The Beckoning Death

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

It was around 7 P.M. The Toyota Innova was rushing pretty fast, carrying Pritam and the driver Mihir straight towards the gigantic hill appearing exactly in the front. They were heading toward the village called Lohitang, a village located underfoot on a big hill, full of natural beauty. It's basically a small tourist place.

Pritam was very desperate to get to Lohitang. He set his journey on from the morning to visit this place for a weird but promising reason. He was in search for a Witch called Kamya. It may sound hilarious but it's the cause for what Pritam went this far. In this era of technology, the word “witchcrafting” is just a fable story. People would judge you either mad or a man who lost all his logical mind.

But whatever Pritam still didn't want to lose the last hope to save his wife's life. His wife, Mira was hit by a sudden stroke even in her thirties, and after that she fell from the stairs and got severe injuries to her brain. She went into coma for the last 2 months. Pritam traveled to several cities for her treatment but it was all in vain. Two days ago the doctor suggested Pritam to be ready for the worse as her vitals were near to die. She hardly has a few days in her hand. Few days back an old woman who cleans the hospital floors daily asked him to visit Lohitang and find the witch Kamya. Only she has the power to save her. Initially Pritam just ignores her words but the woman told many of his past stories without even knowing him. This fact blew his mind. He decided to give it a last try as all medical science took their face back, he had no hope , then why not try something miracle. And the fact of the woman knowing about his past incidents, influenced his decision. Pritam loves Mira more than his life. So he decided to find that witch whether she exist or not a last try, a last hope to get Mira back in senses. Mihir works as a tourist guide. Normally he would carry 5-6 tourists to start his tour guidance but that day Pritam paid a handsome amount that is almost double of a 5-6 tourists could pay. He didn't hesitate for a moment and set the journey.

“Please don't mind me but 8000 rupees for Lohitang is more than enough. Never seen someone so desperate to go there paying such huge amount.” Mihir broke the silence as their car ran faster through the woods that leads straight towards the hills in the front.

"I don't just need you to get me to Lohitang. There's something I need you to help me with once we get there." Pritam answered.

He glanced over at Pritam. "Help you? Help you with what?"

Pritam nervously twisted his wedding ring, wondering how much he could say without sounding completely crazy. Finally, he just said it. "I need you to help me find a witch."

Mihir burst into laughter. "A witch? That is why you are in such a rush to get to Lohitang -- to find a witch?"

“Please! Don't laugh. Its something serious. My last hope to save my wife. You have to believe me even if it sounds crazy.” Pritam tried to convince him though he was not sure about it.

He put up his hand, fighting to control his laughter. "Please do not misunderstand me. I simply meant that if you wish to find a witch, you do not have to travel all the way to Lohitang" "what do you mean? Then you...you really do believe me? You believe that witches are real?" Pritam asked enthusiastically. "Of course," he said, pointing out a cottage. "There's one right here in this particular place. “ he drove his car for next 5 minutes through a muddy road and then stopped it in front of a small cottage. Pritam looked at the cottage.

“you mean a witch stays here ? “ Pritam looked at mihir.

"Of course," he said, as he parked the car. " But they are not like the witches in those Hollywood movies. They do not fly around on broomsticks. They are more like..mmm...fortune tellers. But if you are lucky you might find one who can cast a spell or remove a curse for you," he added with a wink.

The building was made of hay and wooden logs. Both of them entered the cottage. the interior portion was decorated with weird stuff like pictures, and horns of different animals. The smell inside the cottage was very odd but not very bad. As they were crossing the narrow corridor. Pritam asked

“but I was supposed to find the witch in Lohitang not here”

“I live in Lohitang since my childhood. Trust me there is no witch in our village. But this woman, Jalpana knows all the other women who practice witchcraft. If the witch you are seeking is anywhere in Lohitang, she will know where to find her." Mihir answered.

They went inside and a heavy-set woman with dark hair greeted them. She looked like an tribal woman. She wore a low-cut black gypsy dress that showed off her ample cleavage, barely concealed by a thick golden necklace of moons and stars. Mihir spoke a few words to her in their local tongue and she smiled and nodded in understanding.

she waved her hand towards a table and asked them to have a seat. Jalpana clasped Pritam's hand closing her eyes and spoke “I am sure I will be able to perform any service you require -- and very affordably, might I add -- but tell me, who is this witch that you think you must find?"

“Kamya, I was told that I could find her in Lohitang” Pritam spoke back spontaneously. As soon as he spoke the name, the witch's pleasant visage twisted into a mask of fear. She jerked her hands away from his as if suddenly realizing he had the plague. Just as quickly she recovered, smoothing her dress down as she forced a smile and said, "You are mistaken. There is no witch in Lohitang by that name."

"Please," Pritam pleaded. “Please I need to find her to cure my wife. Try to remember if you know anyone named Kamy..…” Pritam couldn't finish his sentence, the woman slammed her palm on the table to silence Pritam. “never speak that name again in my house. Now you can leave” her voice was stern. Both of them left the cottage without a single word. Pritam was stunned seeing the reaction of that woman after she heard the name of Kamya. he was silently looking at the woods through the car window and remembered an incident that took place long ago.

30 Years ago

Pritam was very talkative in his childhood. Once he starts talking he would never stop even after his mother, Rimi put him in bed in night. His mother could hear him from the downstairs, babbling away In his bedroom, having long animated conversation all alone in the darkness. His mother never thought about it until that day the drawing teacher asked him to draw his family. He drew his mother, his little sister, he himself, and a white-haired boy of pritam's age. When his mother came to pick him up from the drawing school, she saw the picture and asked him about the white-haired boy if he was supposed to be any of his friend in the school. Pritam nodded his head and said that the boy in the painting is his best friend. She asked his friend's name and if he is from school or a neighbor. But to her surprise, Pritam said that his best friend neither comes to school nor a neighbor. He lives in his bedroom all the time. Rimi was confused initially.

The drawing teacher asked Rimi not to worry about it as it's very common for kids to have imaginary friend. But that drawing really had sent a chill down her spine. After that day Pritam,s mother always felt uneasy going upstairs though she never believed in ghosts or anything.

That evening his mother asked him to sleep with him downstairs In her bedroom. But when she woke up in the middle of the night, Pritam was not there on the bed and then she heard Pritam from the upstairs bedroom, laughing, talking like he was playing with someone else. She checked there was no one but Pritam. It looked like he was playing all alone. Doubts and an unwanted fear start arising in her mind.

next night she made him sleep with her again and asked him not to leave her bedroom under any circumstances. When she woke up in the middle of the night, she was relieved to see pritam sleeping peacefully beside her. But she noticed something else. A dense black smoke with a burning smell. Her house caught fire.

