IMMORTALITY - THE CURSED SPELL

  

"UNNHHH!!!" wheezed Karishma & woke up with a jerk. Her pulse rate was suddenly high & she was perspiring in the cold room. Her heart throbbed as if it might be audible to the person sleeping next to her. "What happened didi?" probed little Richa, who happened to notice the sudden arousal of her sister. Karishma nodded & asked her to go back to sleep.

Karishma had recently met with an accident while road-tripping to Goa with her parents. Her parents couldn't survive & she miraculously survived the treacherous accident as mentioned by the witnesses. After the death of her parents, she shifted to stay with her Nanu's family which included her mama Rakesh Bedi, her mami Kamini Bedi, their little daughter Richa & her nanu Jaswinder Bedi. Her nani had died years ago when Karishma was just 5 years old & had left her a necklace. As told by her nanu, that necklace was ancestral & had been carried forward for ages. From that time onwards Karishma never departed herself from that jewellery. She wore that all the time. It had become her lucky charm.

"You had those nightmares again, didn't you?" inquired Kamini, a very friendly & concerned aunt. "Richa told me you woke up suddenly, all sweaty. Why don't you consult a good psychiatrist for this!" "I can't help it mami. These nightmares have become a part of my life now. Not a single day must have passed without such flashes. But today I saw something that I never had before. I saw myself dead, lying in a coffin all dressed up in some weird looking dress," stated the disturbed girl. Kamini was much concerned now & mentioned everything to her husband & her father-in-law. Karishma had always been a tough girl. And her history stated that she always managed to fool death or any major injury miraculously.

"Karishma, what is this?" asked Rakesh in a tough tone while handing over an envelope to Karishma at the dinner table. The envelope had just arrived through courier which contained the approval letter for Bachelor of Science in Archeology from the University of Cape Town. "Yeah, I had applied for education outside India... Wait... What did you just say? Cape Town? I never applied for Cape Town!" stated Karishma. "That is not my concern Karu. You applied before notifying any of us. If you think you are being a burden on us then to tell you, you are like our own daughter & moreover, we have equally treated you like one since you were born," demanded Rakesh.

"I know mamu. I'm not being any burden on you guys. I applied for it after the accident of my parents. And I simply wanted to escape off. But trust me I never applied for Cape Town. That foolish agent must have goofed up."

“Karishma, come out of it child. You are very dear to us. I have lost my sister, I don’t want to lose you. We love you.”

Rakesh hugged her tightly with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry mamu. I should have talked to you about it. I'll call up the agent & ask him about the cancellation. Moreover, I never opted for CAPE TOWN!"

Karishma called up the agent & thrashed him for his mistake. He checked her application & stated that Cape Town was in fact stated as her priority in the records. Besides, it was non-refundable. Karishma had no choice but to accept it.

"It's okay Karishma. Don't worry. Go ahead & explore the world. Rakesh & I shall be in touch with that agent & see if we can transfer your admission to US or UK," asserted Kamini with warmth. "We don't wish to trap you here. We just want you to consider us as your parents & share everything as you did with your parents. Nothing has changed."

"Be safe & keep us updated with your activities. And don't get yourself involved in unnecessary adventures," demanded Jaswinder. "Nanu, it's archaeology, it's ought to be adventurous. Besides, as long as nani's blessings are with me I'm always safe," winked Karishma while holding the necklace. The departing ceremony was very emotional & Karishma didn't know what to feel about the catastrophe. But she could sense the tension within her nanu's subconsciousness.

At the University of Cape Town, Bachelor of Science, Archaeology - Karishma's freshmen year. She was first reluctant to be friends with her dorm people but their warmth made her comfortable enough. Within a few weeks, Karishma had made quite a bunch of friends. She realized she was happy being there & she agreed to complete her graduation in the same university.

"Hey, look! It's a camping trip to Table Mountain. Who's in?" exclaimed Josh handing out a pamphlet in the break time to the group. "Looks interesting! Furthermore, it's a weekend so no college the next day," asserted Karishma. "So what are we waiting for? Let's enroll for it," stated Oni. Josh & Oni had become Karishma's best friends in Cape Town. Josh Smith was an American & Oni Bello was African from Egypt. Oni had some supernatural powers, she was a witch & only Karishma & Josh knew about it. Oni always told Karishma that there was something weird & unique about her & that her existence was supernatural.

It was getting dark & the campfire was being lit when everybody gathered around for a game of charades. Suddenly out of nowhere a woman dressed in black with a veil covering her face showed up & offered to share a story with the college mates. Though her face wasn't visible she had a charming voice that convinced the youngsters to hear her out in the long night. All the youngsters gathered around her to hear her out.

