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Elisa and Rahul followed Dansh to the entrance of the cave, where they saw a festoon of skulls hanging. The hollows in the place of the eyes and mouth were beaming with the fire from the cressets, which hung in the torch holders separately from the skulls on both sides of the cave all the way in as far as their eyes could see, casting a scary image. It was as if the skulls were staring at them and ready to swallow them alive.
For a moment, Elisa thought I should have listened to Rahul. Perhaps he was right. But the next moment, she pushed her musings aside.
“Is something troubling you?” asked Dansh before Elisa could let the words out of her mouth.
Rahul still was gaping at the skulls; his brain seemed to have stopped sending signals allowing him to act or speak.
“What’s this place?” Elisa asked.
Dansh walked forward and stood in the entrance. His face was now gleaming in the cressets’ fire.
“This is my place,” said Dansh, looking up at the skulls. “Don’t fear,” he added.
“Don’t fear!” yelled Rahul. He rushed forward, his eyes filled with a fury that in the light of the fire glowed like a cat’s eyes. “Where have you brought us? Answer me before I punch you.”
Dansh remained quiet, looking down at Rahul’s shoes. Little did they know he was just pretending to feel bad for upsetting him.
Rahul grabbed a hold of Dansh’s neck, wanting to beat him for bringing him to such a scary place. “This isn’t a guesthouse at all!” He tightened his grasp on Dansh’s neck.
“Rahul!” said Elisa, looking at Dansh, who was now quivering, though Rahul could tell it was all an act—all of it, a bid to win their trust, depicting himself as a good person. “Calm down! It’s wrong. Leave him right now,” she said, a strict order in her voice.
Rahul already knew that if he didn’t listen to her, she might intervene and get herself hurt.
Rahul released his grip on Dansh’s neck and looked at her. “I told you not to trust this creepy stranger. But you didn’t listen to me. How? How did you find him trustworthy?” He paused for a second and then raged out in a booming voice, “HOW?”
Elisa felt nervous, seeing Rahul this angry. It was the first time she had seen him like this in the eight months of their relationship. He had never been angry at her, certainly not yelled at her, before.
“I’m sorry,” she said after a moment, slowly and tenderly pulling Rahul’s hand into hers. Then looking at Dansh’s innocent face. “Don’t you think we should listen to him?” Rahul watched as Elisa stared at Dansh. “Just once,” she added, shifting her look back to Rahul.
“Do you still trust him?” Rahul frowned. “How could you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes in dismay.
“He’s right,” Dansh said, throwing a bait.
Rahul and Elisa kept their lips pursed, waiting for him to resume speaking.
“I’m not trustworthy,” he said, the sentiment automatically darting to Elisa’s heart, leaving her lost for words. Somewhere inside Rahul, a flower of joy blossomed, knowing that he had been right, but he remained standing there, wearing a blank expression on his face. “What’s the reason for you to trust me? My appearance? The skulls hanging in the cave? My overly friendly nature?” Dansh gulped in air, pretending he was hurt. “I agree. You must return. Let me refund your money,” he said and instantly thrust his hand into his cloak’s pocket.
Rahul felt himself ease; he wanted to dance in exuberance. They would finally leave this place. He was also pleased to know that he had never been wrong about Dansh. Yet, little did he know, Dansh was just pretending to be nice because he knew Elisa would stop him.
Elisa still felt guilty for judging the man, for thinking he wasn’t trustworthy because of his scary burned face, which was actually because of a disease. She walked over to Dansh and put her hand gently on his to stop him. Rahul’s contentment dropped, and he returned to feeling miserable.
“There’s no need for this. We trust you. I’m sorry on behalf of my boyfriend.” Dansh kept looking down at his shoes, pretending he was embarrassed and hurt. “He gets scared of things easily. Remember, I told you. That is the only reason he keeps doubting people.”
To make Dansh comfortable, she lied.
“He even sometimes doubts me.”
Dansh looked up at Elisa. “Thank you for trusting me,” he said. “Let’s continue into the cave.”
“Sure.”
Dansh began to go deeper into the cave. Elisa turned around and signaled for Rahul to walk after her, staring at him in anger. Left with no choice, he followed. However, his heart was now beating fast in a blend of anger and panic.
