11 Introduction To Evil - Brihannala

Baragaon - Cottage In The Woods

"You want me to go back to Mumbai and pretend that you are dead?" Shivani asked Mrityunjay, baffled at his words.

"Or we can stay here, together, happily ever after," he proposed, his eyes dancing on her face. He was still hopeful that she would prefer a life of anonymity to losing him again.

"Are you out of your mind?" she thundered at him, her anger showing in her words and face. "How can you put me in this situation? You are coming back with me. Your party, your people need you. Come back, take charge of the Swaraj Party and be the leader your grandfather saw in you," she urged him.

"Shivani!" roared Mrityunjay, his voice losing its patient drool. "That is enough. I am not forcing you to stay back. You may stay or leave. I will respect your decision. But you must respect mine too," he maintained, raising his hand, indicating that the argument, as far as he was concerned, was over.

She went closer to him, cupping his face with her delicate hands and kissing both his cheeks. "Alright, but would you at least think about coming back, later..." she pleaded.

Mrityunjay got up, put on his clothes and said, "lets go back. I have to get your tickets booked," and he held out his hand for her, with his typical stern look, coming back on his face.

Unknown Location - Present Day

It had been an immensely satisfying experience, watching Mrityunjay and Shivani fall. In fact, it had been too easy on them. Indeed, she was a benevolent soul, compared to some of the things she had done, with that Milind for e.g.... this was too painless.... but, she had wanted that Mrityunjay be crushed into so many pieces that it would become impossible to piece him together... IMPOSSIBLE.

Brihannala, was thinking out loud, as was her habit. Her coterie of assistants looked on in shock and awe. She was no ordinary woman, in fact she was equivalent to 10 Ravans rolled into one. But, her revenge had come at a huge cost.... and moreover, it had been incomplete. Forced to abandon her ashram and her disciples, Brihannala was in hiding, for the last 3 years. But there was one thing she wanted to accomplish before she went underground. That was to find and kill Mrityunjay. And she had succeeded. Mrityunjay had been killed.... just as she had wanted. They had not even been able to trace his body. It had been smashed to slithers.

But that fool Shivani had escaped, this time too... with some serious injuries never the less. The girl it seemed, was born with the uncanny ability of dodging Brihannala, every time she caught up with her. Each time she had the girl in her clutches, she would escape by a whisker.

Brihannala didn't like failures, she detested them. And Shivani represented the line that separated her failure from success. She was crucial to the plans Brihannala had. "Shivani.. oh Shivani,” Brihannala said the name out loud. "You will be the mother of the next stage of evolution in the Human species. Future generations will worship you. And I will make sure this evolution takes place in my lifetime. I promise you that my dear, dear, Shivani," she spoke out loud.

That Shivani escaped, also had a huge impact on her own return to normalcy. She had reported to the Police, that it was Brihannala that had in fact master minded the attack that killed Mrityunjay in Shimla. And so, a huge search operation had been mounted to flush her out.

If it had not been for her loyal followers, Brihannala would have been rotting in jail. It had taken a while to get the evidences that had got her arrested in the first place, eliminated. With the evidence now gone, it would be easier for Brihannala to resurface. But, for some reason she was holding back. It seemed like there still was something left to be done.

She didn't need the cover any more. The cover she had been using for so long, was now redundant. She would need a new name and identity. And then there would be no more need to hide. Brihannala remembered how Mrityunjay had nearly exposed her true side to the world at large. He got the punishment he deserved.

She would punish that imbecilic Shivani too, when she would lay her hands on her. Oh! How she would enjoy watching her suffer. Just the thought of seeing Shivani in pain, gave her immense pleasure. Brihannala admired her reflection in the mirror, feeling good about the future. She felt optimistic that this time, she would definitely win. After all, the law of averages had to catch up......