Dark Room, Zeenia/Anushka's House.
Piya is biting her nails in anxiety and fear as she sees Zeenia standing in a circle of unlit candles and in the middle of a star drawn with blood on the floor. Zeenia has her eyes closed and she is murmuring some chants with her arms meeting in the lap of her two palms . There are two similar stars drawn in blood in her palms. Piya has been kept at a safe distance from the circle and she is pacing about like a mad bull.
Piya ( muttering to herself )- I hope I didn't do anything foolish by telling Zee to get Anushka to pull us out of this mess! It may require a lot of energy and ' shucks! We don't even know if Anushka would want to come or what state she is in down there.
Zeenia's eyes fly open and her eyes are like glow-ball and white blinding light begins to perforate from her whole body as though the light within the body is shredding the body to threads to blast out. Piya falls back in shock , covering her mouth and her eyes wide in horror'
Piya ( screams)- Zee!
Just then, as soon as the light rays emanate from Zeenia/Anushka's body , all the candles light up with flaring flames on their own and the star that Zeenia is standing on burns in sulphurous flames, engulfing her body. Unaffected, Zeenia raises her hands to the roof and Piya actually sees that there is no roof above! It's the open sky with dark thundering clouds and faces of demons forming in them. They all swoop down on Zeenia '
Zeenia ( raising her arms to touch the demons and the stars in her hands bleeding)- Exorcise me!
The whole quantum of white light rises from Zeenia/Ansuhka's body , going up in the sky and there is blast of light and cursing abuses of demons as the light is taken away by the demons and Zeenia's body collapses like a crumpled cloth to the floor ' blowing out the fire from the star and the flames dying out of the candles'. Piya shudders and screams covering her mouth .
Piya ( running to Zeenia )- Zee!!!!!!!
Piya sees that the body is lying lifeless in a crumpled form and that alarms Piya as she desperately tries to wake her up , looking for her pulse.
Piya(near tears )- Zeenia? Oh no, Zeenia?... ( shaking her)' wake up! Are you okay? Talk to me! 'Zee! Don't scare me like that , please! Look , am sorry .. I will never '
Just then, Zeenia's light brown eyes fly open and the body shudders with a current , letting out a low groan of a woman in pain.
Piya ( relieved)- Zee!
But before Piya can touch her again, she is shocked to see burn marks and bleeding lesions of claws on her body , half the face burnt ' they appear out of nowhere. Piya stands up in shock, drawing away , her hands held to her mouth. Zeenia slowly rises to her feet ' staggering , injured , bleeding , bent and a scary shadow of her original beautiful self. Zeenia lifts her eyes to Piya's face. Piya looks into those eyes and a look of slow shocked realization comes on her face ' that seductive playful glint of Zeenia's eyes is replaced by a staid , deep, intelligent and magical intensity. Piya , her mouth shivering with unsaid emotions and grief and tears rolling down her cheeks, she runs into the bleeding woman's arms
Piya ( hugging her with all the emotion of the moment )- ANUSHKA!... Its you! '.( breaking down)' I can't believe its you! You came back' ( looks at Anushka's decaying body )'. What' what's happened to you? For heaven's sake , tell me what have they done to you! '.You are'.DECAYING!
Anushka ( smiles through her tears as she lovingly touches Piya's face with her shaky hands )- I am paying, Piya. I have to break the curse, right? Release myself from the curse of the mistress of spices. '.( looks at her own body and shakes her head )' these wounds are on my soul , not my body. Its protected with Zeenia.
Piya ( holding Anushka by her shoulders )- Y-You found her? She has done all this to you? 'Come back!You can find another way , you'
Anushka ( calming Piya )- No, no, no. I have to do my retribution, Piya. I am a Sapphire Witch . I cannot break the laws . I have already done it for Abhay . Let me correct what I can'. The mistress has put me into a circle of barbaric demons' they are eating me off and am trying to save myself . If I manage to kill all those demons, I shall be released from the curse. But' ( patting her head )' forget that. Just tell me why you have called me back? And fast. Zeenia is an energy and she is in the atmosphere right now' if she doesn't get the body back , she will disintegrate! All my work and my promise to the mistress will be back to square one! WHAT IS IT?