She called for emergency. By the time the fire engines arrived the house was engulfed in flames. His mother, his sister and he himself was all out in time and were huddled together across the street in their nightclothes as they watched the firemen throwing out hoses to battle the blaze that was devouring their home. As they watched the hungry flames lick out of the doorway and shattered windows, a fireman came frantically running toward them and cried out loud..

“how many children are there in the house?”

His mother blinked in surprise and answered “ none, all of us had escaped in time”

He glanced back at the dying house, and then said, "But what about the boy? The boy with the white hair in the upstairs window!" But later they checked there was no one.

However, after that incident, they left the town forever. His mother never spoke about it until Pritam was a teenager.

Present day

After a hour or so they reached the village Lohitang. They asked a few villagers if they know anyone named Kamya but no one had ever heard of this name. Mihir was very helpful throughout this journey. He was a rural man, very kind and helpful. Pritam's wife story really made him very sad and sympathetic.

“do you have any plans to spend the night cause here in this village you won't find any luxurious hotel room” Mihir asked looking back at Pritam. “no I didn't , I came here all in a rush.” Pritam answered with a disappointed tone. “I am asking because I have small guest room available in my house. You can stay there. Its not that fancy but at least you will have a roof over your head.” Mihir smiled. Pritam agreed with the proposal as he had no other choice. His heart was broken already as he got no lead to find that woman, if she really exists.

Mihir parked his car and guided Pritam to his house. It was a two-storied building made of wood. Pritam entered the cottage and felt like he had stepped into a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Stout oak beams underpinned the ceiling while rough plaster lined the walls, and an ancient wood stove filled the room with comforting warmth. As he ducked through the doorway, he couldn't help noticing a dried bunch of garlic nailed above it. There were two women in the room, one young and one old. Both of them happily welcomed Mihir home and, when they noticed Pritam behind him, nodded in greeting. "This is Jamuna, my grandmother," Mihir said. "She lives with me. And this is my neighbor, Ruma. She has been keeping my grandma company while I have been working on my tour business.” MIhir smiled.

“Glad to meet you” Pritam nodded his head. “My grandma can't speak your language as she got a stroke last year and completely forgot how to speak hindi other than our local language,” Mihir explained.

Ruma offered him a glass hot coffee as it was really cold outside. They had a chat. Jamuna was silently listening to them and smiling. At a moment Mihir asked his grandma if she knows anything about a witch called Kamya. Jamuna looked at Pritam for next few seconds and said something to Mihir in their local language. Mihir translated “She says that Kamya is a powerful witch and a terrible source of retribution. She says that if a woman thinks her husband has been unfaithful, she prays to the witch and tells her to come to visit him in his sleep. Of course, if she is wrong the witch will not come. But if the husband has truly been unfaithful, he will never wake again. Kamya will ride him in his dreams until he is dead.” Pritam's eyes widened hearing it. So the witch is real. He felt his heartbeat fastening. "Does your grandmother know anything else, like where she can be found?" Pritam asked in anticipation.

Mihir shook his head. "You do not understand. Kamya is not real. She is a legend...a fable. The story my grandma is telling you is an old wives' tale, designed to keep faithless husbands from straying too far." Ruma, who had been listening to the conversation as she chopped carrots and turnips on the sideboard, joined in. "Yes, a fable! Now I remember where I've heard that name."

However, after a few more conversation, they decided to sleep as it was already 10P.M.Mihir informed that his grandma is suffering from dementia. It's a disease that effects memory and thinking. Most of the time it creates hallucination to the patient affecting their daily life. Mihir took pritam to his new room. It was not that big. A big wooden window was there to let the sunlight get inside in day time. After dinner Pritam got on the bed. He stripped down to his boxers and t-shirt, and crawled under the quilt. He remembered the words Jamuna said a while ago about the witch. Thought it was a story but very creepy. Anyway he was tired of the long journey so very soon he felt asleep.

When he opened his eyes the room was dark and the house was silent. he was lying facing down on the bed, and it took him a second to realize the quilt that had been covering him was gone. Thinking it must have fallen off while he was sleeping, so he groped blindly toward the darkness beside the bed.

And that was when he felt it...a chill, an unnatural cold that sent a shiver through him as soon as he felt its touch. A shiver that unlocked the doors of memory and released a remembrance of the last time he had felt it, the ominous chill that told reminded him that the white-haired boy might had been crouched in the darkness at the foot of his bed, waiting for him to wake up. He squeezed his eyes shut. He was praying, praying that this was just a dream He would soon wake up. As if in answer to his prayers, a nightmarish sound whispered through the dark. The sound of the floorboards creaking as something moved toward him from the foot of the bed.

He tried to turn his head to look, though terrified of what he might see, but a nameless fear had paralyzed him like an invisible weight pinning him to the bed, stopping him from seeing who or what was coming. All he could do was moan, a weak fear-filled moan that pleaded for the thing in the dark to go away and leave him alone.

And then he sensed its weight, felt the mattress sink and heard the springs groan as something crawled onto the bed behind him. he felt its hot breath on his neck as an odor like freshly turned earth, tinged with the sweet tang of the dead, decaying leaves, filled his nostrils.

Terror filled him as he tried to will himself awake, knowing this had to be a nightmare. And then the thing moved on top of him. He felt its weight press him into the mattress, its skin was cold and damp against his flesh as it pinned him down, its long, stringy hair dragging across his shoulder blades as it moved up his body, scraping its long, claw-like fingernails along his side. He could sense its mouth opening as it hovered above his neck, and then a ghostly voice hissed in his ear, "Who dreams of me?" Her voice sounded like an echo whispered across the centuries, but he couldn't answer. he couldn't move, let alone talk, as the cool weight of her naked body pressed him deeper into the mattress. He tried to turn his head, tried to see her face, but he was helpless as she traced her fingernails back down along his hip. And as she did, he became dimly aware of her firm breasts, crushed against his back, and her soft lips as they brushed against his ear. "Who dreams of me?" she whispered again, as her fingernails snuck under the waistband of his boxers and her hand slipped beneath him. He tried to answer, but all that escaped me was another moan as her cool hand wrapped around his stiff length. For the first time he realized how hard he was and heard her sigh in his ear as she slowly stroked her hand back and forth, savoring his size. He groaned as she tightened her grip and started to jack him even faster, and for a third time she whispered, "Who dreams of me?" But he still couldn't answer, no matter how desperately he wanted to. All he could do was lie there helplessly, pinned beneath her as she pumped her fist up and down his swollen length. he felt her hot breath on his neck, her breath coming quicker as she stroked him faster, pushing him toward the edge. He moaned, and with one final effort tried to twist his head around, tried to see her face. But she gently bit his ear, stopping him, the tender flesh trapped between her teeth as she finished what she'd started, her hand a blur on my stiff shaft. It had been so long since He had been touched like that, and the only touch he had ever known had been his wife's. She was the only woman he had ever been with and as he closed his eyes and imagined it was her caressing him, stroking him, and he remembered how her hair would smell in the morning as she dangled it in his face, brushing it back and forth and tickling his nose as she tried to wake him up...wake him up. "Wake up!" The voice was loudly echoing in his sleepy head.

