Saagar said, "Told you, for him it's just a big cat."
The tiger got close, but the girls kept a safe distance, still scared.
Neha, trembling, asked, "Abhimanyu, how are you riding a tiger?"
Abhimanyu said, "Don't be afraid, it's just a big cat."
Rihana, still trembling, asked, "Why is it letting you ride it?"
Abhimanyu explained, "It was about to fall into a river off a cliff and was hanging onto a vine. I saved it, and now it's grateful."
Sonalika said, "Grateful? Is it human to feel gratitude?"
Abhimanyu said, "Tigers are very loyal and proud. Isn't that right?"
The tiger nodded in agreement.
Abhimanyu said, "By the way, I didn't ask your name. What's your name?"
The tiger roared.
Abhimanyu said, "Sher Singh? Are you part of my family? My last name is Singh too, so we're kind of cousins."
The tiger responded in its language, saying its name was Singh because it's a tiger, and in Sanskrit, tigers are called Singh.
Abhimanyu said, "I know, don't act too smart."
The tiger replied in its language, saying it had been smart since childhood.
Rihana said, "Will you stop pretending you can talk to it? I think it's a trained tiger."
Abhimanyu asked, "Trained? Why do you think so?"
Rihana said, "Look at its skin and fur, they're so clean."
Abhimanyu thought to himself, "That's because I healed it."
He said, "Yes, it's my trained tiger. Thought I'd surprise you all. Hey, say hello to everyone."
The tiger raised its paw.
Rihana said, "It seems very smart. How cute!" She then hugged and kissed the tiger.
Abhimanyu thought to himself, "She was terrified a moment ago, and now she's kissing it."
Abhimanyu said, "Ma'am, it's still a non-vegetarian."
Neha and the other girls also came closer and started taking selfies with the tiger.
Abhimanyu lay on the tiger's back and said, "Sher Singh, take me back to the tent."
The tiger, ignoring the girls, started heading back to the tent.
Deeljeet asked Saagar, "Did Abhimanyu really tame a tiger?"
Saagar said, "Yes, it's definitely a wild tiger, but Abhimanyu somehow controlled it."
After a while, everyone was sitting at the camping site and enjoying. The boys were sitting near the food, preparing it, while the girls were sitting with the lion.
Saagar asked, "So Abhimanyu, tell me honestly, this isn't a pet, is it?"
Abhimanyu replied, "I don't know; it doesn't seem wild."
Deeljeet said, "Even I feel like it's a pet based on its behavior."
Abhimanyu questioned, "But how did it end up in the jungle?"
Just then, some people emerged from the jungle. Sher Singh, seeing them, got angry but didn't do anything; he just growled loudly. The leader of those men had a whip in his hand.
The leader started approaching the lion. Just then, Neha stepped in between and asked, "Who are you people?"
The leader replied, "We are from the circus, and this is our pet lion, Shera."
Neha looked at Abhimanyu.
Abhimanyu walked calmly towards them and asked, "What is the name of your circus, and where is the next show?"
The leader said, "Why do you need to know?"
Abhimanyu said, "Because you are calling my trained Sher Singh as Shera."
The leader replied, "Nonsense, this is our Shera." He then yelled at Sher Singh, "Shera, come here."
But Sher Singh didn't move from his place.
The leader stared into Abhimanyu's eyes and said, "I am telling you, this is my Shera."
Abhimanyu also stared back at him and said, "This is Sher Singh, and now quietly leave from here."
The man turned and left with his men without saying anything. Abhimanyu watched them leave and noticed a sword sheath strapped to their backs, indicating that they all had swords.
Abhimanyu, smiling to himself, thought, "He tried to hypnotize me, but why are these people so keen on this ordinary lion? Something is fishy." With this thought, he started staring at Sher Singh.
Sher Singh, seeing Abhimanyu, got nervous and looked around.
Neha asked, "Abhi, what just happened?"
Abhimanyu said, "Nothing, maybe they realized this isn't their Shera. Come on everyone, let's enjoy our camping."
