The Scenery of Darkness

Fear consumed his mind. The howling of a dozen voices filled the room

They chanted words in an ancient language as they performed a ritual and bowed down to a huge dancing statue

The flames from the touches flickered, casting frightening shadows on the damp walls. It was the dance of death

Imminent. Slow. Desperate

“ Let me go! Oh God, what have I done to deserve this?! ” A man wailed

Slowly, a shadow approached him from under the hood, two eyes glinted with madness and cruelty. His gaze was intense and greedy

“ Be quite! Is this how you meet your death. Accept it. Be humble and respectful while facing your fate! ” The shadow said

Several hands roughly grabbed the man and threw him at the shadow's feet. He leaned over the man with his lips stretched into a smile

There was something terrifying in his grin, which made the man lower his head and burst into tears. Only then he realized that his death was inevitable

Smooth metal flashed in the shadow's hand. He raised his fist, with a dagger in it

“ Take him! Take him! Oh Great One! ” The shadow cried

A scarlet spray splattered the walls and the massive statue. There was a loud scream in the room

The chorus of voices began to sing louder. The shadows continued their dance.Then, there was nothing but darkness and female laughter

≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈

She opened her eyes and sat up startled. She looked around nervously, trying to figure out what was going on

Her head was buzzing as if it had been struck hard. It was hot and the sun was burning mercilessly

She was lying under a canopy, carefully sheltered from the sun's rays. It was noisy and crowded, but no one was paying attention to her

A man leaned over her, staring at her with a searching look. She shuddered, remembering the shadow from her dream

‘ What was that exactly? ’ she thought

She jerked forward, instinctively defending herself. The man deftly dodged her blow while giving her a puzzled look. He frowned, perplexed while their eyes met

Letting out a sigh of relief, she realized that he was a completely different person. His face was calm and his grey eyes were emotionless

‘ Grey eyes? he doesn't seem to be from India ’ she thought

“ Are you Lakshmi Khan? ” The man asked

‘ Wow, he speaks English ’

“ Yes ” Lakshmi replied

Her voice sounded hoarse and uncertain. She cleared her throat, trying to stand up

“ Yes! Laks Khan, that's me ” she said

The man immediately moved closer to her, gently taking her by her elbow and helping her stand up

“ Careful ” he said

“ You got hurt when you fainted ”

“ Fainted? ” Lakshmi gave him a confused look

“ Yes. Don't you remember? ” the man asked

“ I was following you when I saw you faint. The vendor was very scared ”

“ I'm just not sure whether he was scared for you or because you weren't going to buy anything ”

Lakshmi racked her brain trying to remember the moments leading up to her fainting spells. Her gaze fell on the vendor, the owner of the canopy tent under which she was just lying

The elderly man observed them the entire time, smiling

“ Sunstroke! Will the lady buy anything? ”

He spoke to her in Hindi, a language spoken in most of India

Laks looked down at the stall, the jewelry laid out on it gleamed in the sunlight

‘ Such beautiful jewelleries ’

That was why she had ended up in Calcutta's Bazaar. She wanted to get something to remember the city by before going to the British Embassy

“ You said you were following me? ” Laks asked looking back to the man

“ Yes. My name is Harry Jones. I'm a military attaché ”

“ I'll be escorting your task force. Take what you need, and let's get going. They've been waiting for us for quite some time now ” Harry said

The vendor smiled, he clearly didn't want them to leave empty handed

“Take your pick, madam ”

“ Ceylon Sapphires, Kashmir Emeralds, Rubies from Subramanya. Natural, not synthetic ” He grinned

Even though Harry doesn't understand Hindi, he still grimaced at the Vendor's overeager tone