The door flew open with a bang. A harsh gust of wind entered the cold, dark and ruined space which seemed like it extended to eternity. It looked like a cave from the outside, with a low stone entrance barred by an iron gate. It was surrounded by a few trees too – the place was located in the outskirts of the city, near to a forest. And even though the entrance had the appearance of a narrow cave, it opened up into the basement of an old building. The building itself was a hundred years old, and had many hidden entrances leading inside. It was however, long neglected and forgotten, the residue of a small war that had taken down a minimal population a century ago.

The building was huge, almost having the dimensions of three average sized houses in one. But most of it was semi finished and dilapidating now, overgrown with trees and worn down by weather. One of its back entrances was the cave route, and Kaali had chosen it to enter, like always.

The single door to the basement flew open and smashed into the cold wall alongside, echoing loudly when it did. The ends of his robe flapped into the wind, the loose green strands of his hair swaying viciously behind him. A terrifying frown marred his face, he was angry. He hadn’t been that mad in ages.

He glanced around the dark place, his eyes immediately spotting the wide, red couch in a corner. He also saw the familiar shadow he was searching for, as it fell lazily across the grey wall. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling, which was the only little source of light in the place, that also made the shadow seem larger than ever.

The room seemed colder in that corner, as if marred by loneliness and a darkness that could destroy all hope.

Kaali walked in that direction with light, swift steps, his face distorted.

“I can’t believe you chose to hide here,” his voice was a malicious hiss when he spoke, “It took me all night just to locate you.”

The shadow in the corner stayed put.

He reached in two strides, his fists clenched as he saw the figure sitting still, cross legged and staring in front. It was only when Kaali reached out and touched the back of her head that the woman shoved his hand away with the edge of a book.

She didn’t move, but she did turn her head slightly and glared at the man.

Her gaze was angry.

For a split second, her nasty black eyes matched his sharp green ones. Then she turned around again, stood up, and shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans, she walked slowly towards Kaali.

Her face was flawless, beautiful and unkind – there were hints of age on it, but one bitter smile was all it took for her to look terrifying.

Kaali stepped back by instinct.

“Eshni,” he whispered.

The woman wore a loose white blouse over a pair of ragged blue jeans. Her hair was black with no strand of white in it, her eyes a smouldering, horrifying black too. There were wrinkles close to her eyes when she smiled, and yet the corners of her mouth revealed an edge to her face – one that marked her as a beauty of rare kind.

Her aura was evil, her voice poison when she spoke.

“I told you not to touch her.”

Kaali felt a cold chill run down his spine. The anger on his own face faded away, as he tried to match the daunting eyes of the woman before him. It was when she smirked, that the man started to be afraid.

She seemed to be in a terrible mood.

“She asked for it,” he said though, his words cutting as well, “Tao is still not awake.”

The woman’s smile broadened, till it was reaching her ears. Her face turned ecstatic, her eyes colder as she hissed, “You’re lying.”

A low purr echoed in the background. Kaali froze at the sound, his eyes instinctively withdrawing from the woman’s, to look towards the sofa. A pair of hungry, blue eyes stared back at him from the head of the couch. The purr turned into a growl.

“Shh,” the woman silenced, barely giving the beast on the sofa a glance, “Quiet down, Zaila. This one’s a friend.”

The beast obediently slipped back and lay onto the sofa.

Kaali sighed in relief.

“Eshni,” he said again, “It’s not to –“

“Why did you hurt her?”

Her words were direct, and she was barely a foot away from him now. She was as tall as him, almost a whole six feet in height. She looked at him as if he was a puny ant.

Kaali spat.

“You don’t care about Miya.”

Her face lost the malice for a second, and then she looked back at him listlessly.

“I don’t,” she said simply, “But you’ve already cost me two daughters, Kaali.” With that the woman walked across the lean man, her face turning bitter again, her mouth adorned by a sardonic smile. She barely clicked her fingers together when the air around Kaali froze. He didn’t even see the woman move, she only had to pass by him to make him fall to the ground.

The man fell to his knees, shocked, and then hit the ground. He shivered.

