The Girl In Black [On Hold Till Further Notice]

Settling In.... & a Shock!

Trapeze, Clydesville

Zahra reached Trapeze at 6:00 p.m. IST, tired and happy. It was the capital city of Clydesville, with its main attractions as the Walworth Tower, which was the tallest in the country and a great architectural marvel of the modern era, and the ‘Hawthorn’ family country seat. They were a noble family, now known for their jewelry stores all around the world, and had been royal jewelers to many kings, nawabs, maharajas and Mughal emperors since hundreds of years. They were a respected family but were known to have been involved in the disappearances of some rare jewels over the years…but nobody had been able to trace the clue up to them.

But what excited Zahra most was the place with which she had a year old relationship, the place that had the key to her heart, and that was the Walworth Tower. But she was too tired to take a tour of the whole city, which was bustling with activity at the moment. Even that had to wait… for now. Six hours of continuously sitting on the same chair, although it was quite comfortable, had made her too tired to even stand. All she wanted to do now was to get into a real cozy bed and fall into a deep sleep.

It was 9:00 in the morning here and being located at a fairly high altitude, Trapeze was chilly…. really chilly at this time of the year. Zahra tightened her grip around her coat to keep herself warm…somehow, her teeth chattering the whole time as she made her way to the airport’s exit, dragging all her belongings along with her. She had been compensated to accommodate an apartment at the Aurora by the company…well they paid sixty percent of the amount and she had to share it with another girl. Lord alone knows who she was but she hoped for the best. She had never even shared a room with anyone, and here she was, going to live with some girl she hadn’t even seen ever before.

Heading out of the airport, she hailed a cab. “To Aurora, please.” “That’ll be fifty bucks” the driver replied smugly. “Wha-at” she cried, shocked. This was totally outrageous. “It’s further into the city, miss” he replied. “Ok… just take me there.” She felt exasperated. Life here, won’t be as easy as she thought. Her savings were disappearing… and fast. It felt as if it had wings of its own. She had already spent so much money on the apartment. But then, Allah always knows what’s best for us, so it was no use worrying. After all, its money, it goes as soon as it comes.

The Aurora was a large ancient residential building of old Clydian architecture and had been renovated recently so as to accommodate more apartments. Zahra handed the money to the cabbie and having got her things out (which were many by the way…. five bags and two handbags, soo full of whatnots that they just wanted to explode, it seemed), dragged them to the reception desk, somehow bringing them inside, together, on her own. She asked for her keys, looking up at the big list of all the people living there…. since who knew when, from the receptionist, who was sucking a candy with so much vigor and enthusiasm, it looked like either she or the candy would vanish into thin air….any minute now. “Name please” she asked in a voice totally devoid of emotions, if she had any.

“Err….its Zahra… Zahra Fatimah” she replied uncertainly, doubting if she was at the right place. “Room 415, it’s the first one on the fourth floor and here are your keys. The big one’s the main key and the other one is for bedroom. The lift is down that corridor” she replied mechanically after a while and eyed her suspiciously from head to foot, because of her attire. Zahra felt like lifting her from her ears and shaking her vigorously, for she was really thin and bony but she calmed her anger, quietly picked up the keys from the desk and walked away.