This prelude in itself is a foundation for an epic story, that may come to life, sometime in the distant future on this forum.
Valentina was whispered to be 70 years old and yet she did not look a day over 30 years and this was the most popular subject of discussion among her regular clients and visitors who had been coming to her for advice on their stars and fate. Many of her women customers had begged her and constantly kept offering her, huge sums of money to make her tell them the secret of her youth. But their efforts were all in vain. For, Valentina just smiled her angelic smile at them and whispered in ghostly tones " Child, the price you will have to pay in return is very huge and I don't think that you can afford it", and sent them on their way.
But, rumors had it that the famous Hollywood actress, Sylvia Morgan had been secretly helped by Valentina for the aging actress who had been down and out on her way out to oblivion had suddenly come back with a hit and after that there had just been no looking back, for her career hit the sky and even above it. Sylvia Morgan had come back more beautiful than before and had then boldly proceeded to act in a few nude scenes that had her co-stars going ga-ga over her shapely body, skin and her young and bouncy breasts.
And to add spice and hurt to all the other aging and jealous actresses in Hollywood, a very famous plastic surgeon had gone on prime time television and had declared that, Sylvia Morgan was all natural and Botox-free and that she had not visited him in over a decade.
Hounded constantly by the press and Television reporters, Sylvia Morgan had finally confessed that it was just a new secret health routine and an Indian diet that were behind her beauty and rejuvenated health.
She was the owner of the most famous Tarot and palm reading center in New York, which carried her very own name and people thronged to her for help and advise on how to ward off bad luck and evil spells cast on them by their enemies and very often by their own friends and family members.
But, all the reading and healing were done strictly by appointments only and only after a 10,000 dollar deposit had been made into her account. Valentina ran a very strict and legit business and even though she had been investigated many a time by the IRS and other Govt agencies, nothing bad or illegal had been uncovered in her place of work and finally she had been left alone with the Govt people telling everyone who cared to hear them that " The gypsy was making filthy amounts of money just by holding out hope and hocus-pocus illusions for all the rich people who flocked to her."
Brighton Beach, New York was a place meant mostly for Russian Immigrants and their businesses and it was strange that a Gypsy could run a Tarot place right amidst them and yet she had been doing so and for many years now.
There had been some trouble associated with her when she had first arrived in Brighton beach when a few local Russian thugs tried to muscle in on her earnings and demanding protection money. Strangely, those men and their entire gang went missing over the next few days and after that, Valentina had been left alone and nobody had ever bothered her again.
There were two reasons for her power and why people feared her and the first reason was that she was not an ordinary gypsy but a powerful witch and the second reason was the scarier one and that was, she was being protected by her only son who just so happened to be the scariest Russian mafia leader in the world and his name was " Boris Vanya."
She had given birth to Boris, very late in her life and although people whispered that she was 70 years old, Valentina, in fact, was nearly 100 years old. She had been a virgin all through her life and she had been nearly 60 years old when Boris's dad had raped her and had nearly killed her.
Mishka Pavlo, the man, who through his seed had given her womb a son, Boris Vanya had died a few days later although his death had not been in vain for she had sacrificed his life before the Goddess of Death, Kali and had purified herself and had gotten back her powers. She had planned the same with her son, Boris when he began to fill her stomach but then, her powers had warned her not to kill her child for fate had its own plans for the soon to be born Boris.
What? Kali, Goddess Kali being worshipped by a Russian gypsy witch, you will think and scream aloud.
Yes, our own Goddess Kali was and is the deity of the so-called Gypsy people who actually prefer to be called
" Romany, Roma, or Romani" and their story began with the Ancient civilization of Mohenjo-Daro, nearly 5,000 years ago.
The Romani people, once known as "gypsies" or Roma have been objects of both curiosity and persecution for centuries. Today, some 11 million Romani, with a variety of cultures, languages, and lifestyles, live in Europe and beyond. But where did they come from?