On the other hand, when those people reached far enough, everyone was looking at their leader but didn't say anything. One man couldn't bear the silence and asked, "Boss, why did you leave without saying anything?"
But the leader didn't respond.
The man asked again, "Boss!"
When the leader didn't respond the second time either, the man felt something was wrong. He grabbed the leader by the shoulder and shook him, saying, "Boss, boss!"
Just then, the leader took a deep breath, and it seemed like he had just regained consciousness.
The man asked, "Boss, are you alright?"
The leader looked around and asked, "Where are those people, and how did we get here?"
The man said, "What are you saying, boss? You left there without saying anything."
The leader, recalling, said, "I was trying to hypnotize that boy, but somehow, I got hypnotized myself."
The man said, "But boss, how is that possible? The power to hypnotize without chanting spells is unique to you, and you got it after sacrificing many young girls. Has that boy done something similar?"
The leader replied, "Just sacrificing isn't enough; one also needs to master the occult and keep the devil pleased. That boy has some special power."
Just then, black smoke began to surround them...
The man asked, "Boss, what is happening?"
They started hearing a girl's laughter, and a whirlwind of that black smoke began to form around them.
The leader closed his eyes and muttered a mantra. After chanting, an unusual black smoke appeared around him too, which looked like a shadow of a fierce bat but with a human-like body. However, it had no legs. Suddenly, it attacked in one direction but fell to the ground as soon as it hit the smoke. Where it tried to attack, Ramika appeared.
Ramika was the girl whom Abhimanyu had saved from a tantrik (occultist) two years ago during his tour to Uttarakhand.
Ramika, laughing, said, "Now a small-time tantrik will try to kill me, the personal assistant of the Demon Lord?"
The bat-like shadow turned into black smoke and merged into Ramika.
One of the tantriks, trembling, said, "Forgive us, we didn't recognize you." Saying this, he knelt down and pleaded, "Please spare me and my companions."
Ramika said, "I can't decide that. Only the Demon Lord can." With this, the cyclone of black smoke intensified and started approaching them, and then the cyclone along with all the people disappeared from there.
Meanwhile, Abhimanyu kept his eyes on Sher Singh.
Saily asked, "Why are you staring at him like that?"
Abhimanyu replied, "This isn't an ordinary lion. Those people who came earlier were all tantriks (occultists), and this lion seems quite nervous."
Saily said, "Maybe they had some ritual to perform."
Abhimanyu said, "I don't know, you could say it's just intuition."
Abhimanyu then told everyone, "I'll be back in a while."
Deeljeet asked, "What happened, brother?"
Abhimanyu made a gesture with his little finger, indicating he needed to go to the toilet.
Saagar said, "I'll come too."
Without saying anything, Abhimanyu left.
Saagar called out, "Hey, wait up, brother!"
Abhimanyu walked deep into the jungle.
Saagar, after walking a bit further, said, "Where did he go?"
He looked around but couldn't find anyone. Saagar said, "I don't know where he went, but I'll just go to the toilet here."
On the other side, Abhimanyu had reached deep into the jungle. Suddenly, black smoke started rising around him, forming a cyclone. When the smoke cleared, all the tantriks were kneeling.
Ramika walked over to Abhimanyu and hid behind him.
Abhimanyu asked the tantrik leader, "So, now tell me why you need the lion."
The tantrik looked closely at Abhimanyu and then at Ramika, saying, "You lied to me that you are the Demon Lord's assistant."
Ramika replied, "This is the Demon Lord."
The tantrik looked closely at Abhimanyu and said, "Impossible! If you are the Demon Lord, how do you not know that the lion is meant for you?"
The tantrik then looked at Ramika and said, "You are a traitor; you betrayed the Demon Lord."
The tantrik was still speaking when he suddenly went silent and started to float in the air.
The others, seeing this, began to tremble. When they looked at Abhimanyu, they saw his eyes were completely black, his hair was black, and he was glaring at the tantrik.
Abhimanyu, in a demonic voice, said, "Right now, I don't care who I am. Just tell me why you need the lion."
The tantrik couldn't speak.
