Time Guard: The Awakening (21st Century) Read online

  “Alright!” replies Tejas, seeing no way to open the temple door.

  Maya and Tejas turn back and take an hour to reach their car, which is parked alongside the road back down the hill.

  “Why would a vulture be guarding a temple door in this freezing weather?” Wonders Tejas, looking at Maya.

  “There is more to this temple than it would seem,” says Maya, almost reading Tejas’ thoughts, as they both drive the SUV back to Guptkashi.

  31st December 2012 10:30 PM | Kedarnath Camp, Guptkashi, India

  With cramped legs and shoulders, Maya rests peacefully under the thick cotton quilt and soon falls asleep.

  Within minutes she finds herself again on the Chopta Mountain, dragging herself uphill with a stick. This time, the weather is different from what she had witnessed. Instead of bright sunshine on a snow-covered hill, the hill is covered with a grass carpet. With strong winds, the weather feels stormy and within minutes it starts to pour. Not sure of which way to go, Maya decides to go uphill, hoping to catch a glimpse of the open entrance to the temple.

  She climbs a few meters uphill and the light soon takes the shape of a hail storm. The sunlight is dim enough to cause a shadow but Maya can clearly see the path ahead. She looks upward and can see a blind turn at the entry point of the village.

  A kid wearing a sweater and jeans stands at the turning point. It doesn’t take much time for her to realise it’s the younger Ranjeet. A strong believer in omens, she believes it is another prophecy. The storm gains strength. She pulls herself onward and starts walking briskly towards the turning point. A gust of wind hits her back as if a helicopter or plane is about to land. She swings back quickly and looks up.

  From the distance, it looks like there is a vulture flying in air. She takes a minute to contemplate its movement. The vulture flies towards her. Soon she realises that it’s the size of a 100seater aeroplane. The vulture opens its claws towards Maya. Maya quickly turns and squats on the ground, shielding her head. The vulture misses Maya. She looks uphill. Ahead on the path stands a small abandoned cottage with a worn-out door. She quickly pulls herself up and starts running towards it. The vulture flies uphill, spiralling around Maya.

  She reaches the hut and quickly runs inside, squeezing herself into one corner. The vulture lands on the hill and slides its claw through the door It scratches the wall with its nails but its giant feet fail to reach Maya, who breathes heavily while squatting in one corner as if trying to reduce her own size.

  Maya stays inside for a while. The storm slowly recedes along with the sound of the vulture. Maya cranes her neck out of the door to confirm that it has gone. She feels relieved to find the way clear, but she can’t see the young Ranjeet anywhere in the hail storm. She starts walking uphill towards the village, protecting her face from the hail.

  After a few minutes of walking, she reaches the same milestone at the entrance of Chopta. She walks further, hoping to see the open entrance and her brother somewhere hiding in the village.

  She walks into the open cottages, where she wipes off her face and pulls hailstones from her hair. Her eyes squint as she looks around in the dark cottages for Ranjeet. Sadly, he is nowhere to be seen. Not even a clue. She walks up further to the temple yard but finds its door closed again. The temple wall, the floor, the tiny stone huts with domes - everything seems to be the same except one thing; the statue of Nandi Bail is missing from the entrance door.

  Maya observes this but ignores the fact. She steps closer to the entrance door and tries to push it open. A subtle push and then a stronger one, but the door doesn’t seem to want to open. She attempts to open it as strongly as possible but fails at every attempt.

  After throwing herself against the door a few times, a tremor grabs her attention. A grunting noise echoes in the valley as if something is coming downhill. She looks around, but the echo confuses her. Next, a few tiny pebbles fall on her head. She steps back and looks uphill behind the temple dome and can see a huge bull, the size of an elephant, running downhill towards the temple.

  Fear grips her again and she starts running towards the temple exit. The bull jumps over the temple dome and lands in the front yard, cracking the floor with its giant feet.

  Maya runs downhill. Scared, she doesn’t look back either. The bull breaks through the temple entrance with its horns and runs towards her.. Due to its giant size, it barely fits in the narrow lane and while following Maya, it scythes off the rooftops with its massive horns.

