Murder At Lake Mohank - 1. Chapter 1. "Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7th of your life."

August 10, 2012
Monday
Mid-Night

The water was damn cold. And dark. And gelid. And it was trying to engulf me in a sinister way, I felt. Yet I stood there, stout, steadfast.

Standing waist-deep in the famed waters of the holy Daamodar Kund; with an eerie ambiance, how it always was at this ungodly hour, of absolute desolateness surrounding the natural reservoir located amidst the dense, almost impenetrable jungles and daunting mountains of the Revaat range; I let the unusually cold breeze assault the skin of my torso, that was as of yet above the surface of the water, making the hair on my forearms stand upright.

I looked around. Not out of fear, nor diffidence. I had spent almost all my life here in this region, and the task at hand, I had done it too many times in the past to be apprehensive or uneasy about it. But simply because it was required of me to make sure that I performed it in absolute solitude.

I could barely discern the outline of the nearest peak, despite the fact that the sky seemed cloudless. It was dark, too dark, even for a no-moon night.

And too cold for the month of August.

I looked past the steps, to the dense grove of trees beyond. One tree in particular stood out, quite distinct from all the rest. I had of course seen it innumerable times in the past, it had become almost a familiar sight. And a strange sight it was. A silhouette. Its branches some thick some thin, totally leafless, inter-twined, ending in the shape of the letter "V", one above the other. When viewed from far, against the background of the starlit sky, it always gave me the impression of hundreds of human arms, raised high above in prayer, in bow., or perhaps screaming for help, to be rescued from a pit of fire where they had been condemned to burn eternally in.

Of course I knew it well, what that could mean.The possibility of running into a lion, or an encounter with a leopard however slim it might be, was real and ever-present. Of course, I hadnt ever let that fact perturb me anymore than was necessary to survive. Though I knew that I was totally on my own out here, with nothing but my bare hands to defend myself if it came down to that. But I was never the one to let myself get easily swayed. In the 19 years of my existence on this planet, if there had been one quality that I had shown in abundance, it was my ability to face fears. Not just face them, but rein them in, overpower them.

There, I heard it again, a crack, almost as loud as the previous one from the same general direction as those trees.

I squinted my eyes a little, trying to make out whatever I could of the dark landscape. The tops of the tress were easily visible, being at an elevated angle from where I stood, and with a backdrop of the star-lit sky behind them. It was the undergrowth that was dark, thick, ominous.

I thought I could almost see some movement there, but I couldnt be sure. I waited. One minute. Then another. Nothing happened. No new sounds, and even the undergrowth appeared totally still, when I looked at it again with fresh eyes.

I felt a little silly. I completed the ritual with the customary dip in the cold dark water.

For a moment I let my soul forget it all. I soaked in the aura, the silent black night. The tree tops and the mountains. The water and the steps. Standing beneath the starlit-sky in the jungle valley. I felt one with nature. An affection I felt emanating from the landscape, and wrapping me in a blanket of a fond embrace. I felt a relaxation come over my body, every muscle soothed. A feeling of care, comfort and coziness. And inevitably leading to the remembrance of -

A loud piercing shriek I heard. Like a bird cry. Coming from somewhere behind my back, from towards the jungles, and building in intensity. Before I could manage to turn around and see what it could be, I felt something rushing towards me, the rush of air on my hair and past my ears, a sort of whoosh, something flying in real fast. In the same instant that I turned around, I felt something fly past my head. Something small and light, a bird perhaps. A bat may be, I couldnt be sure. I didnt get a chance to look at it properly. I instinctively started turning back around to see what it was, when suddenly I froze.

Except for the stars, there was no light to speak off, and it for sure didnt seem to be enough light to reflect off. How the hell are those eyes glowing so bright, I wondered but the question was bounced quickly to the back of my mind. It didnt matter for now.

Running off didnt seem like a good option. Manly or unmanly be it, didnt matter. Confronting it, by moving towards the eerie trees was certainly not the brightest thing to do in the current scenario, I knew. So what other options did I have here. Wait? but then, wait for what? Those eyes certainly seemed to mean business, and not something that could be "waited out". They were going nowhere, I was sure.

Everything had come to a standstill it seemed. The leaves, and the branches - paused. The water by the steps - placid. The insects and the birds - inaudible. Like a snapshot, a frozen panorama. Time just stood still.