He sat bolt upright in the bed, his wife's voice still echoing in his ears. He was all alone. There was no one else in the room. It had all been a dream. He stood up, trying to clear his head as He looked out the window. It was still dark outside, but he could tell it would be dawn soon. And as He stared out into the darkness, he couldn't stop thinking about the dream and how real it had seemed. His co*ck was still painfully stiff, and when He closed his eyes it seemed as if he could still feel her teeth, biting his ear. Then he saw through the window that a figure wrapped in black shawl walking towards the jungle..

Chapter 2

Pritam felt goosebumps at that sight of a figure wrapped with a black shawl moving towards the jungle. It was dawn, the sun light was yet to illuminate the atmosphere for the visible eyes, moreover, due to dense fog it created a blurred veil decreasing the visibility range. For a moment his chest felt cold like a stone. Her hissing haunting voice echoed through his memory. “Who dreams of me?” Pritam remembered Mihir's grandmother, warning me that Kamya would visit a man's dreams. Did he just see a dream of Kamya? He was not ready to accept it. But would it be a good idea to follow the figure in this time? He could be some thief? He quickly put on his dress and walked towards the stairs. He heard a noise. A groan, or maybe a moan, faint but growing louder. It was coming from Mihir's room down the hall and he wondered if the creature that had been in his room was there now.

When He reached Mihir's door he pressed his ear against it, and heard a steady stream of moans emanating from within. He knocked lightly on the door and whispered, "Mihir? Are you okay?"

The room went silent, and then he heard a thump and a bang on the other side. A moment later the door opened and Mihir, peeked out behind the door. His half-naked body was visible. "Yes, my friend, is something wrong?" Pritam took a little glance in the room and blushed with embarrassment as he spotted his neighbor, Ruma, bare-shouldered. She pulled up the blanket and smiled apologetically from his bed.

Mihir glanced back at Ruma. "I apologize if we woke you. I know it is early, but it is usually best for all if she is headed back home before my grandma wakes up." He smiled a bit embarrassed.

"Of course," Pritam whispered. “something was in my room a while ago." He added more Mihir narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "What are you talking about? You must have had some kind of nightmare." "No, I swear, something was in my room! And I just saw it going out the front door."

Mihir glanced back at Ruma, and hurried to pull his pants on. "I knew I forgot to lock the door," he said, and I moved out of his way as he pushed past Pritam and ran down the hallway. Pritam chased after Mihir as he raced downstairs shirtless. The door was still ajar. He rushed out of the house into the semi darkness. Pritam hurried after him and as he searched in the direction the creature had gone.

"There!" Pritam hissed, as he spotted the figure in a few distance. Mihir sprinted toward the cloaked figure. When he reached her he grabbed the figure's shoulder and spun around. “Grandma!!!” Mihir shouted in amusement. The old woman looked between the two of them, blinking in confusion. She had a black scarf over her head and a black shawl wrapped around her. There was a bundle in her arms and Mihir took it, opening it to reveal half a loaf of bread and a chunk of sausage inside. Shaking his head, he wrapped it back up and put his arm around her shoulder to steer her back home.

"I am sorry she woke you," he said to Pritam, as he guided his grandmother back toward the cottage where Ruma, now dressed, was waiting by the front door.

Pritam was not ready to accept that Grandma Jamuna was there in his room a while ago touching him se*xually? More confusion clouded his mind. "But where was she going at this time of the morning?" Pritam asked. "And what is the food for?" "Who knows? Probably thinks she was going on a picnic. The stroke she had has caused her dementia and she often wanders the hallways at night. She must have wandered into your room and woke you. Again, I am sorry.” MIhir spoke softly.

"It's fine," Pritam said, but he knew there was no way this harmless old woman had been his nighttime visitor. As they moved inside the house Jamuna spoke something in their language. Pritam asked in anticipation. “all good?” He glanced at me and said, "You must remember, the dementia makes her mind play tricks on her. She gets very mixed up." "I don't understand." Pritam spoke back

"She said that she was taking the food to the woods...to Kamya. She said that last night when she was looking out the kitchen window, before she went to bed, she saw a girl that she calls 'the witch's servant', standing at the edge of the woods and watching our house."

Pritam sat up in surprise. Could that be who'd visited me? The question appeared in his mind. Mihir saw Pritam reaction and held up a hand to stop him from getting carried away. "Please understand that all of this is only happening in her mind. There was no girl at the edge of the woods and there is no witch called Kamya." As soon as he spoke her name, the old woman turned toward me and started chatting animatedly in her local tongue. “What she is saying?” Pritam asked This time Ruma translated. "She insists that this girl , Witch's servant ,saved her life many years ago and that she still lives in the forest. There is a circle of stones in the woods where she says women leave offerings to Kamya. She was taking the food there so this girl wouldn't be hungry."

Pritam's eye glittered with hope. It felt like he got a lead to find the witch. He looked at Mihir "Do you know where these stones are?" "Please," Mihir said, "these are old wives' tales. None of this is -- " "Do you know where the stones are?!" Pritam shouted interrupting him.] He took a step back, startled by Pritam's outburst. "Yes....yes, I know where they are." "Then take me there...please." Pritam tried to calm himself down, and apologized for raising his voice, but he knew there had to be a connection between his arrival in Lohitang and the old woman's tale. Time was running out for him and he knew that, if what the woman in the hospital had said was true, this stone circle might be his only hope of locating the witch he had come here to find and saving his wife's life.

An hour later we were on our way. Ruma also joined Pritam and Mihir. They hiked through the old-growth forest. Autumn had a firm grip on the forest, its colors everywhere, but the cold shadows stretching beneath the canopy warned that winter would soon be there. "I wish you could see this place in the spring," Mihir said, as they wandered into a high alpine meadow and caught the scent of juniper, "the wildflowers are a wonder to behold!" He could tell by the smile on Mihirs face, he was proud of this place, proud of his home, but Pritam had no time to enjoy the scenery or his stories. "When will we reach the stones?" He asked. The smile faded from Mihir's face. "I don't know what you think you will find there, my friend, but you will be disappointed if you think you are going to find your witch. I have already told you that my bunica's mind...it plays tricks on her. The girl she swears she saw last night? She told me that the last time she had seen her was nearly seventy years ago. Her mind...it is like a book that has had its pages torn away...she can remember clearly things that happened in her teenage time, but cannot tell you what she had for breakfast. The girl she thinks she saw, even if she ever really did exist, is now nothing more than a memory."