  Maya runs downhill towards the village exit but the bull is faster than her. It manages to reduce the distance, getting within a few feet. A second before it can trample Maya, the hand of a kid grabs her hand and pulls her into a cottage. The bull runs further downhill, partially tearing off the cottage roof in which Maya is now inside of.

  Maya looks at her rescuer; it’s Ranjeet. Her heart stops pounding, but before she can say anything, Ranjeet signals her to follow him. He quickly steps out of a window to the rear of the cottage. He walks on the nearly invisible path horizontally and reaches the edge of a canal. Maya quietly follows him.

  “Can you see that huge rock on the other side?” Asks the young Ranjeet, pointing a finger towards the other end of the rivulet.

  “Yes, I can!” Exclaims Maya, looking at the stone covered in algae.

  “Pull out that stone and dig parallel to the ground until you reach beneath the temple. The mountain underneath holds a compressed coal ball which is like a cocoon to the black morsel,” he explains.

  “Wait! What am I supposed to do with the black morsel?” Asks Maya.

  “In a few days there will be an instrument placed over the dome of Chandrashila, located on the mountain top. It’s a sundial fixed over an hourglass. Find the black Morsel and place it in the sundial,” replies Ranjeet, pointing a finger uphill. A grunting sound starts in the background.

  “Place it before the next lunar eclipse,” Ranjeet continues.

  “But why?” Asks Maya.

  The grunting sound increases in volume and soon large rocks start flooding downhill. Maya looks uphill, with her heart beating faster than ever. She closes her eyes, looking at the largest rock ever rolling towards her.

  The next moment, she opens her eyes and finds herself in her bed back at the Kedarnath resorts in Guptkashi. She pulls her pillow up, rests it against the back of the bed and sits upright.

  “How does placing a black morsel in an instrument have anything to do with Zaffar?” She wonders, looking at the wall clock, which strikes 2:00 AM.

  “She quickly dials Tejas’ Number. “Tejas, drop a message to the pilot. I want to see the Chandrashilla tomorrow, early morning. Also, asks Rahul to accompany me.”

  “Sure Maya,” Replies Tejas.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 27

  A Bloodbath in Spitalfields Market

  31st December 2012 11:00 AM | Commercial Street, London

  On the 10th floor of a small hotel, Zaffar wakes up in his bed. He slides the curtains open. Through the tall glass window, he surveys the morning sun glowing behind the thin layer of clouds. He takes a deep breath and gazes at the diffused light. Next, he drinks some water and continues to hammer away at the remaining Charnel house bricks.

  With the passing time and with each crushed brick, Zaffar loses hope of finding the sundial. Tired but resolute, he occasionally takes a break in between but avoids stepping out of the hotel room. A cleaner comes over to notify him of complaints from the adjoining rooms. Zaffar stuffs his pocket with two 50 pound notes and orders him to handle it.

  Nine Hours pass. Zaffar can’t see the sunset from the same window but the daylight is fading. He could now strongly feel the time flowing away.

  With fifty bricks crushed to dust, he still had eighteen more to go. He wipes away his sweat, takes a deep breath and starts hammering again. A strike of the hammer on the fifth-third brick makes a sound though, that brings a smile to his face.

  A shiny brass dial with a scratch-free glass compa
ss and a brass triangle hinged to its lid. Zaffar smiles and pulls out hourglass. He verifies it by placing the three screws of sundial over the hourglass grooves, and it correctly fits.

  1st January 2013 4:00 PM | Spitalfields Market, London

  The market is crowded like any other day. A stoutly-built lady with dreadlocks, wearing a fur coat and yoga pants is bent over a stack of printed posters. She fiddles with the thick stack of pages trying to find a poster that is to her liking. Suddenly, she is elbowed by Zaffar, who passes by her and accidently pushes her a bit. She buckles over the carton but manages to balance herself, holding on to the kiosk pillar.

  “That’s rude!” Shouts the lady, glaring at Zaffar.

  Zaffar chooses to ignore her as he walks to the Indian takeaway restaurant.

  “One Kashmiri Kava,” he asks Mrs Zariwala, who is standing at the counter.

  “That would be three pounds,” she replies, beaming at Zaffar.

  Zaffar quietly steps away from the counter. He waits at the benches in front of the Indian Restaurant with his back facing the counter.

