Chapter 8

Kaul.

It was almost one o clock. Kaul had been sleeping for about an hour. He felt quite refreshed. Time to check out on the others. Just as he exited his hut he saw Anand standing outside about half a furlong away from him.

“Bamos amigo, para coffee?” he said almost half jokingly in Spanish. He was still learning how to speak and would often mix up English and Spanish. Anand did not respond. Kaul stopped smiling. What would Anand be doing standing in the open, out in the cold, staring at the sky. Kaul looked up. Nothing. He approached Anand. He noticed that his breath was cold – it did not form mist when it came in contact with the cold air. He sensed something was wrong and quickened his pace. “Anand are you okay?” He stopped about five feet away from Anand. He looked normal. Only staring up in the sky. “Anand?” he pressed.

Anand lowered his gaze and looked at Kaul. And then turned around. What Kaul now saw would make him regret why he had seen it, or why had he not died after seeing it.

Clinging to Anand’s back was Neenu’s body with her face towards Kaul. Her pupils were dilated like that of a reptile’s and they stretched vertically in her eyes. Kaul took some steps backward, involuntarily at the sight of this grotesque horror. Kaul had always been afraid of reptiles and this was worse. Kaul clasped a stick from the ground and ran in the direction of Tambul’s hut. Where was Parsy? And Tembul? Kaul shouted for Parsy. Nothing. He continued running in the direction of the hut. But what if Parsy too… Kaul looked back. He expected to see that thing standing at the place where he found Anand. He saw it at not more than ten feet from him. And it screamed. The scream was like Neenu screaming at the top of her voice. It certainly was not friendly. Kaul decided to run faster. The hut was no shelter. He could eventually find a way to his jypsy. He ran off in the woods and the thing followed him.

Parsy.

Parsy woke up at five past two. He was more than pleased with his siesta. The angithi was still lighted and he was refreshed. There was no one in the hut. He guessed everyone would be in one of the guest huts. They must have decided to leave him sleeping in peace and rather be having a gala time there. He fumbled the pockets of his jacket and checked his wallet and flashlight. He almost woke up on time. It would take them another half hour down to the jypsy. And another one hour and a half to Kimpri. Four. Yes, that was the time Prof. Nathan would reach there too. Perfect.

He ducked down and exited Tembul’s hut. It had started snowing. They would have to make it fast. Why didn’t they wake him up? What if the snowfall gets heavier? He walked into Kaul’s hut. It was empty. The water in the brass pot was still hot. He turned around to leave the hut and called out loud “Guys, where are you. We have to leave now.”

He looked for everyone in the remaining huts but found nothing. Certainly, they had not left. Their rucksacks were still in the huts. He had to go back to the gypsy. Maybe they went there. He ran.

He ran as fast as his steps could take him. But where was he going? The woods looked the same in every direction. He was … Lost! Lost? Had they left? But…why? The feeling took time to sink in. It was a quarter past two. The sun was on his right side. Must be towards west. We were heading north. Parsy made a quick judgment, turned toward his right and ran. And then he saw something. From the overhanging roots of a banyan tree, he saw Kaul hanging upside down. He stopped. Made sure that he was seeing right and then ran towards Kaul. Kaul was hanging at such a height that his face in the upside down position came in front of Parsy’s face. “Kaul” he shouted and tried to reach Kaul’s feet high above him in order to untie him. “Kaul? Who did this to you?” he cried half in indignation and half in terror. Kaul wasn’t breathing. There was no way to check his pulse, which they had been taught to do, when they came across an unconscious, not-breathing victim. Kaul’s face was white as if blood had ceased to flow into it. This cant be, Parsy thought, blood should be coming to his head, he is upside down. And then suddenly, without warning, Kaul opened his eyes. “Kaul?” Parsy almost said in a half choked whisper. “Look behind you” a voice slithered from beneath Kaul’s lips.

And he saw it. Anand slowly walked towards him, as if in a trance. And he was carrying Neenu on his back. What was once Neenu, shrieked in a high pitch and wanted to free itself from Anand. As if to… get me. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Kaul opening his mouth wide, too wide for a human and it had in it a black tongue writhing like an earthworm.

Without thinking, Parsy ran. With tears streaming down his face he was shouting for help. Then he realized that he could not run too fast if he continued to shout. Tembul. Maybe Tembul had witnessed all that he had, and ran away too. He would have headed to the village. By the main road Kimpri was an hour and a half. He did not know any shortcuts. He had to find a place to hide form those … things. The jungle did not seem terrifying now; all that was dangerous was what his friends had become. He continued to run past the overgrown grass and the snow…