The charming lady started:

"Long time ago, around 19th century when the country was ruled by the Dutch East India Company, an Indian girl from, now known as, Goa fell in love with a Portuguese comrade named Arsenio Marques. The girl's name was Maya. They decided to get married & came all the way from India to the Cape of Good Hope. They dreamt of starting a family but fate had their dreams crashed. The Britishers declared the war over Dutch & the consequences being they won & Maya lost her love forever in that war. She was captivated by a British Sergeant & had to serve as his mistress. Maya's life was hell. She came with a dream of paradise & landed up being assaulted in hell. All the support she had was a dear friend named Sheila who happened to be a witch. Sheila offered to help her in any way she could. Maya demanded to avenge her husband's death by becoming more powerful. Sheila used her supernatural witch powers & spelled her to face an unexpected fate. Maya died! But her ghost haunted that Sergeant so much that he committed suicide out of brainsickness. And Maya laid there in her coffin dead but never at peace."

There was a weird silence amongst the group. Karishma was stunned by the story that she heard. She started building the flashes of her nightmares with the story that she had just heard. The story kept her wondering, who was telling the story? And whose story was it anyway? The words fluttered and flew in the wind. She stood up to find that lady to know more about her but she was long gone. “What makes you so disturbed Karishma? It was just a story,” consoled Oni. “It was not just a story Oni. They were my dreams. My nightmares to which I wake up trembling. How does she know all these? How am I connected with this? I have to find her,” scorned Karishma. “Hey, relax. Tomorrow we’ll figure out how to get hold of this lady. Right now just sleepover it,” comforted Josh with a hug.

The next day Karishma, Oni & Josh gathered at the campus cafeteria to discuss last night's encounter. They had individually inquired each one of the students present there about the directions of that lady in a black suit, but no-one could direct them. "Can't you do the locator spell to locate her?" asked Karishma to Oni. "It doesn't work unless I have something that belongs to her personally. But I can see it if I can penetrate into your thoughts. So if she's thinking the same thing as you are I might be able to see her whereabouts. But those might not be accurate," stated the smart witch. "I'm ready to do anything to locate her. Help me if you can. You are a resident so you might know all the places around here," pleaded Karishma desperately.

The trio left the cafeteria & proceeded towards Oni's grandma's place as she was powerful enough to do it. They narrated the entire incident to her grandma, Amina. Her grandma was astounded to hear the name, Sheila. She told Oni that Sheila might be their own ancestor as she was a witch that believed in Dark Magic. Amina further stated, "She used to live in a village now known as St. James. I can use your thoughts to assure whether she's the same Sheila that we are talking about. Amina held Karishma's hand & started chanting some spells. She opened her eyes & confirmed that she's the same person she's talking about. She warned the kids, "The place is too dangerous for you to go. As long as I have heard about Sheila she might have cast a spell over her house even after she died. And Karishma, you are no ordinary person. You have escaped death a lot of times. You have to be careful there. I shall be giving you people protection from here. Oni dear, don't involve yourself in the Dark Magic unless necessary."

The trio immediately set off for St. James & reached the place where Amina had directed. Oni channelled the protection spell from her grandma. They came face to face in a very secluded place with a small old hut surrounded by a small garden of dead herbs never seen before. Oni realized those were magical herbs & they were at the right place. Oni tried to open the door but couldn't as it seemed to be locked magically. Suddenly out of nowhere, they heard a voice that startled all three of them, "Trying to break into someone's privacy?" They turned around to face the same woman in the black suit with a veil on her face. She removed the veil on her face. Josh, Oni & Karishma were dumbstruck at the sight. The lady came closer to make them believe what they just saw, "Hi, I am Maya." Karishma was frozen to see a body completely identical to hers. It was as if she was standing in front of the mirror, the only difference being clothes. Karishma gathered the strength from her guts & broke the silence, "What are you?" Maya reverted, "Bad manners! Or should I say, wrong question!" She smiled & moved ahead to open the door of the hut. She invited them in. The trio reluctantly entered the hut. The hut smelled of magical, charming herbs. As soon they entered, Oni felt the protection spell broke its channel. Maya looked at Oni's discomfort & stated, "Oh dear, I forgot to tell you. Your witch channeling wouldn't work in here because all the energy has been focused on something very important here." Karishma could no longer stand her curiosity & intervened, "Listen. Who are you? Why have you been haunting me in my dreams all these years? What do you want from me? And how are you even alive if you are the same Maya of the story?" Maya smiled, "You youngsters these days are so restless & impatient. So many questions! You'll get all your answers but in the remaining part of the story. Sit down & listen to me very carefully. No hocus pocus from the witch & no recordings in your phone. Everything is disabled. You are not allowed to leave unless I permit." The door of the hut suddenly closed & the room was filled with darkness. Maya lit an ancient lamp & started with the remaining part of the story.

