Chapter 3: Channeling Darkness.
There were several mansions and houses all across the tropical
island. Bobby sat on a small golf cart as the vehicle was driven by one of
Esckezi’s employees. Bobby studied the surroundings very carefully. His host
looked like a man of great affluence.
“Hope you are enjoying the view, Mr. Mehra?” said Esckezi
interrupting Bobby’s thoughts.
“An entire island in the Southern Indian Ocean, big
mansions, an army of servants and private planes, you seem to be quite a rich
man Mr. Esckezi!”
“Indeed. I made all of it with hard work and my curse.”
Bobby raised an eyebrow. “Curse?” he asked.
Esckezi started laughing. “We will discuss it over in a more
comfortable place. The weather gets quite hot around these parts at this time
of the year”
The cart stopped in front of a smaller mansion. Esckezi got
off and talked with a burly looking man. The man nodded and approached Bobby.
“Greetings Sir, I am Javier. I will be your personal
assistant for your time at my master’s abode. For now, please allow me to
direct you to your room.”
Neil looked up at Javier. The man was a walking mountain and
must have been at least six and half feet tall. “I don’t plan to stay long
here. I don’t even have all of my things…”
“Oh! Do not worry, Sir, give me a list of whatever you feel
is missing and I will have it brought to you.”
Bobby looked at the man with surprise. The man took Bobby’s
bags and guided him through the mansion towards his room. The mansion was
perfect in every way imaginable and had the most beautiful interiors Bobby had ever seen.
It even made the Scottish castle appear pale in comparison. Bobby wondered if all the mansions on the island were this beautiful. The man stopped at
a door and opened it.
“This will be your room, Sir. You will find everything that
you need over here. Mr. Esckezi has some
business to attend to and he will meet you at dinner time. We hope you will
make yourself comfortable meanwhile.”
Bobby looked around the place. It wasn’t just a room. It was
a luxurious studio apartment with several rooms. Bobby explored the apartment
and it had everything an average person would ever need. The room outclassed
any premium hotel room Bobby had ever seen. There was peace over here for some
reason. Bobby was no longer seeing his delusions and ghostly figures. Bobby sat
and immediately fell asleep on the bed.
A few hours later, he suddenly woke up and looked at his
watch. It was ten in the night. He had been asleep for seven hours. He got up
and washed his face. He wondered if Mr. Esckezi was waiting for him. He ran to
the front door and opened it. He was shocked to see Javier standing there.
Javier smiled. “Ah, you are up Sir! Should I contact Mr.
Esckezi and let him know that you are free to meet him now?”
“I am sorry. How long did I make you wait here?” said Bobby apologetically.
“I have been here the entire time. It is Mr.
Esckezi’s request that I be at your side at all times.”
“Don’t you have a phone or something? This was such a waste
of time for you.”
Javier smiled. “Don’t worry Sir. I am compensated quite
handsomely for my time. This is the best job I have ever had.”
Javier spoke into a small microphone that was on his collar.
“Yes Sir! We are on our way now.” He then turned to Bobby. “Please follow me.
Mr. Esckezi awaits you in the dining room.”
Bobby followed the man to a large Dining room and Esckezi
was seated there in front of a beautiful dining table. He was now dressed in
formal attire and Bobby quickly brushed his own clothes since they looked
untidy.
Esckezi looked up as Bobby approached the table.“Please feel free to tell Javier whatever you would like to
eat. My chefs will prepare it.”
Bobby requested fried rice and some fruit punch. Javier
walked away. The room was now completely deserted and only Bobby and Esckezi
were present in it.
Esckezi put down a book he had in his hand and said, “Oh
good, we can talk at last.”
Bobby had a large number of questions that he wished he
could ask all at once but he started with one. “Why am I here?”
“Dr. McGraw is one of the people I pay to find special
people. To be honest, you are the only other marked human I have found after
thirty five years.”
“Other? You mean you know more people like me.”
Esckezi laughed and rolled up the sleeve on his right hand
and showed Bobby a scar. Bobby froze for a moment. It resembled his scar but
had a different shape. He stammered, “What…does this…mean?”
“I got this after burning a wraith. Remind you of
something?”
“You are like me.”
“Exactly, however this happened thirty five years ago.”
“You have had that thing for thirty five whole years?” Bobby
sounded alarmed.
