I know it's short, but it is all I could do. Just for your information, Josef is in Rajasthan India. He has stumbled onto a group of nomadic traders who are known in India as Roma (the origin of gypsies). To this day, the Roma still live a traditional lifestyle crossing the dunes of the Thar dessert on camel.

In this update I do bend the truth a little. Shiva is a part of the Hindu trinity (Brahmin, Vishnu and Shiva). He represents the destroyer. American's are more failure with his Shakti (or female form), Kali (made famous by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom). Kali is represented with weapons in each of her 8 arms and a necklace of skulls around her neck, possibly with blood dripping from her tongue. She is not a devil, she is the representation of power and evil forces and people pray to her to placate her, so she doesn't send her destructive force after them. Though blood is no longer sacrificed, and human blood was never sacrificed, to her or Shiva, it was in the past, so I just kind of bent the truth for my story.

'Om Shanti' means peace and when chanted it's a prayer for peace.

Enjoy!!!

Sacrifice-Day 3

Josef sat a safe distance from the campfire. There was a heated argument going between the members of the nomad band. Josef admired the women's dresses. They were even more colorful than the men's. The dress consisted of a full skirt and a blouse. The women also had a shall that covered their heads and they pulled over their faces to hide from the foreigner.

They also had on the most ornate jewelry Josef had ever seen. They had necklaces that covered their whole throats and bracelets up their arms and by the sound of it, some kind of bells on their anklets, though he couldn't see below the skirt.

The most elaborate though, was the head gear that started at one ear, went across the forehead to connect to the other ear and back around the back of the head to connect with the thick braid of black hair. The older women wore large nose rings that were attached to the earrings by chains.

He was disturbed from his observations by a woman approaching him. She had her head bent and held out pile of clothes for Josef. Josef looked at the garments and recognized them as the outfit of his second victim. He slipped the shirt over his head and then moved behind the cover of the camels to shed his torn pants and don the new ones. He carefully transferred his wallet and the compound to the pocket in the shirt. He tied the draw strings on the pants and headed back to the campfire.

He heard a few stifled giggles from some of the younger girls in the crowd. The woman who had presented him with the clothes approached and lifted the front of his tunic to tuck in the draw strings and then pulled the back of the shirt out of the pants. Josef felt stupid holding the long cloth that had made the man's turban.

The woman grabbed the cloth and expertly wrapped it around Josef's head, leaving enough of a trail to wrap around his face and tuck into the far side of the turban. It was different from the other men's turbans, but he'd bet that had something to do with the fact that the man he had killed, whose clothes he was currently wearing, was the enemy of this group. He untucked the face cover and let in hang by the side of his face.

Josef was half listen to the argument to see if there was anything he could understand, but so far he'd only picked up certain words that sounded, semi-familiar. The elder man kept pointing at him and saying the word Shiva, but Josef didn't know if they were calling him by the God's name or saying they should ask Shiva for guidance.

Finally, it seemed that the elder man had won the argument because a slow silence permeated the air. Josef picked up a stick from near the fire and drew a picture of a simple house, then another than a stick figure of a human. He drew other stick figures far away from the houses and some camel stick figures then pointed at the camels and people and pointed at his drawing.

The elder man nodded and pointed at the people and to the people around him. Josef nodded and then pointed to the houses and people and raise his hands in a questioning motion. The man looked at the picture, then nodded. He looked up into the sky at the stars and then in to the horizon. He pointed towards the direction the moon was setting.

West. Okay, so there is a town west of here. Josef pointed to the picture then pointed in the direction the man had. The man nodded and Josef stood up to get as far as he could before the sun rose. He didn't make it three steps before the elder man ran in front of him, waving his hands in a gesture for Josef to stop.

Josef could have just disappeared at vampire speed, but the man had been nice to him, so he stopped to see what the man wanted. The man tried to say something, but just looked at him, like he didn't understand. The man said it again, but this time slow and loud, he held up four fingers and pointed at the horizon.

Josef picked up his stick and drew four suns and pointed to the horizon to confirm his fears. The man nodded. Four days! I don't have four days! I have to get back to civilization now!

A woman came forward with a small pouch of water. She offered it to Josef. Water was more precious than gold in the dessert and he was one of the only creatures on the planet who didn't need it. He tried to refuse, but the woman insisted.

Josef wasn't going to take the pouch he didn't need. He pointed to the blood on his new clothing and then handed the water back to the woman. The woman took the pouch and stared at him. The elder man said something to one of the young girls. She came forward hesitantly. The man took a large knife from a nearby pack and gave the elder woman some command. The woman disappeared then came back with an empty water pouch.

Josef watched in curiosity as the man chanted something. The girl was trying to pull away and the woman looked hesitant as she held out the empty pouch. Josef realized what was happening the moment before the man cut into the girl's wrist. The girl didn't scream, but she winced as the blood flowed out of her wrist and into the pouch the other woman held. The man continued to chant for the next few minutes.

When the small pouch was full the elder release the girl who collapsed and grasp her wrist. The elder took the pouch from the woman and held it out to Josef, bowing his head and then laying the blood at his feet. Josef bent to pick up the blood and nodded in thanks. He then motioned for the girl to come closer.

The girl's eyes widened and she tried to crawl backward, but the elder pushed her towards Josef. Josef gently touched the girl's hand. The girl squirmed and a hushed whisper ran though the group. Josef raised the girl's bleeding wrist to his lip and kissed the cut, sealing the wound.

The girl stood in shock as Josef pulled away. All attention was focused on her and Josef took the opportunity to disappear into the night. He ran like he hadn't in a long time. He didn't know what had happened there, but he was sure he didn't want to stick around to find out what that man would do to the other girls.

Once there was a good distance between himself and the group he slowed, getting his bearings. He followed the man's direction and hoped he'd picked up the scent of civilization as he got closer. Josef had to stop soon because the sun was starting to rise. He dug a pit in the sand and grudgingly buried himself, but it would be the coolest, darkest place he was bound to find out here.

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Back at the camp, the group stood in shock. The young girl still had her arm extended, but instead of the cut and blood that should be there, here skin was healed, but was light. It was liked the color had been bleached out of her skin. The gypsies were silent. Josef's presence could only mean one thing…He'd come.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, Om… the elder man chanted.