Note: a pretty intense chapter :/ please comment and vote! It makes my day and inspires me to keep writing! It also irks me to see that hundreds of you read each chapter and yet less than an eighth vote. It would mean a lot to me if you did.
Faris Bin Waleed:
Faris gazed at his reflection in the hospital room window, a small bout of surprise tingling through his heavily depressed mind. He looked a lot older, and his usually upright posture had vanished, leaving his shoulders slumped in its wake. His eyes were bloodshot, just as they'd been for as long as he could remember in the ward, his usually well-kept hair now hanging over his brow. Involuntarily, almost by reflex, his gaze shifted to Ruba lying deathly pale in her bed. She was surrounded with medical equipment which uselessly beeped, whirred and measured irritatingly. She hadn't once shown any sign of recovery since the day she'd fallen into coma and Wei Cheng had very low hopes for her to come out of it. He'd gently asked Faris on numerous occasions if he wanted to continue life support, or let Ruba go. Faris could not, and never would do the latter.
Gasping as sudden grief took over he bent over and held his head in his hands, shoulders shaking as he wept. I can't lose you Ruba, you can't leave me here all alone. He reached out and grasped her limp fingers in his own trembling ones, wishing with all his heart that she could feel the need with which he begged her to come back. For surely without Ruba Faris was nothing.
She's going to die she's going to die she's going to die...
A sudden beeping from his phone came to his attention and he reluctantly answered it, not bothering to check who had called.
"Mr. Waleed this is Derek speaking" a grim voice sounded at the other side.
"Yes" Faris replied slowly, wondering why on earth a militant Cedochi like Derek would want to speak to him now of all times.
"Sir, we are under attack from a mass of Buria and the situation is...almost uncontrollable. I need you to stay exactly where you are but please keep your firearms ready. Although I do not believe Buria are aware of your whereabouts, I have sent for Chinese Cedochi back up-"
"Derek what is going on?" Faris shouted, "how- Buria-"
"Bilal is with me-" there was some fumbling them Bilal's deep voice came through; "Assalamualaikum Amu" he said, "we're not sure what's happening but Buria are attacking our territory from different locations- no idea what they're trying to do- so we've put the signal up for lockdown-"
"Laila" Faris breathed, "is Laila okay? Is she safe?"
There was silence.
"Bilal, answer me" he demanded, heart beating erratically, "what happened to Laila?"
"Amu- we- we were too late but-"
Faris didn't hear anything after that because he had thrown the phone with such force against the wall that the screen shattered, his hand gripping his hair. He couldn't bear anymore bad news. He just couldn't-
One of Ruba's monitors began beeping erratically, and the sound of hurried footsteps followed.
Ruba...
Faris turned around quickly, his heart catching at Ruba's convulsing figure. Before he could react a bustle of doctors and nurses had burst through the door and he was knocked aside as the quickly began working, talking in rapid Chinese.
"What is going on?" He asked a nurse bustling past him.
"Sir- you wait out- wife- critical condition"
Niha: (a few hours earlier)
"I just have to check on something" Yassin muttered, checking his phone briefly and looking back up at her, "I'll be back soon"
Niha gave him a reassuring smile, "sure".
Almost by reflex both of their gazes found Laila who was fast asleep on the couch looking very pale and very sick.
"Badr will get that antidote" Yassin told her, but it sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself.
"InshaAllah" she added, and Yassin gave her a brief glance before nodding. Her heart clenched at his dark green eyes that were filled with worry- for Laila, for Badr, for her...that was the Yassin she knew, not some gang member, but someone who had a really huge heart, never running out of space for someone to care about. And perhaps it was because of that realization that she'd abandoned all pretense of staying mad at him- in all honesty, it was much too difficult.
"Okay go" she urged, "we want you back as soon as possible...just in case"
He nodded, then after a moment fumbled in his jacket and pulled out a small silver gun, placing it down safely on the bench.
"This is what you do" he demonstrated, pulling back the top part with a click and fingering the trigger, "I just hope you won't need it"
She said nothing, not wanting to touch the weapon. He sighed and took her hand gently, questioning her for her permission with her gaze. She should have said no but she couldn't, instead allowing him to take her hand and guide it to close around the gun, his fingers softly pressing hers around it into place. She was very aware of her erratic heartbeat at this stage, forgetting his to function.
