The Trap

Pit Of Death

It was dark everywhere a cold splash of water brought some sense into me. I was half afloat in the waist-deep very cold water. There was something strange beneath my feet, some sharp and hard objects. Suddenly I realized that I was surrounded by rounded slippery wet walls. I tried to find some objects to climb up; all I found was strange wet vegetation. I looked up to check the mouth of the pit, no clue, there was dark everywhere. It was a cold December night, water was cold enough to freeze anything. I collected all my strength and tried to find any gaps or holes to support my hands and feet to climb up. After a few attempts, I was able to find some gaps between the wall bricks, I inserted tips of my fingers in those gaps and gave a try to go up. Luckily, I found some support for my shoes and I moved up slowly. The walls were slippery and making it very hard to move up. Perhaps I moved up a few feet, but my fingers gave up and I fell into the water again.

I realized that it was raining now and the water level had risen and it was rising constantly. It was above my belly now, and I felt a strange numbness running through my body, I had to get out of that pit. I tried to concentrate perhaps I could find something which could help me to get out of this pit. My feet were still feeling the sharp objects, I took a deep breath and dived down to the bed of the pit. I was all wet, diving into the chilled water shuddered me, I stayed there for a while; picked a long object, swam back to the surface and gasped. The object which I picked, was invisible in the dark. I touched it and tried to figure out what it was? I moved my palm on its slippery surface and realized perhaps it was a bone, yes, it was a bone. I trembled and let the bone fall back into the water. I moved my left foot up, took my shoe off and let it go back into the water to check other objects under my feet. I moved my foot carefully over the slippery objects. There were bones, there were rib cages and skulls. I moved my foot wildly over all the bones, yes, those were bones, human bones! The pit was a death trap, there were bones of people who had been trapped in this pit and died. Now I was in this trap, maybe the next victim. I let my shoe fall in the chilled water. I was frantic now, I yelled for help but my voice echoed. I was sure that I was in a very deep pit. It was raining heavily and the water has been just below my chest and increasing. I just pondered over my pathetic condition for which I was responsible, a family man seduced by an enchantress to this pit of death.

A Strange Call

Three days ago, while working at my office an unknown number flashed on my mobile screen.

“Hello! Am I talking to Mr. Sidharth?” a very sweet female voice inquired from the other end.

“Yes, who is there?” I asked.

“Recognized?”

There were several female acquaintances who’d call me often, but the caller’s voice wasn’t familiar. I gave up and said, “Sorry! I didn’t.”

She laughed and said, “Remember, someone you met fifteen years ago.”

Fifteen years? There was only one girl whom I met and parted fifteen years ago was, Ruchi. Our love was intense and so was the parting. I decided to keep her memories in my heart and kept quiet. She was on the call, although I recognized her, but I said, “Sorry I didn’t recognize.”

“Okay, Ruchi here. Do you recognize me?”

“What a pleasant surprise to hear from you after so many years,” I exclaimed!

 “Married.”

“Yes.”

 “How is your wife? What is her name?”

“She is good, her name is Juhi.”

“Nice name.”

“What about you? Married?” I asked.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I was not lucky enough to get married.”

“Perhaps I was the reason.”

“No, my luck was the reason. Forget it, can we be friends again?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Okay, I’ll call you again.”

And the phone went silent.

This strange call shook me, I had never expected to hear from Ruchi. We had parted some fifteen years ago. We both wanted to get married, but our parents opposed. I was ready to confront my parents, but she was not. She decided that it was time to part. I reluctantly accepted this parting, I was forbidden from seeing her again by her. I thought that it was a momentary reaction, she will call me soon.

The days became months, months became years, but there was no call from her, finally, I gave up and decided to go ahead. I came across Juhi by chance; we were married soon and blessed with a daughter. Life was good, but I’d often think about Ruchi and hope that she’d also be married and happy.

I kept silent for two days and I dialed her number on the third day.

“This number doesn’t exist.” Was the pre-recorded reply.

I dialed again, but same reply.

I took it as a technical problem and decided to call her some other day.

Stormy Night

Next day at my office another unknown number flashed on my phone screen.

“Sid, I’m in trouble, Rajah has abducted me, I’m in his prison.” Ruchi was on the other end, her voice was frantic.

“Who is Rajah…...?”

