7 days

September 10 ( Part Two)

‘ Don't…don't touch it’ Mahi whispered.

Ibrahim nodded and stood up.

‘ I…I have a cousin, I can call him. He deal with these things, ' Ibrahim said, clearing his throat.

The three of them stood outside the apartment waiting for Ibrahim's cousin. Simran couldn't bear standing in the same room as that thing.

‘ Who would ..stoop this low?’ Simran asked, wiping her tears.

‘ Mayank. That psycho bastard, I'm going to kill him when this is over’ Ibrahim growled.

‘ But…why would he stoop so low?’ Simran sniffled.

‘ Because he wants to ruin Shubman's life..’ Mahi said.

‘ Simran…maybe you should go home.’ Ibrahim said after a few moments of silence.

Simran, who was seated on the ground, looked up at him and shook her head.

‘It's late… plus these things…it might ….’

‘ I said no.’ she interrupted Ibrahim.

Ibrahim took a deep sigh and looked away. Arguing with her was of no point.

‘ When is he coming?’ Mahi asked, leaning against the wall.

‘ He's close by…maybe you should go home?’ Ibrahim answered.

‘ Who's gonna help you to convince his parents to go through with this?’ Mahi laughed.

‘ Abrar, you're here!’ Ibrahim ran up to a man.

Simran and Mahi watched as a tall, lean man hugged Ibrahim. They exchanged a few words and made their way towards the apartment.

‘ Guys, this is my cousin, Abrar. He is a retired sergeant, he's now a ruqiya healer…a Muslim exorcist’

‘ MS Dhoni…big fan.’ Abrar said and shook his hands.

‘ You watch cricket?’ Mahi asked.

‘ Well….yeah. Who doesn't?’ Abrar smiled widely.

Mahi couldn't help but notice how sharp his upper canine teeth were.

‘ And uh.. this is Simran, Shubman's sister' Ibrahim pointed at Simran who stood in a corner.

Abrar looked in her direction, with piercing hazel eyes, but avoided directly looking at her. He quickly nodded and turned back to Ibrahim.

‘ Where is it?’ Abrar asked.

Ibrahim led him inside the apartment. First him, followed by Abrar and Simran clinging on to Mahi's hand.

They all stood around the broken doll. Abrar put on a pair of gloves and removed a few pieces to reveal a piece of meat wrapped in a black thread. Simran closed her eyes and buried her face against Mahi's shoulder.

‘ What…’ It was all Mahi could say.

‘ Probably a piece of a pig's heart, they usually use it while performing black magic’ Abrar explained.

He untied knots while reciting and revealed a piece of folded paper covered in blood. A few strands of hair fell out as he unfolded the paper. He read the lines written on the paper.

‘ Where is the boy?’ he asked as he got up.

‘ At the hospital…what do you think?’

‘ I need to see him. This…this is done to bind something to him…most probably a jinn’ he sounded serious.

‘ So…what…what do we do now?’ Simran panicked.

‘ We try to summon it…we need to find out why it's attached, who did the binding’ Abrar answered.

He put the contents in a plastic bag and whispered a few things to Ibrahim.

‘ This is…this is going to get scary. Whatever you see in movies, this is going to be ten times worse, you might see and hear things you cannot fathom. The boy might try to hurt you, hurt himself….this is going to change a lot of things in the lives of the people involved in it…’ Abrar said grimly.

‘ No…no no…Mahi, say something!’ Simran screamed.

‘ They are doing this to save him ... .we..we have to be strong’ Mahi gently explained.

‘ We need to shift Shubman out of the hospital. …maybe to the farmhouse, ' Ibrahim said as he made a phone call.

Everyone exited the house and made their way to the hospital.

" Mahi…will you help me talk to the parents?’ Ibrahim asked as they entered the elevator.

‘ Yeah…you can concentrate on other things, I have this covered’ Mahi nodded.

‘ I'm going to get the paperwork ready to shift Shubman…Abrar will meet us directly at the farmhouse’ Ibrahim said and tried to walk to the doctors room.

‘ Wait…’ Simran stopped him.

Ibrahim turned around and looked at her. She looked nervous, not like her usual fierce self.

‘ Yeah?’ Ibrahim asked impatiently.

‘ Does this….does this Abrar guy know what he's doing?’ Simran asked, playing with her purse.

Ibrahim let out a frustrated groan.

‘ Do you seriously think that I'm going to bring some guy in, who doesn't know what he's doing?! I know that you are having a hard time believing all this .. .but Simran, this is what it is. This is happening. This is the only way to save your baby brother’

Ibrahim didn't realize he was yelling until he saw Simran flinch.

‘ I…I'm sorry..I didn't mean to’ Ibrahim stammered and went near her.

‘ I'm… I'm scared. " She burst out crying and hugged Ibrahim.

Ibrahim felt a wave of embarrassment pass through him. He awkwardly stood, not knowing what to do.

‘ What…. what's gonna happen to him?’ her voice was muffled against his chest.

Ibrahim explained a few things, what she might see, what might happen in the room.

‘ Whatever it is…no matter what happens..I promise that I will keep him safe. …I will keep you safe,’ Ibrahim whispered to her.

She looked up at him, her arms still wrapped around him. It was the first time Ibrahim noticed she had a black spot near her lips.

‘ You..you have a black spot..’ Ibrahim quietly said to her.

She nodded, looking confused. It took him that long to notice it.

‘ Maybe that's why they say it…Chand par bhi daag hota hei’ Ibrahim said inside his head.