan was killed. Stabbed right in the heart. The witch mutilated his face. We don't stand a chance against her. She is too powerful.”

“But she can be killed,” Ananya didn't share the pessimistic outlook of her friend. “My grandpa tells us that the last time the witch haunted us, they had shot arrows at her and managed to hurt her. She went away and left us in peace for the past forty odd years. That's all we need to do this time too. Find her, trap her, and hurt her badly. Maybe, this time we will take an eye or two from her. Then she will have to leave us in peace for eternity.”

“Ha! As if she would sit there and let us hurt her!”

Ananya and Tanvi were 16 year old kids, living in a village that had been forgotten by their king. They were part of some kingdom or other but no one was sure of which kingdom they belonged to. The elders used to tell them about a bitter internecine war to settle the borders of two kingdoms. Two brothers fought a bloody war and their armies killed and slaughtered each other, all for the sake of determining which king had the bigger kingdom. During the war, some young men from their village had gone to take part in the war. They joined some army but then some days later, the army was disbanded and all the soldiers were branded as traitors. Only one of the young soldiers was able to make his way back home but he was in a very bad condition and he died soon after his return. The stories that he told them were about the brutalities that he had seen in the war. Some of the stories were so chilling that a majority of the villagers gave up non-vegetarian food and became full-time devotees of their god. The hunting parties were disbanded and the only school teaching martial arts and sword fighting was shut down. When the young soldier died, he was cremated far away from the village and his family had to undergo a penance of one month for the elders believed that the young soldier brought with him contaminated thoughts of mindless violence and horrible butchering of men. After one month of the young man's death, the witch was sighted for the first time. No one was sure if the witch got attracted to their village because of the impious thoughts of the dead soldier.

The stories that the children learned from their grandparents were horrifying, but most of them were simply fictional accounts of what the old people imagined. In some of the stories, the witch was a beautiful young maiden whose looks were beguiling. She would only target young men and then kill them to steal their hearts literally. Two men were found to be dead in mysterious circumstances and the hearts of the victims had been pulled out from their bodies. In other stories, the witch was a middle-aged lady who would only target young wives. She would approach them slyly and give them bad advice. In one of the stories, the witch was able to convince the youngest daughter-in-law of the Yakshi family to poison the entire family. Three of the family members died but seven others survived the murder attempt. The young woman who had poisoned the food was found in the woods one week or ten days later, emaciated and half-crazy. She kept asking the villagers to let her meet the witch for she was promised magical powers if she killed her family. She was tied to a post and the villagers threw stones at her. Later, she was burned alive. Her parents were the first ones to throw stones at her, doing their best to disown her. They didn't want to get ostracized. Many young women sympathized with the deceased woman for they were overworked too and were under duress the entire day, running from one chore to another. The village elders had to call for a meeting where they asked the matriarchs of the families to go easy on the young women. Some of the old women heeded the advice but most of the hags rejected it and kept reiterating that if they were able to do all the chores in their halcyon days, then the young women of the current age could do it too.

Ananya and Tanvi rested for a while.

“What do you think of yesterday's speech by old man Bagan?”

Bagan had made a passionate speech the previous night after he had heard enough of the witch and the shadow of terror that she was casting. He had thundered on and on about how mighty the gods were and how the witch's power was nothing compared to the divine power. Then he had claimed that there was no witch, that it was just a ploy of some idiots to create mischief. His speech made some people very uncomfortable for they had claimed to have spotted the witch who got angry for being called liars. Then, Bagan claimed that the witch was just a manifestation of someone's evil desires. The villagers shouted at him and shut him up.

“Manifestation of evil desires?” Ananya chuckled.

Tanvi pointed out a strangely shaped cloud to her friend.

“That's the witch,” she kept her finger pointed at the cloud. “There she hides.”

Ananya slapped Tanvi's hand playfully and warned her to not take the witch lightly.

“I met Harman today,” Ananya confessed to her friend suddenly.

Tanvi froze. She had told Ananya that she liked Harman and to know that her friend met her crush didn't sit too well with her.

“What did he say?”

“Well,” Ananya poked at her friend but got no response from her. “He is quite handsy, isn't he? The moment we sat together, his arms snaked around me.”

