The Red Necklace

Chapter 26

I walked and walked not looking in the direction I was going. I walked until my foot gave up.

I looked around and panicked. It was a dark area with huge bushes and trees and I couldn't see anyone there. I stopped walking and listened to the voice of water falling in a distance and realized I was very near to the waterfall. I walked in the direction from where the voice was coming for ten minutes until I was standing in front of the enormous waterfall. It was almost midnight and the moon was full today. I sat under a tree on the right side and stared at the waterfall with awe. I opened my bag and brought out a tin of mixed nuts and munched on it. It had been almost a day and I was surviving on half of the water bottle I had drunk and the nuts I had eaten in the train. Gulping the rest of the water down, I knew that I would now be able to survive another day. I laid my head back on the tree and closed my eyes, listening to the sound of the water falling. It was in so much rhythm that the voice seemed like a music to my ear.

I woke up to someone brushing my face. I opened my eyes and what I saw made me yelp and pull back instantly. A man was sitting beside me, too close for my liking. He had sterling gray eyes and a fair complexion. He had short spiked blonde hair and piercing on one of his eyebrows and both of his ears. He was wearing a white t- shirt and some sandy pants. He was smirking at me and that instantly made me worry. I was way too far from the motel I was staying and it was very unlikely for someone to be outside this late that I could call for help.

I pulled myself a little back and my back hit the tree's trunk. I looked around panicked and saw no way of escaping. Even if I stood up, there was no way I could find my way back.

" Oh look at this, the sleeping beauty is awake." The man said and I felt like puking the nuts I had eaten.

" Who... who are you? " I stuttered.

" We can do the introduction later dear, before that," He got a hold of my dupatta. " Let's enjoy." and with that he yanked the dupatta from me and threw it in the air. I screamed and he jumped on top of me.

" Save the screaming for later dear, I haven't done anything yet. " The man said hinting on something. My heart was thumping in my ribcage and I was afraid it'll stop beating any moment.

" Don't you dare touch me!" I tried to scare him away but it only made him laugh wickedly.

" I'm so scared." The man mocked before he pulled out a rope from the huge bag he had thrown next to me.

" Wha..what are you doing? I asked but I already knew the answer.

" Taking this all to a new level. It'd be more fun when you are tied." The man was saying as he tied my hands with the tree's trunk. My heart was thumping loudly and I was screaming.

No . No , this couldn't be happening. Please No. No, no, no! Please No!

" Leave me! Help! Help! Someone please help me!" I was screaming. The man suddenly slapped me hard on my face and for a moment my senses paused. And when they came back, I had to take in a sharp breath due to the sudden pain in my head.

" Shut up! I told you not to waste your energy right now. Let me just grab some Whisky. It'll double the fun. " The man said huskily before he disappeared in the dark. I looked around me helplessly and tried to free my hands from the tight grip. I saw my bag sprawled on the grass in a distant. I searched my memory to think of anything that could help me right now to escape.

Jewelry, tin of nuts, a hair brush, some napkins , some cash and .... Oh yes. The miniature of Holy Ka'ba. I stared at my bag for a while helplessly as I fidgeted with the rope that tied my hand back. I heard the rustling of the leaves in a distance and realized that the man was back. Shutting my eyes is desperation I felt tears rolled down my eyes. I was crying because I was scared as hell. I was about to get raped and if I died after I was raped in this isolated hill station, it would probably take many days before anyone found my body. It was also possible that my parents never find out that I was dead. I wanted to scream and yell for help but then I knew it would just cause a waste of the energy, just exactly what the man had said as there was no one here who could come for my help at this rare hour.

My life was about to end after I was raped and I laid on the lush green grass, listening to the music of the water falling, remembering all the right and wrongs I had done in my life.

An image of me in my lawn back at home came into my mind, when I was ten, playing with my doll house, when I found an injured bunny outside the fence, who was bleeding. Usually, I was not allowed to leave home by myself, and if ever I did that, Mom made sure that all of my toys were taken from me as a punishment and I was made to sit in the kitchen and watch Mom and Ruqaiya cook. But in that moment I couldn't help when my heart leapt for that pretty poor bunny and ditching the doll house, I ran out of the house and picking the bleeding bunny, who seemingly had escaped a stray cat, rushed back in the house. I had ran into the kitchen and had asked Ruqaiya to help me aid the rabbit. I had taken care of that rabbit day and night until it was healthy again and running and playing around the whole house. When the gatekeeper told Mom about me running out of the house, Mom was crossed. But when she learned about the real reason, even she let it pass by.

Another image of me covered my vision, when I was about twelve, I had made it a habit, a ritual to give some cents to the poor and beggars on the streets and I had carried this ritual on until I ran away.

I searched my memory for any other good deed that I might have done in my life but I came up blank. More tears fell and I started crying harder. Right here, in this moment, I wanted nothing more than to be in my bedroom's safety or in my Mom's embrace.

As if on cue, visions of me disobeying my parents whenever I got the chance covered my mind, I had always been a rebellious child. I remembered Dad knocking on my bedroom's door at every dawn to wake me up for the Fajr's prayer and how I used it to make excuses every single time. As the time passed and Dad got more and more busy in his work, even he conserved himself to Jumuah' prayer. And I was always so glad about it that now he wouldn't come bugging on my door every morning.

I remembered how I used it to steal the cosmetic from Mom's wardrobe and never tell her about it. I remembered the waste of all food I had done all my life. I remembered Salman. For whom I had committed the biggest sin of my life. And how he had betrayed me. How he had used me.

In that moment, I felt so helpless and I realized that I was not at all the master of anything. Nothing ever happened to what you actually plan. Life has always something new, something different to offer you. I realized in that moment that I had been wrong. Wrong from the scratch.

And as if to make fun of me, as if to make this situation further worse, the Karma reminded me of the last words Fatima had said,

'I really hope that one day you will understand the difference between right and wrong and I pray to Allah that it's not too late by then.'

Closing my eyes in exasperation, I made a very inhuman like groan.