Piya ( wiping her tears as she realizes the urgency of the situation ) ' Abhay! Its Abhay, Anush. He' he is getting Dj vu of my relationship with him! How is that possible? Your magic is supreme and it was supposed to lock his memories until you undid the spell' ( growing disturbed and desperate )'. Now , he is trying to get the truth out of me. I don't know what to do. Abheer is back and he is aiming for Abhay. How do I stop Abhay from finding out the truth?
Anushka ( thoughtful but not surprised )- Am not surprised.Its the prophecy. His 666th birthday is approaching ' exactly 7.5 months away. His dormant powers are gaining momentum and maybe that is why his subconscious mind has the ability to overrule any kind of '.kind of magic . His powers are taking a toll on him. DAMN!
Piya ( scared )- But, his powers are in that ring , right?
Anushka ( touching Piya's cheek )- The dark powers are concentrated in that ring. You cannot take away the basic strength of Abhay as the potentially most powerful supernatural creature in the world. It is rising because the eclipse is coming. The time of the prophecy is coming. But don't worry.
Piya (worriedly)- Y-You mean he can find out everything on his own? Without us telling him?...Oh, no! If the prophecy is coming true , then, egged by Maithli , he might start looking for the ring as well, Anush!
Anushka ( thoughtfully )- No, Abhay cannot find out anything that we did to him using his supernatural radars. His rising powers can only compete with mine , not overpower them. I mean, he cannot undo what I have done. Not until he learns to concentrate and maneuver his powers , which will not happen until he finds the ring and finds out the truth'.(holds Piya's hands to calm her)'.don't worry. Abhay cannot read your mind , try as hard as he may. He cannot break through the shield. But YOU! Keep your resolve. You don't know how deep Abhay is. If he has the slightest doubt that you or anyone is keeping something from him , he will chase you down to the end of the world to find out the truth!
Piya ( timidly )- And'..Abheer? What do we do about him? He is back in Abhay's life and '.he has picked on Misha for some odd reason!
Anushka's burnt face looks as painful as it must have felt as soon as Abheer's name is mentioned and her hands leave Piya's , trembling.
Flash: A happy Anushka running in fields and Abheer chasing her. Abheer's fascinating green eyes twinkling and his brilliant angelic smile as he hugs her and lifts her in his arms. And then. Abheer stabbing her and throwing her into a well of fire , blowing her a flying kiss as he winks at her'.
Anushka shudders and pulls herself out of Abheer's terrorizing memories.
Anushka ( quietly )- I don't know what Abheer is upto or what he will do. Nobody ever knows. But he is back for Abhay. He is definitely setting up a trap for Abhay that will play out in the 7 months preceding his birthday '.i can't even say that keep an eye on him because' ( her face looks pained )' because what he does and what seems like he is doing are two different things. I don't know what Abheer wants from Misha but she is definitely a part of the game. Zeenia knows what to do to safeguard Misha against Abheer. And for the rest'
Piya ' For the rest?
Anushka ( looking unsure and anxious )- I can only wish you luck. Even the supernatural has its limitations 'and I cannot do much until I come back. And I have no idea when these tests are going to end. To be able to be all powerful and beyond any danger , I need to be released from the curse.
Piya ( looks at Anushka's state and tears fill up in her eyes )- Are you sure you are going to be okay, Anush? They are' the are eating you up down there .
Anushka ( shakes her head )- Somebody lost her life because I was careless . Careless in magic which is not a mistake ' it is a SIN'.( gently hugs Piya )' I will be back, don't worry. And nobody gets to kill Anushka except herself.
Piya ( alarmed )- Herself ?
Anushka ( smiles )- Some other time. Its time for me to go. Or else Zeenia will disintegrate if the weather changes. And remember. You don't need power to save Abhay. Love will do. Its enough!
Piya ( confused )- But'..
Just then, Piya is thrown away as Anushka raises her hands to the sky and the room gets filled with blinding light.
Anushka ( screams )- Exorcise!
Piya feels her head going dizzy and slumps against the wall to avoid fainting with a thud and she sees the light concentrate into a ball of light and enter Anushka's body. In front of Piya , normalcy returns to the room and Anushka kneels down, putting her palms to the ground ' the burn marks , the blood lesions , the cuts and the injuries disappear ' replaced by her original alabaster skin ' flawless and beautiful. She breathes as if life has just been blown into her . She opens her big almond eyes and looks at Piya.