“Be Calm, Mr. Mehra. There is no need to panic. I understand exactly what you are going through. After our
little conversation you may probably feel a bit better about yourself.”
“But if you could not find the cure for thirty five years
with all your resources, what can you offer me?”
“Could you do a better job at finding the cure, if say, you
had all of my resources behind you?”
“What do you mean?”
Esckezi smiled and then his face changed into a grim
expression as he leaned back into his chair. “I no longer have the vigor and
the strength I had as a young man, Mr. Mehra. I wish to die in peace without
becoming a mindless apparition. “He paused briefly. “When I was young, I was
perhaps like you- A simple person working as an accountant in Europe. Then one
day, I was camping with my friends in a forest and we were attacked by an
apparition. Two of my friends were killed in that encounter and in panic I
picked up a burning log and threw it at the Wraith. The wraith was reduced to
ashes but not before it marked me. Like you, I started seeing ghosts and
spirits all around me…”
Bobby intervened, “I didn’t see any ghosts on your island
though.”
“That is because I have cleansed the island and guided all
the spirits over here to the other side.”
“By other side do you mean after life?”
“Most of them went into the afterlife but some remain in our
world. There is a small spirit village on the other side of this island. The
ghosts usually stay there and don’t venture far into the island.”
“All of this sounds…weird. I frankly find it hard to believe
any of it.”
“Mr. Mehra, this island used to be a burial ground for the
soldiers of World War two. There were some hundred and eighty ghosts over here.
Now only forty remain. They reside in the spirit village I create and don't roam around the island.”
“How did you manage to do all of that?”
Esckezi smiled and leaned forward, “This curse comes with a
blessing. You have a massive amount of dark energy within you. If you learn how
to use that energy, you could be a powerful being with a lot supernatural
abilities Mr. Mehra.”
Bobby stared in shock as he saw what Esckezi was doing in
front of him. The book that Esckezi was reading was floating in the air and
apparently it was Esckezi’s doing.
“Does telekinesis interest you Mr. Mehra?” asked Esckezi as
the book dropped back on the table.
“How did you do that? That has to be a magician’s trick.”
“Oh I assure you. It was no trick.” Esckezi got up from his
chair and looked at Bobby with a menacing smile. Bobby felt lighter and he
suddenly rose into the air like a balloon. This frightened him even more.
“What is happening? Put me down.”
Bobby then gently descended back to his chair.
Esckezi looked composed and completely in control. “You see
Mr. Mehra, thirty five years is a long time. I travelled the world, made a
massive fortune and learnt a lot of things in that time. The only thing I couldn’t
find is a way to remove this curse and that is why you are here.”
“Huh?”
“I offer you all my knowledge and all my resources if you
can find a cure to this condition. It is a good offer Mr. Mehra, you will have more wealth than you can
dream of and you would never have to worry about making ends meet. You would
also get to visit certain places around the world which you could not have otherwise
visited as a freelance photographer. ”
“What is the catch? It sounds too generous to be true?”
Esckezi looked at Bobby and said, “All I want from you is
the cure and that you heal me of this condition.”
Javier and a few other men brought in food and it was served
to the two men.
Esckezi signaled the men to leave them alone. He then looked
at Bobby. “Now let us eat, take your time and think over my deal, Mr. Mehra.”
Bobby wondered whether a cure truly existed and what if it
was good enough to cure only one person. He could see that despite being a
billionaire, Esckezi had sadness and desperation within him. “If I find a cure
buddy, I am dispelling myself of this curse first.” He thought.
After finishing his meal he looked at Esckezi directly and
said, “I don’t have much of a choice here Mr. Esckezi. With your knowledge and
resources I would probably do better than what I would have done on my own.”
Esckezi smiled gently. “You are a wise man, Mr. Mehra. Now
please go and get yourself a good night’s sleep. From tomorrow I shall teach
you everything I know about dark energy. You are lucky to have me as your
benefactor. I gathered all my skills learning from different masters around the
world. It took me many years - From the sages on the Himalayas to the monks in
China, from the Pagan scholars in Scotland to the shamans of Native America,
from the witch Doctors of Africa to the last Mayan mages. It has been a long
journey but hopefully I can teach all of it to you in a shorter time.”
Bobby gulped as he drank water. He still hoped that all of
this was a bad dream but it wasn’t.
As Bobby was preparing to return to his room, he felt uneasy
and felt a cold chill in the dining room. He saw a pale man wearing a helmet
floating in the air towards him. He immediately realized that it was another
ghost.