One of the other men said, "We don't know anything. A demon told us to capture the lion for some time, but it escaped after injuring us. That's all we know."
Suddenly, the leader floating in the air was crushed, as if a tomato had been squeezed in a hand.
As soon as the tantrik died, black smoke began to emerge from his crushed remains.
Ramika absorbed the black shadow into herself.
Abhimanyu, smiling, looked at the remaining people and said, "Don't let me see you doing black magic again." Saying this, Abhimanyu's eyes turned black, and all the men fainted.
Ramika asked, "Lord, why did you leave them alive?"
Abhimanyu replied, "Because I can see they haven't killed anyone yet. They were just misled into doing this."
Ramika said, "But what if they tell someone?"
Abhimanyu said, "They won't remember anything related to the dark world or the supernatural."
Abhimanyu then moved his hand, and all the remnants and blood of the crushed tantrik disappeared into his ring.
Abhimanyu said, "Forget about that. Tell me, what did you find in his memory?"
Ramika replied, "He didn't know much either. The lion was given to him by a demon, likely a commander level."
Abhimanyu, surprised, said, "A demon commander? Then it's confirmed the lion isn't ordinary."
Saily said, "Could it be a magical lion?"
Abhimanyu thought to himself, "It looks ordinary to me, with no special energy."
Ramika asked, "Should I interrogate the lion?"
Abhimanyu said, "For now, you go back. I'll handle it myself."
Ramika then returned to Abhimanyu's ring.
Abhimanyu returned to the campsite.
By then, it was dark, and everyone was sitting around the fire, talking.
Deeljeet said, "Do you guys know there's a cursed village nearby?"
Neha, surprised, asked, "Cursed?"
Deeljeet said, "Yes, it looks like an ordinary village from the outside, but if you leave the village during the day and try to leave at night or enter at night, you will die mysteriously. Your body will always be found hanging from a tree at the village's crossroad."
Rihana, frightened, said, "Maybe there's a serial killer."
Deeljeet said, "I thought so too at first, but when I learned the story behind it, I was shocked. This has been happening for years. There are signs outside the village saying it's forbidden to enter or leave at night."
Abhimanyu asked, "What's the reason behind it?"
Deeljeet said, "The villagers say it's the doing of Jhalkari."
Abhimanyu asked, "What's the story of Jhalkari?"
Deeljeet said, "This goes back to the 19th century when the British ruled here. There was a beautiful 20-year-old girl named Jhalkari, the daughter of the village priest."
Abhimanyu interrupted, "Wait a minute, what's the name of the village?"
Deeljeet said, "Shivpura. Now don't interrupt."
Abhimanyu said, "Okay, continue."
Deeljeet continued, "Jhalkari was a great devotee of Shiva, extremely beautiful and pure-hearted."
Jhalkari's smile brought a smile to everyone's face. She was the daughter of Shivpura's priest. While not much is known about what happened to her, it is said that she hanged herself from a tree at the village crossroads. Before committing suicide, she cursed the world, saying that anyone who entered or left the village at night, or roamed around it without being a resident, would die. Only the villagers could stay in the village at night.
Rihana, scared, said, "I'm getting really frightened."
Neha responded, "Come on, Rihana, there's no such thing as ghosts."
Abhimanyu asked Deeljeet, "So, you mean Jhalkari protects the whole village at night?"
Deeljeet replied, "Yes, you could say that."
Abhimanyu asked, "But how do you know all this?"
Deeljeet said, "I didn't know either, but this came to light about a month ago. Before that, there weren't many deaths because the villagers used to warn everyone to leave the village before nightfall. But a thief snuck into the village at night, and the next day, his body was found."
Abhimanyu asked, "How far is this Shivpura from here?"
Deeljeet replied, "Just about four kilometers from here."
Abhimanyu exclaimed, "That close?"
Rihana, moving closer to Abhimanyu in fear, said, "Can't we talk about something else? You're talking about all this scary stuff in the dark."
Neha commented, "She's had this problem since childhood."
Abhimanyu asked, "What problem?"