Piya ( relieved )- Zee'.
Zeenia nods and stands up on her feet. Piya walks up to her.
Zeenia ( still catching her breath )- It was risky! We cannot do this again, Piya. We cannot call Anushka like that ' we have to wait for her return, whenever it is. I almost felt that I would disintegrate into atoms and molecules !...( kicks the candles out of her way and sits on a couch )'.SAVED! Seriously. Anyway, did Anushka's witchy boo boo helped?
Piya ( shrugs her shoulders )- Yes and no. I mean the kind of situation we are in, magic is only a tool. It cannot work wonders for us. We have to rely on our brains and instincts. I have to be careful around Abhay and all of us have to be careful around Abheer. Protecting Misha is FOREMOST.
Zeenia ( looks at the wall clock )- Don't worry. We have a solution to keep Abby's sexy hands off our choco pie. Sam must be on his way with Tanzie.
Piya ( doubtfully )- T cannot be trusted, Zee. She is a loose cannon in a way . And a BOLSHVA.
Zeenia ( pouring herself some rum )- I know. I never said that we are going to trust that 65 kg , 5'9 inches peach complexioned , rose mouthed gorgeous fanged bombshell? Eeps, I sound like a lesbian, suddenly. Oh , well. All I know is that Tanushree will do anything for Sam. I don't know the reason but this Bolshie will do anything for the grey eyed wolf in question.
Piya ( nods )- I wonder why'
Just then, the doorbell rings and Zeenia gets up. She hurriedly checks herself in the mirror , confusing Piya.
Piya ( twitching her eye brows )- Zee? Open the door, woman. Why are you looking in the mirror?
Zeenia ( tosses her head smugly as she fixes her hair)- The Anushka encounter kinda spoiled the perfect ironed out look. Anushka is beautiful but its me who is guarding the Taj Mahal! Hee hee.
Piya rolls her eyes and shakes her head as Zeenia goes to open the door.
Piya ( to herself )- Who will say that we are just out of a dangerous supernatural encounter where this chick could have actually turned into atoms and molecules !
Zeenia opens the door and we have Sambhav looking at her quizzically and Tanushree giving her an unsure smile. Zeenia moves from the door and giving them a big smile, she ushers them in.
Sambhav ( looking at the candles and the blood star )- Whoa! What was happening here? Some witchy hocus pocus , hmm?
Zeenia ( ignoring Sam )- I was summoning aliens dahling so that the agree to kidnap Abheer , mate with him and produce hideous looking offsprings so that Abheer dies of a brain hemorrhage! Hee ho!... ( Sambhav looks at Piya and Piya blinks her eyes innocently at him as though she knows nothing )' Hello, Miss. Ambolkar . What blood will you like to have? A+, B+, B- ?
T ( feels offended )- Excuse me?
Sambhav ( pinches Zeenia )- NO-NO! She was just being .. umm.. friendly. Funny you know.
Piya ( handling the situation )- Hi T. Don't mind her. Come on in. Thank you so much' I mean, I know it is not easy for you. Infact , you didn't even have to do it but you still came for Misha.
T ( smiles )- Its not a big deal, really. I mean Misha is my friend. And I have heard what a hound Abheer is'..if there is anything I can do to protect her against him, its my moral duty. But the question is what am I supposed to do.
Sambhav ( looking around )- More important than that is the question is that where is Misha? All this hard work is for her.
Zeenia- She will be here in 15 minutes. She had a hard time convincing her parents that she needs to stay at my place tonight as am unwell. She is on her way. Meanwhile let me , make the arrangements.
As the three of them see, Zeenia goes inside and then, she comes out with a glass bowl, a butcher's knife with dried blood on it , its handle tied in black and white threads. She moves the curtains apart and the moonlight spills in. She pushes a table towards the window and puts the stuff that she has brought on the table. She puts two chairs in opposite directions. Then, she opens a drawer and pulls out a slim crystal miniature bottle kept in a black velvet box. She places it carefully on the table.
Piya ( curiously )- What are we going to do exactly?
Zeenia ' Not 'we'. Me and Tanushree.