“And you let him do so?” Tanvi sat up, her face thunder-struck.

“Excuse me!” Ananya sat up too. “No! Of course, no! I told him that you are keen on her.”

Tanvi blushed.

“No, seriously, I told him that and he immediately took his arms away. We chatted for a while. He seems obsessed with the witch. It seems that his grandfather was one among the crowd who stoned and killed that youngest daughter-in-law. The one who poisoned her family and was later killed!”

“He told me the same story,” Tanvi replied. “These days, everyone is obsessed with the witch.”

“Did he embrace you too?” Ananya poked Tanvi again and this time got the reaction she desired.

After some moments of ribbing and taking digs at each other, they went towards the village square to check if the hunters had returned. They saw a crowd milling about. All of them looked morbidly excited.

“One more death!”

“Harman saw the witch!”

“Jassi shouldn't have run after him!”

“That Jassi was always a headstrong boy!”

“They say that the witch grabbed Jassi and dragged him to the lake.”

“Only Harman saw that!”

“Harman did warn others!”

“Did he? All I hear is that Harman got really scared and that he ran towards the village.”

“He was scared for his life! Cut him some slack!”

It took Ananya and Tanvi some time to get all the details of the extraordinary scene witnessed by Harman. He and Jassi had accompanied the hunters to aid in the search for the witch. The women washing clothes in the Sami river had not seen anything untoward and were surprised to hear about the sighting of the witch in their vicinity. They had fled the scene in terror, leaving the hunters to do their job. Harman and Jassi had got separated from the main group. Then, Harman ran towards the village, and after reaching his home, he began screaming at the top of his lungs about how the witch had jumped them and made a grab for Jassi. Some villagers, including Jassi's father, dragged Harman back to the forest to alert the hunters who immediately ran in the direction pointed by Harman but they found nothing over there. After an hour of desperate search, they found the mutilated body of Jassi. His chest had been cleaved open and his heart was missing. The leader of the hunters explained the situation to the elders who apprehended Harman and interrogated him. The one question they kept asking again and again was about Harman's reluctance to approach the hunters when the alleged attack took place.

Ananya and Tanvi had to return home without getting a chance to meet with Harman.

The next day, the two friends met after completing the daily chores.

“Why would they harass Harman in this manner?” Tanvi complained to Ananya.

“The question stands as to why he ran towards the village instead of towards the hunters.”

“Perhaps he got scared.”

“Or maybe he saw something that he doesn't want to share with us!”

“What could it be?” Tanvi sounded hurt. She wanted her friend's unconditional support for her crush and Ananya's reluctance to do unsettled her.

“When Darpan was murdered by the witch, Harman was also there.”

“What do you mean by that?” Tanvi's eyes flashed. She was on the brink of an outburst.

“He claimed to have seen the witch that day too!”

“So?”

“So?” Ananya sighed. “Why is he the only one seeing the witch again and again? Why are people dying when he is around them?”

“Are you blaming him for the murders committed by the witch?”

“Manifestation of evil desires! Didn't Bagan say that?”

Tanvi's breathing got ragged. She was losing the battle of reining her anger. “Do you mean to say that the witch is a manifestation of the murderous desires of Harman?”

“No one else has seen her!”

“At least, three people have claimed that they saw the witch loitering about in the forest! Are they all liars?”

“Did anyone among them witness a murder?”

“No!”

“My point is proven.”

“Buzz off!” Tanvi shoved Ananya who lost her balance and fell.

Ananya looked up at her friend fearfully. In that one instant, Tanvi's anger evaporated. She apologized profusely and helped Ananya get up on her feet. For some moments, they stared at each other, unsure of their next words. Then two crows began to fight with each other and both of them got distracted. When they looked back at each other, they giggled and forgot all about their quarrel.

They couldn't meet for the next three days. Ananya's maternal uncle suddenly visited them with his family. Ananya got busy with the household chores and with her cousins who she was meeting after almost a year. Then, her maternal aunt fell sick and the work load increased tremendously. Tanvi didn't drop by for a visit this time around. Ananya felt a tad sad about the forced separation between the friends but she really didn't have the time or the bandwidth to deal with it.

