The Curse

Charu read the blue print again and again but was clueless," Proposed but discarded for years?? What??.. Who was Voila?". The cell phone buzzed and the message flashed on the loomed up screen. "Come near the lake .. now ", Yuvaan. She kept down the phone and ran to open her closet. 

       The next moment Charu was rushing in her car to reach the place where she saw the glimpse of the sword and was pulled back by some traitor so that she could not reach it. She reached the place at 10 o clock. It was dark and spooky. The shimmering water of the lake in the moonlight and the rusting of leaves combined with the howling of wild animals gave a chill down the spine. She could not spot him.

        Suddenly some noise held her attention. She looked around and found someone standing with their back facing her. She leaned forward to touch the person when it turned around and she saw a black eyeless face howl at her loudly, "Aaaaaaaa.. hh... Sheryl .. Sheryl Verghese .. you gottt o gottttooo.. pay for this ", and started laughing loudly.

       Charu fell down, somehow just got up and started running towards a safe shelter. " Yuvaaan.. yu.. vaan", she could not even shout properly. She banged into him with a loud thud and hugged him tight. "Hey, whats up? Whats wrong? ", he asked her.

          He hugged her back and started whisling, " Lag ja gale .. ". Charu moved him back, " Did you call me to romance!! ". He started giggling then became serious when Charu gave a terrible frown. 

      " Why did you call me here ? Few minutes back I was attacked by some freaky ghost who shouted out my ex-birth name and tried to threaten me. Do you feel like laughing anymore". 

 

    " Jokes apart, look Charu, when I was returning from work I received a call. Someone was trying to say as if in whispers, commme to the lake. Youll find your answers."

   " Who??"

  " I really don't know"

Charu was about to talk further when she could see silhouette of a man nearby behind a tree. " Who s there??"

    

    Very slowly the figure emerged out from behind the tree and stood infront of her. " Uncle Vincent??", they both looked at him together. He looked pale with fear and stood facing them. In front of their eyes with a loud thud he dropped unconscious on the floor of the forest.

    The next day was a long wait for him to become stable. They ran to his place in the morning and sat in his special ancient asset sofa. Then he started, " I don't know how to thank you. You saved my life. She would have killed me."

      " Who?", asked Charu

 " This story dates back hundred years when Sheryl Verghese lived with her husband in their HOME. She was a happy woman with a loving husband and eveything else she ever wanted. However, sometimes, God gives us everything in life except someone who would carry the legacy forward. Sheryl was infertile. She had done every possible test and tried everything to conceive but all in vain. Then, one day she met her. The most powerful witch, Mother Gayetri. They used to tell she had the power to make everything possible.

        Sheryl approached her and that was a very auspicious night. " Your wish shall be granted .. but .. every thing comes with a price", said the eerie looking, open white haired, red eyed and wrinkled skinny and bony woman looking at her with a cunning smile."

       Uncle Vincent started weeping now, " I .. look Charu.. I dont know how to tell you this but .. you are the 10 th re birth of Sheryl Verghese. The last one before you was my wife. She died a terrible death. When you were born, Gayetri came and told me that on your 30 th birthday she will finish you. Another Sheryl Verghese will be gone and this time forever". 

   " Wait, a witch cursed Sheryl 100 years back and every re birth she is killing Sheryl. Uncle Vincent.. nice story but very cheezy and hard to believe", said Yuvaan.

 " But .. why does she want to kill her every time she is re-born??"

" Because, Gayetri told her that, " Every wish comes with a price. I shall grant you a child but with devil s consent and a descendent of the family can be given only by performing the birth ritual. According to this, you have to offer your soul to the devil and become his slave forever. Ha ha .. ha .. ha.. ha". She was desperate to have a baby so without thinking further she gave up her soul to bear a child. When her son was born the devil came to take her but she refused to go with him instead begged him to pardon her. He told that she had to offer another soul to him to save her own life. She made a plan and poisoned Gayetri offering her soul instead of her to the devil."

    " Sheryl did the biggest mistake of her life. In order to live once she compromised on every single birth of her. Oneday Gayetri s soul returned and killed her. She also cursed her ," Traiter, fool.. you think by doing all this you will get away! You shall suffer forever.. I shall make you miserable. Every birth shall not give you more than 30 years to live. Ten times you shall die to replace my soul and forever be enslaved by the devil. I shall make sure that every time you suffer terribly before dying. Nothing can save you from me."

        " You mean this time its my turn?? Like really?", Charu s face became pale with fear.

"Is there any way to prevent her? To save Charu?"

 "The sword.. get to the sword. My wife told me once that she had dreamt of the sword of Sinching. She told me from the memories of her previous birth that this was the only way to prevent the witch. She died before she could tell me the rest".

Charu and Yuvaan left uncle Vincents house silent all the way home.

" Don't worry, I will give every drop of my blood to save you. We shall defeat the witch. But first .. we need to get to the sword."

Charu hugged him tight, " Sheryl.." a voice behind her gave a chill down the spine. They both looked back with a start.