Earlier studies of their language and cursory analysis of genetic patterns pinpointed India as the group's place of origin and a later influence of Middle Eastern and Central Asian linguistics. But a new study uses genome-wide sequencing to point to a single group's departure from northwestern Indian some 1,500 years ago and has also revealed various subsequent population changes as the population spread throughout Europe.
To begin the study, a team of European researchers collected data on some 800,000 genetic variants (single nucleotides polymorphisms) in 152 Romani people from 13 different Romani groups in Europe. The team then contrasted the Romani sequences with those already known for more than 4,500 Europeans as well as samples from the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and the Middle East.
According to the analysis, the initial founding group of Romani likely departed from what is now the Punjab state in northwestern India close to the year 500 CE. From there, they likely traveled through Central Asia and the Middle East but appear to have mingled only moderately with local populations there. The subsequent doorway to Europe seems to have been the Balkan area, specifically Bulgaria from which the Romani began dispersing around 1,100 CE.
Every evening, just before the sunset, plunging the world into darkness, Valentina sat before the small figurine of her ancient Goddess and meditated, chanting powerful Sanskrit shlokas and mantras and so, she sat in meditation and closed her eyes and immediately a sense of foreboding filled her soul.
She had been sensing a strange fear of something that the goddess had not yet revealed to her and so she had waited patiently for her visions to guide her as to what the future held in store for her.
Valentina, opened her eyes and stared hard at the goddess and watched in panic and fear as the sword fell from the goddess's right arm and next fell her trident from her left arm and she knew instantly that something terrible was going to happen.
Getting up quickly, she ran to her tarot table and whispering her son Boris Vanya's name, began pulling out cards and placed three of them face down on the table.
It was dark outside her place and inside, she sat at the tarot table with just a few candles burning away around her.
Valentina's fingers shivered in fear as she reached for the first card and turned it so that it could show her what it held and she swore the moment her eyes fell on the card for it was the Knight of Swords.
The Knight of Swords shows a young man in his armor riding a powerful white horse into the midst of a battle in the distance. The white color of the horse symboliZes the purity of the intellectual energy that motivates the rider. The sky behind him is filled with storm clouds and the trees are tossed wildly by the wind. The horse's harness is decorated with images of butterflies and birds and the knight's cape is also decorated with birds. He charges forward with great momentum and apparently without any regard to the dangers he may encounter
Valentina knew what the next card would be and just to confirm it, she reached and turned it over and the card lay now facing her and it was the Four of Swords.
The 4 of Swords is the card of stillness. This card predicts a time in your life when you feel as though everything has paused. You will feel as though everything in your life has come to a complete stop. The plans which you have made previously will not come to fruition. Projects will not get finished and work will not be done. You will not want to spend time with other people during this time; you will choose to or will be forced into isolation.
Valentina knew without any doubt what the final and third card was and she got up and ran towards where her mobile phone was and dialed a number that only she had and was meant only for her and her son, Boris Vanya.
Boris answered after 6 rings, but not in his usual, scary and creepy voice for his voice strangely was tinted by a hint of frustration and fear.
" Mother, I am very busy right now. I will call you later."
" Boris, Boris, Please don't end the call for I have something to tell you."
Boris fell silent for it was quite unusual for his mother to sound so vague and panic-stricken and sensing that all was not well, replied " Okay mother."
" Boris, listen to me. You are in grave danger. The cards just revealed that something is approaching you and it could be
life-threatening to you and your men."
Boris Vanya knew his own strength and weaknesses and also knew how powerful a witch, his mother was and that she was not one to panic or lose control. So, it would be wise on his part to heed her words and not throw caution to the wind.
" Okay mother, I will take steps to protect myself. Thank you for calling me and warning me. we will speak more tomorrow morning. Good night mother."
Boris Vanya, the most dreaded Russian gangster waited a few moments for his mother Valentina to say something, wish him a good night and when none came from her, he asked her " mother, mother. what is it, what is going on?"
