Warlock

by Vickram E Diwan

  “I understand; but after the job is done, you must inform me immediately. And come to my flat yourself and tell me the details of what had transpired. And if you need some money, send someone to pick it up.”

  “No need Colonel sa’ab; the money you gave me last time will be enough to cover all my expenses. And if I need more I shall tell you when I come to your flat.”

  “Best of luck; and I repeat, be extremely cautious. Don’t underestimate the enemy or forget that you are dealing with a most vicious, cruel and ruthless man.”

  “Namaste, Sa’ab,” he said and put down the phone. He gave a 2-rupee coin to the shop-owner and went to a nearby roadside dhaba (restaurant). After the food that he ordered was packed, he went back to the attic with Twinkle; they sat on the torn mat that covered the floor. His assistant brought him a glass, water and half a bottle of the cheap country-made liquor. While Bharoo drank it and ate roasted mutton, he thought about all the things that were needed for the invocation that would have to be bought the next day.

  Twinkle was not into drinking and gave him company only for eating; he had a ravenous appetite, unlike his frail master. After supper, he took his leave, and went to the taxi stand on the main Panchkuian road, from where a driver bound for South Delhi would drop him at the nursery in Dhalua Kuan, where he lived with his mother.

  It was yet another example of Colonel Narang’s cool, dispassionate thinking and flawless planning. The ace strategist and avid chess player had yet again successfully maneuvered his pieces on the board, to counter every move of Rudolf Schönherr, to surround him and constantly weaken his strength by claiming his prize pieces, one after another. For all his bravado and usefulness, Bharoo was little more than a puppet, whose strings were controlled by the military man, in his quest to contain and weaken his opponent, before knocking him out. The Colonel believed in an unhurried and step by step approach, a multi-pronged attack to squeeze the enemy until the final and decisive assault, a coup de grace – a masterstroke executed with finesse.

  The two adversaries – Rudolf Schönherr and Colonel Narang, were vastly different and were at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Rudolf Schönherr was rash, violent, given to sudden rage and passion, faced each day as it came and was basically a reactionary to incidents and developments. Colonel Narang, on the contrary, was a cool customer, a seasoned campaigner, who was always calm, composed and almost never lost his temper, no matter how trying were the circumstances or whatever setbacks came his way.

  He planned meticulously and well in advance and was proactive instead of reactive; he did not believe in waiting for developments, but instead in initiating the chain of events that would further his cause. He was also a man of intellect, knowledge, and wisdom and truly courageous, a student of the old school, which believed that bravery, came from a conviction in oneself and true courage was fighting for a just cause. Rudolf Schönherr’s behaviour was akin to animals in comparison, attacking the weak or fighting for the protection of self.

  But his biggest folly was his underestimating his opponents, from Bharoo to Colonel Narang and his failure to recognize that the neck-down paralyzed old man, lying far away in a flat posed the greatest danger to him. For it was that man, which acted like a nucleus for anti-Rudolf Schönherr operations since the very beginning; he was the player, whose hand was playing that game against Rudolf Schönherr, even if the latter did not realize it.

  The grass-covered ground near the farmhouse in Raul estate was lit by the powerful searchlights. Their light was also reflected in the small artificial lake; which was surrounded by trees in a semi-circle. Rudolf Schönherr was rowing a canoe; he stopped when he reached the middle of the lake that was darker as compared to its edges. Though he could have easily bought a modern boat with a diesel engine, Rudolf Schönherr preferred the quietness of the rowing canoe. He had put on the haunting music ‘I Bleed for You’ of his favourite composer Peter Gundry on the ‘smart-speaker’that was kept beside him.

  The boat had been turned into a dinner table; a wooden board had been put in the middle, covered by a tablecloth. On it was casseroles with a variety of dishes, bottles of liquor, plates, bowls, glasses, tissues, everything. Rudolf Schönherr had invited his girlfriend Leena for a ‘lake-dinner’ and she was in the bungalow, changing into a swimsuit, while he had bought the boat in the middle. He was wearing swimming costume that revealed his athletic body that women and female demons swooned and lusted over.

  “Harry!” Come here!” He ordered.

  “Greetings Master!” Said the ghost of Harry, as he materialized on the canoe in the middle of the lake, sitting on the other side of the ‘dinner-table’ from Rudolf Schönherr.

  “I have only a few minutes before Leena comes along; so be quick with your report.”

  “All preparations are complete for your invocation tomorrow. So that you can try and revive your powers, to deal effectively with Bharoo and your other enemies. But master! Do you think it will work?”

  “I will try to revive my occult powers by Bhadra Kali Saavri Sadhan – a powerful and Tamsik tantrik kriya. It shall take three, five days at most for me to complete the sadhna that shall make the Goddess Bhadra Kali appear and grant me my wish.”