Pritam swallowed Mihir's words hard. He suspected every single one was true. But He had traveled all the way to Lohitang on the slimmest of hopes and there was no way he was giving up now, even if it meant chasing after a witch from a book of fairy tales or a figment from a confused old woman's imagination. The three of them left the meadow and Mihir led them deeper into the forest. The trees seemed to grow thicker and the forest seemed to grow quieter. And then they reached the stones. There was a semi-circle of broken boulders. None of them more than three feet in height. Looking at the stones it was obvious they were a ruin of something that had once stood there long ago. MIhir sat on one of the stone and said “See there is no witch or no girl around.”

Pritam nodded as if he had never actually expected to find anyone there, but he knew he was meant to find this place. The small, hidden clearing was covered in a shroud of fallen leaves, and the sweet odor of their decay mixed with the earthy aroma of the clearing to create an eerily familiar smell, the exact same scent that had accompanied my nighttime visitor.

Pritam started searching for any kind of lead or anything odd in that place. Ruma took put a tiffin box. She had brought some food and drinks with her. She offered them but Pritam was not hungry.

Ruma took a bite as she looked at Pritam. She could see how much desperate Pritam was just tpo find a character straight out of a fable story. She might laugh any moment but she didn't want to hurt Pritam's feelings. She asked “ You really thing you can find a witch here? I mean I do not mean to be rude, but can you tell me why you are so anxious to find Kamya?" Pritam looked back at her. “I don't know” his voice sounded somehow disappointed. He was desperate to find either the witch or her servant. Specially after the nightmare he had. He felt like all this was leading to the Witch. He was determined to keep hunting. Pritam thought for a second, then he sat near a stone and leaned against it, twisting his wedding ring. "It's because of my wife, she's...she's in a hospital back home."

Ruma lowered her head in sympathy. "I am so sorry, is it serious?" Pritam nodded “she had a stroke a few months ago.” “A stroke? But she must be very young” Ruma asked back

“Yes she is thirty, as so I am. Doctor told me a stroke can strike down people of any age. She's been in a coma ever since, but her condition has been steadily worsening. And now the doctors...they say she doesn't have much longer."

Ruma and Mihir both glanced at each other. The only question arrived in their mind is “why he is not by her wife's side In this critical moment.” Pritam continued his story "It was only days ago that they gave us the bad news. The doctor met with us in her room and told us to prepare for the worst; there was nothing they could do. My mother-in-law nearly fainted and my sister, who'd been there for both of us the whole time, took her outside the hospital to get some air. "I was alone in the room with my wife and for the first time in my life I prayed, prayed that there was something I could do to save her. And then the woman appeared. "I had seen her there before. She worked at the hospital and was one of the women who came in regularly to clean the room. She had always been friendly and was always asking me if there was anything she could get me. But that day...that day was different. "She came in just like usual, but as soon as she took one look toward my wife's bed I knew something was wrong. She backed up into the sink, knocking everything over, and the look on her face was pure terror. "I jumped up to help her and then she told me what was wrong, told me why she was looking at my wife's bed like she'd seen a ghost. "She said there was a man standing beside my wife, cloaked in darkness with no face, and he was waiting to take her away." Ruma gasped and put her hand to her mouth. "the bogeyman?!" Pritam nodded his head. He continued again “the woman told me this dark man -- who I couldn't see -- was waiting by my wife's bedside, waiting to take her away. And then she grabbed my hands and her words...the way she spoke them...sent a chill through me. It wasn't like she was talking; it was like someone was talking through her. She told me that there was only one way my wife and I would ever be together again. I had to travel to the village of Lohitang and find the witch Kamya."' Ruma shivered as she listened to my tale. "But Kamya...she is only a folktale.” "So people keep telling me, but last night I...I thought I dreamt of her. And then this morning when your grandmother said that she'd seen her servant, and now these stones. It just feels like everything is leading me toward her." Pritam spoke softly.

Mihir shook his head in disbelief. "Please, my grandma mind plays tricks on her. And you are hearing and seeing what you want to believe. But believe me -- Kamya does not exist. She never did. Go home and be with your wife, not only for her but for your family. I do not mean to be harsh, but I think it was foolish to leave her side to chase that woman's tale." Pritam shook his head. He knew every word the woman in the hospital had said was true because this wasn't the first time he had crossed that strange faceless dark man's path, and this wasn't the first time he had come to take someone. Pritam's mother was acting weird just before few days of her death. Most of the time she used to lock herself in her room. She would scream all of sudden without a reason and always talked about a man without a face was there in her room. Doctor told Pritam that his mother is suffering from delusional disorder. Now Pritam could relate things. She was not ill she was telling it all truth. When his mother was near to death, she was scared and looking at a corner in her room like she could see someone. She was murmuring “Pritam please hold my hand. He will take me away from you please don't let me go” Pritam couldn't help but held his mother's hand on her last breath.

So when the hospital woman told him about the dark faceless man watching and waiting for his wife he knew exactly who she meant, her description was identical to the one his mother had given him. And he knew there was no way he was going to just sit idly by and let him take one more person that he loved away from him. However they waited there for next few moments and then headed back to their cottage. When they returned home, they found Jamuna on her knees in her room searching through books and photos that were scattered on the floor. “grandma what are you doing?” Mihir asked. The old woman looked back at him and showed him a picture. The photo was curled and damaged from the edges. We all peered at it together. The photo was black and white and showed five scared young girls, all in their teens, flanked by four men in uniform.

“Who are they?” Pritam asked. “they are british soldiers..” mihir spoke back.

Jamuna pointed out on a girl in the middle letting them know that it was her and then she pointed at another girl standing far left and told them it was the girl she had seen last night through the kitchen door, the witch's servant. Pritam had a close look on the photo. The girl jamuna called as the witch's servant, her face was covered by a black scarf but her eyes were haunting like they were straight looking at Pritam.

Mihir asked his grandmother where she'd found the photo and she explained that a friend had given it to her after the country got its independence from British governance. Then Jamuna started speaking about that day when she met the girl for the first time. Mihir was translating each and every word jamuna was speaking. “It was almost 75 years back when the British army was ruling over the country. One day few british man dressed in uniform came to the village. They told everyone that they were looking for collaborators. They rounded up 4 teen-aged girls along with the pointing guns at their parents. The villagers knew why they were taking those girls for. I was among one of those four girls.”