In Brighton beach, Valentina stood holding the phone and felt the strong energy waves of the man who was casually approaching her Tarot place and she whispered to her son " I am sensing the danger approaching my place. Let me call you back after I find out more."
Valentina slowly made her way back to the entrance of her place and found a tall, lean man with his back to her standing and staring at a painting of Goddess Kali that hung on the wall and somehow sensing her presence, without turning around spoke to her " what are the chances of finding this ancient painting of the goddess Kali and that too in a Tarot place in Brighton Beach, New York?"
The man turned and looked at her and Valentina immediately realiZed in her soul that this was the danger that had come for her son and with a smile masking her thoughts and fears welcomed the man " Welcome stranger, I am Valentina."
The man smiled " I am Azrail Binyamin."
Valentina smiled " Stranger, from an ancient land. Even more ancient than the land, whose name you carry and yet the meanings of all your names is the same and stands for one thing and one thing only."
She came closer to the stranger and looked into his eyes that sparkled with green lights and asked him " What is your real name stranger for you have come from the land of the goddess that I and my people worship."
Valentina looked at him confusedly " Usually, people go " My name is so and so and it is strange that you introduce yourself thus."
She took his hands and looked at his palms and after reading them for a few moments, looked at him " Who are you, stranger? what are you? For you do not walk alone, as another walks along with you in your shadow casting his own shadow with yours. Where is he, this other person who I sense but cannot see?"
Rudran looked at her calmly and then suddenly turned his palms and now it was he who was holding Valentina, who tried hard to wriggle out from his grip that felt like coils of death around her soul.
The stranger looked at her with a curious smile and closing his eyes for a second, threw his mind and entered hers and stepped back slightly startled and whispered " You are his mother. The mother of the man, I have come in search of " and Valentina stepped closer with a loving and a pleading look and then with a speed of a snake striking at its prey, pulled a long, thin knife and plunged it into Rudran's chest.
But, Valentina saw to her shock and surprise that the man moved faster than her and caught her hand which held the knife meant to kill him and then spoke in a slightly different voice " You just asked where the other shadow was and so here I am and let me introduce myself to you. I am Bhairav and I am not Rudran and unlike him, I don't judge but only execute."
Saying this, Bhairav, effortlessly twisted Valentina's hand that held the knife that had been meant to kill his brother and pushed it in anger and the long steel pierced her chest and sank deep into her heart and she sank to the floor dead and still holding the knife that lay buried in her chest.
Bhairav whispered " Rudy, I am sorry that I had to put you to sleep for you would have hesitated to do what I just did and that would have been the end of both of us. Sorry, kid brother for i cannot let that happen. Not now, not ever and definitely not until our work is done."
Their bond was forged in the darkness of the womb. Their love began with their first heartbeats and they heard each other and sensed each other. They lay facing each other and mother nature etched every part of them and shaped in the exact mold as the other. Their very souls were connected all though they were in different bodies and although they were not conjoined twins.
He was feisty and adventurous while he was calm and rarely moved. One kicked while the other lovingly stroked his foot and touched his face. Thus where their bonds made in the atomic level where god bathes each new life with his powers and blesses them with his breath.
They were inseparable and always stayed close and never from each other's eyesight. He as in the womb took the first step while he watched and followed two steps behind his brother. They grew fast and they spoke their own language of gibberish words that others could not understand and they also spoke in their minds.
They were like two stars in the house and they shone brightly where ever they went and it was one in the front and the other one step behind him. He didn't mind being his brother's shadow for his brother shed light on him even in his shadow.
From chapter one of Redemption. Posted: 18 September 2015
I sought my soul, but my soul I could not see. I sought my God, but my God eluded me. I sought my brother and I found all three. - Unknown
The boy who went into the dark and came back with light.
Itti Si Khushi Sab TV
Anupamaa
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