“May I ask you something, if you don’t mind?” asked Elisa, as they moved into the cave's depth. After every few steps, she could see blood spatters on the ground and on both walls.
“I’d love to answer all your questions,” said Dansh. “After all, I’m your guide.”
“This place is scary as hell. Do travelers really stay here?”
Dansh chuckled, and, to keep her trust, said, “Since you like haunted places, I brought you here to show you something amazing.”
A broad smile appeared on her face.
“I told you not to trust this man,” said Rahul.
Elisa laughed aloud, glancing at him. She wasn’t angry with him anymore.
“You’re laughing?”
“I’m sorry, my love.” She stopped and turned around. “You look adorable even when you get angry.”
“I’m not in the mood, Elisa. I’m freaking out,” he said, looking around at the skulls and blood spatters.
Elisa gently put her palms on Rahul’s cheeks and forced him to focus on her.
“Everything will be fine,” she said. “It’s just a fake haunted cave, just like that fake haunted house we visited in the U.S. Remember?”
Rahul hummed in both agreement and despondency.
Elisa very well knew what she had to do to destroy Rahul’s fear, at least temporarily.
As she brought her lips to Rahul’s, they closed their eyes and exchanged a quick kiss. When they parted, they found Dansh in the distance, almost by a door. A blush wafted over Elisa’s face as she was reminded that someone else, a stranger, was with them as well.
“Let’s go,” she said, turning around and walking ahead.
Rahul now felt comfortable. It was as if Elisa’s quick kiss was an energy drink that helped him to defeat his dread, providing him the strength and courage. He felt no doubts or fear anymore, at least for the moment. His face was shining with a smile.
When they reached Dansh, he grinned and opened the door to the chamber.
The chamber of death.
Rahul and Elisa entered the cavern, and instantly Rahul began to fear again. Three enchanters were standing in front of him. It looks as though they were practicing black magic. They were standing around a pentagram and the bottom of their robes shined in the blazing light of candles: ten in the center of the circle and five in each corner of the star. Rahul’s eyes widened in fright. Elisa’s did the same, but she also had a mysterious smile on her face. She was both surprised and excited to learn more about this haunted place.
Rahul’s mouth gaped at the skeletons hanging on the ceiling, glowing in the bright yellow light of the cressets, and at the blood spatters all over the place.
Only you could save us, Lord, Rahul thought.
“Welcome to the world of dark magic,” said Dansh.
Rahul gulped as he heard the words dark magic, the many horror stories rushing into his brain. The smile on Elisa’s face vanished, indicating her excitement to learn more about this place had faded, and was being replaced by the feeling of apprehension. For the first time, the hairs on the back of her neck raised in a chill.
“This place is scary as hell,” said Elisa again, her cellphone ready in her hands, shifting it around to capture every corner of the haunted cavern. Enthusiasm was clearly shown on her cute, smiley face as she created the first video on black magic for her YouTube channel. She wanted to find out whether it was real or not and knew her viewers would be interested too. Suppressing a wave of fear, she said, “Did you decorate this place yourself?”
“Do you think the blood and bones are fake?”
“It looks real, but I don’t know.”
“Seems like you’re having a hard time figuring out if this place is real.” Dansh cleared his throat and added, “No worries. You’ll know soon.”
Rahul listened to their conversation, staying quiet and wishing Elisa was right: this stranger is not dangerous; he’s just a horror addict. He was sweating from the heat of the lit cressets, as well as from his inner turmoil.
“You got me,” said Elisa. “I’m eager to know how you built this place.”
Dansh gazed at Rahul. “You believe in horror stories. You tell me if the blood is real, if the bones are real.”
As Dansh spoke, Elisa kept shifting her cellphone between the two of them.
Rahul could see he had a chance to reveal Dansh’s evil side and teach Elisa not to trust a stranger so blindly, especially one that acts so weird and creepy. Whatever you see is not the reality, and whatever is the reality, you don’t see, Banjeet’s odd statement somehow supported his thoughts. He was completely sure the cave was real, as were the skeleton, blood, and even the enchanters, who were leaning into the pentagram, no doubt performing a ritual to invite in something horrible, something life-threatening.
“Everything’s real,” Rahul said.
Elisa knew he would say this, just as she knew how strongly he believed in superstitious matters. Dansh was staring at Rahul; he could tell that he was smart.
