Looking For His North Star

Chapter seven

"Call the police, Nedim!" He glared at her. "This ends right here, right now!"

Zuhal stilled. "What?"

"Yes", Yaman said savouring her shocked expression. "You're going back to the hole you've crawled out of, just a few months ago. Ironically, for the same crime..."

"No..." She mouthed. "No, I won't go back there. I won't!"

"You have no choice", Yaman growled. "Either go to the prison for your crimes or take a bullet to your head! You're a dead woman walking, anyway..."

"Yaman..." Nedim said in a warning tone, glancing at Dr. Turgut. He took one last look at Zuhal, the confusion in his eyes swapping to disgust immediately. "Unbelievable..."

He turned to Yaman. "I'm calling Firat. He will..."

Later, Yaman tried to recall how everything had happened so quickly. One moment, Nedim was taking out his phone, and the next, he was careening to a side with a pained yelp. Zuhal had moved too fast. She'd knocked the phone out of his hands with her talon like nails and at the same time, snatched up the gun at his waist. She jumped back, pointing the gun at them, her hands visibly shaking.

Yaman stiffened, his veins icing over. Seher made a strangled noise, clutching at the back of his jacket.

"I told you..." Zuhal hissed. "I WON'T EVER GO BACK!"

Nedim straightened, wincing.

"Zuhal", he started. "Don't..."

"Shut up!" She screamed. "SHUT UP! Stay away from me!"

Yaman took a step forward, subtly placing himself infront of Seher.

"What are you going to do?" He asked. "That gun won't take you far. It wouldn't even take a day to catch you if you run away."

Zuhal's free hand went to her neck. She started scratching furiously, her eyes unfocused. Goodness, the woman really did have issues.

"I won't go back to prison, Yaman" she said. "You can't make me..."

"Then what will you do?" Yaman's voice was calm despite of his inner turmoil. "Shoot us one by one? Do you want to kill everyone in this room?"

"No!" She screamed. "No, I just want to kill her! This stupid peasant- she ruined my life! She took everything from me and I won't hesitate to empty this gun on her head!"

Seher whimpered.

"Then you'll have to go through me", Yaman stated firmly.

Zuhal rubbed the bleeding scratches on her neck, her nails stained red.

"I was so close. I was so close to get everything I deserve. You were destined to be mine, Yaman. My sister made sure of that and Iqbal Kirimli never loses..."

"Her body is cooling in a grave right now!" He gritted out.

"...but I can see that you're still under this devil's curse", she went on. "I'll save you, don't worry. Even if it means hurting you in the process..."

Yaman tensed. While Zuhal was ranting maniacally, unbeknown to her, Nedim had moved closer. When she squeezed the trigger, he struck her on the wrist, making her loosen the grip on the gun.

Yaman felt a push on his side as the shot rang out. He stumbled to his knees, with a surprised yell. The bullet went wide, shattering an ornamental bust on a nearby bookshelf. He stared at Seher, who kept standing there with a stupefied look on her face.

She'd pushed him out of the bullet's way...

Nedim kneed Zuhal on the flank and pulled her into a headlock, while she thrashed in his hold like a wild animal. He raised his voice.

"Doctor, help me!"

Yaman had nearly forgotten about Dr. Turgut.

The man seemed to know what to do. He walked over to his desk with brisk steps, meddled with some medicine bottles in his drawer and pulled out a syringe filled with a clear liquid.

"Hurry up!" Nedim demanded.

Zuhal's struggles became more insistent as Dr. Turgut emptied the syringe into the muscles of her neck. He stepped back. Slowly, the woman went slack in Nedim's arms.

"God..." He brushed a hand over his face. "Now what are we going to do?"

Yaman grabbed Seher's hand.

"Handle it, Nedim. Just don't let her come infront of me again or I swear to God, I will...."

He gritted his teeth. The unspoken threat hung in the air.

************************************

Seher's room was light and airy, sparsely furnished with a small bed, a writing table and an armchair. Everywhere there were books- stacked against walls, placed on the table, bundled on the window seat... A small, handmade rug was spread at the foot of the bed.

Yaman noticed this in the space of a minute before he snapped the door shut and pushed Seher against it, breathing hard. There was a strange ringing in his ears.

She gasped, staring at him through wide eyes.

"What...."

"Don't ever do that again!" He demanded.

"Do what?" She squeaked.

"Put yourself in harm because of me!" He was nearly shouting.

"But I..."

"Promise me", he breathed. "Promise me, you will never, ever put yourself in danger for my sake!"

"I..." Seher paused, blinking hard.

I love you more than my life and my pride...

Yaman stared into the green depths of her eyes, swallowing hard, remembering her confession on the recording. Then he pulled her into his arms, pressing his forehead against hers, running his hands through her hair. Time seemed to stop as they breathed each other in, trapped in their own little world.

"God, I'm sorry", he muttered. "I'm so sorry. You took a bullet for me, once. I didn't want that to happen again".

He pressed his face against her neck, where her scent was strong and took a deep breath.

"I took a bullet?" She clutched at him with unsteady hands.

"Yes", he paused. "Is this okay? Hugging, I mean?"

"Yes, I remember this", she said. "At least my body does. We used to do this a lot, didn't we?"

"Not enough", Yaman tightened his hold. "Not enough!"

Later they sat on the small bed, looking through the pictures on his phone. Yaman couldn't seem to stop touching Seher. Brushing her hair aside, caressing her cheek, curling his fingers around hers...

She didn't seem to mind.

"This is on our wedding day", he said. "You love the North Star, so I thought I'd surprise you on our wedding day, with North Star decor..."

Just after Seher's disappearance, Yaman had called their wedding photographer. Thankfully the guy had backups in his device, so he'd sent their new photographs in no time.

"This looks so magical", Seher said. "If only I could remember them...."

"You will!" Yaman said insistently. "You will find your memories, and we'll make a thousand brand-new ones to make up for all the time we lost"

Seher looked pensive for a moment. Yaman took her hand. Then she gave him a teary smile.

"Let's look on the bright side". She studied his face intently, fingers tracing its contours.

"I get to fall in love with you all over again..."

❤️

I got something gooood planned for Zuhal.

Unless you guys hate violence and dark twists. Then I suggest you imagine Zuhal living in a mental clinic for the rest of her life or getting thrown into the jail again😏

If you enjoyed the chapter give a vote and drop a comment 😘

-nocturnal4ever