"It's not as evil as it looks" he told her softly, "sometimes all it wants to do is help you and protect you"
And with that he left, hitching up his jacket. He didn't look back but she caught his eats turn red, and despite the grim nature of the situation their exchange made her blush and smile.
Loosening her hijab, Niha walked back to her original spot next to Laila's couch and watched her friend sleep, worry creeping back into her mind. Since she'd come to visit Laila had definitely cheered up but then the vomiting began and soon she'd gotten rid of anything remotely food-like from her system. She didn't like to think what that meant- that her system was in fact beginning the process of shutting down. Now she slept, but Niha could see her eyes flitting uneasily under their kids. Her golden tones were gone, replaced with a sickly white which made the shadows and veins under her eyes more visible.
Ya Allah help Laila... Please don't let this be the appointed day, Niha prayed, tears clouding her vision. She hadn't allowed herself to think down those lines but she couldn't avoid it anymore. Perhaps she hadn't known Laila for very long, and that there was a lot they had yet to know about each other, Niha had never yet lost a friend before and was terrified to experience that loss. Sure she'd seen deaths of relatives she'd barely known but to think that tomorrow could be a day without someone as close to her as Laila was unimaginable and yet all too possible.
Come on Badr...where are you? Hurry-
"Niha" Laila muttered, "water...?"
"Hey, how're you feeling" Niha touched her forehead and tried not to react to the burning temperature of it.
"Water..."
"Sorry, here you go" she ran over to the kitchen poured out a glass of boiled water- on Yassin's instruction, and walked back as fast as she could with
it.
Shakily Laila sat up, one hand on her head and the other gripping the couch. Eventually she managed to take hold of the glass and drain some of it before shakily handing it back to Niha.
"Can you hear that?" Laila mumbled, eyes fluttering shut, "like...like glass breaking"
"I think it's just-" she was going to say in your head but then she heard it too, the tinkle of glass falling perhaps two stories above.
Fear grasped at Niha, more than it had ever done so before. Her hand felt clammy as it tightened around Yassin's gun, ears straining to hear anything more.
"Shut the lights" Laila said suddenly, as if she'd just realized what was going on. Her eyes were wide open now and her hands shook slightly. Niha gulped and nodded, tiptoeing across the room to plunge the room in darkness. She barely had time to make it back to Laila when the footsteps ensued, thundering down the steps.
"Hide!" Laila whispered, pointing to the kitchen, "pantry- they won't know-"
"Come with me" Niha whispered back, dragging Laila to her feet and together they hurried to the kitchen where she helped Laila crawl under into the cupboard under the sink and shut it, then threw herself into the pantry, climbing up several shelves to crouch on the topmost- at that moment very thankful for the oversized food store. Her shaking hands tightened around the gun and tears spilled on to her cheeks out of fear, so much fear. The kind that completely consumed you because at that moment you are entirely certain of the worst.
Laila:
My breaths were shaky and inconsistent, my heart weakly beating against my ribs, my head spun and sweat made my clothes stick to my body, my hair to my neck.
More windows were smashed upstairs, more footsteps rampaged about the higher floors. I bit my lip to stop me from crying, because I was at that moment completely scared out of my mind. There was no escape- surely whoever was breaking in were many and had come from the outside- there was nowhere we could run. Not that I could run. No, all we could do was listen. Listen as more footsteps grew and came closer to the ground floor.
Allah please help me please please please-
I almost jumped when my phone started buzzing in my pocket and hastily picked it up, jamming it to my ear.
"Laila? Laila is that you?" Badr's panicked voice filled my ear.
"Y-yes" I whispered, my face crumpling as I silently broke down.
"Are you okay?"
"B-Badr...there's people..." I managed to breathe, my heart beating painfully fast.
"Where are you?" He asked me urgently.
"Under the sink" I managed, "they're going to find us Badr- they're going to- they- we-" and I couldn't continue because I was crying too hard.
"Shit Laila please don't- please-" his voice broke and for a few moments we were both silent, only able to hear each other's ragged breathing. Then a third sound joined it.
The sound of three pairs of feet alarmingly close to me.
I froze, my nails digging into my phone so tight I was sure I'd shatter the screen .