“You’re right,” Dansh finally agreed.
“You must be kidding, right?” asked Elisa.
“No, my dear,” said Dansh, still maintaining the kind act to keep her trust. “Your boyfriend is right. Black magic does exist.”
Elisa switched the camera to herself and made a face at it, her mouth open and eyes wide. She then made a gesture as if asking the viewers what they thought. “Did you guys hear that?” she said to the camera. “Black Magic does exist. Yes. That’s what he said. Do you believe in it? Let me know in the comments.”
Amazed, Rahul gazed at her. He didn’t know how to react to Elisa’s excitement. His senses were trapped in horror.
Dansh grinned. Good luck staying alive to upload that video, girl.
“I’ll return with your answer in the next video. Thank you for watching. Like, Share, and Subscribe.” She smiled, waved her hand at the camera, then stopped the recording.
“I’m sorry. But it’s my process to create a video,” she said as she put the cellphone back in her pocket.
“No worries. I understand.” Dansh smiled.
“If this dark magic thing is real, the skeletons and blood must be real as well?” she asked.
“You’re free to check them,” said Dansh, grinning. He wanted them to know his intentions now that they were trapped in the chamber. The door was still open; Dansh was able to close it at any moment.
Elisa looked up at the skeletons on the ceiling. She believed they were artificial, but when she reached out to touch them, she felt the smoothness of bone rather than plastic or wood. The skeleton was very much real. “I can’t believe it!”
“Tell me you’re joking,” said Rahul, trying to suppress his quivering at the horror, his eyes darting to the open door.
“Wait!” she said. She touched a few more, the same dazed feeling running through her. “They are real. How?”
Rahul wanted to kill Dansh, but he remained steady as he waited for Elisa to finish inspecting the place.
She looked around, and her eyes halted on a strip of dust that created a square shape on the floor, as if a large box or something had rested there before their arrival. It was only covered in blood spatters. She rushed over and bent down to her knees. She slowly brought her hand to the floor and touched a blood spot with her finger. Then she pulled her finger back to her nose and smelled it. She felt nauseous. She couldn’t stop herself from gagging.
Finally, she understood, and she knew they needed to leave.
Rahul ran to her as she vomited. Elisa stood up before Rahul could stroke her back or try and help.
“I’m fine,” said Elisa. “But I can’t believe everything’s real here. How is it possible?”
Her statement fully evoked Rahul’s wrath. He had been right all this time. Dansh was not trustworthy at all. He had alerted Elisa when he first had this suspicion, but she had not listened. Rahul wasn’t angry with her. He knew her gracious nature had prevented her from seeing the truth. He was enraged at Dansh, at his fake displays of being charming, his dark intentions, the betrayal. Raul believed he might be leading them to their deaths. Also, Rahul was angry because Dansh had unsettled Elisa. Because of him, she had vomited. They could have reached the city by now, could have been enjoying somewhere in Jaisalmer.
“We’ll leave right now,” said Rahul, putting his arm around Elisa’s shoulder, locking his glower on Dansh. Both had a threatening look on their face: Rahul’s alerting Dansh to let them leave, and Dansh’s warning Rahul not to dare try.
A few moments of alarming silence passed.
Then Rahul proceeded forward, holding Elisa’s hand. Dansh moved aside, allowing them space to exit the cavern. However, as they reached the door, he levitated them slightly, only an inch or so off the ground, and pulled them backward with his spell. They swung through the air and crashed onto the ground. There was a roughness to his actions that made it seem as if he was doing this for his own pleasure—first making them think he would let them go and then suddenly attacking them from behind.
Before Rahul and Elisa could try to stand up and run, Dansh gazed at the door, and it shut automatically, leaving no way for them to escape.
“I brought you here to sacrifice your life, not to let you escape,” said Dansh through gritted teeth. “You can only leave if I wish.” He pointed at the skeletons and blood. “All these people helped me in my process to wake up the strongest churel of all time. Five thousand years ago, Dali used to live here in this cave, perhaps even in this chamber. I am going to wake her once more. She will be so grateful that she will make me immortal and then I shall rule the world, spreading darkness.”