“Sid, Raja is a goon, he has imprisoned me in a palace at Kaalgarh, please save me.”

“Where is this Kaalgarh?” I asked, but the screen went blank.

I dialed the number, but it was out of coverage area.

My thoughts were wild now. What the hell was this? Where is Kaalgarh?

The moment I reached my home, I was lost in my thoughts.

Juhi noticed the state of my mind and asked, “What’s wrong?

“Office workload.”

“Want some tea?”

“Yes, please.” Said I and went to my study.

I started googling the name Kaalgarh on my computer. There were 250 results, I tried to sort out the most relevant options. I found five, all were situated in central India. The distance From Will City to Kaalgarh, was 900 km.

Meanwhile, Juhi brought tea for me and put it near my computer and left. I searched for the means to reach there, there were flights from Will City to Patan the closest airport to Kaalgarh which was 150 km east of Kaalgarh. There were two flights from Will City to Patan, but no seat vacant. There were several flights from Delhi to Patan and some seats were also available, I booked one in business class. The flight was at four in the evening. So, I’ll have to leave early the next morning.

It was a stormy night. The weather was very cold. When I came out of the study it was already 11:30 PM.

Juhi got up and said, “Food is cold, let me warm it.

We ate our dinner silently.

“Office problems, still troubling?” Juhi asked.

I just nodded and got up.

Sleep at night was scarce, I tossed and turned in the bed all night. The storm outside was roaring and so the storm inside me.

Strange Journey

The next morning, I got up early and told Juhi that I was going to Delhi on an official tour. She said nothing.

I was packing my travel bag when my daughter Neha got up. She came running and said, “Where are going you daddy?”

“Office dear.”

“Don’t go daddy.”

I motioned Juhi to handle her, she took her in her arms and stood near me. I was silent; there were guilty feelings, I had lied to my family for a woman who had left me long ago.

Soon I was in my car and ready to leave. Juhi came out with me and said, “Sid I have bad feelings, please don’t go.”

I looked at her with my guilt-ridden face and assured her not to worry and drove my car out of the porch. Both of them stood silently none of them bade me bye.

It was very cold outside. There were broken tree branches, tree trunks and leaves spread all over the road. Journey to New Delhi was eventless.

The flight was two hours late due to the bad weather. I waited until the flight was announced. The plane took off at 06:10 PM, it reached in Patan at 09:12 PM. Patan was not a big city, but due to its ancient ruins, it was a tourist place. I came out of the airport and inquired for a taxi to Kaalgarh. Not a single driver was ready to go to Kaalagarh. I was standing in the cold night when a thin boy came to me and said, “I’ll take you to the Kaalgarh, the fare is 20,000.” I was aghast. But there was no option left, so I told him to bring his taxi. He laughed and said, “You’ll have to wait till the morning.”

“Why?”

“Kaalgarh is not on any highway, we shall have to take several sub roads, some of them are full of ditches of mud, it will take seven to eight hours to reach there.

I spent the night in a cheap hotel. The taxi came at 07:34 AM and the journey began.

“What is your name?” I asked the driver.

“Danis sir.”

“Have you ever been to Kaalgarh?”

“Never, sir.”

“Why were the other drivers reluctant to go there?”

“Perhaps the bad roads and the long route.”

I distracted and tried to make a call to Ruchi, but again the auto-answer. The road was really bad, but Danis was driving at a steady speed. Small towns, villages, fields were left behind, soon there was thick jungle on both sides of the road. Road through the jungle was rather good and I napped occasionally, suddenly the screeching sound of car break and sound of collision woke me up. The break was so high that I almost fell down.

“What happened?” I screamed.

Danis was silent and controlling the car. Finally, the car came to halt, I saw there was blood on the windshield.

We both came out of the car. There was a blue bull dithering on the side of the road.

“Look, Danis, what you did!” I hollered.

“Sorry sir, it jumped on the car.” Said Danis and brought a canister of water from the car and started washing the windshield.

I again looked at the dying animal, it was motionless now, perhaps dead.

Finally, Danis cleaned the windshield and motioned me to sit inside.

The journey continued and I preached Danis to be careful.

Don’t Go To That Palace

The journey was tiresome and there were no roadside restaurants. It was 03:02 PM, my appetite had long gone. I was carefully following the milestones which were indicating that we were getting closer to Kaalgarh, it was five km now. Suddenly Danis stopped the car in front of a little tea shop.

