KalRatra (काळरात्र) A Night With Horrors

The dark lord!! Part 2

"She said yes?" Setupati asked with surprised and joyful tone.

"Thank you for doing this. I know it's hard for you. But I'll be there, the whole time. You don't need to get awkward, Ok?" He tried to losen the tension.

******

No one had expected Ketaki to return to India, without making any drama. But She arrived at the airport a day after, and shocked everyone.

"Why was she in so much hurry?" Setupati thought to himself. But he knew the answers already.

'It is going to be fun to see her all disappointed!' He thought to himself and smiled.

******

It was early morning. Setupati, Vishwaprit and Raghav, all were sitting in a big leaving room of the Ashram, waiting for Ketaki.

Meanwhile, Meera entered the room with some snacks in her hand. She directly walked towards Raghav and handed him a tray full of his favourite apple. He was shocked to know, how she has the knowledge of his likes and dislikes.

Setupati and Vishwaprit were looking at the both of them with confused feelings, when one of the Shastriji's students kept a tray of sliced fruits in front of them. But they were not in the mood of eating anything. They were going to meet 'Ketaki Mathur' within few minutes. They were horrified with that thought.

But Setupati paused his thoughts and grabbed few slices of orange. It made him feel at ease.

They heard a sound of parking the vehicle from outside, and realised, she was here.

Vishwaprit was traumatized. He felt stunned. Setupati looked at him and tried to make a small talk, but he couldn't. The situation was too intense.

She entered the room with one of the Shastriji's students, who was guiding her towards the hall. She looked at everybody and her gaze stopped at Vishwaprit. She gave him a big smile and greeted Setupati,

"Hi! Haven't seen you in a long time."

"Yeah! It's almost 4 years, isn't it? Where have you been? And how are you?" Setupati replied.

"How are you?" She replied back with counter-question, over enthusiastically.

"We've been fine. And you?" Setupati answered, even though he really didn't want to.

"I'm enjoying myself too. Australia has been kind to me." She answered with no enthusiasm and looked at Vishwaprit.

Vishwaprit didn't join the conversation. Else, he looked at Shastriji, who entered the room.

"Why don't you sit on the chair?" Setupati asked Ketaki as he saw Shastriji enetring the room.

Shastriji entered, looking towards Vishwaprit, who was greeting him and also at Ketaki, the heir of Mathur family. Her blood knew secrets, the darkest ones!! Shastriji felt the cold vibes around her. She was indeed a cold human being, everyone knew about that. And Vishwaprit had experienced it.

Shastriji sat on the sofa, at his usual spot and looked at everyone around him. All of them were curious to know, what's next. Hence, cleared his throat and greeted all of them.

"Suprabhat, friends! We have a new member here with us, 'Ketaki Mathur', arrived here this morning, all the way from Australia. Thank you, Ketaki, my daughter. We appreciate your kind gesture and coming here so promptly!"

Ketaki accepted Shastriji's appreciation and smiled.

"We're trying to find a way to fight this enemy, and Ketaki might be able to help us in this. We'll go ahead and discuss the matter privately. Thank you for being here, my friends. Meera, please show Ketaki's resting room to her, while she will be staying here, in the Ashram." Shastriji instructed and left.

Meera nodded and looked at Ketaki and asked her to follow her.

Ketaki and Meera left the room.

******

Raghav, Vishwaprit and Setupati were left behind, in the big room. They looked at each other and decided to follow Shastriji.

Shastriji went to his meditation room, to prepare himself for the ritual. But there wasn't much he could do, because Meera was the only one who had the power and knowledge to perform it.

He went inside and sat down, reading an ancient book. He was trying to get information to control the dark lords. The book had many incidents of exposure with the dark lord, but no one actually knew how to control him. It was not possible to control the dark lord. He was the one who controlled everything. But the book gave quite a bit about his nature and habits.

The dark lord!! He was powerful, but he liked to show off his powers more than he had! Also, he was reckless and aggressive sometimes, when he was overconfident. But he was smart, very smart!! And most importantly, he was untrustworthy.

Shastriji was deep into his study, when the trio entered the room. Vishwaprit, Setupati and Raghav. Shastriji lifted his head and looked at them. They all had questions. So, Shastriji asked,

"What is troubling you, my sons?"

Setupati replied,
"Shastriji, Ketaki is here now. What do we do now? How will she find the dark lord? I don't think she or her brother, know any family ritual. Their forefathers didn't bother to pass them on, because they thought the dark lord won't bother them anymore, as their souls are already sold to him."

"Setu, my son, you know a lot things, but you didn't observe properly. There is one, who can perform the ritual. I never intended or expected her to learn such horrific rituals, but it passed on to her from her grandmother. There is a reason for her blood to have this terrible powers after all."

"Meera? How can she?" Setupati asked with surprise.

"You ask her by yourself. She will be joining us in a moment." Shastriji looked at the door.

Within few seconds, Meera appeared at the door, looking all mysterious and confident. Raghav couldn't even recognise her aura, it was changed drastically, from sweet-calm aashram girl to a fiesty-cold witch!

She sat beside them and asked her father,
"Did you find anything useful in those books?"

Shastriji sighed hopelessly, and answered with humour,

"I know, there aren't any clues in these.. but the habit of trying to find answers for everything in these books, doesn't go away this easily, my daughter! Why don't you enlighten us. We're dying to know the next actions."

Raghav realised that, Shastriji was also as anxious as them, to know what ritual Meera was trying to perform!!

"Well, that's why I am here father. All required ingredients have been collected and placed in the great hall. Kindly make arrangements to bring Ketaki in there. I will see the rest. We'll perform the ritual in the evening."