Hayyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Mkay here it is :3
Warning: lots of cuss words so my baby munchkins better shut their ears.. Or in this case, their eyes.
~Kritika~
My eyes flew open. What was that sound? I must have imagined it.
Sighing, I closed my eyes, willing myself to fall asleep again. When I heard the rumbling sound for the second time, I was sure I wasn't imagining it. It sounded like... A drum? I wasn't sure.
I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I felt around for my phone. I unlocked it, wincing as the bright light hit my face and let my eyes adjust.
1:30? Who the hell in their right minds would beat a drum at such an odd hour?
I listened closely for the source of sound, pressing my ears to the plastic walls of my tent. And soon enough, I heard another round of drumming. But this time, the drumming was accompanied by.. growls?
The first image my mind conjured up was of a bear, beating a drum hanging around it's neck.
It was quite possible. Though, I did hear an incident of a bear breaking out from a circus and roaming around on the streets of London.
But that was in the 70s. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't a circus bear.
And to think of it, there isn't a circus for miles from here.
Am I seriously having this mental debate right now?
Another round of rapid drumming erupted causing me to jump up with a start. But there was something really peculiar about this drumming. It was.. really off beat and it rose in intensity and then fell drastically almost as if...
It dawned onto me a moment later. Ofcourse. I groaned. Of course.
"Shut up." I groaned. Somebody was snoring in the adjacent tent. And pretty loudly at that.
I punched my tent in frustration. I think I punched it a little too hard because it shook violently, threatening to collapse.
"No! I've spent hours trying to set you up. Don't you dare fall" I whisper-yelled, holding onto it. I feared that it would collapse on the top of my head.
This is seriously not happening right now.
Luckily, it stopped trembling and stayed intact.
I sighed, pushing my hair back. I was wide awake now, so I didn't bother trying to fall asleep. I grabbed my shawl, phone and flashlight and unzipped my tent. Carefully, I stepped out in the dark rather woozily though and turned my flashlight on. I made my way to one of the foldable chairs lying around the now dead campfire when I heard a rustling behind me.
Instinctively I spun around and to my horror, my falshlight beam landed on a dark figure on the tree behind me. I let out a startled gasp dropping my flashlight in surprise and fell backwards onto the grass.
So I guess there really is a bear.
"Shhh. You're going to wake everybody up.."
I relaxed, hearing the familiar voice.
"Oh, it's just you, Liam." I sighed in relief, my shoulders slumping "What in god's name were you doing up in that tree? Come down here this instant."
"Yes, mother." I heard him say and heard him plop onto the grass, barely a foot away from me "I was sitting by the cliff when I heard someone moving about in their tent. Not knowing it was you, I decided to play a little midnight prank to startle them."
"You didn't know it was me?" I repeated and he shook his head "Okay then, what if you knew it was me?"
"I would've accessorized myself with a knife and mask too. For the extra effect."
I rolled my eyes "I'm honestly feeling so special right now. But seriously though, you've got a weird obsession of climbing trees." I said, recalling that one time when he included me in his little adventure.
"You could say that. I'm a nature lover." he laughed "And.. sorry for startling you like that, though." He said, making his way towards the end of the cliff
"You don't sound sorry at all." I said, bending down to retrieve my flashlight from where it had fallen in the grass. "It's good there's at least one person with me." I heard him say "It was getting pretty lonely out here."
"Couldn't sleep?" I asked, sitting down beside him.
He shook his head "No. You?"
"I was." I sighed angrily "But, apparently an wild animal decided that it was the best time of the night to snore. On a microphone."
"You heard that too? God, he really is loud." he laughed
I squinted at him in the dark "Louis?" I guessed, remembering that he was sharing tents with him. He nodded and I groaned in exasperation "God. Mystery solved. But seriously, he sounds like a bear beating a drum and growling at the same time."
"A bear." he laughed "Sure. Seems legit."
I laughed helplessly and noticed a book in his hand.
"So.. Didn't know you had night vision." I said nodding towards the it.
"Well, I do have my little portable light thing here." he said, patting the unlit device beside him "besides the sky is quite light in itself."
And sure enough, I noticed that I could actually make out his features in the dark "Is it the moon?"
He smiled almost sardonically "See for yourself."
I looked up and immediately, a gasp escaped my lips. I was greeted by a beautiful sight.
The sky was as if lit up with tiny beautiful fairy lights, twinkling like there was no tomorrow. It was one of those rare cloudless nights when the moon shone bright at the zenith as if looking upon the stars like a mother looks upon her children.