  “Isn’t the Saavri manner of mastering an occult power also much more dangerous, even if it gets quick results and reduces the time needed for invocation and completion?” Asked Harry after a pause.

  “The reaction and the result of using the Saavri method come quickly, the mantra or hymns used also appear odd and senseless, but it’s very effective. It is like swearing at someone or daring him/her/it to come before you. The reaction of even ordinary people challenged or swear at in such a manner is intense; what to say of powerful occult powers? That is why the power, which appears as a result of the invocation of saavri mantra, is in a ferocious rage and if the tantrik gets fearful or fumbles, it eliminates him. The person that uses such a quick and dangerous manner of invocation has to be prepared to placate the great occult power as soon as it appears, else he loses his sanity or is killed,” Rudolf Schönherr explained.

  “Aren’t you afraid that it may backfire on you?” Harry asked.

  “I have long since conquered fear,” Rudolf Schönherr boasted. “Also I have been never shy to take risks; I love to live life dangerously,” he added in the manner of a person who had scant regard for his own life or that of others. After a while, he said, “Tonight I can wine, dine and enjoy woman as much as I please. From tomorrow, I will become a celibate and abstain from alcohol, meat, drugs, smoking and everything considered profane. For the entire duration of the invocation, I’ll have to live the life of a monk; as my Guru taught me is essential, for the success of a tantrik invocation, even if it is for a Tamsik power. I have ordered all the materials that I shall need for invocation and they have been delivered here today. I have also taken a week of leave from my Institute and other related activities and have given strict instructions that I should not be disturbed.”

  “You may know Harry – being a tantrik yourself – that the tamsik nature of their invocation makes a sadhak extremely irritable and violent. There are plenty of problems and disturbances that manifest themselves during the period of invocation - to distract, discourage the invocation and throw the Tantrik off course. The last thing I need is distraction and disturbances of the workplace; for they will interrupt my invocation and such a sudden break may even endanger my life, as the occult power shall swoop on me and try to eliminate me in any moment of weakness.”

  “Rudolf! Rudolf!” A female voice called from a distance.

  Turning his head he saw Leena, who was coming towards the lake from the direction of the bungalow and was waving her hand at him. He waved back at her and said, “That will be all Harry, dismissed!”

  “How will I get there?” Leena shouted from the edge of the lake.

  “Swim!” Rudolf Schönherr shouted as he jumped into the water of the lake from the boat, which was imbalanced momentarily.


  He swam like an experienced swimmer and was soon joined by Leena, who took a few dips in the water, which made her hair wet and stick with her scalp. Away from the arc lights, glitz, glamour, heavy makeup and acting, she was a charming and regular young girl. Dazzled by the glamorous images beamed at them, not many people realized that television and movie actors were also ordinary people like them; with similar desires, wants, hunger, hopes, mood swings, fears, jealousies and insecurities of life.

  Rudolf Schönherr, however, could relate easily to someone like Leena, since he himself was no stranger to fame, public adulation and success. For him, she was an ordinary young girl, not some ‘star’ that could unsettle him. Besides they had also started their struggle together and went back a long way and their relationship had survived despite numerous fights, bitching and mutual infidelities, because on some level they both felt that they needed each other. Or perhaps they considered it prudent to stick with the known Devil, instead of an unknown God.

  The water of the lake was pleasantly cold and they both swam expertly; they even had a mock race from the edge of the lake to the canoe and vice-versa. Every time that he tried to catch Leena, she would escape out of his hold like a slippery fish. The sight of her wet skimpy bikini that was stuck to her youthful body made hot blood rush into Rudolf Schönherr’s temple, as he ogled at her rounded bottom pasted to her wet blue bikini with lustful eyes. Taking the support of the boat with their elbows, while the rest of their bodies were in the water, they shared a hot and passionate kiss, before Leena threw him back and laughing naughtily swam away. Rudolf Schönherr followed her purposefully and soon caught up with her, to repeat the act.

  After swimming and enjoying themselves naughtily, they went to the canoe standing in the middle of the lake; Rudolf Schönherr climbed first and helped Leena mount it. They both wiped the water off their bodies with towels, after which Rudolf Schönherr lit up two thick candles, put in the middle of the ‘table’.

  “Gosh! I feel hungry,” said Leena, as she rubbed her wet hair with the towel. She opened the lids of various casseroles; the smoke billowed out of them, bringing with it the flavour of the various hot dishes of mutton and chicken.

  “What will you like to drink my dear; whiskey, rum, beer or breezer?” Asked Rudolf Schönherr.

  “Can I have a Vodka?” Leena inquired.

  “Sure; one vodka coming up!” He said cheerfully and began pour Vodka in a wine glass, while Leena took out two plates and served the non-vegetarian delicacies like Chicken Tikka Masala, Sag-mutton, kokri kebabs, with rice and naan. The swimming had increased their hunger and they both pounced on the food with a vengeance. While she enjoyed glassfuls of Vodka, Rudolf Schönherr washed down the food with one of the finest imported Scotch, on the rocks.

