The four finished their coffees, and part of their little gossip, weirdly thrilled to figure out what is happening there, except Naina who was a little skeptical. They slowly walked towards the ruins of the temple, but decided not to enter its grounds, but to ask around about the temple, maybe they would find out more about the legend behind it. Rohan and Prem started to brainstorm questions and the girls would filter the questions to create a list of plausible, and not stupid ones, since the boys tended to think less about the politeness of the question and more about the info they needed. By the time they have arrived, the teenagers were ready to start their investigation, thanks to the common effort they put in. The group split in pairs, Rohan and Naina and Simran and Prem, each trying to get the people living in the vicinity of the temple to answer the questions. Some didn’t open the door, other straight out slammed the door right in their faces, as fear took over them, but thankfully, there were 4-5 houses that opened their doors and answered as much as they could to the questions.
After hours of questioning and wandering from house to house, the group met up again at the café where they met that morning and sat down talking about what they found out. The information was scarce, and the stories were way too different to be able to make out something coherent. Some were saying that criminals and druggies were hanging out in that place because it is the perfect hangout, while others claim to hear clinckets, sometimes faint, but when the full moon appears, the sound becomes undeniably clear, some even claiming that even the sound of tablas can be heard. One of them says that one time when she was little and went to the temple to pick some flowers, she met a woman there, dressed like the moon herself was embodied in her and she was so kind to her, even teaching her some Bharatanatyam steps and helping her pick up the flowers. A man said that he encountered a feral woman once who looked like she was in a paranoid attack, her make-up smeared and her hair in a tangled mess, that chased him through the woods and almost jumped him to the ground.
Only the story of one old lady seemed to be more useful and kind of aligned with the legend and with the history of the temple. She was a librarian before she retired, with a passion for history, especially for the temple’s history, and thankfully, her parents kept the records of one of her ancestor, who was a descendant of a family that lived in this town back when the temple was in all its glory. There she found out a lot about the temple, it’s origin, it’s architecture in the old days, it’s ties to the old capital of the kingdom that shared the temple’s name. She also told them that if they ever wanted to go to the temple to bring with them charms of Shiva, as it is a temple dedicated to him, and to make sure they have a pure soul before entering the sacred grounds, because bad things always happen there. She was glad to help them since she could see the curiosity in them and wanted to know herself the mysteries of the temple.
-Hey, Prem, do you think you could ask the lady to give you those documents? I’m really interested in reading them. Naina asked curiously.
-Yeah I could talk to her. Huh, you are starting to like this thing.
-Oh don’t get cocky, and yes, it has now peaked my interest, especially since we can start on a somewhat stable premise, since all we had until now were only personal experiences, and I want facts. Rohan can you come with me to the library to help me pick some books up?
-Yeah. Can the two of you go back to the lady and ask her to give the documents?
-Sure thing. Meet you tomorrow at the library? asked Prem.
-Yep, bye guys! the two answered.
-Bye! the other two said.
Simran and Prem slowly strolled to the old lady’s house, talking about the temple and the legend, trying to make out something out of the stories they heard. With time, the stories started to be split into 2, the ones that claimed there was a legend, and the ones that claimed there were killers, both plausible. The two tried to piece these bits, but too many parts were missing. At last, they arrived at the old lady’s home and the elderly woman was nice enough to welcome them in and serve them a cup of chai.
-I know this might seem a little too personal, but could we borrow your ancestor’s scripts and documents? It will help us greatly.
-Oh, sure thing sweety. Promise to give them back, and I’ll be glad to give them to you.
-We promise. the girl said smiling.
-Auntie, I have a question. the boy started.
-What is it honey?
-Why didn’t you investigate this mystery yourself since it seems you are very interested in it?
-Well… she started as she started rummaging through some old documents. I was a woman, and yes, I may have had an open minded husband that I loved dearly, he was ages before his years and he had a very modern look on the societal norms, but the rest of the society still viewed as poorly. Second of all, in my time, the temple was considered cursed, you were prohibited from entering there, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t really enter that place. Yes I heard those hauntingly beautiful clincket and the sound of a tabla, but I never saw anything. I know that it has ties with the moon, and when the full moon hits, these can be heard much more clearly. Also I wasn’t brave enough to enter that place when the police abandoned it, I feared what could inhabit that place. Plus I wasn’t exactly pure hearted, I sought revenge for those who wronged me instead of waiting for karma to get them, I stole money when it was necessary, to feed my kids.
-Oh, I’m sorry to hear that auntie, but I’m sure you will be understood by the Almighty One. I’m sure you will find peace, and thank you for your help. I promise you will be the first to know if we find anything.
-Dears, I’m glad that I could help you, but I do have to warn you, if you seek to know the truth, you must be ready to face the wrath of those who were unjustly judged.
-What do you mean? the boy asked curiously.
-Once, I did saw something, it was a beautiful woman, she was ethereal. She was dancing so gracefully, but there was something wrong with her, she seemed like little sparkles flew from her body. And where she danced, ash would form, or I suppose it’s ash. So either way, I suggest you to be careful, because I’m starting to like you.
