The Girl In Black [On Hold Till Further Notice]

Heading into trouble

Saying that she was scared would be an understatement. She was paranoid. Maybe a little too paranoid than others. She was sure if things went this way for a bit longer, she'd totally lose it. She had every reason to. There was a fierce gang weaving its way into the city and striking fear into the hearts of people. And it only targeted girls her age. Her situation wasn't helping either. Every day, someone new was on her trail. 

And the fact that the police force hadn't been able to get to the core of the group yet, was disturbing, at the least. Plus, she was now alone; a perfect prey. Her next-door neighbor, Rajani, and her colleague from the Office, Jennifer, were just about the only people whom she could call her friends, but they had their own lives to live. And she wasn't exactly a kid that they'd help her sleep at night.

Moreover, she'd had absolutely no contact with her parents since more than a week ago. Was it normal not to go over the board when you were barely able to contain your mind from wandering? Mayhap, it was her long undiscovered forte. She should've been proud, but it wasn't really a season for celebration. However, as many friends she made, howsoever many online 'Lonely and Lost' forums she joined, it was just her in the end. She against the world, against her fate, against every prejudice and against every challenge as it came.

Even today was no different. Waking up from a disturbed sleep, Zahra allowed herself some moments of cheerful meditation since the sky had cleared, in contrast to the last three cloudy days. It was in these times when she felt herself at ease, that her thoughts of 'him' returned to haunt her. She wished to see him again, just once, to mend their hastily broken comradeship, but she had little hope for it. Whatever it was, it was keeping him long, and she was sure she wouldn't have a glimpse of him for a good few months. How she had come to miss that spiteful man was beyond her. David Walworth had done nothing but take pleasure, for the most part, in making her life wretched.

She had witnessed a vast change in his manner towards her in his last days though, before he had put up a deliberate vanishing act upon her. It seemed almost too surreal to be in his good books for once. And not just that, apparently, he held some degree of affection for her too! It made her blush and feel special in spite of herself. What was she, a mere, lowly, boring and highly conservative employee to him, in comparison to the polished, perfected and seasoned professional woman he was always surrounded with. And to hold her in the light of something more than just acquaintances by he himself, was nothing short of a marvel.

It was highly improbable she'd accept him though. The way he'd made his advances upon her, it was not at all worthy of a man like him. He was reckless, impulsive and everything he shouldn't have been on that occasion. And at once, she felt disgusted with him, and abhorred him like she'd abhorred no other. She couldn't keep up with her heart; it went from one emotion to the next with such great speed that she felt dazed by the effort.

Suddenly, she saw a flash of lightning and heard a thunderstorm from the heavens above. Probably, God was not very happy with her line of thoughts at such a divine time when the sun was just about to wake up. She was giving in to wishful thinking when she should be doing something worthwhile, like praying. And just like the turns of the weather, her mood turned from sour to delightful, to sour once again. Not for the lack of faith in her religion, but for the way things kept going in a circle, never once leaving the da**ed chain of misfortunes.

And for now, when nothing worked, entrusting her worries to her Lord seemed like the most ideal solution there could ever be, when it should've been the other way round from the very beginning. But thinking wouldn't do; the time she'd wasted couldn't be brought back to her, just like that. Actions! Movements of the arms and the legs were needed! Making haste, Zahra at once got up from her bed, did her ablution and prayed to the Lord to bring her troubles to a closure, and as per ritual, checking her phone for any misplaced calls or texts from her parents or friends, she was almost the same mechanical 'Zahra Fatimah' everyone knew, once again.