An astronomers delight too, no doubt at that, because the constellations were undoubtebly very visible even to the naked eye.
..I could so be a poet..
A happy sigh escaped my lips as I tucked my knees under my chin, unable to look away.
There's Ursa Major.. Ursa minor.. And I believe that's the Big Dipper.
Beautiful
"I know, right."
I had temporarily forgotten all about Liam sitting beside me.
"I thought I was done doing that." I groaned quietly, finally looking at him "saying things out loud, that is. Why does this only happen around you?"
"Well don't worry, you didn't this time." he snickered "You just had that awe struck expression going on that I knew exactly what you were thinking. I couldn't help myself"
"Wow. Liam the mind reader, the world may never know."
"Thanks." he said "Oh and, no claps for me please. Don't make me blush, now."
"The only clap you're ever gonna get is gonna be with my hand across your face. And there's sure gonna be a noticeable blush soon after."
"Ouch. Nevermind, then." he laughed "But seriously, it really is beautiful."
"Right." I breathed out in agreement "You know, when I was little, my dad used to tell me that stars twinkle because they are chattering amongst themselves. Quarreling about which one of them is the most beautiful." I said, smiling at the memory "And that was until physics entered my life and haughtily revealed that the twinkling was all due to atmospheric refraction. Stars don't actually twinkle, it's just an illusion. It was like the whole Santa doesn't exist scenario all over again."
"Atmospheric refraction? That's pretty.." he paused "Deep. And what do you mean Santa isn't real?!" I laughed at that " ..No seriously, I've always hated physics and for me stars have always been like a million asterisks across the sky with no explanations. Or footnotes following."
"Wow." I snorted "That was so weirdly poetic...And so horribly unromantic."
Poor Brianna, I chuckled to myself.
"Unromantic?" he gasped "Oh please, babes. You love these lines."
Babes? Really, now?
"Sure, sure." I scoffed under my breath "I sure do pity your future girlfriend." I said trying to be nonchalant.
"I heard that."
"You were supposed to." I said sweetly.
"Well, you're as good as me then." he teased "You haven't had a boyfriend in your life either. I do like Anna. So which one of us is better, eh?"
I know he meant it in good humour but I felt my smile immediately drop and I avoided his eyes, looking at the sky.
I heard him sigh and a few seconds of silence followed.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have.." he trailed and sighing again afterwards.
I shook my head "No, you have nothing you got to apologize for, Li." I said to him "You're actually very right. I'm no better."
He didn't reply to that and I gazed at the horizon in front of me where the sun had disappeared down a few hours ago. It was now decorated by an array of stars.
"You know, Liam." I said, looking at him. "I guess never did actually understand in the whole concept of liking someone. Still haven't. What is it to like someone? Adore them? Be infatuated with them?"
He blinked at me a few times and realised I was genuinely expecting an answer in return "That is the basic idea, yes."
"So basically.." I trailed "the math of liking someone goes this way. You like someone, they like you back and the next thing you know, you're dating. Which is pretty ironic if you've never actually been on a date." I paused for a long breath "It's okay, I respect that. That's how things are these days. But it's just that.."
I struggled at placing my words and chose them very carefully
"It's okay as long as you say you like someone. You have a crush on someone? Okay that's cool. But when they replace this like by the word love just like that, it's like abusing the word's purity. Call me old school, or whatever. But yes, when the word love gets tossed around just like that, it bothers me. Angers me, even. Love is a sacred word. A mother putting her child's needs before her own, that's love. A farmer cherishing the rain that helps his crops grow, that's love. Heck a soldier not thinking twice before sacrificing his life for his country, that is love. A wife making sure famished husband at work eats before she herself eats, that's freaking love." I looked at him. I didn't know why I was telling him all this. Maybe I had pent up my emotions for too long. The emotional dam was brimming, and it was about time it finally broke "But this, this.. thing nowadays? This isn't love. It's actually quite far from it." I scoffed unintentionally.
"And what about when you say you hate someone?" he asked back almost instantly.
Our casual talk had suddenly taken the form of a heated debate. Again, it exactly wasn't an argument.But I wasn't backing off either way.
"That is a spur of a moment exclamation too, yes." I nodded "Many a times, people say they hate each other without actually meaning it. Without actually having a burning strong dislike for the other person."
"But when I say I hate broccoli, I do mean it. I'd rather die than eat it."
