A piece from The Soul Devourers
Now available in shoptly as Agnimalya Book 9
https://shoptly.com/sharmishthabasu
"The names that our parents gave us were Agni (Fire) and Vari (water), yours was Agni, mine Vari, based on our natures, of course; I don’t think you would mind if I call you Agni." Her sister asked.
She shrugged.
"Who are these people?" she asked.
"These people were once human beings. Their greed was too strong, so strong it tempted them into selling their soul to the devil. There is a temple in Gajmahal, where they worship the devil, and have been for centuries. These soul devourers –– yes, that’s what they are called because that’s what they become capable of devouring souls–– souls of their victims are their life-force. That keeps them alive, as some of them are centuries old. Their head priest was one of the first priests of the temple, and has done it for centuries now."
"These people sacrifice their first born children to the temple. In return of that sacrifice they become devourers and are showered with wealth and power in the fields they desire. There is no end to that boon, there is only one price to pay; they must arrange one sacrifice each year. The sacrifice has to be completely willing, as no treachery or force will work there. The parents must sacrifice with full consent."
"That’s why they torment and stalk their targets. They wrench them away from the normal people and surround them, trying to make him or her surrender to one of them." If he or she does then its okay, or else they try another thing." Vari paused and picked up the glass of water from the table. "Are you thirsty?"
"No." Agni replied.
"Mother will be here very soon. After that we will leave for our actual home." Vari said. Someone entered the room.
Vari got up and hugged her. "She is here, ma."
The woman turned to face Agni, her eyes filled with tears. Agni rose and bowed down to touch her feet. She pulled her to her bosom instead and hugged her tightly showered her hair with soft kisses.
"My child!" she whispered, her voice torn with anguish and joy. "Let’s go." She said. A small car was waiting outside.
It took them to a private airstrip, a plane was waiting there. They boarded it and the journey started. Agni turned to Vari, "You stopped in mid-story."
"Yes, let’s continue . . . as you already know that they kidnap small children, not only for revenge, but for other purposes too. They suck the life force of these children it keeps them alive throughout the year while they spend their time to hunt down the next victim.
" "Oh!" Agni whispered.
"They need someone to bring up these children . . . to cook, to nurse, to feed them. They love to play with children, feed on them but don’t have the temperament to bring one up. Most of them have to keep at least a few at a time, how much life-force can a small child give out, and they never last more than a few years. They are sucked dry. So they force these second types to become their nannies."
A shiver ran down her spine. She recalled how every house in her neighbourhood had small infants, infants that never seemed to grow up. That meant they used to dump one after sucking them dry, and procure another one to replace it.
"We have been searching you for many years, as you know already. We have been just a few blocks away from you before we stumbled upon your aunt and she told us you were still alive and promised that she will bring you to us. Fortunately you trusted her enough to come." Vari said.
"You were crazy about children, so when your brother in law noticed that you are about to fly the coup his first thought was to kill you but then he changed his mind and sold you off to one of the most powerful devourers. He initially intended to devour you but after years of chasing you, he realized he couldn’t, so he decided to trap you through one of the younger ones, to use you as a nanny for the children he keeps."
"He’s acted meticulously against you from the very beginning. First, he made it impossible for normal people to stay around you, and slowly he replaced them with Leeches –– devourers –– or their servants. They made you avoid human contact. Then, when you started counting on cyber friends you became their pawn…"
"Once he knew about your fondness for, or trust for a specific friend, he replaced him with a devourer and that act was repeated whenever you made a good friend. They gathered information of every breath you took and used it to further alienate and study you.
"Besides cyber surveillance they kept you under observation in person, so as to train one or two devourers to mimic you to pretend to be you, to make you despicable to your friends."
"You win their sympathy by telling them your true story then they switch your place with one of them in your friend’s life. She plays coy with them or sometimes he –– a man who admits that he has been pretending to be a woman to have fun or admits she has been having some fun with that friend of yours but in reality she is rich and happily married. Imagine the reaction of that friend!" They tell all your actual, true friends that you are a fraud, a trickster, and a pathological liar."
"How is it possible?" Agni asked incredulously.
