Bound By Heart #1intheheartseries

TwEnTy-OnE

Tisha's POV

Voices.
Different voices weaved in and out of my head.
Images flashed in my brain.

I could hear a woman's voice yelling something about girls acting like boys.

I could hear and see a man reciting the Qur'an before wishing two familiar looking girls good night.

I could see two girls jumping happily on someone who I supposed was their elder brother or uncle.

I saw a couple of girls practicing a secret handshake.

A family eating dinner with lots of laughter
.
A family praying together
.
I saw a girl being honoured as a martial arts black belter while a carbon copy of her was in crowd, whistling in happiness
.
I saw lots and lots of scenes.
Then a name rang out in my head.

Nuriyyah.
Nuriyyah.
Nuriyyah.
Nuriyyah Isa.

As the name kept on ringing in my head, I felt a burning desire and need to be with this person.
I felt a deep connection parallel to that of my babies.

I could hear Aqsa's voice in the distance calling out my name.
Someone else was shaking my whole body.
Just as I was coming back to the present, the image of someone flashed through my mind's eye.

And then a series of other images and scenes followed suit.
I felt like a box inside my head had just been unlocked.

A box filled with hidden memories.
A box filled with my real identity.
A box filled with the reason why I disappeared .

I clutched my head harder as I saw a younger version of myself fighting off a group of armed men before eventually getting overpowered.

I saw the clothes of my younger self getting torned by those men as they rained down blows on me.

I saw the silhouette of a woman in the distance, laughing maniacally.
I saw myself getting gang raped...and then I couldn't take it anylonger.
I screamed as I blacked out.

.....

"Is she going to be fine doctor?", I heard someone whisper in the distance as I regained consciousness.

I opened my eyes to find three pair of eyes staring at me.
Aqsa.
The la... Nuriyyah.
And a doctor.

Aqsa's shoulder sagged in relief as she realized I had woken up.
The doctor checked my vitals before leaving the room.
Aqsa and Nuriyyah took a side of the bed each, both on my right and left.
They seemed afraid to say anything.

I smiled fully as I took in the sight of my sister.

"You still haven't grown thick eyebrows Nur."

If her eyes could widen as saucepans, it would.

"You...y-o-u remember me??"

I rolled my eyes,"Seven years apart and my  other half has had small sense."

"O h m y G o d",she covered her mouth to stifle a scream.

"You actually remember!!!!"

"Hey b. I'm home",I grinned before pulling her into a hug.

Aqsa was swiping at her face to clean her tears before I also pulled her in for a hug.

We all stayed like that until Nuriyyah pulled away.

"No more hugging. You're still sore."
I chuckled.
"Ask me questions."

"Huh....why?"

"Hello???! I just gained a larger part of my lost memory back. I need to clarify things abeg."

Aqsa and Nuriyyah laughed as they shared a look.

A mischievous one.
"What?"

"Nothing",they replied in unison.

"Creeps",I muttered.

"I know right?",Aqsa shot back.

"Okay! First question!", Nuriyyah sat up.
I did the same.

"Who was your first crush?",she grinned.
I smacked my face.

"Seriously Nur."

She shrugged,"I need to ensure you still have sense."

I kissed my teeth,"Adam. Adam Yahya. We were 13 when I met him at your school. My dress got caught up in a thorn bush when he came over and asked if he could help me with it since there wasn't anyone around to do so."

Aqsa clapped excitedly,"Osheyy! My bestie's first crush."

"Shut up Aq."

Nuriyyah nodded with a wide smile,"Good one sis. Next question. What insect were you mostly afraid of?"

That was easy,"Cockroaches. Mind you. I was NOT afraid of them. I HATED them."

She shrugged,"Same thing to me. Next question. What would you do first thing in the morning?"

It was my turn to give a wide smile.
"I would leap out of my bed, hop over to your bed, and pull your legs from the covers while yelling at you to get your lazy beautiful annoying self out of the bed."

She chuckled,"And then I would tell you I hated you. You would leave me alone for a few minutes only to come back with cold chilled iced water and dump it over my head."

I giggled,"I was so happy to be the biggest menace of your life back then."

On and on we went until the long lost bond between my twin sister and I became whole again.
And this time, we had a third partner.

Aqsa.

I didn't tell them about the last part of my trance when they asked me about the things I saw before blacking out.
I chose to keep that part to myself.

I was going to find out who separated me from my family and I had a strong feeling the place to start from would be our house.

The house I grew up in.
That was the missing ingredient in helping me find out who was after my life 7 years ago.

Aqsa and Nuriyyah told me they didn't inform our parents about me.

Atleast not yet, considering the fact that the mystery killer was in the family.

However, I wasn't happy my parents wouldn't know they were grandparents already until their grandchildren had grown up a bit.

But that was a sacrifice I was ready to make.
I wouldn't put the lives of my kids at risk.

Few minutes later, Aqsa's friend, Iman from work walked in with a smile plastered on his face.

After pleasantries, I asked him if he could do the honours of calling the Adhan in my babies ears and he looked more than pleased.

After he was done, Nuriyyah brought out some dates and gave him to rub their gums with.

They were placed in my arms once again as I felt my eyes get watery again.

Things were finally falling in place.
....
Don't forget that star!🤸