Then slowly reaching to the side of his neck, he pulled out a small dart. His face turned filthy.

The woman barely spared him a glance.

“You don’t disobey me, Kaali. Nobody does.”

With that, she walked out of the basement and into another one of the rooms. Behind her, tailed the huge, white beast, pouncing down when it saw its mistress leave.

The door closed behind her with a slam.

The room was a small video room with a massive screen alight the wall, and a film playing on it in mute and in loop. Eshni’s face turned nastier when she saw the screen. She didn’t stop it though – she simply sat agitatedly on a nearby chair and pulled out her phone. Her eyes were unnaturally dark when she unlocked the screen and stared at the voice message that she had received. She hit ‘play’ for the hundredth time in a row.

A familiar, impassive voice echoed through the walls of the room.

“Hello Esh,” the voice boomed.

Eshni closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the board of the chair. She clenched her fists, her expression tight.

Simon.

The message was undoubtedly from him.

She felt a million feelings surge, as silence engulfed the room, making it seem darker than ever. A strong, furry paw nudged at her knee, and she instinctively ruffled the beast’s head, opening her eyes to look into its dark blue ones.

The tiger’s eyes shone, and it purred docilely, placing two paws on either of the chair arms as it rested its head on her lap. The tiger was huge, white and beautiful, the woman liked the soft touch of its fur under her fingers. She patted the beast, then lightly kissed the top of its head.

“Baby girl,” she whispered, lost, “Your father is a monster.”

She continued to stroke its skin.

All the while, Simon’s voice boomed through the room, repeatedly saying, “Hello, Esh.”

Eshni fixed her gaze on the ceiling, then breathed hard, looking at the screen and the footage playing on it. It was a video from way back in 1983, when the first camcorders had been launched. She was still an aspiring photographer willing to work for the wild back then. She was also just 21, and she had already had her one chance meeting with the youngest Chairman in the history of Hunter Corporation – Simon Hunter. He had been 29.

She had dared to defy the cold, proud man. Several events later, he had made her lose her job in turn. She had then used her pet scorpion to frighten him out of his wits – in fact, she had placed the eight legged animal on his neck while he was working late at night in his office.

Then she himself had sat on his desk, cross legged and defiant.

The screen played this part of the scene in somewhat hazy pictures.

Eshni lazily picked up the remote from a small table beside the chair and unmuted the video. The voices seemed to erupt from the screen almost in broken record. The woman shut off the mobile, lost, a faint smile spreading on her face again. She seemed much less sinister when she stared at the picture playing in front, stroking the tiger’s coat gently as she whispered, “There’s dad, Zaila.”

She didn’t need the record to play the dialogue for her. She still remembered every detail from this little event between them from all those years ago. She watched in lost amusement as a much younger version of her climbed up Simon’s desk and sat before him defiantly.

The proud face of the Chairman was frozen, and his eyes couldn’t hold back the shock when he saw the tall, slender girl actually climb up his desk and seat herself before him. Simon was much younger in the clip, and his face was boyish when he looked up at Eshni in fear. A huge black scorpion was stuck to his collar. Simon looked like he wasn’t even breathing.

Eshni smiled at that.

The camcorder in those days had to be put on shoulder top to record a video, and she had bullied a friend of hers into making the recording from outside a ceiling to floor window in the Chairman’s office. The angle was such that Simon’s face was clearly visible, but only Eshni’s back could be seen.

A cheerful voice echoed through the room as the young girl on the screen laughed.

“I finally have you boss,” she cheered, and then leaned over to lightly caress her scorpion.

Simon froze further, almost leaning back in his chair so the woman wouldn’t lay a finger on him. His face was repulsed, horrified and shocked into silence. He did stiffen when she leaned close to him to pat the animal.

“Boss,” the girl was saying thoughtfully, “Why didn’t you just let it be? It was hard to get that job, you know. Now I’m banned from most places! You’re mean.”

Simon didn’t respond. His usually grey eyes did become steelier, and he looked at the girl demonically, making sure she knew she would regret each of her moves once Simon was free.