"Technology made things easy for them. Once they corner their prey they install listening devices in his/her home. Hack their Internet connection. Use the actual SIM and receive the smses or calls then redirect their phone contents or calls to a dummy phone which they leave with the prey. Earlier, they had to use special powers, but back then, it was easier to trap their victims, especially women. All they needed was to convince their parents and marry them! There was no hope of escape after that. Back then, women did not have the mindset to refuse marriage proposals or walk away from a marriage their parents have fixed for them. They thought it was their destiny –– to get married. Once in the conjugal bed, they lost their souls."
"You are surprised about the way your cyber friends and especially the one you loved vanished, don’t you? Well, the monster on your heels plays the game in the background. They observe anyone who is interested in you, and afterward if he is a man, which they mostly are. In a conservative country like ours people look for lovers on the Internet, even platonic ones. He pretends that he is a beautiful young woman, and transforms into one too, using photographs of young Leeches. Then he lures him away from you and showers him with "her" flattery and full attention. An old man or woman knows how to trick young people. They have knowledge and expertise. Most don’t use that, but Leeches do. Once that person is lured away, the friendship is ruined he slowly backs off. Have you seen how pretty young things begin following your friends’ right after they become your friends? You think they are different people, but they are not they are one person. A really sick one! That is what happened with the person you loved too, on one hand he created a distance between you two pretending to be Greecie. On the other hand, he sent a pretty Leech after him, and she kept him busy while Greecie worked on you. Damage done, she vanished. There is no way you or I can fight the cunning or conjuring skills of these creatures. They have lived on these skills for decades, sometimes centuries, and their network is very strong, they have to help each other to survive."
"What if someone is not ready to let the pretty Leech go? What if he falls in love with her?" Agni asked.
"Well, in that case the pretty Leech becomes an ugly Leech, an old one or a male!" Vari shrugged, "Then profusely apologizes, pretends that it never even guessed that the other party was in love, or else it would have admitted its reality long ago. What can you do in case of such a brazen denial? They never directly say that they love someone unless they are determined to devour them."
"They are diseased." Agni whispered. She could hardly believe what she heard.
"Fasten your seat belts please." A male voice sounded in the speakers.
"It is time for home." Vari leaned and kissed her cheek, "Welcome home sister!"
The plane landed in a medium sized airstrip of a small island.
Now available in shoptly as Agnimalya Book 9
https://shoptly.com/sharmishthabasu
"The names that our parents gave us were Agni (Fire) and Vari (water), yours was Agni, mine Vari, based on our natures, of course; I don’t think you would mind if I call you Agni." Her sister asked.
She shrugged.
"Who are these people?" she asked.
"These people were once human beings. Their greed was too strong, so strong it tempted them into selling their soul to the devil. There is a temple in Gajmahal, where they worship the devil, and have been for centuries. These soul devourers –– yes, that’s what they are called because that’s what they become capable of devouring souls–– souls of their victims are their life-force. That keeps them alive, as some of them are centuries old. Their head priest was one of the first priests of the temple, and has done it for centuries now."
"These people sacrifice their first born children to the temple. In return of that sacrifice they become devourers and are showered with wealth and power in the fields they desire. There is no end to that boon, there is only one price to pay; they must arrange one sacrifice each year. The sacrifice has to be completely willing, as no treachery or force will work there. The parents must sacrifice with full consent."
"That’s why they torment and stalk their targets. They wrench them away from the normal people and surround them, trying to make him or her surrender to one of them." If he or she does then its okay, or else they try another thing." Vari paused and picked up the glass of water from the table. "Are you thirsty?"
"No." Agni replied.
"Mother will be here very soon. After that we will leave for our actual home." Vari said. Someone entered the room.
Vari got up and hugged her. "She is here, ma."
The woman turned to face Agni, her eyes filled with tears. Agni rose and bowed down to touch her feet. She pulled her to her bosom instead and hugged her tightly showered her hair with soft kisses.
"My child!" she whispered, her voice torn with anguish and joy. "Let’s go." She said. A small car was waiting outside.
It took them to a private airstrip, a plane was waiting there. They boarded it and the journey started. Agni turned to Vari, "You stopped in mid-story."
"Yes, let’s continue . . . as you already know that they kidnap small children, not only for revenge, but for other purposes too. They suck the life force of these children it keeps them alive throughout the year while they spend their time to hunt down the next victim.
" "Oh!" Agni whispered.