He closed his eyes and whispered a spell. In a flash of bright light, which briefly blurred Rahul and Elisa’s vision, Dansh turned himself back into his true form. He looked the same as he had when he had reached Kendraa Village five years ago. A short figure with a straight posture now stood before them, not the frail physique he had presented to Rahul and Elisa. There were some wrinkles on his forehead as he was still an aged man, but he looked much younger, much stronger, and much scarier.
Elisa was terrified. All this time, Dansh had been pretending to suffer from his burned skin, and now she had proof he knew dark magic. Otherwise, how would he able to levitate them? And how could he change his appearance only in a few seconds?
Elisa turned to Rahul. “It’s too late. We are trapped,” she said, her voice full of guilt at her mistake. “I’m so sorry, I should have listened to you, not trusted this freaking stranger.”
Rahul fixed a reassuring look on her. “We must find a way to escape before he kills us and brings an avalanche of evil on the world by waking up this vicious churel.”
At this, Rahul stood up and rushed at Dansh. He would fight him and, if necessary, kill him. He was a monster who already had devoured hundreds of lives, he deserved to die. But as Rahul rushed toward him, Dansh just frowned, the corner of his mouth twitching. His expression showed his ego as a possessor of supreme dark magic skill, and he didn’t believe Rahul stood a chance against him.
Without warning, Rahul punched him hard on the nose.
Blood gushed down Dansh’s face, and he quivered in rage. He covered his face in his palm, but when he uncovered it the nose was fixed, with no sign of blood. He really was a master of sorcery with knowledge of many spells. Rahul couldn’t hurt him.
Elisa had already stood up, and now she tried to gulp down the horror as she also comprehended the same thing as Rahul.
“Stunned?” said Dansh, grinning.
“I’ll fuck you up, monster.”
Rahul stepped forward and tried to hit him once more, but Dansh stepped back and saved himself from the attack.
Rahul leaped toward him and tried to kick him in the chest.
But Dansh disappeared in thin air and Rahul fell to the ground.
When he got back up, Dansh was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t to his right, his left, or even in front of him.
Rahul slowly turned around and saw that Dansh stood a few feet away from him, in front of Elisa.
Rahul tried to run to him, but he then stopped in foreboding as he saw a light in Dansh’s hand. The next second, Dansh held his stick.
“I’m undefeated, boy. And I always will be”
“I’ll prove you wrong today. I promise.”
Rahul ran forwards just as Dansh ran towards him.
As they approached each other in the center of the chamber, Rahul leaped and soared toward him, aiming to kick him in the face. Yet, before he could touch him, Dansh swung his stick, and it hit Rahul hard in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.
“Rahul!” screamed Elisa. She wanted to do something, but she wasn’t good at fighting. She could only pray for Rahul’s victory.
Dansh looked at the place where Elisa had knelt to smell the blood on the floor.
A cage then appeared out of thin air over that spot. Dansh grinned, staring at it.
Rahul’s eyes too fixed on the cage. He felt a blend of horror and dismay as his heart raced in fear. He must finish the job; he must defeat Dansh. He could not let Dansh lock him and Elisa in that cage. Like Rahul, Elisa was now staring, horror-struck, at the cage. She wanted to do something, but what? Surely at least a few of the hundreds of people who had died in this cave had tried to fight him, just like Rahul was doing. But they had all died, and now only their skeletons remained. In front of Dansh, everyone was weak.
Lost in the nightmare of their incoming death, they both closed their eyes. Elisa prayed to God to help them survive, whereas Rahul prayed for him to gather enough strength to fight Dansh. Yet, when they opened their eyes, they found themselves locked in the cage.
“I trusted you,” yelled Elisa, looking at Dansh.
“You should have trusted your boyfriend, dear,” replied Dansh. His voice was cold as fuck, and it made the hair on the back of her neck rise. His loud spooky laugh felt like pure horror running through their senses.
Left with no trust and no hope to survive, tears streamed from Elisa’s eyes as she held the cage bars in agony. She closed her eyes and brought her head against the bars of the cage.
Rahul stood still beside her, keeping his gaze fixed on Dansh, trying to gather the courage to speak. What he really wanted was one more chance to rip off Dansh’s head, but the cage had put a stop to that. But at least he could still say something. Perhaps he could evoke Dansh’s anger enough that he might challenge him to battle.