“It’s past midnight, I could have you stung, but you’re still giving me that nasty look. Boss, you’re impossible.”

Simon very slowly breathed.

“Put that filth off me.”

“It’s a scorpion, boss. And I named it Simon after you.”

Simon Hunter could barely contain his rage.

The girl leaned in closer.

“Give me back my job. And lift the ban from me.”

A proud, vain look flashed in Simon’s eyes, and the corners of his mouth twitched. He almost smirked at her face rudely. The girl hmphed, then said rather unhappily.

“Then you leave me no choice, boss.”

With that, the girl grabbed Simon Hunter by his collar, leaned over some more and gently pressed her lips to his. The young Chairman froze, didn’t even breath for the brief second that their lips met. She halted too, and an awkward moment passed between them before she kissed the corner of his mouth lightly. Simon didn’t kiss her back, but in his daze, one strong arm protectively supported her back… almost.

She withdrew.

Her breath was heavy. There was a strange electricity between them, it seemed, and Simon looked back at her in a daze as she stared back. She awkwardly tucked the loose strands of her jet black hair behind her ear and frowned.

It was when Simon saw the scorpion on her shoulder instead, as she was sitting on the table that he realized what had happened. His face turned pale – his expression horrified.

Eshni seemed to have sensed it too, for she was quick to jump off the desk and onto the ground.

Simon stood up as well.

“You…!” he hissed.

The girl raised up her hands, “You left me no choice! Boss, I have this thing on record. If you don’t lift the ban on me, I’m going to send it to your fiancé!”

“What!” Simon was outraged.

“Yes, I know you’re about to be engaged! I – I…” she was about to fly off the room, her face bright red when she almost walked into the door and hit her face on the glass instead.

Simon’s cry was exasperated.

“Careful! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Eshni looked back at the Chairman, rubbing her shoulder vigorously as she ran for her life, furiously muttering, “Lift the ban, boss!”

The video ended haphazardly there.

Eshni leaned back further, gently rubbing the tiger’s hair as she watched the video with a faint smile. She still remembered that time. Simon had lifted the ban on her in the next hour, she had got back her job, but the next few days of her life were a mess. Simon had come back to wreak havoc and have his revenge.

Those silly days now made her laugh.

She had of course never had to leak the footage. Instead, her friend had sent it over later as a gift when she was pregnant with Jimmy.

Jimmy…

Eshni sighed. Her mouth slowly steeled, then she muted the video that had begun to play again. She instead played Simon’s voice record message.

“Hello, Esh.” It said. He sounded old.

Her mind went back to their thousand meetings, and fixated on one simple conversation of theirs. Long ago, Simon Hunter had told her agitatedly.

“Stop running like the sky is going to come crashing down on your head, Esh. I won’t chase you forever.”

“I won’t marry you, Simon,” she had said.

“I’ll never ask you to.”

And he had still appeared now, the moment she was in reach.

Simon Hunter, why wouldn’t he give up?

Eshni closed her eyes again, her mind growing numb with the repeated “Hello, Esh,” that echoed in the room. Then very slowly, she got up from the chair, instructing the tiger to move away. Then walking over to a mirror attached to one of the cupboards, she stared at her own reflection.

A pair of grim, beautiful black eyes looked back at her. She quietly put a practiced hand near her forehead, and pulled off the contacts. Once she did, she was immediately relieved.

Her own, brown orbs stared back at her in familiarity, and a light grin spread on her face. She touched the mirror, lightly caressing the image’s cheeks.

She was proud, how much Jimmy looked like her. Even his eyes had a slight hint of brown in them – just like hers, despite being majorly grey like his father’s.

So much time had passed.

Sudden delight filled her heart. The more she stared at her reflection, the calmer she became. In the background, the repeated “Hello, Esh,” made her smile again. She leaned back, picked up the phone and silently smashed it against the side wall.

The phone broke out in a last, “Hello, Esh,” before shattering to pieces.

Eshni’s eyes turned cold. She smiled, forcing herself to remain calm. Her voice was a hiss again when she said,

“Hello, darling. It’s time we meet again.”

The tiger behind her purred, rubbing its head against her back.