The apparition came close to Bobby and said, “Who would you
be? There is so much darkness around you.” The apparition then floated toward
Esckezi who was calmly sipping his wine. “What is this Esckezi? You found
another one like yourself?”
Esckezi wiped his mouth and replied, “Indeed, Captain Riker and what brings you here?”
Bobby noted that the ghost had a hole on his chest and had
some sort of a military uniform on him.“Probably a dead soldier,” He thought.
“That old fool Captain Kelly is playing politics at the
base. He wants to be the only commanding officer around. We are both Captains and he cannot
pretend to be my superior.”
Esckezi shrugged his head in disappointment. “You men have
been dead for almost three quarters of a century. Haven’t you even tried to be
a little friendly with each other in all that time?”
The ghost did not find Esckezi’s answer satisfying. “I hate Kelly’s
attitude. He was full of himself even when we were alive. I demand you
arbitrate and resolve this issue once and for all.”
“All right Riker, I will try to be there next Sunday. Till
then I expect you hundred year old gentlemen to behave.”
“Who are you calling hundred years old? I was twenty
five when I died. I am still the same.”
The ghost vanished and the chills vanished.
Bobby found his voice and said, “You said the spirits from
the village don’t come here.”
“They do drop in without invites sometimes. They usually
prefer to avoid me. Dark energy is so unpleasant for those poor souls.”
“That ghost soldier man didn’t look like a hundred year old man. He looked
twenty five as he claimed.”
“Ghosts don’t age Bobby. Their visage remains the same as
the time they died. Captain Riker will always look like the fine young man that he was when he died on the battlefield.”
“Why is he still in this realm? Shouldn’t he be in after
life?”
Esckezi laughed and walked up to Bobby. “Some spirits
themselves don’t know what they want and tend to stay in our realm for decades
or even centuries. Hopefully, I can help these soldiers find their way to the
other side before I die.”
Bobby returned to his room and lied on his bed looking at
the Ceiling. The room was dark but he could see things clearly. He wondered
whether the ability to see in the dark came with the curse too. It would make sense.
He thought about the
incidents he had faced so far. He remembered the ghosts he saw at the airport, his
house, in the sea and the ghost of the soldier in the dining room. He felt very
cold and drew a blanket over him. He thought it was funny feeling cold on a
tropical island in summer.
Bobby realized that life will no longer be normal. He cannot
go back to his old life. He must find a cure to his condition in order to prevent
being transformed into a wraith after his death.
The next morning was a warm one as Esckezi appeared wearing
beach clothes again.
“We are going to the beach Bobby. It is the best place to
start your training.”
Bobby nodded with a hum as they slowly walked their way to
the beach. There were many rocks near the small beach. Esckezi sat over one and signaled Bobby to sit
down on one too.
“Now Bobby, depending on your aptitude, this could take a
few months or even a few years. Once we start there is no going back. Are you
absolutely sure you want to start?”
“You aren’t having second thoughts about your offer, are you
Mr. Esckezi?” Bobby smiled.
“Very well then, for starters I just want you to close your
eyes and think of nothing. Whatever may happen, please do not open your eyes
till I tell you to. Just hear the ocean’s beautiful symphony.”
Bobby closed his eyes and tried to think of nothing. It was
difficult. He would get strange thoughts, hear voices and felt as if he was not
doing justice towards his task. He tried to focus on the waves of the ocean. As
his focus slowly improved he could hear the waves getting louder and louder.
His mind felt a sense of clarity and peace.
Just about then he heard Esckezi.
“Wake up Bobby. That is good enough for day one.”
Bobby opened his eyes and the light hurt him. He noticed that
it was afternoon already and wondered how long had he been meditating. He
didn’t feel the time pass by that fast.
Esckezi smiled and
then said, “Now with your eyes open, try and make the conditions as they were
when you had closed your eyes. When you can hear the waves as clearly, then we
will proceed to the next exercise."
Bobby tried hard but he could not get
himself to be on the same level of clarity as he was with his eyes closed.
At the end of the day
Esckezi told him, “This training had nothing to do with your state. It is a
simple exercise to help you clear your mind. It is essential that you do not
let unnecessary thoughts cloud your mind. We cannot proceed further unless your
mind is completely calm and clear. “
A few days passed but Bobby finally managed to complete this
exercise. It was not easy but Bobby managed to clear his mind
even with his eyes open. His health seemed a bit better and he had slowly
started to accept the changes he was experiencing.