“four girls? But there are five girls in the photo?” Pritam interrupted Jamuna nodded her head as if she could understand his words. She continued her story and Mihir continued transaling…..

“So when the soldiers were taking us to their nearest headquarters, a girl joined us in the midst. She came out of the forest. A black scarf was wrapped tight around her face. Only her eyes were visible.We had no idea who she was. The soldiers didn't even noticed her arrival.

We were taken inside a small house. A soldier took us into the cellar. But before they did they forced us to pose for this photo, as a trophy. we had no idea who this strange girl was, as we had never seen her before. But we were all terrified and had no time to worry about where she had come from, we were far more afraid of what was about to happen to us at the hands of the soldiers. We could hear them upstairs, getting drunk, but the strange girl just sat there not saying a word..as she was waiting for something.. And then the soldiers finally opened that cellar door, and we knew they were finally coming to get us. We all screamed. But that girl didn't . She stepped right in front of the four of us, shielding us from them. And then she pulled her scarf aside...the soldiers went all silent for a while and looked at her like they have seen something alluring..i have never seen a look like that before or since. I couldn't see her face as she was standing in front of us facing her back. I only saw her eyes...such beautiful eyes...and when she removed her scarf they tooked at her, only at her, one of the man held her hand and dragged her upstairs and left the rest of us in the darkness of the cellar. At first it was quiet upstairs, deathly quiet. And then we heard the most terrible noises. Oh, the screams we heard.. it was loud and so scary…like someone was screaming for the life.”

"You heard her screaming?" Pritam asked.

“No it was not her scream. When the sounds finally stopped, one of the girls gathered courage to go check the cellar door. It was unlocked. We went upstairs and it was terrible, so terrible. There was blood everywhere and the soldiers...they were all dead, every single one of them. I tell you, I would not wish their fate on anyone, but those men...they deserved it. We searched for the girl but she was not there..”

“the girl must had shot them with the guns somehow..” Pritam commented.

“No we heard no gunshot. Its Kamya who had answered at her servant's call, to punish the bad men..i swear I had seen her last night standing near the forest. “Jamuna started murmuring herself.

"It is impossible," Mihir said, more to himself than anyone else, "she would be an old woman by now." Jamuna shook her head denying the fact…

Chapter 3

Pritam was utterly confused, whether to believe the fable story of Granma Jamuna or leave Lohitang to stay with his wife Mira. A major part of his mind was still convinced that the Witch had to be real. That dream, and then the Granma's story, all was leading straight to the Witch Kamya. He called his mother in law and inquired about Mira, if her condition is getting better. The answer was disappointing again. Pritam was too stubborn to give up. He decided to visit the stone circle next morning. He won't return until he finds the Witch or her servant. Anyway, they had dinner. Mihir once again told Pritam not to put weight on his grandma's story. Pritam just nodded and moved back into the room. Very soon he felt asleep.

In the middle of the night, Pritam suddenly woke up. The room was unnaturally cold, shivering and dark. He looked at the window. It was opened. But then he saw a figure standing just in front of the window. It was the girl from the photo. The moonlight was illuminating the figure very well to be seen. The witch's servant in her black shawl wrapped around her shoulders and a black scarf wound around her face, watching Pritam with the same haunting eyes. "Who dreams of Kamya?" she whispered, and the moonlight shone in her silvery gray eyes. Pritam tried to answer but seems like the paralysis of the night before had returned and had him in its grip again. He tried to move and felt hidden hands seizing him, pinning him to the bed. And for the first time, He realized he was completely naked.

She stepped from the shadows, letting the moonlight caress her as she approached the bed. He didn't even need to look, but as he tilted his head forward he saw his co*ck was embarrassingly erect. Her eyes lingered on it and then she shrugged her shoulders and her shawl slipped to the floor.

She was completely nude underneath and the full moon highlighted every curve of her nubile body. He couldn't help but watching her as she glided forward, her steps a whisper against the floorboards as she kneeled on the bed. His gaze slid across the arch of her back and the curve of her breast as she reached out and dragged her fingernail across his pale thigh. He gasped at the sensation and she turned to stare at him with those haunting eyes, her face still hidden behind the scarf wrapped around her like a shroud. "Who dreams of Kamya?" she whispered again.

Pritam tried to force out an answer, but only a strangled moan escaped his lips. She turned her attention back to the hardness between his thighs and, as she brushed her soft fingertips delicately along his length of his Pen*s, he arched back uncontrollably in desire, his body was aching for more of her touch. She glided onto the bed, sensuously sliding her leg across Pritam's as she straddled him. Her hand was between both of them, caressing his thick hard member as she watched his eyes. In the moonlight her pale skin seemed ethereal.

He knew he had to be dreaming, grandma jamuna kept telling him so, but the dream seemed so real. Her scent filled his senses, a mixture of morning dew and wildflowers. And the feel of her soft, silky skin against his thighs as she slowly rocked her hips back and forth, rubbing her velvety mound against him, was like nothing he had ever dreamed of. She leaned forward and pressed her breast against his mouth. His tongue, drawn toward it like a magnet, flicked lightly across her hard nipples. And as he savored the sweet sensation she leaned close and whispered for third time: "Who dreams of Kamya?" He twisted his head away from her breast, fighting to answer her; trying to tell her how desperately he needed to find her mistress. But it seemed an invisible force made him mute forever, he felt so powerless. Then she sat up still straddling him as she guided his hard peni*s to her opening with her soft but cold hand. Once she was in position, she lowered herself and sighed as they became one.

The sensation of being inside her seemed so real, yet at the same time so unreal. He had never felt anything like it. The way her body caressed him as she bounced up and down, her flesh shimmering in the moonlight as she rode his swollen co*ck, was the stuff of dreams. She increased her pace, she reached up and slowly started to unwind her dark scarf. Her haunting eyes looked straight at him, and as he watched they slowly started to glow with an eerie green aura. From somewhere deep inside he felt an ancient fear, rising to the surface, warning him to avert his eyes. But he couldn't, seems like her own eyes had made him their prisoner. He tried to twist his body, tried to turn his face away but she was on top of him, riding him, controlling him.

Mesmerized by those bewitching eyes, unable to look away, he watched as something spawned in their depths, something sinister. But as she pulled the scarf away the malevolence in her eyes suddenly faded, and became unexpectedly soft. The scarf fell beside the bed and he was gazing into the dark, the next moment, he saw brown eyes of the woman he loved. The witch's servant was gone and his wife was above him, her hands on his chest and a smile on her lips as she rode him wild and passionate. He went to speak her name but she pressed her finger to his lips to stop him, and then leaned forward and whispered.

