Mitra decided to stick to the partial truth she had fed him earlier. Her eyebrows twitching in apathy, she said menacingly, "It's just like I said. I knew you would come for me and waited for you to show up. When you did, I tried to capture you. But you, being a shameful man and more of a coward than I expected you to be, drugged me against my will and brought me here when I was unconscious."
Mitra's countenance blazed with fury as she leaned forward in her chair and spat the words at him, "Why? Were you scared that if you didn't cheat your way with me, you would lose? You know, I find this idea of abducting woman against their will very much a testimonial to men's cowardice and incapability. You pretend to be strong and mighty, but you can't even fill your bellies with food unless you use a woman's hand as a cooking tool or sell a woman's body for pleasure to earn that darn money to foster yourself. Your macho is patched with and is parasitic on a women's existence and yet you pretend to be the better one."
Sashi rolled his eyes. "I do appreciate that you are a feminist Mitra. But I didn't bring you here to prove my macho or earn money on your body. I have secrets of my own, which, unfortunately, can't be revealed due to your discretion or lack of thereof."
He too leaned forward, locking his gaze of fury with Mitra's infuriated one. "Where are the others?" he asked, gritting his teeth.
If Mitra felt any confusion owing to Sashi's question, she didn't display it. She didn't avert her gaze from Sashi's inspection as she thought.
'Others'? What 'others'? Who is he referring to? Does he think there are people other than me who are looking for him? Who could that be? Maybe he thinks I am colluding with someone to catch him. That's it. That's why he is asking me about them, to know if they are tracking him. My guess is correct. He is imagining that I laid out the trap for him with police or my friends' help. He is scared of getting caught. He is getting anxious that someone might come bursting through the door to apprehend him.
That brought her amusement and satisfaction. She smiled slowly as she stated, "You are scared, little man."
"Answer my question." There was more than fury in Sashi's gaze. He looked paranoid and murderous.
"Why should I?" Mitra uttered with pure malice, not an ounce of intention to give up in her attitude. "Traps are meant to be surprising. There's no thrill if I tell you now. You need to figure out things on your own. I am not going to betray myself or the people relying on me to ease your fears."
"If you don't talk, Mitra, I am going to have to find it out the hard way," Sashi warned in a bitter tone.
"What will you do Sashi? What can you do? Shout out to the world and ask them yourself?" Mitra felt uncomfortable saying it out despite the vigour in her expressions and robustness in her voice.
She knew her words were provocative, that she was egging him on to reveal his worst self. Yet, there was no other way she could emerge from the situation without coming across as a damsel in distress. She had to keep the tension and fright alive. That way she would be intimidating even if she had to pay a heavy price for it later.
Sashi's gaze turned cold. It was edgier and cruel. The iciness of his stare continued for an extended moment and later melted to a chillingly colder smile.
"You are greatly underestimating me Mitra. The thing I least prefer is being laughed at, mocked and being told that I can do nothing." He leaned back, the icy sneer thickening on his lips. "Tell me who all are with you and what is the extent of this trap you laid for me."
"No matter how many times you ask me, my refusal to help you is not going to change." Mitra crossed her arms, setting up her defence and making her stance final.
Sashi gazed her as if vetting his options and finally sighed, uttering, "I really liked talking to you Mitra. What a pity it is that I cannot take any of this any longer."
The icy sneer neutralized to pursed lips in anger as Sashi twisted in his seat, putting his right hand behind his back. He pulled out something from beneath his hoodie, something he had been hiding.
As he brought his hand forward, a big and clean butcher's knife shone in his grip. Sashi brandished the knife at an unfazed Mitra with an invisible amusement in his heart.
The appearance of the knife confirmed Mitra's speculations.
Yes, she had triggered his paranoia and imperative to escape the 'consequences of getting caught'. It was happening just as she had hypothesized.
Mitra felt her throat run dry. She had been imagining this the whole time and deep down in her heart, she had been prepared for a outcome like this for her stay in Sashi's hold. The knife scared her; it meant the end of her life. Yet, she sat without altering the power she held in her aloof and stoic expression. It looked more like arrogance and denial of the situation she was in.
Sashi was a little puzzled at the lack of fear in Mitra's face, yet didn't take time to ponder over it. He pronounced his decision to her, "I told you Mitra, that I will do things the tough way. I don't have anything else to do with you if you remain silent." He sat with his elbows on his thighs, leaning forward, the knife still in his hands.
Mitra had no idea what to say. There was no one else she had planned anything with. But revealing that now was only going to make her look like a bluffing coward. Even if she made it out alive from the situation, he would never again fall for any of her threatening or let her win in their power struggle. He would take advantage of her if he knew she was completely alone in the mess, with no one coming to her rescue. That would give him an indefinite dominion over her; let him do whatever he wants with her.
If things went downhill, she was going to die one way or the other.
Better fall a strong hero rather than a weak damsel.
"Good luck, little man. I hope you find your answers the tough way." Mitra smiled at him, something that looked like she was challenging him rather than acknowledging him.
Sashi hadn't expected that reaction from Mitra at all. He had hoped she would be scared out of her wits if he threatened to murder her and would actively reveal everything about who she was colluding with. But Mitra was looking at him like she didn't care at all.
Or maybe, she was confident he wouldn't actually kill her? Did she trust him or underestimate him?
"Really?" he growled at her, letting go of his doubts in the heat of the moment. "I am trying so much to save you, yet you are forsaking it all. You don't deserve my kindness."
"Kindness?" Mitra scoffed, her voice high-pitched in fury. "You are just a psychopath trying to gain attention. An attention seeking, sadistic psychopath. And you dare paint your atrocities as kindness?"
"I will show you the best of my kindness then!" Sashi's voice was the loudest Mitra had ever heard.
And then, she saw it happen. Each second elongated to an epoch, flashing everything in a brightness she hated, her heart stopping to beat as her breath got stuck in her throat. She froze, her eyes widened, and she stared at the horror that approached her. She gaped as Sashi lunged from his seat at her, the knife raised high in air, his eyes bleeding with the fury of being refused, his face contorted with the murderous intention.
Mitra didn't flinch, didn't close her eyes, and didn't gasp. She was petrified, yet, the fear didn't force her to submit. She looked on with that defiance as Sashi brought down the knife with an unprecedented force to her neck to slaughter her in cold blood.