On the fourth day, finally, Ananya got some free time. Immediately, she rushed to Tanvi's house where she met Tanvi's mother.

“Hey, Ani!” Tanvi's mother hailed her. “Where did you leave Tanvi?”

For a moment, Ananya stared at Tanvi's mother. Then the realization dawned upon her that Tanvi's mother expected her to be with Tanvi. She inferred that Tanvi must have lied to her mother about going out to meet Ananya. She forced a smile on her face.

“She is waiting for me,” she replied. “I was thirsty so I decided to come here, rather than go all the way to my house.”

“This is also your house, my child!” Tanvi's mother fetched a glass of water for Ananya who thanked her, chugged the water, and then quickly took her leave.

She wandered towards the temple, still wondering why Tanvi needed to lie to her mother when she was alarmed by someone rushing at her.

“Hiiii bestie!” Tanvi grabbed Ananya in a bear hug.

Ananya's heart was still racing from being jumped but she returned the warm embrace of her best friend.

“Where were you?” Ananya asked in a low voice. “Your mom thought you were with me.”

“I told her so,” Tanvi smiled. “You see, I had to meet someone and ...”

“I get it!” Ananya thumped her friend on her back. “So, my bestie has learned to lie as well. Anyway, where do you meet Harman? Behind the hillock?”

“Nah!” Tanvi chuckled. She could never hide anything from Ananya. “Too many people flock there. We meet in the forest. No one goes there these days. They fear the witch.”

“You should fear her too!”

“Nothing doing!” Tanvi shook her head. “Harman is always there with me.”

“Same Harman who ran away leaving Jassi to die!”

“What is your problem with Harman?” Tanvi snapped.

“I don't think he is good for you,” Ananya replied.

“He told me that you would try to drive a wedge between me and him,” Tanvi said. “You told me that he touched you here and there but when I asked him about it, he told me that you were the one who hugged him.”

“Come on, yaar! I hug many people. It just doesn't mean that they start touching me.”

“You are lying about it!” Tanvi shook her head. “You like him and so you want me to break up with him. When Harman told me about it, I didn't believe it but now I can sense your jealousy.”

“Jealousy?” Ananya scoffed. “You can have that coward Harman.”

“I will, thank you!” Tanvi replied with as much grace as she could muster. Then she turned around and began to walk towards her house.

“Next time you go out to meet him, do not tell your mom that you are meeting me,” Ananya's parting shot made Tanvi stop in her tracks. “If you do that, I will tell her about you and Harman.”

Tanvi took a deep breath and left for her house.

Ananya wept bitterly that night. She loved her friend and didn't want to fight with her but Harman's entry into Tanvi's life was causing upheavals in their paradise. She didn't know it but Tanvi too was regretting her ugly bickering with Ananya. She liked Harman and wanted to marry him. However, she didn't want to lose her best friend in the quest to win her love. She, finally, decided on making Harman and Ananya sit together and have a heart-to-heart discussion.

The next day, Ananya was surprised to see Tanvi enter her house. Everyone in Ananya's house knew Tanvi. Even Ananya's maternal uncle and aunt were fond of Tanvi. They welcomed her warmly. After chatting with all of them for some time, Tanvi and Ananya excused themselves. Once they were out of earshot of everyone, Tanvi apologized deeply. Her heartfelt apology made Ananya feel bad for she still harboured a lingering resentment and she shed some tears after hugging her best friend. Together, they walked on chatting about various stuff under the sun when Tanvi finally stopped walking suddenly. Ananya frowned when she realized that they were in the forest.

“Look here, Ani,” Tanvi plopped on the grass next to a tree. “I can't take it anymore.”

“Tired so soon?” Ananya sat in front of her friend.

“Nopes,” Tanvi replied. “Tired of your behaviour. I was feeling bad about our little fight yesterday, but I spoke with Harman today in the morning and he made me face my feelings. No more running from my problems. No more ignoring them. Now I have to stand up for myself.”

“I don't understand what you are saying,” Ananya smiled. “What is bothering you?”

“You!” Tanvi's tone took an edge, setting off alarm bells for Ananya.

“Me?”

“Yes, you!”

“What did I do now?”