“Wake up!” a voice that he heard out of nowehere. He sat bolt upright in the bed and reached his arm out as if she was still there, as if he could wrap it around her waist and pull her close to him. But she was gone. She had never been there. It had all been a dream, a painfully real dream. His still stiff cock throbbed and his heart ached as he looked around the room, and realized he was all alone. The house was quiet. Outside the window, the first fragments of dawn were piercing the darkness. He sat on the edge of the bed unable to forget the dream. Tears started rolling out of his eyes. He missed his wife's touch, especially after the weird dream he had. When the coma hit his wife, his family and friends wondered if he would find for a new woman, But pritam had never even considered it. His wife was the only woman in his life, the only woman he had ever wanted in his life, until now. He went to the window, hoping to see a young girl with haunting eyes watching him from the edge of the woods. But no one was there, but he was surprised to see a thin dusting of snow had fallen during the night, the first breath of the winter that was coming. And he was surprised to see a light. The front door was ajar downstairs and the light was glowing from inside the cottage spilled out onto the snow, creating a bright quadrangle that stretched into the night and pointed toward the woods like an arrow. And in that light he noticed something else, some footprints on the snow.

He wasted no time as he put on his pants and shocks, wearing a shirt instant. He hurried pas Mihir's room, carefully not to wake him up, tied his shoes and hurried into the night, following the footprints like a trail of bread crumbs. It didn't take long to see who'd made those footprints. It was Mihir's grandmother. Jamuna was far ahead of Pritam, walking through the dark, with a bundle under her arm. Seeing her wrapped in her thick black shawl reminded Pritam that he had forgotten to bring his winter jacket, but the morning cold didn't bother him that much. His entire being was aflame with the hope that she might lead him to the servant of Kamya. He caught up with Jamuna easily but made sure to keep his distance as she picked her way through the trees. Eventually, she made her way to the circle of stones. She reverentially laid her package in the center, opening it to reveal a loaf of bread and a half-full bottle of brandy. She spoke a few words in her local tongue as she stood on the center of the stones, she bowed in thanks and then went back the way she came, a satisfied smile on her face was there.
She didn't notice Pritam, as he was hidden behind a tree as she passed. He waited there, shivering in the early morning as the sun started rising from horizon, melting the carpet of white glistening snow. The sounds of the forest waking were all around him, birds chirping, evoking their mates to start a new day. But still the package was unclaimed at the center of the stone. He waited there more than an hour, the cold was numbing his feet as he rubbed my arms and rocked back and forth, cursing himself for not bringing his jacket. But he stayed there, waiting, watching for the girl, watching for anyone. And then he heard a first gunshot. It echoed through the trees and a flurry of hidden birds burst from the canopy above him, fleeing to safety. Second gunshot was a few moment later, two more shots rang out quick. They came from Pritam's right. He peered in that direction, trying to determine how far away the gun shot sound had been. And suddenly he was startled to see something crashing through the trees toward him. He stepped back as a huge brown bear jumped into the clearing. It roared in pain toward the heavens, blood pouring from its wound, and then that bear collapsed in the center of the stone circle like a sacrifice. The bear's eyes were half open and its breath was shallow. Pritam spotted two gaping wounds in its left shoulder and knew it was dying. He came out of hiding and stepped cautiously toward it, ready to run if it tried to make one last fatal lunge before death came. But the beast, resigned to its fate. It didn't move. It was all silent again and just then he heard a foot step behind him. He looked back, expecting to see a girl with haunting eyes, but no, it was a rifle's muzzle aimed straight at his face. Pritam quickly threw his hands up protectively. There was a man holding the gun. He stepped nearer, screaming in an unknown language as he pressed the cold barrel of the muzzle against forehead. "Please, I -- I don't know what you want! Please don't shoot me. I beg you” Pritam pleaded for his life. He was almost shaking in fear and cold. The man ignored and pushed the gun against his skull and forced Pritam on his knees. Three more men appeared from the jungle. "Please," Pritam said, glancing toward them, "I don't want to cause any trouble. Does anyone speak hindi?" No one answered, but one of the men hurried toward the man holding Pritam captive and barked at him angrily as he pushed the rifle away from Pritam. "Thank you," Pritam said, sighing in relief. He went to stand, but the man who had helped him turned and placed his hand on his shoulder, and pushed him down on the ground. “stay” The man spoke in harsh tone. Pritam stayed quiet. He noticed the other three person was examining the dead bear. Pritam understood they were poachers. They didn't waste a moment and started removing the bear's skin, nails, and other important valuable organs. Pritam couldn't look at that barbarous scenario. He looked away. Few moments passed away as those poachers collected all the vital organs that they needed from the dead bear. Pritam's arms were dead tired from holding them up for too long so he asked if he could put them down. The man holding the rifle answered him by raising his rifle. But then Pritam realized he wasn't aiming at him, he was aiming at someone behind Pritam. Pritam looked back over his shoulder and his heart leapt when he saw a girl. She looked exactly as she had in the old black and white picture that grandma had shown them, exactly as she had in his dream, the servant of Kamya.

Pritam had no idea whether it was grandmother's offering or the appalling butchery in that sacred place that had summoned the girl, but she was there. She stepped into the clearing with a black shawl wrapped around her and a loosely wound black scarf hiding her face. The poachers barked at her in a low, menacing tone, gesturing with his rifle for her to put her hands up. But she ignored him as she walked toward the carcass of the fallen beast and kneeled beside it. She ran her hand over the bear's bloody skin. One of the poacher shouted loud pointing his gun towards the girl and spoke something in an unknown language. For the first time the girl noticed him. She stood up and looked at all of the poachers with her haunting eyes. One of them said something else to her and she shook her head no. He repeated his order again, his gestures making it obvious that he wanted her to remove her scarf, and she shook her head no again. He was becoming more and more agitated, yelling at her as she glared at him defiantly from above her scarf. He suddenly raised his rifle to his shoulder, aiming it at her. Pritam was witnessing all this sitting on his knees. "Hey! You got what you wanted. Leave her alone!" Pritam shouted at the man who was pointing rifle at the girl. But before Pritam could realize anything, something had happened, something that had changed the behavior of that particular poacher. His menace, his anger was replaced by hunger. He suddenly stepped toward the girl, lowering his rifle as he grabbed her scarf and pulled it down. She shrieked as she turned her face to hide it but she was too late, he'd already seen her face. His hand had been in the way, blocking Pritam's view, but whatever he had seen had seemed to momentarily stun him. He stared at her, his mouth agape as she spun away and tried to pull her scarf back into place Pritam thought this was the right moment to make a move. So he jumped on the man holding the rifle. But the man was quick on his reflex. He quickly moved aside and hit on Pritam's head with the butt of his gun. Prirtam fell on the ground being fainted, the last thing he heard before darkness overwhelmed him was the servant of Kamya' screaming loud.

