Bombay Shaman - episode 2: The Haunting Hunter

PART XX: The choice

On coming out of the hidden cave with the criminal handcuffed, Kumaran and Das were greeted by a very unusual sight. The spirits of the forest people and the villagers awaited their arrival. They stood peacefully right outside the cave, together as a crowd. All their wounds were gone and they looked like healthy spirits.

When Kumaran raised his eyebrows, they did a namaste gesture, thanking him and Das with a warm smile and gently bowed at the waist. Their face had this peace, this happiness, this relief; they were finally free, free to leave the physical realm.

Surprisingly, even Das was able to see the ghosts and he was shocked at first, but soon he realised they meant no harm and returned to being relaxed.

But the criminal lost his mind when he saw them. He mumbled insanely, saying they were gonna hurt him and fainted.

"You're welcome." Kumaran joined his hands in a namaste and bowed from the waist as well, reciprocating the respect of the spirits. The toxic anger in him evaporated on seeing them happy and free.

One of those ghosts was the ghost of Pankaj. She had tears in her eyes, but she was happy and at peace. There was a melancholy about her. Maybe she still didn't want to accept her death... but she knew she had to...

The ghosts blessed him and Das and then turned into glowing dust, fading out of the place, releasing into the light of the moon. The evil about the place also lifted.

"It is indeed over." Kumaran looked after their dust, feeling sad for them. "Poor people..."

"Yeah..." Das came and stood beside him. "And I see your mood is better now. You were literally fire a while ago."

"Hmm," Kumaran shoved his hands in his pocket and looked away, contemplating about what happened earlier. "I don't know, I felt so angry... i just... I don't really know..."

"Don't let anger get the best of you, Kumaran. You control your anger and power. Not the other way around. I know you know that. But try not to forget it." Das reminded him.

"Yeah. You're right." Kumaran pursed his lips.

"And thank you. Truly." Das cleared his throat. "I owe you my life. If there is anything I can do for you, just let me know."

Kumaran looked at him. "You're welcome, and yeah, I will definitely let you know. I am not gonna charge you for this." He chuckled.

"You should." Das chuckled back.

"How about, instead of charging you with money, I ask you a favour?"

"What is that?"

"Mind if I just call you Das? I don't like formality when it comes to friends." Kumaran winked.

Das held out his hand for a shake. "I don't mind, Kumaran."

"Good then, Das." Kumaran shook hands with his new comrade. "Yeah, that feels natural. You're just a few years more than me anyways. I'm twenty two, what about you?"

"Twenty six." Das replied. "By the way... You left a samosa? I will take that now."

They both started laughing.

"Well sure, but we need to do one more thing before that. The temple." Kumaran remembered.

Back at the village, even the ghosts of the village were waiting for them to arrive, and after thanking them, they too left, fading into the skies. Kumaran opened the gates of the temple and lit a lamp inside, in front of the temple God. With that gesture, the whole place was once again engulfed by divinity.

Das called the police station and informed them about the events that happened at the forest. It seemed they had immediately dispatched the necessary teams to the location after the call.

As Das and Kumaran were heading back with the handcuffed criminal in the back of the car, Kumaran's phone rung. It was Edha. He realised she had called him 10 times before and knew he had missed them because he was fighting the demon.

He picked up the call hesitantly, knowing too well what was gonna happen.

"YOU SELFISH!!" Edha exploded.

Kumaran pulled the phone away from his ears and looked at Das. "She is a bomb."

"She cares for you." Das chuckled.

Kumaran put the phone back to his ear, "I'm sorry, Ed—"

"Do you have any IDEA?! Do you have any idea how troubled I was?!!!! I thought something happened—"

"I'm fine... Don't worry, okay?" Kumaran assured her. "You can ask Das if you want to."

"I don't care! You should've picked up!"

"I'm sorry... I was fighting the demon. It's over now."

"Oh... so you defeated it?"

"Yeah. Any doubt? I am super strong, you know."

"I see... You shouldve called!"

"How about I uhh... 1 whole month, I will pay when we eat at Food4U?" Kumaran tried to bribe her. "Sounds good?"

"Don't do like this ever again! Or else!" Edha bowled.

"Gotcha," Kumaran laughed. "How are you? You hurt?"

"It came after us... But we are fine... Just bathing in our own sweat..."

"That's way better than what me and Das went through. And how is the rabbit?"

"Rabbit?"

"I'm not a rabbit, you idiot!" Shilpa shouted over the phone. She probably snatched it from Edha.

"Yikes! What a shrill voice! Well, you do eat carrots like a rabbit."

"Ugh! By the way..." Suddenly Shilpa's tone became soft. "Thank you... I really mean it..."

"Oh, wow! You're capable of being polite! You're capable of gratitude! Miracle! It's the mercy of the Gods and Goddesses!" Kumaran laughed.

"Oh shut up! I'm thanking you and you're teasing me!" She got angry again.

"Well, I love doing it." Kumaran chuckled.

"Whatever... I'm giving the phone back to Edha now."

"By the way, Kumaran..." Edha came on line again. "What was it that caused all this?"

"Well, it's a long story. I will come and tell you." Kumaran sighed.

"At least give me a hint?" She insisted.

"Hmmm," Kumaran thought of putting it into a summary. "Humans, are very complicated. Their greed... their anger... their envy... Ultimately... that is what destroys humans... They themselves... These demons... they can't do much, if humans would be humans..."

"I don't get you..." Edha got confused.

"It is a long story... Now lemme rest..." Kumaran sank in his seat out of tiredness.

"Come and tell me. See ya now." Edha insisted.

"Sure. See ya soon." Kumaran kept his phone back into his pocket.

"Humans..." Das looked at Kumaran. "I know we make mistakes, I know we are the reason for our problems... But we do try our best. Some of us... just lose our way... sometimes... Don't you think?"

"Yeah..." Kumaran looked at the dark skies. "Darkness has always existed, does exist, and will continue to exist... within us, and outside of us... And so does light... I guess, what makes difference is what we choose... Do we choose to be the darkness... or do we choose to be the light... Do we choose to be the night... or do we choose to be a beautiful moon... This war between good and evil starts and ends with each of us... It all depends on choice..."