“Why did you hug Harman?”

“I told you that I do it with all my friends.”

“Ahh! So Harman is a friend now, is he?”

“He is your friend so he is my friend too.”

“Hussy!”

“Don't call me that!” Ananya snapped.

“I will call you worse than that,” Tanvi replied.

Her friend's cruel tone upset Ananya so she stood up but before she could even take a step away from her friend, someone grabbed her from behind. In her heated exchange with Tanvi, Ananya had not noticed someone sneaking upon her from behind. She gasped and tried to fight back but Harman was too strong for her. He twisted Ananya's left arm behind her back causing her to cry out in pain. He then grabbed her hair and yanked her head. Ananya's right hand grabbed Harman's hand and tried to free herself. She hadn't been paying attention to Tanvi who approached her and punched her on her nose. The shock of the punch shut Ananya up. Her nose bled freely due to the punch. The blood rolled over her chin and neck and began drenching the collar of her dress.

“She needs to be killed,” Harman spoke in a low voice. “The witch needs a sacrifice. She has been disturbed again and again in her rituals. If she completes her ritual today, she will leave us alone.”

“What are you talking about?” Tanvi looked shocked.

“My grandma told me that if I can help the witch complete her ritual, she would bless me!” Harman spoke in a monotone that frightened Ananya.

“What witch? What are you talking about?” Tanvi took a step back.

“The witch chose me, Tanvi!” Harman pushed Ananya away. She fell and tried to scurry away but Harman kicked at her right leg and the crippling pain caused Ananya to roll about pitiably. Harman didn't stop at one kick. He kicked Ananya till she stopped groaning.

“She would bless me and I will be able to command everything that flies or crawls,” Harman beamed.

Tanvi fell in love with Harman because she loved the way his smile would light his face up. But, that day, she simply snapped out of her puppy love. Harman's smile made him look grotesque. His lips were stretched mirthlessly. There was no laughter in his eyes. He looked demonic and it made Tanvi tremble. She looked once at the prone figure of her friend on the ground and then at the towering figure of Harman over her, and the horror of her being the cause of it all petrified her. She couldn't will herself to move. Heck, she couldn't even hear what Harman was telling her. When she saw him approach her, she tried to run away but her legs refused to follow her command. She saw Harman scream at her and then slap her but she couldn't even make herself evade the blow.

'Thwaackk!!!'

The slap woke Tanvi up. She spat blood from her mouth and paid attention to Harman's words.

“You have to kill her!” He hissed at her through clenched teeth. “That's how it is supposed to go. Here, take this!”

He handed her a knife and pushed her towards Ananya who was trying her hardest to sit up.

“Stab her in the chest!”

Tanvi stumbled when she neared Ananya. Harman, who had been following her, punched her in the back with so much venom that her breath got knocked out. He grabbed her head and yanked it hard, all the time screaming in her ears to kill Ananya.

“Kill her!” He ordered her and shoved her.

“Please don't kill me,” Ananya sobbed. The dirt had got mixed with blood on her face and strands of her hair had got plastered on her face. She looked a picture of abject helplessness. Tanvi couldn't bring herself to deliver the coup-da-grace.

“Why don't you do it?” She looked defiantly at Harman.

“I can't!” He couldn't hold still. His arms and legs shook and his eyes danced. He was not in his senses anymore. “I can't! They have begun to doubt me. Even if I kill you both, they will know that it is I who did it. Jassi's death made them suspicious. No! I can't! You have to do it! You have to be caught by me. Of course! By me! I will catch you and then I will tie you to a tree. Then we will stone you and burn you. Oh, what fun it will be! Grandpa would always be so happy when he would speak of that day when that woman was burned alive. I could only fantasize about it but now I will see it with my eyes too. You will burn, Tanvi! They always set fire to your legs! Did you know that? Your face would stay as it is while the flesh on your legs would burn. It took about twenty minutes before that woman conked out. But, I will keep you alive for longer than that. I will make you eat a herb that will make the pain go away. You will be able to suffer far longer than that bit**! I will watch you closely. Oh, yes! Very closely! This will be the only chance I would get to see someone burn. I would sit quite near to the flames and I would watch you die. Grandpa told me that initially the woman struggled a lot trying to free herself from the iron ropes but then she stopped thrashing. However, she kept screaming. Oh God! Grandpa once tried to mimic that sound. It sounded so beautiful to me that I would always request him to do it again but he wouldn't indulge me at all. Once is more than enough! He told me that but once was never enough for me. I tried burning cats and frogs but their cries are not human. I want to hear a burning woman scream out her lungs. You will fulfill my fantasy, won't you? Now, kill her. Then I will tie you to that tree. Come on now! No more delay! Kill her!”