  Two Minutes later.

  Two men dressed in black and white, wearing black caps walk over to Mrs. Zariwala’s counter. Their jackets hold walky-talkies and text in blue beneath them, which reads ‘Police’.

  One of the two men shows a video to Mrs. Zariwala, which is an unclear CCTV footage clip of a man dressed in corporate attire near Bishop’s Square.

  “Hi, do you recognize this man?” Asks the cop, as he places a tablet on the counter.

  “No not really,” says Mr. Zariwala, gazing at the tablet.

  “Sudarshan ji, could you please come over,” shouts Mrs. Zariwala, as she looks back towards the kitchen.

  “What’s the matter, officer?” She asks curiously.

  “Someone vandalized the archeological ruins at Bishop’s Square,” says the other cop.

  Sudarshan steps out, picks up the tablet and contemplates the clipping.

  “I think I have seen him. He was here in this market yesterday. He claims he is from Afghanistan,” says Mr. Sudarshan.

  “Do you mind showing us the camera footage?” Asks one of the cops as he glances towards the camera mounted on the etched glass panel behind Mrs. Zariwala.

  Sudarshan asks the cop to step in after hearing his words. A desktop computer with an LCD screen is mounted on the wall just behind the panel. He quickly fiddles through the files and shows a clip to him. The restaurant footage shows Zaffar wearing the same attire as the unknown man in the CCTV footage.

  “He’s the one,” claims one of the cops, pointing his finger at the screen.

  “This fellow is sitting outside waiting for tea!” Exclaims Mrs. Zariwala, after looking at the paused clip.

  The cops quickly take a seat alongside Zaffar and ask him to come along. Zaffar places his hands on the darts strapped on his wrist. He takes a second to look around in the market. The dense crowd are actively shopping in kiosks, people are sitting outside different food outlets. Zaffar decides to hold back.

  “Could you please come with us?” Asks one of the cops.

  Zaffar decides to surrender. One of the cops cuffs his left hand and gestures to him to get up. Seeing no resistance, the cops peacefully walk him to a police patrol car parked outside Spitalfields market.

  The cop holding Zaffar’s handcuffs sits in the rear seat and the other cop takes the driver’s seat.

  Ten minutes later.

  “Oh Man! You just ruined the first day of the New Year,” says the cop in the driver’s seat.

  Zaffar looks at the reflection of his eyes in the car’s rear view mirror, and gives him a cold, expressionless look.

  “I dreamt of getting home on time this evening. I didn’t get the chance to spend time with my daughter on New Year’s Eve either!” Rants the cop driving the car. “I thought I would have supper with my family but now we need to file your papers!”

  Zaffar remains silent and expressionless. He occasionally gives an arrogant stare at the driving cop through his rear view mirror.

  Another ten minutes pass by. The police car stops at the traffic lights near Aldgate station. The driving cop looks at the crowd crossing the road and suddenly he shouts, “Hey Darryl, look its Hailey from the warehouse department standing across the street. Ahh!! I kind of… liked her long hair. She looks awful with this haircut now.”

  A few seconds of silence, and the cop on the front wheel shouts again, “Look, she is walking down the metro stairs!”

  A moment’s pause. “Darryl, are you even listening?” Asks the cop in the driver’s seat. He adjusts the rear-view mirror to look at his fellow colleague’s face.

  Darryl is lying open-mouthed with his head back. His face has turned blue and his mouth is open, with white froth oozing out. The cop in the driver’s seat quickly turns his head to see what has happened to his colleague.

  He gives an aggressive look towards Zaffar. “What did you do him?!” He shouts.

  Zaffar quickly raises his un-cuffed hand and stabs the officer in his neck. The poison dart kills him within a second. Zaffar pulls out the darts from both the dead cops.

  He frisks the dead cop in the rear seat for the keys and quickly uncuffs himself. He then steps out of the police car and walks round to the driver’s seat. He adjusts the dead cop in the seat as if he is still alive, and puts sunglasses over his eyes. Lastly, he pulls out the keys and gently walks away from the car.

  Zaffar heads straight to his hotel and starts packing his belongings. He quickly books a midnight Emirates flight to Lahore and vacates the room.

