13 - Trayodasha - A Psychological Thriller

13 - Trayodasha A Psychologist Thriller

There is a faint line dividing sanity and psychosis and I am standing on that line. I am standing on the precipice where I must choose my path; to the left is justice, to the right - vengeance.

I have just woken up in a darkened room. My head throbs. I gingerly probe a bump on the back of my head and my fingers come away with a few drops of blood. I must have been out for a few hours. Sitting up slowly, I peer into the gloom.

I wait in the darkness gathering my thoughts and my strength, looking back at the last three years of my quest, the three years that I had spent searching for the 'Shadow' in the rural hinterland. It had all started with a bloodied male corpse, dumped by the roadside; its throat cut almost surgically, the blood drained away. The rest of the body had been unsullied and covered in vermillion from head to toe. Then we had found the woman, dead of course, on the other end of town, her throat slit in a similar manner. It was only when we found the sixth body that I had begun to see the pattern. A small book in Sanskrit possibly dropped by the killer had been our first and only clue. Trayodasha, thirteen, it said on the tattered cover. It was based on some twisted ancient ritual, thirteen deaths to achieve the ultimate power over one's own death. The scholars refused to translate it-it was evil incarnate, they said. They would have nothing to do with it. Nevertheless, I could not ignore such an important lead. I spent all my free time poring over the book, trying to make sense of its message, and in the process, I was drawn so deep into it that it consumed me.

With every body we found, my suspicions were strengthened. I tried out my reasoning with my superiors but they laughed at me, calling me crazy - there was no psychotic killer loose in this part of the country. Who listens to a town cop? I persisted and got transferred from village to village. Only one person believed me-Rani, my deputy, now posted as a constable in the police lines. Together we pored over the book. We knew that book was our guide to catch the killers.

She was the one who pointed out the similarity between the drawings in the book and the rough vermillion design made on the bodies we had found. A rough chakra with a centre point and twelve spokes. We mapped the locations of the bodies and they matched the drawings. Eleven points were full; eleven people were dead before I made the connection. I located the centre, the focal point. The killer had to be there.

I had been waiting at the centre point, outside a rough house made of metal sheets with two possibly three rooms. I thought we would stop them, but they had been smarter. The last thing I remember before I passed out was a sharp blow to my head.

I curse my stupidity in coming here alone. I hope Rani follows my instructions and comes searching for me. I hope she comes in time. The rain falls in waves. I hear it loud and clear, as it falls on the metal roof and runs down into the ground. I am thirsty and hungry. I moisten my cracked lips with my tongue. I wonder if I can lick a few drops of water off the floor. I wonder...

A crack of yellow appears around the edges of what I assume must be the door to my room. Someone had turned on the lights in the next room. Over the noise of the rain, I could just about make out two voices-that gorilla of a man who had attacked me and... a woman. I have finally found her, or, to be more precise, she has found me. This is not good. I struggle to my feet and with arms outstretched walk around in the darkness until I hit a wall. It seems to be made of metal, but rough and corroded. I find an edge and manage to break off a long, rusted piece. I slip it into my pocket, wiping my hands off on my trousers.

The voices grow silent. I stiffen in anticipation. If I rush them as soon as the door opens, I might catch them off guard. However, my hopes are dashed when a clear voice rings out through the door, "Step away from the door and don't try anything foolish! Then maybe you'll learn what you have come to find out-the truth. Okay, Mr Kish?" She knows my name! How does she know my name? I step away from the door as instructed.