Neha explained, "She's terribly afraid of the dark and ghosts."
Abhimanyu asked Rihana, "Did ghosts ever do anything to you?"
Rihana replied, "No, but I watched a lot of horror shows as a child, and now they really scare me."
Abhimanyu thought to himself, "Afraid because of watching horror shows?"
Saily suggested, "Maybe she had some childhood trauma."
Deeljeet added, "By the way, did you know this jungle is called Shivpura's jungle?"
Rihana, even more scared now, said, "If you knew all this, why didn't you tell us earlier? Let's leave right now!"
Abhimanyu said, "Relax, there's no such thing as ghosts. This is just a story."
Deeljeet agreed, "Yes, Rihana, it's just a made-up story. Besides, the village is quite far from here. Even though this is called Shivpura's jungle, it falls outside the village boundary."
Rihana still felt uneasy.
Abhimanyu held Rihana's face and said, "Look into my eyes and stay calm. I'm here, and as long as I'm here, nothing will harm you."
Rihana calmed down a bit.
Saily asked, "Did you hypnotize her?"
Abhimanyu replied, "Not every time. I calmed her down in a normal way."
Neha patted Rihana's back and said, "Yes, we're all here. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Neha warned Deeljeet, "Don't tell such stupid stories again."
Deeljeet protested, "It's not a story. I'm telling you, there's some mystery here."
Abhimanyu saw a news article on his screen about a body found there, which had become quite a trend.
Abhimanyu thought, "Should I go there and check it out?"
Saily asked, "What could it be, some evil spirit?"
Abhimanyu replied, "We'll only know once we go there. Ever since you entered my mind, my privacy has been ruined."
Saily said, "Oh really? And what about Arjun and Maya?"
Abhimanyu replied, "I am Arjun, and Maya merged with me long ago. So neither Arjun nor Abhimanyu truly exist anymore. I'm both and neither at the same time."
Saily commented, "Yes, but you were only Abhimanyu for some time."
Abhimanyu agreed, "Yes, that's true."
Saily asked, "So, do you have more of Abhimanyu's personality or Arjun's?"
Abhimanyu said, "Both are equal because I have memories of both. However, Abhimanyu's habits dominate more since this is his body, though some of Arjun's traits, like alcohol and flirting, are also present."
Saily remarked, "Yes, and I find most of those habits annoying."
Abhimanyu said, "Yes, but now you are part of me, just a separate consciousness within me."
Saily insisted, "No, I'm completely separate."
Abhimanyu said, "That's not true. We are one soul now. In simple terms, if we die, in the next life, we will be born together, and you will be within me. I might even be able to store memories in your system."
Saily replied, "Alright, alright, we'll see when we die. Who knows how long I'll have to put up with you."
Abhimanyu reminded, "But you did love me, right?"
Saily said, "I loved Abhimanyu, and you are not him."
Abhimanyu said, "I am still Abhimanyu, just not completely."
Saily said, "Yes, but I liked only Abhimanyu."
Abhimanyu couldn't respond and thought, "The powerful Demon Lord who rules all realms can't win over a girl."
Saily said, "I'm not a girl, and I have no age."
Abhimanyu said, "Yes, yes, I know. Privacy is truly out of the window now."
Saily smiled at this.
But suddenly, they heard someone screaming.
Abhimanyu and everyone else turned their attention to the sound.
Saagar asked, "What kind of sound was that?"
Abhimanyu said, "Sher Singh, go and see what's happening."
Upon hearing this, Sher Singh ran in that direction.
Abhimanyu said, "I'll go and check."
Rihana said, "No, what if it's Jhalkari?"
Abhimanyu said, "What are you talking about?"
Deeljeet said, "Alright, let's all go."
In a short time, Sher Singh reached the spot and let out a powerful roar.
When Abhimanyu and the others arrived, they saw a man in a very bad state slowly walking towards them. A trident had pierced through his chest and back, likely thrown from behind. The man struggled to walk closer and managed to say, "Jhalkaa..." before collapsing.
Everyone stared in shock at the body, their eyes wide with fear.