Tisha's POV
I woke up with a start as I felt my body being shoved. My eyes met the death glare of one of my aunt's goons.
As soon as he made sure I was wide awake, he started to drag me towards the door.
I struggled to free myself but he had a grip of steel.
"Get your filthy slimy hands off me!"
No reaction.
I guess I was invisible or he just chose to ignore me.
Still, I kept on thrashing and struggling to free my hands.
Either it was the sudden way he let go of me or I had grown really weak, I was sure I saw multi coloured stars the moment I landed on the floor.
He bent towards the ground where I was struggling to stay conscious and yanked off my hijab.
Slowly, he wrapped his hands around my hair and pulled hard.
I was sure my screams could be heard throughout the building we were kept hostage.
Just when I thought I would die of raw undiluted pain, he released my hair and stationed his face really close to mine.
If the hair yanking didn't kill me eventually, I was sure the alcohol and cigarettes stench oozing from his mouth would be the death of me.
"I am happy to see that a larger chunk of that rebellious spirit has been snatched out of you", he drawled.
I didn't care one bit.
I would be a weakling to the moon and back if that was my only lifeline in ensuring my babies wouldn't be harmed.
My eyes suddenly started to droop against my will.
"Please...",I moaned in agony.
"Where are my babies and sister?"
I was really struggling to keep my eyes open.
He smirked,"I was actually taking you to them before your annoying efforts to get scot free made me stop to give you a little punishment."
"Don't you...don't you even have a heart? Do you not...have a sister? Or a mo...?"
I wasn't able to complete my sentence before one helluva mighty slap whipped my head so hard, it hit a wall heavily.
Now I was sure I was going to die.
How sure?
99.9%.
He pulled me up roughly,"Any more word from you, your filthy bastard children would be dead."
I nodded.
Even if I wanted to speak, that hit really did a number on me. I was temporarily dumb.
When I thought my body couldn't take any more dragging, he dropped me in front of a door, opened it, and shoved me inside.
My aunt's voice made me look up.
She had a knife on one hand, Aneesah on the other had.
My eyes widened at what she was about to do before I was dragged in.
She noticed my presence and gave a sinister smile,"Glad you were able to join the party darling. I was about to rip every single finger off your precious daughter for every passing moment your device takes to decrypt."
I tried to get up but who was I kidding??
My bones had literally been reduced to jelly.
Just as I was about falling down for the third time in a row, I realized someone was supporting my weight.
I looked up into the loving almost pitiful gaze of my brother.
Abdul-Malik.
I whimpered.
It had been long.
So long since I last saw him.
I hadn't realized he was nearest to me than others were.
Although his hands were still bounded in ropes, he had managed to stand up and catch me with his body before I hit the ground again.
"Is it really you Duriyyah?? Everything will be fine baby duck. InShaAllah", he whispered with a small smile.
I nodded weakly as he slowly went down again with my body against his.
My sinister aunt was conversing in whispers to one of her thugs so I had time to look around.
My dad.
He had grown much older.
Way older than his age.
He didn't look so surprised at my existence like Abdul-Malik did.
However he did have a look of pain and regret.
Aqsa's parents, my aunt and uncle were literally gaping at me.
Funny how I never met them as Aqsa's parents in reality.
We had only spoken on phone a few times which was the major reason why they weren't aware their daughter's best friend was also their long lost niece.
Iman's parents?
If confusion had a better word of description.
Poor people.
Had to be dragged into a family nemesis.
And Nuriyyah...
My sister looked like she wanted to kill someone as soon as possible.
I noticed her eyes were blazing with fury as she stared daggers at the guy that dragged me in.
That was when I realized I wasn't in Hijab.
I closed my eyes and prayed will all my heart, "Ya Rabb. If this is the day that I die, please keep my children and family safe. Make my kids be raised with absolute love. I guess not everyone has a happy ending. Perhaps all my suffering in this world would give me a place in Jannah."