“It’s very cold, sir, let’s have some tea.”

Having a cup of tea wasn’t a bad idea so I also came out. The tea shop was a mud-brick house covered by a thatched roof. There were four benches and a coal stove in the corner. We sat on a bench, Danis ordered two cups of tea. The tea vendor placed an aluminum teapot on the stove. Soon there were two glasses of tea placed before us.

“Where are you going, sir?” said the tea vendor.

“Kaalgarh.” chirped Danis.

“Where in Kaalgarh?”

“To the palace,” I answered this time.

“Palace?!” exclaimed the tea vendor.

“Yes.” Said I.

“Why? The palace has been deserted, no one lives there.”

I thought there was no point in telling him about Ruchi’s abduction.

“What’s wrong about the place?” asked Danis.

The tea vendor looked at our faces and took a deep breath.

“Babu Ji (sir), some 14 years ago, the owner of the palace Rajah Vikram kidnapped a very beautiful woman and kept her in the palace as his mistress. The woman used to weep and curse him all the time. He used to bring a number of friends and force her to entertain them. One day she jumped from the palace roof and took her life.

After one year, Vikram was found dead in his bedroom. Suddenly, one by one the male members of the palace started dying in mysterious circumstances, within two years there was no male alive in the palace even newborn boys died just after their birth. The women of the palace fled. Within a few years, the wild vegetation took over the palace. Now the palace is home of wild animals, snakes and pythons.

The tea vendor was a talkative man, by the time my tea finished it was 04:35 PM.

“Danis, let’s go.” Said I, and paid the tea vendor.

The vendor wanted to say something, but he kept quiet.

Dance Of Death

The journey started again; it was time to ponder over the situation. There was no meaning to believe in the tea vendor’s blathering. But the question was, how to rescue Ruchi from the palace, there might be armed men.

Soon the sprawling building of the palace was in sight, it was becoming bigger with every passing kilometer. Finally, we were at the big entrance of the palace, which was nothing but a huge heap of debris. I paid the fare and requested Danis to wait at the village where we had tea and come back after the dark to search me. Danis was afraid of the sight of the centuries-old palace. He took the money and went away.

There was no signal on my mobile. I was in complete isolation now. The big palace was horrifying me, I gathered all my courage and entered the main entrance of the palace.

The distance between the main entrance and the palace was approximately 800 yards. I reached the portico, which was also in ruins. There was no door at the entrance or perhaps someone had stolen it. I looked around; gloaming had wrapped the palace premises.

Nothing was visible, but I decided to go into the palace. There was dark everywhere inside and I had no torch so I took out my mobile and tried to peek through its dim light. Suddenly there was light everywhere and the palace levee was before my eyes in its full grandeur. There was a red carpet from one corner to another corner of the levee. There was a big ebony table at the center of the hall and twenty leather sofas around it. There were velvet curtains on all the windows and fresh flower vases in all the corners.

I heard the sound of ghongroos (ankle bells) and I turned around. There she was standing in the balcony, clad in a purple sari and low neck, cut sleeve purple blouse. She was wearing a diamond necklace which was gleaming in the chandelier light. There were gold amulets around her arms and a gold bracelet on her wrist.

“Sid, my dear, finally you’ve come to rescue me,” Ruchi spoke in a strange ringing voice.

She started coming down, her thin body was swirling. Finally, she came down and stood some 30 feet away from me. She placed one of her hands on her waist and looked at me. There was a gold cingulum around her waist; which was also gleaming.

“Sid, Rajah won’t let me go, his men don’t let me live alone, they do bad things to me.” She spoke in a hoarse voice.

I stood there mesmerized, I wanted to say something, but I was speechless.

Suddenly there came at least 20 young men clad in waist clothes only. They had all types of weapons in their hands, swords, whips, and daggers. They stood behind her in unison. Two of them held her by her hands.

“Look they are torturing me.” She whimpered.

I was transfixed. After a few moments, two men came towards me and dragged me to the ebony table and pushed me into a sofa.