Just then, Misha walks in carrying a bag of night clothes. She looks hassled and irritated as she walks in , giving a weak and forced smile to Sambhav and T as they give her a group hug.
Sambhav ( lifting Misha's face up )- You okay?
T ( reading her )- Don't let him do that, Misha. Get him out of your head.
Misha ( throwing the bag on a sofa and looking upset )- I can't. I just can't. I have been thinking of him ever since I laid my eyes on him. Its not something that is under my control. I am thinking about him, I am imagining him- its utter madness! Give me selective amnesia someone!
Piya ( putting an arm around Misha's shoulder and holding her close )- Its not your fault, Misha. Didn't Abhay tell you that, hmm? Abheer is weaving a web around you ' and you are reacting accordingly.
Sambhav ( seriously )- Misha , you CANNOT be attracted to him. What is wrong with you? How can you not fight a man's advances and thoughts ? Or is it that you actually don' t want to stop thinking about him' ( realizing that he is talking crap in a fit of underlying jealousy )' I mean, nobody has that affect in you!
Misha ( disgusted )- Sam! Aren't you supposed to be a 500+ year old werewolf who knows the supernatural and Abheer as well? How can you even think on those lines?
Zeenia ( seriously )- Stop acting like a jealous teen boyfriend, Sammy. What are you trying to suggest ? Are you out of your mind?
T ( calling it a ceasefire and pressing Sambhav's arm )- Umm' can we get on with the ritual please? There is no time to waste . I have blocked out the Bolshvas in case they try to look for me. They won't but in case they try to reach me and find out that I have blocked them out , they will know am upto something.
Sambhav kind of feels uneasy and ashamed of himself and Misha looks clearly disappointed in him.
Zeenia goes and stands in the moonlight. She beckons Tanushree and Misha to come and sit on the chairs. They do as told. Sambhav and Piya look on , curiously , their hearts beating loud.
Zeenia ( calmly )- T, we have called you here so that we can create a shield for Misha that will at least deflect all the psychological and emotional energy that Abheer will direct towards her. Your blood. That is what we need. The blood of a Bolshva is a poison that not only kills but enslaves the mind and heart of the victim as well.
T ( not looking at Sambhav but feeling guilt ' struck )- Emotional Energy. That is what our blood gives us ' we can maneuver anyone without them realizing it.
Piya ( curiously )- And it is compounded in you because you are a mutant Bolshva. Right?
T nods.
Misha ( anxiously )- So, what are you going to do to T? I mean , are you going to make me drink her blood? Inject it into me? NO!
T( alarmed)- No way! Misha cannot drink Huraan! She'll die.
Zeenia ( rolls her eyes)- Dramatic dolls! Women, listen to me and that too quietly. Tanushree will cut her veins with this charmed knife ' she will pour her blood into this glass bowl ' put it in this crystal vial . She will tie it in a silver chain on Misha's wrist and T's blood will ward off all the hypnosis that Abheer can direct on her.
Misha ( worriedly )- But silver can burn her!
Zeenia ( looks at T )- No,it won't. Don't worry. It's a ritual of healing chants and they protect. Are you ready, T?
T nods. Zeenia goes and stands behind a sitting T. She closes her eyes and starts murmuring chants with a thousand invisible voices joining her in ' creating a surreal atmosphere of heavenly peace.
Piya ( whispering to Sam )- Its not just Zee's voice , alone. Who are they?
Sambhav ( quietly )- Spirits of dead witches. Zee is amassing the powers of all witches using Anushka's voice.
Tanushree picks up the knife and laying her wrist on the table, she slashes her wrist . Her black blood spurts out. Sambhav feels a lurch in his heart looking at her bleeding wrist and almost steps forward to see her wound but a shocked Piya holds him back. She reads the melting concern in his eyes and it strikes her. She shakes her head at Sambhav and he stands back.
Tanushree holds her wrist above the glass bowl and the fall of the moonlight makes the blood react in an acidic fashion , making her writhe in pain but she doesn't budge. Her face gritty and tears of pain just not daring to spill out of her eyes ' she holds her wrist above the glass bowl. The blood falls into the container'.drop by drop'.
TO BE CONTINUED'.
Edited by Pocahontas - 13 years ago
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