"They need someone to bring up these children . . . to cook, to nurse, to feed them. They love to play with children, feed on them but don’t have the temperament to bring one up. Most of them have to keep at least a few at a time, how much life-force can a small child give out, and they never last more than a few years. They are sucked dry. So they force these second types to become their nannies."
A shiver ran down her spine. She recalled how every house in her neighbourhood had small infants, infants that never seemed to grow up. That meant they used to dump one after sucking them dry, and procure another one to replace it.
"We have been searching you for many years, as you know already. We have been just a few blocks away from you before we stumbled upon your aunt and she told us you were still alive and promised that she will bring you to us. Fortunately you trusted her enough to come." Vari said.
"You were crazy about children, so when your brother in law noticed that you are about to fly the coup his first thought was to kill you but then he changed his mind and sold you off to one of the most powerful devourers. He initially intended to devour you but after years of chasing you, he realized he couldn’t, so he decided to trap you through one of the younger ones, to use you as a nanny for the children he keeps."
"He’s acted meticulously against you from the very beginning. First, he made it impossible for normal people to stay around you, and slowly he replaced them with Leeches –– devourers –– or their servants. They made you avoid human contact. Then, when you started counting on cyber friends you became their pawn…"
"Once he knew about your fondness for, or trust for a specific friend, he replaced him with a devourer and that act was repeated whenever you made a good friend. They gathered information of every breath you took and used it to further alienate and study you.
"Besides cyber surveillance they kept you under observation in person, so as to train one or two devourers to mimic you to pretend to be you, to make you despicable to your friends."
"You win their sympathy by telling them your true story then they switch your place with one of them in your friend’s life. She plays coy with them or sometimes he –– a man who admits that he has been pretending to be a woman to have fun or admits she has been having some fun with that friend of yours but in reality she is rich and happily married. Imagine the reaction of that friend!" They tell all your actual, true friends that you are a fraud, a trickster, and a pathological liar."
"How is it possible?" Agni asked incredulously.
"Technology made things easy for them. Once they corner their prey they install listening devices in his/her home. Hack their Internet connection. Use the actual SIM and receive the smses or calls then redirect their phone contents or calls to a dummy phone which they leave with the prey. Earlier, they had to use special powers, but back then, it was easier to trap their victims, especially women. All they needed was to convince their parents and marry them! There was no hope of escape after that. Back then, women did not have the mindset to refuse marriage proposals or walk away from a marriage their parents have fixed for them. They thought it was their destiny –– to get married. Once in the conjugal bed, they lost their souls."
"You are surprised about the way your cyber friends and especially the one you loved vanished, don’t you? Well, the monster on your heels plays the game in the background. They observe anyone who is interested in you, and afterward if he is a man, which they mostly are. In a conservative country like ours people look for lovers on the Internet, even platonic ones. He pretends that he is a beautiful young woman, and transforms into one too, using photographs of young Leeches. Then he lures him away from you and showers him with "her" flattery and full attention. An old man or woman knows how to trick young people. They have knowledge and expertise. Most don’t use that, but Leeches do. Once that person is lured away, the friendship is ruined he slowly backs off. Have you seen how pretty young things begin following your friends’ right after they become your friends? You think they are different people, but they are not they are one person. A really sick one! That is what happened with the person you loved too, on one hand he created a distance between you two pretending to be Greecie. On the other hand, he sent a pretty Leech after him, and she kept him busy while Greecie worked on you. Damage done, she vanished. There is no way you or I can fight the cunning or conjuring skills of these creatures. They have lived on these skills for decades, sometimes centuries, and their network is very strong, they have to help each other to survive."
"What if someone is not ready to let the pretty Leech go? What if he falls in love with her?" Agni asked.
"Well, in that case the pretty Leech becomes an ugly Leech, an old one or a male!" Vari shrugged, "Then profusely apologizes, pretends that it never even guessed that the other party was in love, or else it would have admitted its reality long ago. What can you do in case of such a brazen denial? They never directly say that they love someone unless they are determined to devour them."
"They are diseased." Agni whispered. She could hardly believe what she heard.
"Fasten your seat belts please." A male voice sounded in the speakers.
"It is time for home." Vari leaned and kissed her cheek, "Welcome home sister!"
The plane landed in a medium sized airstrip of a small island.
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