I laughed at that "Would you, now? But that's not my point. Let's say you are having an argument with someone, maybe someone very close to you. And it comes to such a point that you snap and declare that you hate them. Do you really? No. You just what they did, not the person themselves. They're two different things. So you see, it's just a vague expression."
He didn't argue further so I took it as my cue to continue "Love and hate are similar that way." I shrugged "They say there's a thin line between love and hate. They also say there's an even thinner line between love and like. I say they're wrong. Because as far as I am concerned, there is a freaking Amazon forest separating them."
By the time I finished he wore an unreadable look. He opened his mouth to speak but he shut it again. This happened a few more times until he finally seemed to gather his words "That kind of love, the selfless kind, doesn't really exist nowadays, Kritika. Let's face it, okay? The whole concept of dating is based on finding that one person who you are the most compatible with, it does take many tries."
"So what's the difference between it and gambling? Or drawing a lottery?" I challenged.
"You can't stand on the beach waiting for the perfect pearl to materialize in front of you. You got to take the dive, you know.."
I gave him a small smile at that "You're right in your own way. But I'd rather not. I fear I'd drown in the process."
He didn't reply after that and sat with his eyes trained to the ground. He picked up a small stone. He threw the stone up.
"You remember when you asked me if I did love Anna and I said maybe..?"
I looked at him as he caught the stone and and seemed to have a little mental debate "I had lied. Sort of"
What?
"The truth is, I don't know. I know I sound like a jerk, but I honest to god don't know.." he sighed "And I don't want to. All I know is, Anna is very special to me. She's always understood me and been there for me. And to top it all of, we are practically family. Our parents were and and still are very close friends." he paused and suddenly flung the stone in his hand over the cliff and it plummeted to the black river water before "Life is too short to wait for love to happen, Kritika. There is no celestial design. There are no soul mates. It's all folklore. You can't wait for it to happen. You got to make it happen. You are living in a dream world."
"Then do me a favor, Liam. Don't ever wake me up." I shrugged "Love is like an eternal fire. So as long as I don't find a way to not get burnt, I'd rather not touch it."
As if on cue, a faint smell of smoke touched my nostrils. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I must be imagining it.
Liam cocked his head and sniffed the air "Something is burning."
"But I don't see any fire." I murmured, turning towards where we had the bonfire. It was as dead and cold as the night. "I'm going to go check." I declared, getting up "If there really is a fire somewhere we got to do something about it because a forest and fire aren't a really good combination."
"I'm coming with you." Liam said and we made our way towards the edge of the camp.
Suddenly, I felt Liam tug my hand hard causing me to fly towards him.
"Why did y-"
He clamped one hand over my mouth and motioned me to stay quiet. Then he pointed towards a certain direction and I trailed my eyes along his finger. At first I saw nothing but as my eyes adjusted to the dark I could make out someone's silhouette standing near a tree not far away from us.
"Looks there's is an intruder in the camp." Liam whispered "Now stay as quiet as possible and follow me. Keep a good grip on your flashlight."
We slowly made our way towards him, being careful to not step on any stray heaps of grass.
We crouched behind a bush not even a foot away from the intruder. He was leaning against a tree casually. The smell of smoke was stronger now and I suppressed my urge to cough. Cigarette smoke.
And sure enough, I saw a cigarette dangling between his fingers as he took another long drab from it. He let out a little cough and I froze. No, It can't be. I must be imagining it.
I looked at Liam and realized he was no longer beside me. I saw him make his way towards the guy with quick steps.
Liam then grabbed the guy's shoulders and spun him around harshly.
The sound of the slap that followed seemed to resonate through the woods.
~Liam's P.O.V~
I was breathing heavily, too angry to think anything. He fell to the ground as the result of my blow, probably too shocked to react. As soon as he realised what had happened, I saw him get up and the next thing I know I felt a sharp pain singe through my left eye.
Now all I saw was red, I pushed him harshly and he stumbled back, catching himself from falling. He aimed another punch at me when another pair of hands grabbed his. He shot an enraged look to his side and seemed to sober up when he saw who it was.
"Stop it, Zayn." Kritika said "Stop it this instant. Both of you. Ridiculous. Fighting like a pair of animals."
I shot her a look of disbelief "Did you even see what he was doing?"
"Yes I did." she said sternly "I don't care what he did. This isn't the right way to handle this. Break it up, you two."
Zayn was breathing heavily too and he yanked his hand out of her grip. He straightened his jacket, walked away from us and sat himself down beside the tree he was smoking under previously. I felt a little tug on my sleeve and turned my attention back to her. She was shooting me a disappointed look.