Esckezi stopped Bobby when he was heading to the beach on
his ninth day at the island.
“We are visiting a very special place today. I must ask you
to remain calm whatever happens. Panic ruins things very fast. Today, I will
introduce you to your own dark energy.”
The two men sat on a golf cart but it was driven by Esckezi
this time. Bobby wondered why Esckezi had
chosen to drive himself. As the cart moved through the trails in the
forest, Bobby sensed strange energies around him. The visibility was getting
poorer by the minute and soon they were surrounded by tropical forest and dense
fog. Esckezi seemed to have no trouble driving in the mist as he whistled a
tune and continue to drive.
Bobby could see faces in and out of the fog. Some of them
curious and some of them scared. Suddenly, it hit him where the cart was
heading. The vehicle passed a strange board that read “Fort Newfront”. Bobby
realized that it was the spirit village that Esckezi had discussed on his first
day on the island.”
A familiar apparition emerged from the mists and came towards the cart. Bobby
recognized him as Captain Riker. The ghost said in an assertive tone. “You
finally made it Esckezi. You are four days late.”
Esckezi opened his eyes wide and stared at the apparition."Are you ordering me around, Captain?"
The apparition looked frightened and backed a bit. “I am sorry, I am sorry. I will let you
handle things as you see fit.” Then the Captain disappeared into one of the
trees.
Bobby felt a sudden surge of dark energy around Esckezi.
“What did you do to scare the Captain?”
Esckezi grinned “You felt that, didn’t you? I increased the amount
of dark energy around me and it scared the good Captain away. Most spirits are
easily intimidated by dark energy. It has the potential to rob them of their energy
and leave them in stasis for days, weeks or even years.”
“You said that this was a ghost village but this looks more
like a haunted forest.”
“My dear boy, ghosts can’t make houses. The specters in this
village live inside different trees. This is a village of trees.”
Esckezi drove the cart towards a strange twisted tree and
Bobby again felt a surge in the darkness around Esckezi.
Esckezi turned to him and said, “This
is quite easy when your mind is calm. All that you need to do is have a strong desire
to see beyond the normal and commune with what you see. This causes you to emit
dark energy which in turn allows you see into a hidden dimension. This is how
you see and speak with ghosts.”
“But I already see ghosts.”
Since you are
untrained, your dark energy surges when you are asleep or if your anxiety level
goes up. This is why you are seeing spirits. However, to control the situation around you,
you must learn to control your darkness.”
Esckezi then looked at the twisted tree and shouted angrily,
“Kelly, come out here. I know you are in there.”
A bulky looking ghost slowly emerged from the tree and said,
“What brings you to my humble backyard, Esckezi?”
Bobby sat quietly and observed the ghost interact with Esckezi.
Esckezi roared, “Why are you bullying your unit, Soldier?”
The ghost laughed, “Did that Riker come to you again crying
like the little baby that he is?”
“It is hard to believe that you two were part of the same
unit. As captains, can’t you men share responsibility of your undead unit?”
“Listen Esckezi, Riker was never a soldier, he made his way
up the ranks cause he was one of them fancy talkers with an education. He died
in his first five minutes of actual combat. He could not even take down one man
before he hit the ground. That weakling cannot expect any respect from me.”
“Regardless, you two have the same ranks and this unit was
made to follow joint command. You are expected to respect your fellow
officers.”
“Riker has to earn his respect.” The ghost paused and then
noticed Bobby. “Whoa! What do you have there? Another one of your kind?”
Esckezi whispered to Bobby, “Isn’t he annoying, he bullies
everyone in this camp and wants to be the boss? And he also appears to be a bit condescending. Doesn’t his kind make you
angry?”
As Bobby thought about what Esckezi had told him, he did
feel angry and immediately Captain Kelly backed in fear. “Hey hey, what are you
doing kid? I mean no harm. Please stop releasing your darkness… Esckezi, please
stop him. He will destroy me with that kind of dark energy.”
Esckezi laughed and said, “Listen Kelly, treat Riker like
your little brother and don’t make a mess out of your base. This boy here
doesn’t have much control over his darkness. If you cause chaos again I will
send this boy to have a field day in Camp Newfront.”