  1st January 2012 10:00 PM | Spitalfields Market, London

  The high glass roof hall of Spitalfields market looks like a ballroom as the hawkers had packed up their small kiosks and left for the day.

  “Mum, hurry up. I don’t want to miss ‘Britain’s Got Talent’!” Shouts Apra as she stands beside the counter cleaning the glass shelves of the fridge counter. Zaffar steps closer to the counter.

  “Sorry, we are closed for the day,” says Apra, hearing his footsteps.

  “Is your father here?” Asks Zaffar in a calm composed voice.

  “No, he isn’t. He will be here in another twenty minutes,” replies Apra, and turns towards the glass panel to wipe it.

  Zaffar puts his hands on the counter and swiftly jumps in. Apra turns around hearing movement, but Zaffar is fast enough to overpower her. He quickly grabs her by her head and places a hand over her face. He grabs both her wrists with his left hand and pushes her inside the kitchen.

  Shocked, Shefalica stands alongside the counter. She gasps in horror and shudders. “Look… Wait… Don’t hurt her.” She pleads.

  “Stand right there. Don’t you dare shout?” Shouts Zaffar, pointing a knife towards Shefalica.

  Shefalica avoids resistance, thinking that it must be a robbery, and shuffles along the wall.

  Zaffar pushes Apra by her shoulders, and pulls out a thick plastic string from his pocket. He ties Apra’s hands.

  “Look, I know you are angry with what I did,” begs Shefalica “She has caused no harm to you. You can take whatever you want. The cash is right beneath that counter.”

  “You Indians are a bloody disease. You don’t honour your word. You stab people in the back. I’ll purify this planet by getting rid of you,” growls Zaffar, and plunges the knife into Apra’s thigh.

  “Ahhhhh!” Apra screams in pain as a splash of blood fountains out of her deep wound. Zaffar grabs her face again to muffle the noise. Shefalica tries to walk closer, but Zaffar quickly pulls out a knife and points it at her.

  “Don’t you dare move, or she dies,” warns Zaffar.

  He leaves Apra in a pool of blood and takes a step forward towards her mother. Shefalica grabs a jet flame torch and points it at him. Zaffar gives her a nasty grin. He uses his arm to clear the blood drops from his forehead and throws the knife straight towards Shefalica, striking her in chest and rupturing her lung.

  Blood f
ountains out of her chest like a burst bag of water. Gripped with pain, she loses her grip on the jet flame torch and moves towards the front of the shop. She holds herself up on the side counter. Zaffar grabs her by her hair and pushes her alongside her daughter. Shefalica starts to lose consciousness as the wound drains the blood out of her chest. Apra struggles to get up and tries to grab her mother. Zaffar turns around and gives a stern look to the half-dead women.

  “Please, I beg of you!” Cries Apra, as tears mixed with her blood roll down her face.

  Zaffar picks up the flaming torch and walks closer to them. “I came with the idea of killing all three of you. But I think I need to leave a message for your father,” says Zaffar.

  Next, he lights the torch and sets light to Apra’s face. Shefalica could do nothing but watch her daughter burn alive before she bleeds to death.

  Apra is left alive to tell the tale to her father, and Zaffar leaves for Pakistan.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 28

  Excavation at Tungnath Temple

  1st January 2013 11:00 AM | Phata, Uttarakhand

  The chilling, sub-zero wind blows on the face of the landing instructor, who stands on the helipad, guiding a helicopter down. Even with ear defenders, he is still able to hear the grinding noise of helicopter. Maya and Rahul step out of the chopper. Tejas waves to them and asks them to walk towards an SUV parked alongside the helipad.

  Maya sits in the rear seat and Rahul accompanies Tejas in the front.

  “Have you given an overview to Laxmi about what we are doing?” Asks Maya authoritatively, looking at him in the rear view mirror.

  “Yes, your Highness! She is aware of our visit and knows what we are coming for,” replies Tejas Humbly.

  “Who is Laxmi?” Asks Rahul, turning his head back towards rear seat.

  “Laxmi Bisht is an IAS officer heading the Geology and Mining department of Uttarakhand. She is the one who can authorise our excavation activity,” replies Maya.

  1st January 2013 12:00 PM | Guptkashi, Uttarakhand