"Time up!", my aunt's shrill voice rang out.
"I don't know why you had to encrypt this device with a lot of protective layers Duriyyah. I mean were the fingerprints not enough as a security measure?!!! There's still 5 minutes before I decrypt it totally. I wouldn't kill you and your sister till then. But what would I gain by waiting for it? I know! Your daughter's fingers. For every minute this damn device wastes to decrypt, one finger from your daughter's right hand would be cut off. That would teach you not to mess with me in your next life."
I cried out, "No no please no! I am sorry I encrypted it. Take my life. Humiliate me while you wait. But please do not disfigure my child. I beg you with everything you've got."
She shook her head,"Tah tah darling. Humiliate you you say? I've humiliated you enough my dear. I separated you from your family at very young age. I got you raped at the age of 14. I deprived you of the love of a mother. I ensured your foster mother hated you enough to marry you out. Who do you think signed those divorce papers on your behalf? Your adopted mum? If she told you so herself, that was because I asked her to. I intercepted those divorce papers before they could get to your house and signed them on your behalf. I. I Duriyyah, I and I alone. I destroyed your life."
She paused, "So tell me? What more in your life do I get to humiliate? You're an old victim. I'm moving on to a fresher and much younger prey. Your daughter. She reminds me of my sister, your mother. And you know the one person I loathe most in this world? Your MOTHER."
She grabbed her knife once more and set to start her threats.
I screamed so hard as I buried my face in my brother's chest.
That was when everything scattered.
They happened in such a blur.
A section of the wall blasted open and---was that Aqsa with a gun???!
My aunt was shocked for a moment before she regained her composure.
She exchanged the knife with her right hand man for his gun and strapped Aneesah to her back.
What did my daughter ever do to this woman???!
She ran over to where the INET'S decryption was still having a countdown.
Barking orders to her goons about not allowing anyone get to her, she started typing furiously into the laptop connected to the INET.
She had a total of seven men working under her in the room.
Two of them stood protectively behind her while the other five surrounded Aqsa.
Why was she even alone for crying out loud?!
She didn't know a thing about self defense.
And I definitely wasn't so sure that gun with her was genuine.
Aqsa could wield a toy gun and make it seem real.
A movement near me made me look up to realize Faiz was stealthily untying the ropes he was bound in.
Perhaps being with the Air force had it's perks and he was just waiting for the right time to make a move.
He signaled for me to reach out to his back pocket.
I found a pocket knife and handed it over.
While he struggled with the ropes, I looked over to Aqsa.
My best friend was definitely dressed to kill.
And this was definitely the first time I'd see her dressed in trousers outside her room.
Leather pants.
Real actual leather with a knife strapped to her legs.
Her hijab was tucked into a turtleneck sweater she had on.
Everything black.
And was that--FBI written on the turtleneck??!
I totally didn't understand anything anymore.
Perhaps I had gone unconscious long ago and this was only just a hallucination.
Aqsa whistled at the men surrounding her.
She looked so... relaxed.
Like it wasn't her first time surrounded by armed men who could snuff the life out of her in seconds.
This girl would be the death of me.
"Yo boys. How about we make a pact? You drop the guns. I arrest you. We good?"
One of the guys sneered,"How about we kill you instead?"
She chuckled,"Nah. That'll be a waste of your bullets. Y'all would like to get the credits for killing me together rather than just one of you ain't it?"
Reluctantly they nodded.
She popped a gum.
"Good. So. Where do we start from? Oh yeah. We deal with this the old way. No guns. They're too fast. If y'all died from a bullet wound, you would be seen as cowards killed by a woman. But if you were to die from knife stabs and wounds all over with blood gushing out from everywhere, you would be seen as brave men who died fighting till their ast breath. What'd you say to that?"
Ya Allah!
Was this the same Aqsa who couldn't even stand the sight of blood?!
.......
Early update!🙌🙌🙌
Actually
About four more chapters to go🙃
So
Two updates in a week instead of the usual three.