"What's wrong with you, Liam?" she whispered softly "This isn't you."
I glared at her "What's wrong with me, you ask? What's wrong with me?"
She narrowed her eyes "Yes, you. I expected you to be the one solving everything not making it all worse."
"But you saw" I yelled "You saw what the little shit was doing and-"
"And fighting or yelling isn't going to do any good." she said harshly "Let me handle this."
I shook my head "You don't understand.."
"Trust me, I got this. Just.. just trust me." she said, squeezing my hand.
She made her way towards where he sat and I wordesssly followed her.
"Zayn.." she said cautiously, reaching her hand out to me.
"Don't you f*cking come near me." he growled and I coiled my fingers in anger.
She shot me a stern look shaking her head stiffly and I took it as my cue to back off. "It's okay, Zayn." she said in a soothing, soft voice. It was like she was approaching a wild animal. Cautiously and slowly.
"It's not f*cking okay." he yelled "You don't understand shit about me. And you never will. None of you."
"Zayn, listen to me.."
"Why should I listen to you?" he spat out "You pretend like you know everything. Like you actually care. What did you say, everything's gonna be okay? Are you f*cking blind? Nothing is bloody okay. You understand? Nothing! So don't you dare make false attempts at reassuring me because you and I both know it's fruitless." he yelled "I admit okay, it was the worst mistake of my life, that party. If I hadn't gone there I wouldn't be like this. I wouldn't have been pushed into trying drugs. I have disappointed everyone. You guys, mom, Doniya.. God, I'm no better than a roadside hobo now. I hate everyone. I hate this. I f*cking hate this." He said, wiping his hand across his face in visible frustration.
She crouched down to his level and seemed to lock her eyes with his "Trust me when I say this. It's all going to be okay. All you gotta do, is let us help you." she hands visibly shook as she reached out to touch his face.
It's like a thread broke inside me at her touch as his face contorted into a look of pain. The tears began slowly at first, but then soon then developed into heavy sobbing.
She hugged him wordlessly from the side as he wept like a baby "I tried, K-kritika. I tried so b-bloody hard to quit. But I don't know how to. I just can't control myself." He said in between sobs "It's latched onto me. I am addicted. I admit, I am an addict. But t-trust me. I swear to god I don't want this." he hiccuped and then his watery eyes drifted to me "I'm so s-sorry."
I went up to him and sat on his other side. Kritika was rubbing his back in an effort to calm him down and it seemed to work as he let out a shaky breath and straightened up.
"Look at me, having a mid-forest crisis." he said, letting out a watery laugh "I'm sorry about that punch though, man."
All my previous rage evaporated and I laughed "It's okay, I guess I'm equally guilty for that slap. Guess we both have given temporary face tattoos to each other."
He laughter died down after a few seconds "I'm screwed, man." he said, his voice cracking "I'm in deep, deep shit. I'm scared to consult a doctor. I don't want the boys to know about this. Heck, I don't want anybody to know about this, especially at this point in our careers. This could ruin us. And I'm not letting that happen." he said, rubbing his eyes "I just cannot seem to quit. I tried, very hard. But I just can't. I need help. I just don't know if anyone can. Or will.." I opened my mouth to say something
"Zayn" I heard Kritika say and I looked at her. She had a very confident smile on her face "I think I know someone who can."
XXXXXXX
Hayyy everyone :*
I guess it things pretty much escalated from a 1 to 1000000000 in this chapter, eh?
So much drama. And poor Zayn :'|
Don't worry, Kiam will help you.
And what did you think about the little argument that Kritika and Liam had? Do you think she has a point?
How was the little Zitika moment there? How many of you ship them? ;O
Next chapter will be up soon :'3
I changed the way I number chapters.. Well I'm not exactly numbering them now.
And I finally wrote the story description thing *throws around flower petals and celebrates*
And I made a new book cover. Do you like it?
I'll see you guys soon
Stay lovely❤
Kay❤
P.S. Drug addiction is a very serious problem which destroys more than it actually repairs. So it is very important to address this problem before it's too late.
Everybody has problems in their life. Some people have more of them compared to other. In the end, it all depends on how to face and overcome it.
And the best way to address an issue is to talk about it. Talking always helps. Talking to your mother does much much more.
The same goes with depression, substance abuse, bullying and so on.
Just tackle the problem heads on and karate chop it across its neck and watch it run with its tail between its legs.
HAIYA!