281 Look who's here (Part 3)

Prithvi's House, Chandragarh

That night, Suryakant and his team realised belatedly that they had been compromised. But before they could escape from the place, 'she' had arrived. Bela had killed all of his teammates after a brutal battle where she fought like a lonesome warrior. He had hidden upstairs, hoping that he won't be discovered. Surviving the mission had been paramount. But she had been fiercely resolute and eventually found him.

Had she left him alone that night, Suryakant wouldn't have harmed her, either. But it was her sheer doggedness which eventually led to her and his downfall. That night's events blew up to such a proportion that his motherland refused to acknowledge him as one of their own after that.

He managed to escape that night but was forced to live in shadows, running away from those seeking his life, barely surviving behind enemy lines. He didn't have a valid citizenship proof and as a result couldn't hold a proper job here. All in all, he had led a miserable life. But remaining in the shadow did have its advantages!

Letting aside the sharp weapons, Bela laid her hand on the bluntest knife in the room.

Upon Prithvi's quizzical look, she smiled and said, "I never showed you the masterpiece which he gifted me that night, right? Never mind, you can see the one that I give him tonight."

Bela's back was a mass of deep and ugly scars. Had it not been for Raghu's unconditional and unwavering love, her self-confidence would have nose-dived long ago.

Prithvi stared at her for a second and then took her arm and dragged her out of the room.

"You know this could be a trap, right?" he reminded her in an urgent whisper.

The timing and coincidence of the incident were extremely convenient. Bela was shaking her head before he even finished speaking.

"Do you know how long have I waited to become relevant enough for the enemy, for them to use him as a bait for me? All this while, leading a mundane life, I resigned myself to the fact that I will have to wait for another birth to settle scores with this bastard. But then, you came and reset my life back by twenty years. A hope which had been lying dormant, was lit up again. Trap, you say? Well, I am falling inside this trap willingly. The only difference is – that time I didn't wait for you to come along, this time, I am hoping that you have my back," Bela's unexpected words made Prithvi stagger back.

It suddenly felt that he could breath again after a long, long time. While her nemesis had been a person, Prithvi's archenemy for all these years, was the fear of failing, which stemmed from his inability to protect his senior all those years ago.

After regaining composure, he cleared his throat and said, "Sure. You go and play. I will arrange for 'appropriate countermeasures'."

Seeing her go back in, he pivoted and walked to the interiors of his house. It was going to be a long night.

Eastern zilla

During the days when Ramanujam had been interning as a spy, one of the first lessons received, had been the ability to stay alert of one's surroundings, especially while facing unexpected situations. It was one of the critical most lifesaving hacks for spies.

Unfortunately, Ramanujam forgot this lesson when he stood in shock beside the bed right now.

"And we meet again. I see that you have not only recovered but have also discovered my treasure," Sharada had walked upto him noiselessly.

He had been so focussed on what was in front of him that this person had managed to sneak up and now held a sharp knife to his jugular vein.

"After you ran away from the little cell, I was willing to let you go and not chase you any further. But now… Don't you know what happens to those who know too much?" Sharada's eerie voice continued to whisper in his ear.

"No jerky movement, now. Let's do this peacefully, OK?" she cooed in the eerie combination of masculine and feminine voice.

Thinking quickly, there weren't many options available in front of Ramanujam at this moment. Slipping his hand inside his kurta's pocket, he quietly clutched the small khukri and waited.

Sharada escaped the fainting medicine spell because she had been in the washroom for the past many minutes. Seeing Ramanujam standing in the room had come as a shock to her and in that moment, the spy's fate was sealed.

"I wish you a good afterlife," with that, she slid the sharp knife across his neck.

As blood spurted out of his neck, he knew that she would have let her guard down now. He started sliding down, clutching onto Sharada's shoulder with one hand. Pulling the knife out from his pocket, with his other hand, he used his entire strength and plunged it in her stomach. Before she could push him away, he twisted the khukri, making sure to cause fatal damage to her intestines.

"Arghhhh!"

Shock was visible in the latter's eyes but Ramanujam didn't have the luxury to stay and watch. The rate at which blood was gushing out, he knew that he didn't have much time. When Sharada had brought the knife to his neck, he had moved imperceptibly, changing the direction of the cut.

By his estimation, he didn't have more than five to ten minutes to live. Clutching his neck tightly, he staggered out of the building and pulled yet another thing out of his pocket. It was a wooden whistle which produced sounds that were not audible to human ear. But birds could hear it well and from a long distance. Pushing air into the whistle with all his might, he slid down the steps on the porch and waited for the eagle.

He pulled out the prewritten message on the scroll and now added a line to it with his blood. It was paramount that this message reached Prithvi. Soon, the eagle touched down, right next to him. After tying the message to it, Ramanujam petted it with his hand which was not soaked in blood and silently bid farewell.

As he saw the bird fly away, his heart was flooded with regret regarding the various unfinished things which he was leaving behind. Alas…