COVER STORY
When Zahid entered the house, he noticed his chacha’s uneasy face.
“Is everything all right, Chacha?” Zahid asked.
“Oh, Zahid, you’re here! Is Shahid with you?” Musa’s voice trembled, his eyes darting about.
Shahid?
Zahid scanned the room. Around sixteen boys huddled together, all with confused expressions but none of them was his younger brother.
“I thought you were bringing him,” Musa said, bewildered.
“No,” Zahid whispered, his throat tight. “I haven’t seen him at all.”
A tall boy stepped forward. Zahid recognised him as Shahid’s friend.
“He said he was going to the forest to collect some logs. He promised he’d be back soon.”
The word forest froze both Musa and Zahid.
“I’ll fetch Shahid,” Karim said. “The rest of you stay here. Exactly as planned.”
Hearing his dada, Zahid jolted into action.
“I’ll come with you, Dada jaan.”
Before Karim could object, Zahid pressed on, his voice firm.
“It’s better if I go too, after all, he’s my brother.”
“Let him,” Bibi Azra said as she stepped forward, her wooden stick gripped firmly in her hand.
“Musa and I will manage things here. But you must bring Shahid back. At once, and at any cost.”
Without another word, Karim and Zahid hurried into the night. The sun’s light was gone, and with it, every trace of comfort.
Navigating the vast forest by moonlight was no easy task. Karim stumbled more than once on the uneven ground, but with assistance from Zahid, he pressed on. Zahid had lost all sense of time, his voice hoarse from calling his brother’s name.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, Zahid smelled the strong fragrance of champa, which was odd for this time of the season.
Karim suddenly stopped. Zahid also halted behind him, sweat running down his back.
“She’s close,” Karim whispered. “Be careful.”
As they both moved forward cautiously, the sweet fragrance turned into a putrid stench, attacking their noses.
And then Zahid saw her. A pale figure with long, black hair, exuding menace.
He heard his dada recite something quickly. An ear-splitting shriek tore through the night as the figure flew upward, vanishing into the empty sky.
Zahid rushed forward. His Dada was already lifting Shahid’s limp body, fresh blood glistening at a bite wound on his neck.
“We must take him back,” Karim said grimly. “I have to catch the rui inside her home.”
It was just as Zahid had feared. Once the rui had successfully marked its prey, a pashun had to enter Haal-e-Tsum - the shadowed realm - and confront her there.
Carrying Shahid, Zahid hurried beside his dada until they finally reached Bibi Azra’s house. He laid his brother down before her as she continued her prayers. Karim knelt in front of Shahid. With Bibi Azra reciting something over Karim, he closed his eyes and fell onto the floor. Karim was gone - his spirit was now in Haal-e-Tsum.
The entire realm was shrouded in darkness. Karim recited a prayer, and a faint blue glow emerged, lighting up his path. He walked carefully, constantly glancing around in all directions. That was when he heard a low cry.
Karim drew a tasbeeh from the pocket of his kameez and clutched it tight. His eyes adjusted to the gloom and he saw a hazy figure standing in front of him. The figure recoiled, slinking back to avoid the light.
“What is your purpose, oh ferocious rui?” Karim asked in a soothing, but firm tone.
The rui faced him, her skin deathly pale. She wore a white dress, drenched with blood. She glared at Karim with her blood-red eyes and hissed in response.
Karim wanted to understand her actions; otherwise, there would be no choice but to banish her.
“Are you here to take revenge?” he worded his question carefully. “You must have been happy when you killed Naseem.”
The rui’s eyebrows twitched betraying some hidden nerve.
“Did he do something to enrage you?” Karim pressed, his gaze fixed on hers, trying to pierce through the storm of hatred that clouded her.
The rui let out a piercing cry that rang in Karim’s ears. He tried to piece it all together. What thread had he missed? Something didn’t add up. Then it all clicked.
His throat tightened as he spoke: “This is about your daughter, Mariam, isn’t it?”