  “Rudolf Schönherr!” You have got to get me meaty roles in movies,” said Leena, as she was eating chicken. “I am sick and tired of playing the same roles in television.”

  “Be reasonable my darling; you know that these things take time. The established actress will not play second fiddle to you and the big banners would not gamble with you as their heroine. I know that soap-operas become routine, dull and boring after a while; but hang in there until something better comes your way.”

  “Sometimes I think that you are more focused on your career than mine,” she complained. “You have already choreographed in movies, and are also cutting a new music album if I have heard correctly.”

  “I couldn’t say no; the proposal had come from a major music company and they were offering generous terms and promised to promote my album in a big way, a publicity-blitz, country-wide tour, concerts – the works. But rest assured; I’ll definitely take you in the music-videos of my album.”

  “Sometimes I feel that there is no end to your ambitions or your energy!”

  “It is only the beginning of my cuckoo-bird; wait for a few months to see the mega-expansion of my institute. I have found a Mister money-bags,” Rudolf Schönherr said thinking of his friend Rohit, “that has promised to pump in large funds after he winds up a major deal. With that money, I’ll open the branches of my institute all over the city and will have a presence in every major city of the country.”

  “But how will you handle all that, in addition to your career as a choreographer, dancer, and singer and there is also your work as a coordinator for actors?”

  “My ambitions give me boundless energy,” Rudolf Schönherr said pouring him a refill of his favourite Scotch whiskey with soda. “I’ll, of course, hire talented and capable people to handle the day to day running of my centers. I want to make Schönherr Institute of Performing Arts a recognized brand name and open franchisee outlets all over the country. That will act as a springboard for success abroad, to turn me into an international brand name, at par with the best and most famous of singers and dancers abroad. Money, fame, adulation and power, I want it all!” He declared unabashedly.

  “That is what I like the most about you, this confidence and your unshakable self-belief,” Leena said in an admiring voice.

  “You have seen my struggle in this city and see today; I have everything. Would you have thought only three or four years back, that we would both have all this?”

  “Yes; our journey so far has been like a dream,” she admitted.

  “Only I had seen and known that it all was achievable, even before we got started. I have come so far and risen so high in life on the basis of my guts, self-belief and the backing of great powers above. Anyone who thinks that he can arrest my march and stop my flight is an idiot; I am invincible!” he declared bombastically.

  “I also like your style,” Leena said trying to steer the topic of the conversation away from his struggle, achievements or aspirations of grandeur. Though she had never said it, she thought of him as an incurable narcissist and was bored stiff by hearing his oft-repeated story of struggle, achievements and theatrical declarations of his uniqueness. “Only you could have thought of such an interesting way to enjoy dinner, I mean on this boat, in the middle of the lake. I also am quite fond of this estate of yours; it is such an interesting place. When I am here, I feel like I am on a getaway or on a holiday – far from the gruelling and mad routine of work. It is hard to imagine that this oasis is within the maddening metropolis; here you can imagine that you have escaped to a place of dreams.”

  “Shall I row back the boat to the edge, so that we can go back to the bungalow?”

  “After a while; let me enjoy this calmness and serenity and savour these moments, they charge my batteries and help me unwind.”

  “I’ll talk to your producers and get you a few days leave; seems like you badly need a vacation.”

  “One more thing Rudolf,” she said remembering a forgotten matter, “I wanted to thank you again for the wonderful super luxury apartment, which you found for me in the D.L.F. city in Gurgaon.”

  “I only made the down-payment; you yourself are paying the monthly instalments of the bank-loan, so no need to be grateful to me. I know that you were quite ready to move in with me at my Vasant Vihar house, but I need my space and am used to living alone.”

  “Sometimes you talk strangely; as if there was a secret side to you that I didn’t know about.”

  A mysterious smile came on Rudolf Schönherr’s lips, but he did not respond to that comment and after a while, he rowed back the canoe to the edge of the lake. He helped Leena get down and putting an arm around her waist went towards the bungalow, walking on the round pink marble steps that led to it from the lake. He wanted to enjoy the night thoroughly, as his work for the coming days was cut out for him.

  The stage was set for an all out Occult war between two masters of black magic. The blind sorcerer possessing a magic wand with unkempt hair and beard was a study in contrast to his sauvé, urbane, clean-shaven rival with eyes sharp enough to cut a Titanium plate. It was going to be a no holds barred war and a duel unto death.

  Blissfully unaware of the impending war, Rudolf Schönherr was in
tent to enjoy his time with his girlfriend in his sprawling estate. With no preparation or defence against the storm that was about to come.

  To be continued…