Yaoguai

By Mayur Raje

A truck transporting the armed force's weapon consignment has been under attack. The soldiers guarding it have lost their lives but the attackers have left the cargo untouched.However, the forensic reports show the involvement of an inhuman creature in this whole massacre. It's upto the team led by Major Rajeev Bose to find out the truth behind this whole incident, working alongside his ex-wife, juggling between his emotions and duty, to shut the case entrusted on his shoulders. Yaoguai is a work of fiction, a thriller, sci-fi, action story revolving around an Army officer and his ex-wife, a forensic scientist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mayur Raje
• Release date: Apr 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201495190

Mayur Raje

Mayur Raje is a singer-songwriter composer from Mumbai, India. Apart from writing lyrics for his songs, he indulges poetry, writing short stories, and ‘Yaoguai’ is his first novelette written out of his sheer love for fiction and storytelling He believes that all of us have been blessed with the gift of imagination, thus he wishes to share the characters from his imaginary world with others out there.

Book preview

Acknowledgement

This piece is a work of fiction, characters developed by my own imagination, built by the emotions I tried to pour in this story. Even though the geographical locations mentioned in this fictional world can be located on the map of India, the characters revolving around the story have no connection with any living entities whatsoever. I thank all the people who supported me in this journey, and all you readers who have bought (if not downloaded a pirated copy of) this book to experience the story. Being my first book, I hope you all enjoy reading this, while I continue writing my next one.

Written by Mayur M Raje,

Edited and cover by Siddhesh P Sundar (Solo Space)

Chapter 1

5:05 AM

Flaring with chagrin, the 34-year-old Major stared at the digital clock. Being a perfectionist, Rajeev was always punctual to his schedule. Staying in his bed for five more minutes wouldn’t have been an issue for him 10 years back, but all those scars from his decade long service in military had taught him the most important lesson of his life; time determines everything. Be a second late to react, and the enemy’s bullet would have already reached your flesh.

Making his way towards the sink, he ripped the bandage off his shoulder. The wound had healed itself, yet the scar went down from his middle deltoid to his bicep. It was a big day for him, getting back to work after a recovery leave. If it was up to him, he would have never wasted his time at home, if not for the sake of being recovered. But with a bullet-stricken shoulder and a dislocated knee, his body needed some rest.

Shaving off the excess beard Rajeev observed himself in the mirror, standing 6ft. tall with a muscular physique and V-shaped back tapering down to his waist. His rectangular face ended in a chiseled jawline, covered by a thin beard, and the bold dark moustache above his lips made him look more like his father, the way he always wanted to be. Brave, fearless, and a man enough to face his problems without crying for help. But above all that, his deep upturned eyes always portrayed his serious anger issues.

The screen of his phone displayed "Home". Rajeev picked up the call just to be scolded by his mom.

Why did you end your leave this soon? Don’t you at all care about your health? You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone son. At least for once in life, learn to prioritize your personal life over your work, her voice reflected her concern.

But his father had taught him the exact opposite. Rajeev had never seen his father enjoy his life, nor had he seen him rank himself or his family over his duties. And that’s exactly how Rajeev grew to be.

Ending the call with his mother, he locked the phone screen which still displayed a picture of his ex-wife and infant daughter as a wallpaper.

—-

As he stepped back into the military headquarters, Rajeev took a deep breath, a breath of confidence, determination, and satisfaction.

Major Rajeev Bose, it’s good to see you back, greeted a man a few years elder to Rajeev.

Lt. Colonel Shastri was man who always wore a smile on his face. Around half a foot shorter to Rajeev, also less muscular, but brave and experienced enough for Rajeev to look up on. His oblong face with a clean shave made him look younger than his age, but the salt n peppered hairstyle made it obvious that he had achieved his post and position due to years of hard work and experience.

My pleasure, sir, Rajeev smiled back. I got to know about the attack on a section of the Bengaluru regiment, couldn’t keep myself from being intrigued. Any updates on the whole incident from Colonel sir Ashok or his platoon?

Straight down to the point I see. Shastri smirked Well, I expected this coming from you. The guy who never learnt about small talk. With a brief pause, he held his palms together and switched into a serious tone "The media has covered it having no clear picture about entire the incident. The press says this was a work of the Naxalites, whereas others call it a well-planned terrorist attack. The truth being something way beyond those levels of simplicities.

This whole incident took place when the convoy truck loaded with weaponries was being transported to the Army base at Karnataka. The attackers martyred our soldiers leaving the cargo and its contents untouched. That’s the reason our first suspicion goes towards the Naxalites, an attack done to leave a message perhaps? Out of nothing but pure hatred. But the most shocking fact is that no guns or explosives were used by the attackers and yet the only casualties are from our side. The bodies show deep slashes, all of them have broken bones; torn out muscles as if mauled by some wild animal. But on a complete armed troop of nine men travelling in a moving vehicle, this kind of attack sounds impossible," explained the Lt. Colonel.

But didn’t our soldiers fire back? There must be some damage to the opposite side, too right?

Our soldiers did fight back Rajeev, bullets were fired by our men, few of them missed the target and have been traced, but the sum of bullets retrieved doesn’t add up at all, defended Shastri. 

If the bullets are missing, they must have hit something or someone right? Rajeev’s calm voice did ensconce his bewilderment.

That’s what we are looking for. Dr. Surucha is on her way to the scene with her forensics team, we’ll wait for her to update us further.

‘Dr. Surucha’ that name pushed Rajeev’s presence in the room tumbling down through the memory lane.

——-

Her ivory skin carrying a light blue dress, curly hair held together with a clip, no sign of makeup on her face except to her bindi. Does bindi even count as makeup? Rajeev never knew, for someone who considered himself macho enough to take any interest knowing about beauty products. And yet, this tall, muscular guy was intoxicated by her round hazel eyes.

A rookie army cadet secretly crushing over a forensic intern. Being assigned on the same mission was the only reason they exchanged words. Otherwise, Rajeev wasn’t someone to break the silence with a stranger. Even if that stranger was meant to be his future wife. As he got to know her more, he started admiring her as a person. This intern named Surucha Rao, wasn’t just a PhD graduate but also a sports enthusiast. And even though she didn’t have an athletic figure, she was a gold medalist swimmer. For someone who only opened his mouth to argue with others, Surucha outwitted his every argument with smarter replies.

Though Rajeev tried his best to suppress his emotions, but the way he behaved around Surucha, regardless being involuntary, spoke about the feelings he tried to deny. Spreading slowly as if a single drop of ink dripped into a bucket full of water, his feelings for Surucha had already smudged his always angry and rude personality. Also, she was smart enough to read his movements, the difference in his behavior around others colleagues and when he was around her was quite noticeable. She hadn’t yet fallen in this so-called pit of love for this guy, but while hardly anyone else did, she surely enjoyed Rajeev’s company.

Surucha’s work on the mission as an intern was almost done, their team was working on the martyred bodies of troops retrieved from a clash with the terrorist group Lashkar-e-toiba. Colonel Khan sat with his subordinates going through the reports presented in the file in his hand, while as a cadet, Rajeev was setting up the projector.

"The cyanide found in Captain Paul’s body thus suggests that he chose to end his own life instead of getting held hostage by the terrorist organization and