The ghost appeared alarmed, “Hey, Hey let us not get down to
threats, Esckezi. I will try to share responsibility with that wimp provided he
doesn’t talk fancy with the unit. We really don’t need a man here who thinks he
is better than the rest of us.”
As Esckezi drove back towards his mansion he noticed Bobby
was quiet. “Not a good first experience?”
Bobby seemed to be in deep thoughts. “I cannot say that our current
experience was normal, Mr. Esckezi. This will take time adjusting to.”
“Your life is no longer the normal life you want it to be.
Try and accept that kiddo and things will be more comfortable.”
Bobby was silent for a few minutes as the cart moved through
the misty forest. “If I don’t have control over my dark energy yet – wasn’t it
dangerous for me to walk among spirits?”
“Why do you think I taught you to pacify your mind first?”
Esckezi smiled as he got off the cart and walked away.He then turned back and said, “You are probably the
strongest being on this island right now. I know it, the spirits know it but
you probably don’t. Try not to feeble and sickly. Don’t let the darkness
control you, learn how to control it instead.”
Bobby looked at the trees around him as Esckezi walked away.
He wondered if they were looking back at him. “This seems like a rather strange
journey. But let’s see where it leads me.” He thought.
Bobby continued to train under Esckezi day after day. He
learnt of things he never thought would exist.
From spiritual to the arcane, Esckezi taught Bobby everything he knew.
Esckezi also put Bobby under a tough physical regimen and taught him how to use
a sword.
Eight months passed in
this manner. Bobby had now become a permanent inhabitant of Esckezi’s Island.
He had seen strange things and learnt of methods which were beyond imagination.
He had made friends with all of the apparitions in Camp Newfront. He had tested
his training on them several times and had even knocked out Captain Kelly for a
couple of weeks.
There was a lot more for Bobby to learn and understand but
Esckezi had given him a good start and strengthened him for the things that
lied ahead.Esckezi finally wanted to put his teaching skills to a test.
He walked towards Bobby on the island’s air strip. Bobby appeared bored. It was
a pleasant winter morning on the tropical island. There was some wind as well.
Esckezi had a mild smile on his face, “Consider this your graduation,
kid. You have managed to endure whatever I threw at you for these past eight
months but I want you to test you in a real life situation.”
Bobby looked confident. “I think I can practically do
anything after spending two months in Camp Newfront.”
Esckezi laughed, “It is difficult to imagine you as the depressed
kid that you were before. You have learned how to channel your dark energy but
now mastering it is a long journey ahead. ”
Javier approached the two men with a lot of suitcases packed
with equipment. “Do you mind me accompanying you, Bobby?”
“Won’t be fun without you Javier. I could use some muscle.”
Bobby turned to Esckezi and asked, “So what exactly is my assignment?”
“I will make it easy
on your first assignment. I have been contacted by a millionaire from your own
country of India. This man owns a mansion in the city of Udaipur. However, he
can’t bring himself to live in it due to paranormal occurrences.”
“Ghosts in the mansion?”
“I suspect. Our client got local priests and holy men to try
and exorcise the ghost but the ghost refuses to leave the premises. Your first
assignment is to successfully guide the ghost to the other side by using all
means necessary.”
“What if our ghost is a wraith?”
“Wraiths are very rare but they unfortunately can hurt you. Since
you are already cursed by a wraith, you can’t be cursed further if you defeat
them. Use that special ritual I taught you for defeating wraiths. Good luck and
don’t wind up dead.” Esckezi laughed.
Bobby frowned. “Don’t worry. I won’t die on my very first
assignment.”
Esckezi turned to Javier and said, “Are the clearances with
the Indian authorities in order? We wouldn’t want any glitches flying over
Indian air space.”
Javier responded, “That has been taken care of. Their
aviation authority has approved our flight plan and granted us a local call sign.
We will fly straight to Udaipur and Mr. Singh will meet us personally.”
“Excellent. Do well everyone.”
Bobby nodded as he walked towards the plane. The past few
months had been weird and unpleasant. Bobby couldn’t say that this was the best
time of his life but at least he had a direction now. He had to put his
abilities to test. “I will do whatever
it takes to find a way to dispel the curse.” He thought as he boarded the
plane.
Javier closed the door as the plane took off for Udaipur in
India.
Esckezi stood alone on the air strip watching the plane till
it vanished from his sight. He smiled and said, “You have been a good student,
kid. I hope you don’t let me down.”