-Thank you for the advice, we promise to be careful. And thanks for the documents, we’ll bring them back as soon as possible.
-Have a nice evening!
-May the gods be with you auntie. Simran answered and the two took off back to their houses.
The next day, the four met at the library, all of them prepared to study the history of their city, especially Naina. She was very passionate about history and she loved to know more about anything, especially this stupid temple, and its somewhat plausible curse. She firstly prepared some of the books with the town’s history, and pulled up some articles of all the recorded deaths that happened at the temple. After she scanned them, she took some notes in her notebook while the other 3 were reading about the deaths and were trying to figure out a connection between all of them. As she finished with the books, she started to go through the notes of the old lady.
The day started to become smaller and smaller, the sun shined less and less, but the heat was unbearable, it was like out skin was set on hire, but nothing could grow because of the poor sunshine. It was like the sun itself has seen our actions and decided we deserved punishment. The forest suddenly became dangerous, all the wild animals starting to go feral, attacking anything that resembled humans and the livestock started to grow impatient with their human owners. The flowers that once adorned the ponds and forest, glamouring the nature with their beauty started to wither away, and the trees started to get sick and die one by one. The water that was once clear and cold, such pureness that could revitalise anything and make you feel young again, slowly lost its transparency and soon enough it started to taste metallic. It was blood, thick, red, metallic, ready to stain with its colour even the purest of the purest. The noble families started to panic, and the rest of the population started to grow angry and scared. Everything was starting to get chaotic, but when the plagues hit, everything turned form bad to worse. Members that were high in the society started to get sick, all at once, entire families, the only ones spared being the children. A plague so ugly, so cruel, that it made devastating damage. It made you disfigured, the skin full of pustules, the face swollen and the coughing was the worst, it was blood. Their feet would turn gangrenous and their nails would fall off. It was clear that Lord Shiva was upset, and he was seeking revenge. Hopefully we will still live to tell the story, but the kingdom is collapsing, slowly, with the king being bound to the bed and his wife being now deformed from a tiger attack.
The moon stopped gracing our lands, in fact, it stopped appearing on our sky. The temple fell into darkness and all the silver now looked like it turned into stone. The censes would stop burning even if the people tried to light them again, and the ground started to turn infertile, rough, dead. The noblemen were too sick to manage the capital, and the kingdom is slowly dying, as unhappy people start to riot against the uselessness of the capital. By now, the fear was living in each of our mind and only one thought was plaguing my mind, what will we do now. As everyone was falling into a general panic, one by one, the noblemen that were sick started to die, but not because of the disease, it was something else, someone else. Screams could be heard in the middle of the night coming from the temple, and each night, another sickly higher-up of the society was found dead in the sacred temple. Each night terror would settle in the city, wondering who will be next, and wondering what will be more risky, waiting to see if they will be the next target, or escaping the city through the forest.
-Hey guys, did you find anything? asked Naina confused.
-Yes and no. There is no patters years wise, nor there is a connection between the ones that were killed. Prem said.
-But, the way they were found, that is similar. Rohan continued.
-Let me guess, all of them were inside the temple? the girl asked fearfully.
-How did you-? Rohan asked, but was quickly interrupted.
-Shit. the girl said.
-Naina, did you find anything?
-Yeah. Well, these documents are like a journal, it’s old Tamil, so I have a bigger picture, but there may be some words I don’t know. They journal the downfall of the capital, and the kingdom.
-But how do you know the documents are valid? Simran pointed out.
-Whose side are you on? Prem asked confused, since the girl seemed so nice to the old lady.
-It seems weird that these things are so old, they don’t look like they are 400 years old. Also it is very suspicious that they describe something real, maybe they are documenting a later calamity?
-Nope, the dates match with the fall. I just checked, cause it seemed weird to me too. But yeah, the documents are valid because when they detail the fall of the capital, the history books report a great hysteria all across the kingdom along with riots, followed by the fall of the capital, and then the dissolution of the kingdom. Ok, so they describe in detail what happened in the capital, basically the nature went against the humans, a plague made only some people sick, which is weird because biology isn’t so selective, and the moon refused to light up the sky. But the most interesting part is about a chain of murders that happened inside the temple.
-In the reports we found they said that the tongues and hands were cut off and their feet were burned. Prem said.
-In the documents there isn’t a detailed description of the deaths, only mentions of them.
-If the documents are valid, do they have the reason why the killings started? Or what is causing them? Simran asked.
-The last page is before the fall of the capital, it details the great panic and the horrors that started to happen. Oh and the journal mentions something about angering Lord Shiva.
-Why would they have angered Lord Shiva? asked Rohan. Or what could have they done to make him angry? Can I see the pages too?
-Yeah sure. I don’t know the reason, but they must’ve really angered him because the horrors are…a lot.
