Bombay Shaman: Nightmares at Dadar

PART III - Incomplete Exorcism

Kumaran caught a taxi and headed for Parvathi Hospital. On his way, he remained quiet and closed his eyes, remembering what he had seen earlier in the room: the aura, the orb, the tentacles, and the dark mass. He thought of all the logical reasons of such a demonic act, theoretically formulating the procedure that could've been successfully applied to most of the scenarios.

By the time he reached, it had become dark. Just when he stepped out of the taxi and paid its fare, his phone rung loud. It was Edha.

"Where are you? My shift is over, I'm waiting for you. Are you coming or what?"

"Just arrived. Sorry, blame the damn traffic; missin Chennai already."

He met her at the ground floor reception.

"Take me to the new one first; most of the times, it's easier to exorcize in the earlier stages – plus, it will also give me an idea of the demon's response."

She blinked at him; clearly she was like a net trying to catch the wind. "You're the expert in all this paranormal stuff, let's go."

A man and boy sat outside the room where Edha took him, a deep disturbance hung in the silence about them – the boy, especially, kept wiping his watery eyes, restless in every small movement, restraining himself from breaking down. Their energy levels were considerably down, somewhat similar to the boy's mother; the reason seemed to be more than mere effects of the tragedy that had fell upon their ill fates.

Edha said they were the girl's father and little brother.

They got up on seeing them both approach the room.

"Sir, this is a friend of mine, also in the medical field, he wants to see if he can help." She went about with the same thing.

"Son," the father held his hands, "Please save my daughter."

The brother looked at him from behind, his eyes holding the highest of expectations.

"I will do what I can, your daughter will be fine," Kumaran assured them with his warm smile. "Please wait here while I have a look."

"Okay..." the father took a step back and made way for him.

Kumaran grabbed the strap of his bag and gently opened the door.

The girl had been only admitted near the noon, and already her condition had worsened, physically and spiritually, just like the boy he had seen earlier that morning. The dark orb on her head, the black mass over her heart, the nefarious tentacles, all seemed stronger. She was being drained at a faster rate.

From what he could see, everything was identical. The demon was the same.

He stepped into the room plunged in the dark aura, "Close the door behind ya, Edha."

"I hope this works... I'm already taking a lot of risks for this."

He placed the bag on the floor and knelt in front it. He opened it and took out a small bottle of water.

"What's that?"

"Ganga Jal."

He produced a number of other things: a small box of Kanku, a tiny container of bronze, an amulet, lemon, chilli, garlic, a small thread, a peacock feather, and a paper talisman with the swastika symbol inside an intricate circle of many complicated and holy signs.

"What is all this?"

"Ask me after I'm done, I will tell ya gladly," He held up the amulet to her. "For now, wear this."

"Why?" She took it reluctantly.

"For your protection."

He held the talisman between his palms and chanted a strong, short prayer. He placed the talisman on the girl's stomach.