The men held her high in their arms. Suddenly the sound of drums came from far behind and the young men started dancing. Their feet were moving rhythmically with the drum sound. They placed her down on the floor, she looked at me and started dancing with them. The dance was mesmerizing I couldn’t take my eyes away from them. They were all dancing and touching her body. During this praxis they threw away their weapons. The drum beats were frantic and leading towards a culmination. Dancers on the floor were also ecstatic. All the men were unarmed, but Ruchi had a long blade knife in her hand. It seemed that the knife was also a part of the dance. The drum beats came to halt and so the dancers, but Ruchi was still dancing. Suddenly she moved like a whirlpool and her knife slit the throats of the men. The men held their necks with their hands and started falling.

Kill The Rajah

The hall was full of dead bodies, but strangely there were no bloodstains. I was terrified at this bizarre sight. Ruchi dropped her knife and came close to me, she took my hand in her cold hands and said, “I’ve killed all his friends, But I cannot kill the Rajah, please kill Rajah.

I wanted to say something, but my tongue was frozen. I looked at her ashen face, her eyes were fixed on me and now she was dragging me out of the hall. After a few moments, we were at the back of the palace. There was no light at all, she was dragging me and murmuring, “Kill the Rajah.”

Soon she took me to a dune and indicated towards a ground hole and said, “Rajah is in that hole, please go there and kill him.

I looked at her, she was all shadow now. I was afraid and wanted to run away from her, but her grip was tight. I tried to scream for help but no words came out of my mouth.

She took me to the mouth of the ground hole and said in a whisper, “I’ve been waiting for you all my life, this is the time of our reunion. “Please give me your life and become my forever.”

I again tried to look at her, but she was all shadow. She pushed me into the ground hole and went away.

Hundred Distant Moons

It was still raining and the water was up to my neck now. I had been in the freezing water for almost three hours and my brain along with my body was getting numb. I had lost the hope to survive, soon the hypothermia will kill me. It seemed I was breathing last, I thought about my daughter and my wife, I couldn’t imagine life without them, but now they’ll have to live without me. I said sorry to them silently and wept. I prayed to almighty God to look after my daughter and my wife and keep them safe.

Now the water was touching my nostrils, I tried to keep my head up. A little water went down to my lungs through my nostrils, I coughed frantically. I knew death was going to be painful. Suddenly I saw a distant moon on the mouth of the pit, a crimson moon.

“Babu ji (Sir)…...” someone bawled outside.

Am I imagining things? I thought, but I screamed out of my bursting lungs, “HELPPP……”

Suddenly a number of moons were on the mouth of the pit and someone dropped a rope into it. I jumped to hold the rope. Finally, it came towards me, someone had tied its end in the form of a hanging noose. I let it slipped around my chest.

It took them only a few moments to pull me out of the pit. I was out of the pit and saw there were at least fifty men with burning torches in their hands. Danis was also with them. Two men held me by my arms and started dragging me towards the main entrance of the palace, the rest of the men were also running behind them. Soon all of us were outside of the palace, one of the men wrapped his blanket around my body.

“You are safe now, let us go now,” said Danis and opened the car door for me.

The warmth of the blanket brought some sense into me. I looked back at the palace; there she was on the roof of the palace, staring at me with her burning eyes.

“Yes Danis, let’s go.”

Her Game

After three days when I got back, Will City was wrapped in the thick layers of fog. My journey back to home was tiresome. The moment I got back in the warmth of my home every part of my body was aching and I had an urge to get into my warm bed and sleep for centuries.

"Neha, where are you?" I rap out.

Neha came out and jumped into my lap.

I hugged her and expected to see Juhi also. But instead of her, her younger sister Aarti came out of the kitchen. I was surprised to see her, but it seemed that she was more surprised to see me.

"Jiju, are you alright?

"I'm fine Aarti, where is Juhi?"

"She has gone to search for you in Kaalgarh."

"Why? What makes her go to Kaalgarh?

"Some women named Ruchi, called her up the day before yesterday night to inform her that you were fatally injured in the ruins of Kaalgarh."

"Oh my God, she has tricked her too."

"Anything wrong Jiju?"

"I don't know," I mumbled and handed Neha to her.

I stumbled towards the main door of the home...

"Are you going to bring back Didi, when will you bring her back? Said Aarti.

"I don't know, please take care of Neha."

I looked at the innocent face of my daughter Neha and strode out of my home to face the unknown menace of Her game.