After a while, Pritam opened his eyes. He was not sure how long he was out, but when he opened his eyes to the bright sunlight his head was pounding from the shot he had received from the rifle butt. He was still there on that stone circle place. The place was quiet, except for the sound of the flies buzzing around the bear's remains. He pushed himself to his feet and realized his left hand was sticky with blood, which surprised him and scared him as well. He looked at his left and horror seized him as he realized where the blood had come from. It was from one of the poacher's body that lay dead on the ground. He quickly stepped backward, overcome with revulsion, and started to wipe off the blood over the grass. Pritam looked back again at the poacher's dead body. it was a horrible scene. It seemed all the bloods has spilled out of his openings, making a dry red stains. The thick lines of black blood around his mouth, nose, ears and eyes were like a roadmap, showing that was where his life had spilled away. His eyes and mouth were still open and his final horror, as he realized what fate had in store for him. Pritam then remembered about the girl. He glanced around the clearing, but he already knew she had been gone. The scene was the same as grandmother had described when the British soldiers had come for her years earlier. And he knew that the witch had come once again to protect her servant. Pritam looked around the clearing, hoping for some sign of which direction they had headed in. And that was the moment when he heard some voices, like someone was coming back toward the stone circle. Pritam knew it had to be the other three poachers returning, and he doubted that when they discovered their dead friend they would believe his story that he hadn't killed him, but a witch had. Pritam ran into the wood, heading in the direction the girl had appeared from and hoping it would lead him to her mistress. Those other poachers would surely shot him dead if they catch him. But behind Pritam, he heard a cry of alarm as the poachers discovered their friend's dead body. Then he heard a shout and, looking back through the trees, he realized they'd spotted him and started running behind him. Pritam ran faster, higher up the mountain side, leaping over the dead branches and logs of trees. Pritam knew the poachers knew the forest far better than he did. There was no actual path on which Pritam was running for his life. Very soon he reached near a gigantic rock. He hide behind it and started searching for a suitable place to hide and then he saw a small opening, probably a cave. its mouth was almost completely concealed by underbrush. He threw himself down headfirst and scrambled blindly through the opening on his belly. he was hoping that he wasn't crawling into a bear den or viper nest. He was barely inside when a voice hissed: "Careful!" that same hissing voice that he heard in his dream. It scared him for a moment with surprise and he felt the down deep into the dark cave and realized there was someone beneath him….

Chapter 4

The sudden whisper startled Pritam in a way that he slipped away from the cave opening. While he was falling down, he felt a pair of hand trying to hold him back, but it was too late. Pritam end up holding those hands and pulled them down alongside with him. They tumbled together through the darkness and landed on the ground with a loud sound. Pritam moaned in pain but then he realized, the person who was trying to hold him back was just beneath him. The moment he realized it, he jumped off.

Pritam realized the person was none other than the girl, the witch's servant. A black shawl was wrapped around her body, a black scarf was covering her face except those haunting eyes.

"Are you okay?” Pritam whispered, but she didn't answer him. He put his hand on her breast and leaned close to her mouth to listen if she wasn't breathing. Panic swept through him. He knew he had finally found the girl who could lead him to the witch he had been hunting and somehow, even though it seemed nearly impossible to believe. But he had killed her!! He became very desperate seeing the only hope dying before him. Not knowing what else to do, he clenched his fists together like a mallet and raised them above his head, ready to hammer them down on her chest.

And then he panicked again. Was that the right thing to do? Was it the right way to do a CPR? He had zero first aid training, everything he knew from a YouTube video that appeared on his feed. He pressed his ear against her breast, listening for a heartbeat. He had to be quick on this.

A faint thump echoed through her chest and he sat up. He decided that she probably needed mouth to mouth. He couldn't make out her face in the close darkness, so he reached his hand toward the soft skin of her cheek, hoping to guide himself as he leaned close and pressed his lips against hers. But just before he touched her she coughed violently, her back arching as she desperately gasped for air. Sensing the nearness of Pritam's face, she threw her arm up and knocked it away.

"You're okay. You just had a hard fall," Pritam said, and reached his hand back to comfort her.

But she knocked it away again and hissed at Pritam as she pulled her shawl up around her face and scrambled backwards, trying to get away from him.

"Don't look at me!" she cried.

Though Pritam hadn't been able to see her face at all in the semi-darkness that enveloped them, but as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could just see her silvery-gray eyes as they watched him from above her dark shawl.

"Don't look at me!" she cried again, and turned her face to hide it from Pritam.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." He moved toward her on his hands and knees, hoping to calm her. Then they heard some voices from outside.

They both looked toward the mouth of the cave far above them, and listened as the poachers who'd been pursuing Pritam passed across it. A sense of relief filled him as their voices turned faint and faded into the distance. When they were gone Pritam turned to look back at her, and she pulled her shawl tighter around her face and ducked away again from me.

"Please...don't look at me," she whispered.

Pritam cast his eyes downward, trying not to alarm her, and said, "You have to help me. I need you to take me to Kamya."

She glanced at him, her eyes flashing. And then she turned away again, staring into darkness as she whispered, "I know no one by that name."

"Please, I know that you know her," Pritam said, as he crawled on his hands and knees toward her.

"You have to take me to her. I need her help." Seeing her fallen scarf lying on the ground, He picked it up and went to hand it to her.

She shrunk back from him, pulling her feet toward her as she pressed herself against the cold cave wall. "There is no Kamya. She is only a legend, a fable story!"

Pritam tossed the scarf toward her feet, held his hands up to show her that he didn't meant her no harm , keeping his gaze downward. "Please, I know that you serve the witch and her magic protects you. There's an old woman in the village who told me so. You saved her life more than seventy years ago, yet you haven't aged a day since."

A silence filled the empty darkness. Pritam cautiously lifted his eyes and saw her watching him over her black scarf as she wound it back around her head.

"Even if Kamya did exist ,I couldn't take you to her. You've trapped both of us at the bottom of this cave." She said. Her voice was calm that time.

Pritam stood up and turned away from her, staring up the steep rock face toward the mouth of the cave far above. "No, I'll get us out of here. Don't be afraid. There has to be a way."

He moved along the wall, searching the smooth stone for handholds. But there were none. He also discovered a tiny rivulet of cold water that was flowing down the stone wall, making the surface slippery.

