Tales of Love

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I N  T H E  D A R K,  his calculated steps towards them were the news of impending doom. Noorayn moved a little with subtlety behind Armaan's broad back. Saad stood beside them frozen in his place, his eyes were wide open in shock. The sound of the leaves crunching under his walking feet could be heard in the stretched silence between them. In the veiled darkness, he looked like a celestial being.

His six foot frame was adorned from head to toe in charcoal black attire. The midnight black hair were heavily tousled and flopped on his head messily as the subtle wind blew their way. Straight, upturned nose with high prominent cheekbones stood out as his prominent features. The slight stubble was visible on his face. His lips turned the color of red as the wind picked up in its gusto. Eyes as ebony as the night sky, were fixated on one hiding, particular face.

"Noorayn?"

One word. One syllable.

Her body jerked with tremulous shivers at the husky tint of his voice. There were no questions asked, no further interrogation and no explanations. The only thing he had uttered was her name and the raging chaos inside her had reached to a crescendo. The ominous silence loomed over their heads as more minutes passed in complete hush. As if, stricken by some courage, Armaan stepped forward and spoke.

"Bhai, we were-"

The fixated gaze moved from her face to Armaan's widened eyes. Before, his sentence could be completed; he raised his palm up in the air and stopped Armaan from speaking further. From the corner of her eye, she could see the visible spreading paleness of Saad. "Is your name, Noorayn?" The slow, biting drawl of his voice rang around them. She could feel Armaan gulping at the question.

The ringing authority in his voice was not missed by any of them. They all stood in complete silence as if guilty of a crime they have committed. Armaan moved a bit, standing directly in his line of vision. Noorayn could deduce that he was about to say something. Her eyes were wide open in shock, Saad too was looking gobsmacked at his courage. Armaan had a death wish, if he was seriously considering going against of what he said.

"It is not Noor's fault. I was the one-"

Again, he was interrupted as the daunting man in front of them glared at Armaan. "Saafayi paish karnay ko nahi kaha. Or jis sai poocha hai wo bolay to behtar hoga." (I didn't ask for any clarifications from you. I asked her, let her answer too). The ringing authority in his voice whooshes around them all in synch. He kept standing right in front of all three, looking as dominating as he was meant to be.

No one dared to speak anything further then. Zarrar was still standing, staring at them with his deep, dark gaze. He took one step forward, the sound of the dry leaves crunching under his feet could be heard. "Seeing that you have no answers, I suggest you go up to your rooms and do not forget that this is the last time, this is happening. Go!" With an air of confidence, his penetrating eyes raked across Armaan's slouched posture and Saad's still immobile stature.

Noorayn felt a gentle pressure on her tiny hand, a touch of something coarse but still somehow smooth. Her eyes looked down to see that Armaan had wrapped his hand around hers and was now beckoning her to move from there. Saad had already ran to his room, without a second of preamble. As they moved forward to go, Zarrar's husky voice intervened, "she stays here." She could feel Armaan's hand slipping from her own, slowly. To be in a sticky situation like this, she should've been scared but the truth was she was not.