The Cursed Shell

34

[PRESENT DAY, 2015]

Dhawan was dwelling aimlessly on streets. He wasn't actually aimless, but he didn't know what to do at the moment.

There was Crunchy behind him. He was probably the only one who knew Dhawan so closely. He could understand what he was feeling at the moment. Dhawan had no hope of winning the case which he had already lost.

Dhawan had tried all the possible efforts which could be done to track Josh. He tried to trace his phone. Unfortunately, it was already crushed by the cunning Josh. He searched where his next TV lecture show was going to held, but the web had no information about it. He phoned many of Josh's friends, but no one knew where he was. He didn't report this in police-station as it was insanity to wait for police to investigate the case. And like any other professional detective, he didn't like anyone to interfere in his case.

They were walking since almost two hours and they didn't have any intention to stop. Actually, they didn't have any intention at all. It was almost evening. They had entered an empty street where almost no houses were visible.

'I should inform Brute about this', Dhawan thought and started typing a message for Brute in WhatsApp. Brute was also in danger at the moment as Josh was aware that Brute knew about the case.

"Hey," a hoarse voice came from their back and they stopped. "Are you Ritesh Dhawan?"

Dhawan didn't turn. After he completed typing the message, he pulled a fake moustache out of his pocket and placed it below his nose, and turned back. "No, I'm his elder brother, Mukesh Dhawan."

The guy behind them was bold, big and bald. His body figure was much like that of the great Khali. He was wearing a banyan and denim. Soon, three more people appeared there with the same appearance.

Dhawan stared at them. "What do you want from my brother?"

"We want to kill them", the bull–like man said.

Dhawan chuckled and raised his eye–brows. "Sounds cool!"

He pulled his fake moustache off and pressed the sensitive part of the massive man standing in front of him with his walking stick.

"Aaagh!" the man screamed and fell on the ground.

"Hey!" another man behind him kept a hand on Dhawan's shoulder.

Dhawan immediately took a knife out and pierced it into the man's palm.

"Aaagh!" the man cried.

Dhawan's one leg was still plastered. He placed his cell-phone on the ground.

"Run!" he shouted to Crunchy. But Crunchy didn't move.

Another bold man took out his pistol and shot on Dhawan's fractured leg. Dhawan screamed and fell down. "Run! I will come. I promise. Go for Brute!"

Crunchy gripped the phone in his mouth and ran away. The man who shot at Josh's leg aimed at Crunchy too, but he had already gone out of site. 

"Leave it," said one of the bull-like men, "it's just a cat."

Crunchy stopped behind a public dustbin and looked back at Dhawan being pulled by the four men. It was a hard scene to see for Crunchy.

Joshua Lamb had travelled in a private jet from America. Now he was at a place which was cut from rest of the world. Even less than a few people knew about this place.

Josh had a white cloak covering his naked body. He walked inside a room lit with candles and Diyas (oil lamps). There was a pillar at the middle of the room which showed several paintings of Samudra Manthan. He gazed at the paintings for a few seconds and then smiled thinking that he was the holy creature who was going to reciprocate what happened thousands of years ago.

He turned towards the paintings and statues of the Tridev (three Gods) - Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. These three were the first Gods and were immortals even without the Amrit. Goddess Laxmi and Saraswati were immortals too. They are the wives of Lord Vishnu and Brahma respectively. Goddess Parvati, the wife of Lord Shiva, was mortal at first. Later, she became immortal after Lord Shiva told her a tale which can make anyone immortal after hearing it.

Josh walked towards the first statue of lord Shiva. It was the Natraja, the statue of Lord Shiva performing a special dance form which he does when he is angry known as the Tandava. Josh joined his hands and bowed in front of the statue. "Lord Shiva, I'm bowing in front of you because you are the only God who treats the demons equally. You're the greatest. You're the God of the Gods. I know you're happy that I'm going to do justice with the demons."

Then he walked towards the painting of Lord Vishnu. In the painting, Lord Vishnu was rested on the bed of Sheshnag, a multi-headed giant snake who takes birth along with Lord Vishnu's avatars as their brother. Josh joined his hands and bowed again. "Lord Vishnu, you've always saved humans and other Gods from the demons. This created a big difference among them. Still I bow in front of you, as you're the one who created Devaant the shell which can be used as a weapon against those who were protected by you."

Then he walked towards the painting of Lord Brahma. He joined hands in front of the four-faced God and bowed. "Lord Brahma, you created this universe. You made the world like this. You made Heaven for the Gods, Earth for the humans and Hell for the demons. This could have been one of the major reasons of hating you if I hated you. But I don't hate you. You know why? Whatever happens is written by you only. The demons will get justice only because you wrote that in their luck. Therefore, I bow in front of you."

Then he walked towards a triangular table at one corner of the room. There were the eight marble pieces of the cursed shell, Devaant, kept on the table. Josh placed a bowl made of wood on the table beside the marble stones. There was thick gluey paste made of sacred leaves, oils and animal skins. He started applying the paste one–by–one on the corners of the marble stones. He did it very steadily. It took almost three hours for him to complete this work. When he was done, he had gained the formation. The formation of a conch–shell. The shell which he wanted. The shell of destruction. Devaant. The cursed shell.

The Hindi words on it were clear now. It meant, 'It will start from the end'.

'It has started from the end,' Josh thought, grinning. Everything happened according to the pattern he decided. First death among the eight scholars occurred on Wednesday. The last death occurred on Wednesday too. It started from Wednesday, and ended on Wednesday. 'And now the end will start from it!'

He kept the conch-shell back on the table. The paste needed to be dried to use the shell. He bent down and pulled a massive manuscript out which was below the table. It was completely read by him. It was the manuscript which stated about the cursed shell, Devaant.