-So we now know that there is no killers or murderers, since they can’t be 400 years old. Prem started.
-Let’s not be too harsh, maybe there is a cult that venerates Shiva and kills in his name. Naina said dryly.
-Naina, don’t ever say that, you might offend him. Shavaism is about praising the Lord of Destruction, and he isn’t pleased when we play as judges. Only he can be the judge. Rohan pointed out.
-Well, people sometimes misunderstands religion, look at the European middle ages.
-Point proven. he said accepting defeat.
-So we know that the old capital was cursed by Lord Shiva because something happened, and we know that the documents describe what is happening while the curse is taking place. We also know that soon the fall of the kingdom followed and we know that the killings started 400 years ago. Also we are not sure that it is a legend or just a cult of crazy people killing in the name of the God of Destruction. the girl continued
-Naina, there is one more page.
-What?
-Yeah, there is one more page, it was stuck next to another. But I don’t understand anything from it.
-Where it is?
-Here.
-What is this writing? the girl said frustrated. Hindi? It’s not that new, and it isn’t the local language. It’s Sanskrit.
-Why Sanskrit?
-I don’t know Rohan. Let me read it, and I’ll tell you, I can’t predict the future yet, dear. she sassily responded, trying to focus on the document.
-Well, to bring such wrath from Him is hard, you would have to do something that would offend him greatly. Maybe something regarding the temple, something happened there. It was the jewelry of the kingdom, right Naina?
-Yep! the girl dryly said.
-So maybe something happened inside the temple, something that offended the God.
-What can be so harsh? Simran asked, thinking of what could offend a literal god.
-I don’t know, but it sure has a connection to the killings. That is a given.
-Maybe we are looking at this mystery wrong. We know that there were lots of killings and a lot of people reported seeing a woman near the temple. Prem said.
-What do you mean? Do you think that woman that is mentioned so vaguely and rarely is the killer? Simran pointed out.
-Well, it’s a plausible explanation.
-Is it?
-Wait, guys isn’t Shiva the Great Dancer? Prem asked.
-Yeah, he is the one that invented dance and we are theoretically learning from his wisdom.
-So that clincket can be a ghungroo? Rohan pointed out.
-Well, yeah, they do sound like that, but none of them mentioned her wearing a Bharatanatyam costume, or even ghungroos.
-Yeah you have a point too.
-Oh come on!
-Is everything ok Naina? the other girl asked.
-It appears that Rohan isn’t so crazy after all. This page describes the last day for this man in the capital. Everyone either died or abandoned the city, fleeing for their life. He is the last man alive in the city, and he is nostalgic about the capital and its glory. He visits the temple one last time and prays to Shiva for forgiveness, even if he didn’t knew what he had done. Here comes the best part, as he was praying, he heard the sound of ghungroos and when he looked back there wasn’t anyone there. He wrote this in Sanskrit because in a dream he had before, a kind voice, soft, asked him to write about his last day in the city, about the fall of the capital.
-So there is a connection between the woman and the killings!
-Hold your horses, the document said the sound, so we have a connection between the sound and the killings, not the woman. Naina skeptically said.
-But who could’ve worn them?
-Let’s not forget that two people claimed that they have seen a man wandering the place at night. Prem said.
-Yeah but there are a lot more people that claimed they have seen a woman, plus she is wearing the ghungroos surely, men don’t wear-
-Did you just assume that men don’t wear them? Have you ever been to a Bharatanatyam show?
-Rohan I think you would better shut up, before Simran here is going to tie those ghungroos around your neck. the boy advised.
-Ok, fine. But the sound is clearly tied to the killings, or at least with the temple itself, because the author didn’t die when he heard them. So that is something for sure. And I’m sorry Simran.
-It’s ok, you didn’t know.
-We have somewhere to start now. At least that is something, so we should stop speculating and start investigating, maybe we will discover something more clearer. And yes Rohan, there may be a tie between the woman and the killings and if you can prove it, I am willing to admit defeat, because this is a little too mystical and magical to be just pure history and some killers, so stop pouting like a little kid. What do you suggest we do guys? Naina said.
-I say we go to the temple right now to investigate the site, maybe we find something, or maybe we hear the sound that was mentioned so much in these conversations. But we should do it now, with the sun still up. Prem proposed.
As the teenagers made up with one another, they promised to eachother that every possibility will be taken as plausible as to avoid these stupid fights that are not helping with the solving of the mystery. If they were intrigued by the fog that surrounded the past of their city and the old jewel that was the pride of the Chandra Kingdom, now they surely were hooked on, even Naina was interested in it. They cleaned up after them in the library and placed the valuable documents in a fresh box, to respect the old documents, the group slowly strolling to the temple, but stopping at the local temple before, to pray and confess if something is plaguing their heart. They also bought small figurines of the Nataraj, to protect them in case something happens. Before entering the grounds of the temple, they dropped the documents to the old lady and Naina thanked her personally, feeling like a fan talking with her idol, sharing history facts about the temple and starting to get close.