I was devastated with the fact that Arsenio was dead, because the spell that I spoke about was already cast by Sheila & it had to be both of us in the spell. Instead, I had to drink it all to myself. Sheila had cast an immortality elixir for both of us. We were to have that. Not many knew that I was pregnant. When the British Sergeant knew he tried to kill my baby as soon as it was born. But I had drunk that elixir while I was pregnant so the baby couldn't be killed. I didn't know what happened to the baby afterward. The Sergeant molested me every day & I couldn't take it so I escaped his place somehow & took shelter in this hut where Sheila lived. Learning about Sheila helping me, the arrogant man ordered his men to burn this hut down with both of us alive. I am immortal so I lived but Sheila was burnt to ashes. Somehow the hut was spelled too so it grew out of the ashes. The first thing I did was avenge Arsenio's & my friend's death. The Sergeant thought I was dead & so did others. They thought I was a ghost & I took advantage of it. He died out of the madness. And I got to live. So I am here, right in front of you living dead since 1814.

“But this doesn’t explain the existence of us being so identical,” asserted Karishma

"The next thing that I'm going to tell is the craziest thing that you might have heard in your lifetime. You are my doppelganger, a spirit double. I went against the rules of Nature when I drank the Immortality Elixir. So, to maintain the balance of nature, it creates a shadow self who can die in place of me. As long as I live on this earth, nature shall continue making my shadow selves to die. Each time my shadow self dies, I die with her & revive all over again. Nature has its own ways of punishing. And now I want to end it. You are my third doppelganger & I had been waiting for you for 100 years. I had kept you safe from all the dangers of your life so that we can meet. You turned up in Cape Town because of me. I changed your priority of universities."

Oni interrupted, "But the immortality elixir has to be used to preserve the body as well to stop aging. Where is the body then?"

Maya smiled at her inquisitiveness & suddenly a coffin showed up. They could swear on their lives it wasn’t their earlier. The coffin was under the protection spell by the spirit of Sheila. A rusted old paper flew into Oni’s hand out of nowhere. She knew it was the spell to open the coffin. And only a descendent witch of Sheila can open it. Oni started chanting the spell & opened it. Karishma was shocked to see the body dressed in the same clothes that she saw in her dreams.

“What do you want from me? How can I help you end it?” asked Karishma.

“The necklace around your neck is mine. It keeps the doppelgangers alive & recreate. To end this lineage, I need to break the spell & die with the necklace,” replied Maya.

"That's impossible. You need to drink the cure to break the spell & die as a human. And the one who makes the elixir is the one who makes the cure. And Sheila is dead with the cure in her heart. It would take a lot of energy to connect with her & make the cure. And it would have dangerous consequences as she needs to possess a human body to do that. And history says once a witch possesses any human body, she would never leave the body in her lifetime," informed Oni.

"You are quite a brilliant witch of your age. But I have spent 200 years figuring out the cure. And I have one. Only if I can trust you I shall reveal it, because I have already been fooled by the previous doppelganger. You need to bind yourselves with a Trust spell with me. I'm sure our brilliant witch can do that," stated the desperate soul. Josh, Oni & Karishma agreed to help her out.

*****

“What was the name of the deceased?” asked Kashiramji Pandit at Haridwar, on the bank of the pious river Ganga. “Maya Sharma,” replied Karishma. Kashiramji Pandit made Karishma do the pious ritual of shraadh, the ritual that the Hindus believe is a must for achieving freedom of the soul from the body.

The cure included stabbing the original doppelganger with the witch’s enchanted dagger by the other doppelganger. Then Karishma incinerated her onto the collection of white oak wood, used in making the Immortality Elixir, along with the necklace that she wore. She collected the ashes & flew down to Haridwar in India, a pious place where the souls find peace & salvation.

Karishma completed the ritual & proceeded to immerse the ashes into the river Ganga. To her astonishment, the necklace revived & floated over the water. She took the necklace & came out.

Maya was now at peace & so was Karishma. They successfully broke the doppelganger spell. She left her necklace in Karishma's possession as a token of gratitude.