He grabbed her right arm and tried to make her stab Ananya. Tanvi resisted the attempt and the blow was wasted. Harman picked up Tanvi and threw her on the ground. He kept muttering, 'kill her', as he mercilessly kicked her. He didn't see Ananya stab him in the back. He didn't even feel the blow for some time. He just kept on kicking at Tanvi so Ananya had to stab him once more. The second blow in the lower back made him stop and look about. Ananya dropped the knife and tried to scamper away from him but he was too fast for her. He grabbed her neck and began choking her. He stopped only when Tanvi picked up the knife and stabbed him in his nape. He left Ananya alone and went after Tanvi. The flurry of punches and slaps made Tanvi feel like a ragdoll. Then, suddenly, everything stopped. Harman fell to the ground and lay there not moving at all. It was as if his fury ran out and his mind finally got a chance to process the three blows suffered by his body.

Ananya and Tanvi helped each other grope and stumble their way back home. The villagers were left astounded at their tale. Harman made good his escape but the hunters kept looking for him. He was caught after three days deep inside the forest. He had gone completely mad and was not in a condition to answer any of the questions posed to him. He was deemed a threat to the village and the elders decided that he would have to be buried far away from the village.

“Bury him alive in an iron trunk and let us hope that his insanity stays trapped in that iron box forever.”

Ananya and Tanvi were put in the same room to recuperate. Tanvi wept bitterly at her betrayal and kept apologizing through sobs. Ananya couldn't bring herself to forgive her friend. In the end, Tanvi had to be shifted to her house and everyone in the village knew that Ananya and Tanvi were no longer friends. It caused immense anguish to the families of both girls.

“Harman kept thinking about the horror suffered by the woman being burned alive and in the end, allowed the evil desires to kill and torture to take root in his mind,” Bagan told Ananya when he was able to meet her after a week of recuperation. “When he was unable to control his urges to kill other people, he took on the fable of the witch and began to spin his own yarn. Many among us believed that it was he who had killed Jassi but there was no proof and so we had to let him go. Now, we know that he was the one who killed Darpan and Jassi. However, we failed in keeping an eye on him. It could have turned hugely tragic for you and your friend. I am very sorry about the lapse of judgement.”

Ananya couldn't bring herself to say anything. She felt spent and tired.

“Do not hate your friend for what she did,” Bagan counselled her. “Hatred will make room for more devious urgings. Your friend was besotted by Harman and said stuff that she can no longer take back. Forgive her for your own sake. If you let the undercurrent of resentment roil in your thoughts, then you run the risk of becoming an embittered young woman, someone who would never be able to enjoy her life.”

“I can never be her friend!” Ananya protested.

“When the time came to fight a monster, both of you dug deep in and found the courage to fend the monster off.”

“She punched me!” Ananya tried her hardest but a little sob escaped her. “How can I forgive her?”

“Fair enough! But reflect upon it on how it will affect your life if you keep on hating someone.”

“I don't want to become another Harman,” Ananya spoke in a low voice after some time.

“Then forgive your friend and let bygones be bygones.”

“Why are you so concerned about it?” She asked as she was making her way out of her house.

“We inhabit a world where everyone is affected by what others think or do. A world with a little bit more forgiveness, a little bit more love, would be better for all of us.”

“I don't get it,” Ananya smiled weakly, “but I will call upon Tanvi now.”

The reunion of the friends happened soon after. Tanvi had been punishing herself for siding with Harman and she looked haggard and almost out of her wits but Ananya's company and her love made her take hold of herself again. Their friendship had suffered a harrowing test but they had come out trumps. In the end, that was all that mattered.