"You are wasting your time," she said. "We will never be able to get back to the top."

Pritam shook his head. "No, there has to be a way...maybe if you stand on my shoulders." But he knew there was no way she would be able to reach the top of the rock face. And even if she could, there was little chance she would be able to climb the rest of the way back up the steep slope toward the cave mouth without sliding back down.

He turned and desperately searched around the cave's wall. As panic started to creep in, he screamed toward the opening above for help and waited as his words echoed hopelessly off the walls surrounding them.

"You fool!" she hissed. "No one will hear you unless it is the poachers returning. And you know what they will do if they find us." An image of their dead friend flashed through Pritam's mind. "But she was there," he said, "back at the camp. He attacked you and Kamya came and saved you."

She laughed. "You do not know what you speak of." "No! I do know! I saw what happened back there. It was the same thing that happened seventy years ago with the soldiers. I know your Mistress witch saved you then and she saved you today. So why can't you just summon her to save us now?" Pritam spoke in one go.

She laughed again, this time even more bitterly. "Is that what you really believe? That a witch swooped in and killed those men? And what do you think will happen now, that she will fly down here on her broom and rescue both of us?" she giggled.

Pritam blinked in confusion, unsure how to reply. Finally, He said, "Yes, I do believe that...well, part of it at least. And I believe that she can save my wife too."

"Your wife? What does your wife have to do with this?" she inquired.

"That's why I'm here. That's why I came to Lohitang..to find your mistress. My wife is dying, but an old woman told me that Kamya could save her."

A silence again filled the cold cave as the girl watched him, her eyes unreadable. When she broke it, she said, "You are right, the witch you seek does exist. But the old woman was wrong. Kamya cannot save anyone. The only thing she ever brings is death, not life."

Pritam refused to believe her; everything else the woman had told him had been true. He fell on his knees in front of the girl. His teeth starting to chatter from the cold of the cave as He pleaded with her. "Please, I need to talk to her. She knows I'm looking for her. She's even visited me in my dreams."

She scoffed. "You have not dreamt of Kamya. it was your mind that created the illusion."

"No, it's true. She came to me in my dreams twice!" Pritam responded.

"Then tell me, what did she look like?" The girl asked immediately. Pritam went to answer, but then he remembered. "No.. no...wait, it was you. You were the one who visited me in my dreams."

Her eyes went wide with surprise, and she whispered, "How could you dream of me when you have never even seen me before today?"

"I have seen you, in and old black and white photo." Pritam spoke with confusion.

"Any photograph with me in it is a dangerous thing. You must promise me if you ever see it again that you will destroy it!" The girl answered.

Pritam nodded in agreement, she said, "You are fortunate to have woken from that dream. Tell me, did you see my face?" "Yes...I mean, no...I saw my wife's face. When you removed your scarf I saw my wife's face."

She turned away from Pritam, staring into the darkness. "There are few men who have ever seen anything other than their own death when that scarf was removed. Your wife's love for you must be very strong if it is her face that you have seen."

"It is, and so is my love for her. That's why I need to find Kamya, to save her."

She looked at Pritam thoughtfully as he kneeled before her, shivering in the icy darkness of that hidden cave.

"How can I save her, when I can't even save you?" she said. It took Pritam a moment to realize what she was telling him, and when he did, it took him even longer to believe it. He had expected the witch he was seeking to be some powerful, ancient crone, not an innocent young girl with haunting eyes.

"You mean...you're Kamya?" Pritam asked.

She bowed her head and hid her face. "Do not call me by that name, it haunts me."

"But if you're really her...I mean, really a witch...isn't there some kind of spell you can cast to get both of us out of here?"

"I am the woman you've been seeking, but I am not a witch. And there is no magic I can do to save either you or your wife from your fates." The girl spoke with her disappointing tone.

"But there has to be!" Pritam said, refusing to accept what she was saying. He tried to grab her wrist, to make her listen to me what he had to say. But as soon as he touched her skin, even for a fraction of second Pritam gasped as a searing sensation fired through his veins like an electric jolt while her eyes flared with an ominous green glow.

"Do not touch me!" she cried, with a hiss in her voice like a cauldron boiling over onto hot coals as she tore her wrist free and scrambled away.

The momentary touch had produced a lot of heat in Pritam's body. The bone-numbing cold that had taken hold of Pritam in that dark cave seemed to melt away. All he could think of was that soft shawl and how it seemed to hug her body, her lithe, warm body. And a sudden urge to tear it away, to have her naked and pinned against the cold stone floor and fu*ck her hard. Pritam's mind was filled by such indecent thoughts all of sudden. The feelings was unnatural but heavenly pleasurable.

He shook his head, forcing the disturbing vision from his mind and thought of his wife, knowing he couldn't risk losing the only chance he had to be with her again. He turned toward the girl, whose eyes were once again silvery-gray as they watched him fearfully from above her shawl, like she had read his mind and knew the dark thoughts that lurked there.

"That you can resist the touch of my skin for even a moment proves how strong your love for your wife truly is," she said, with awe in her voice.

"It is. That's why I need your help. The woman who sent me here told me that, if I found you, my wife and I would finally be together again."

She sadly shook her head. "I would help you if I could, but I can't. It is true what I told you before, I am not a witch. I have no magic." "But just now...when I touched your skin..." Pritam could not finish his sentence as Kamya interrupted. "That is not magic, this is a curse." Kamya answered. Her voice was filled with anger.

"I -- I don't understand." Pritam blinked in confusion.

"Long long ago a powerful witch put a curse on me to make all men desire me, but any man who acts on that desire will be destroyed." Kamya's voice almost broken.

"You mean like back at the clearing...is that what happened?" She nodded slowly, as if the memory of it still weighed on her. "Then maybe this other witch...maybe she's the one the woman meant. Maybe you're supposed to take me to her?"

"The witch who cursed me is thankfully long gone from this world, but even if she wasn't we still wouldn't be able to get to her. You don't seem to understand that we are trapped in this cave. And I fear what will become of you when the cold of the night comes." Pritam was starting to understand what she meant. The eerie warmth from touching her skin had faded and a bone-numbing cold had returned to take its place. He squatted in the center of the cave, hunching himself into a ball as he slipped his arms inside his shirt, hugging himself to keep warm while his teeth chattered uncontrollably. A weak sunlight penetrated the cave, partially dispelling the gloom, but none of its heat reached us.

"I am sorry I cannot help you," Kamya whispered.

Shivering, Pritam said, "Maybe we should huddle together, to keep each other warm."

She quickly shook her head. "You must not come near me. You were lucky to resist the witch's curse the first time. You won't be able to resist it a second time."

To be continued...