The rui snapped. With a furious cry, she hurled herself at him, reckless enough to step into the very light she had avoided.
Karim could have banished her, but now that he understood her grief, he couldn’t bring himself to do her more harm.
Outside, Zahid saw his grandfather struggling; his brows knotted, sweat dripping steadily from his forehead.
“What’s happening to Dada?” Zahid cried.
Bibi Azra’s looked troubled. “It is Zuhra. She has taken the form of a rui, as I feared.”
Zuhra was Naseem’s wife, who had passed away a while back. According to Naseem, she had slipped and fallen off a cliff near the valley.
“Is there anything I can do?” Zahid pleaded.
Bibi Azra hesitated for a second then answered, “Mariam. Bring her daughter here.”
Just minutes later, Zahid returned, carrying Mariam bundled in a cotton cloth. Bibi Azra rose at once and came to him.
“You must enter the realm with the baby,” she said. “It is the only way to save them.”
Zahid asked, “How does one enter?”
Bibi Azra gestured for him to sit down and close his eyes. Then, as she recited something, Bibi Azra whispered, “Once you enter, call out to Karim. He’ll protect you both - or you’ll get lost.”
Zahid’s trembled as the room grew silent. All he could hear was his own heartbeat and the soft snores of the child. Remembering Bibi Azra’s advice, he whispered a protection prayer under his breath as he stepped into the darkness.
“Dada!” Zahid called out, running towards the light.
Karim turned round at the sound of Zahid’s voice. The rui saw the child in Zahid’s arms and lunged at him. Karim grabbed Zahid and pulled him aside just in time.
“Careful! She is more agitated than before.” Karim glanced at the child. “Is this Mariam?”
Zahid nodded, then turned to face the spirit.
“Is this the one you seek to protect, Zuhra?”
The rui flinched and screamed in response as she edged closer. Karim noticed something. He decided to take a risk as he commanded Zahid to put Mariam in front of her. Startled by the strange request, Zahid met his Dada’s firm gaze and laid Mariam down.
The rui started crawling towards Mariam. Each step was hesitant, until she reached the baby. She looked at her with her blood-red eyes. Then, with her hands shaking, she held her child in her arms, and tears started to fall. Her expression softened, and her cracked lips curved into a smile as a flush of colour touched her pale skin.
Both Karim and Zahid watched in stunned silence as the monstrous visage of the rui began to melt into something achingly human.
Zahid watched as his dada stepped forward, his tone gentle and steady.
“Beta (Daughter)?”
Zuhra looked at them, as translucent tears shimmered in her hazel eyes.
“Sorry, Karim dada, for troubling you all like this.”
Karim bent down and patted Zuhra’s head. “What happened?”
Tears flooded down Zuhra’s face as she struggled to form words. “Naseem was angry at Mariam’s birth and wanted to take her away. I tried to stop him but he pushed me. I slipped and fell off the cliff. Falling, I cursed him. I swore revenge. He kept Mariam - perhaps out of fear - but she cried every night for his attention. I had to help her! That’s when I swore to protect my child and all other women from men like him. But somewhere along the way, I lost myself. This hideous form consumed me.”
Karim’s expression softened. “Your daughter is safe now. We will protect her. You need not carry this burden any longer.”
Smiling in relief, Zuhra placed Mariam back in Zahid’s arms and urged them to leave.
“Thank you,” she whispered, before her form vanished forever.
***
“I feel bad for her,” said the young man to the middle-aged driver beside him as they wound along the narrow road.
“It’s just a local tale, isn’t it?” the woman in the back asked. “Nothing to take seriously?”
“That’s for the listener to decide,” the driver replied. “Our job is only to share these stories so others don’t repeat the same mistakes.” His smile was faint as his hands tightened on the wheel.
The sun dipped lower, draping the road in a soft, fading light. After a pause, the driver spoke again.
“We’ve still got an hour before we arrive. Would you like to hear another story my dada once told me?”