"Listen to me carefully" Badr whispered, seeming to have snapped back into mode, "he's not going to kill you- he can't. I'm on my way now, do you reckon you could stay hidden for five minutes?"
I couldn't respond, knowing that would give me away. Badr seemed to understand because he took a deep breath and continued quickly and quietly, "play dead if you can okay? But if he gets close enough knee him in the groin- that's standard- then hit him in the head with something and then try to run okay? Get to my room- it has three locks in the interior- slam it shut and all of them will lock, there's lots of guns in there, you can use the-"
My phone was suddenly wrenched from my grasp as the cupboard door swung open and a hand roughly dragged me out.
"Got one" an unfamiliar voice said, ringing through the dark and suddenly my brain unfroze itself and Badr's words rang in my head.
Play dead if you can okay?
I fell limp, taking advantage of the dark, trying to ease my racing pulse so I could pass for fainted. I let my eyes flutter shut as the man who held me now tilted my chin up, his gloved hands roughly moving my head this way and that.
"Can't see very well in without the bloomin' lights on can I?" He snapped to someone else rummaging around.
"Can't see a switch" the other guy replied carelessly.
If he gets close enough, knee him in the groin.
If I didn't know any better I'd say my feet were dangling somewhere close... Trying to force myself to function I kicked, but it wasn't hard enough-
"Why you fucking-" the guy hissed, his hold tightening-
I kicked again, this time with as much force as I could muster. The grip on me immediately loosened and I fell to the floor, landing in a heap as the man howled. I couldn't make out much as I forced my aching legs up and sprinted toward the staircase, except that two people were in pursuit and I only had the advantage of knowing where everything was, judging by the sounds of things being knocked over.
Get to my room-
I sprinted up the stairs and skidded around the hallway to Badr's room, barely managing to slam the door shut when two heavy bangs told me my pursuers had arrived.
"Open the fucking door" one of them growled, "there's no where to go"
I silently agreed, sagging down to the floor in defeat, the adrenalin rush disappearing and the toll of all that action falling into place. I slowly turned the light on to Badr's room, my vision blurring as the tears returned. One of his black jackets hung on the back of the door; I pulled it off and wore it over my loose white shirt, his familiar scent washing over me. I wished now that I could have told Badr how special he was, and that he made me feel so many wonderful things. I wanted to thank him for bringing me this far and tell him it wasn't his fault for what is surely about to happen- the appointed time comes no matter what.
I should pray. I looked around for something to make tayyammum from, trying to ignore the earsplitting attempts at breaking down the door. My eyes landed on the shelves of nearly assorted firearms on the far side of the room.
There's lots of guns in there, you can use-
Use what? I reached out for a smaller looking model and examined it. I could see the trigger but there seemed to be some kind of lock to it...
A sudden crash from downstairs unpleasantly jolted me back to my senses.
I'd completely forgotten about Niha.
I could hear shouting and several bangs and then a scream, undoubtedly a girl's. Panicking, I released the gun I was examining and picked up the biggest one I could see, hoping it would be scary enough to lay eyes on. Shakily unlocking the three locked I stepped outside, pointing my weapon into the darkness-
I gasped as I was knocked to the ground, my breath leaving me as my lungs were crushed against the hard floor by someone's knee. I could barely scream as my hands were wrenched behind me and I was dragged across the floor and stairs like a rag doll.
The lights were on now and I could see our attackers. They were all male, two blond and one brown haired. The majority of their faces were covered with some material, and were otherwise dressed in grey gear. The kitchen was a mess- drawers flung out and the microwave broken, and in the middle of it all was Niha, cradling her left hand which was twisted at a painful angle.
"Which one is it?" The brown haired guy watching Niha growled. I resisted the urge to cry as he pushed me forward so that I crashed into the floor.
"This one"
I shakily pushed myself up, exertion making my head spin.
"Wh- what do you want?" I managed, feeling the unpleasant taste of blood in my mouth.
"After that little stunt you pulled" brown hair sneered, walking up to me and kneeling down to my level, "I don't think I have to answer you"
"Let us go" I whispered, "please"
"Are you begging me?" His eyebrows rose in mock surprise. I barely had time to blink before something hard collided with the side of my face and I found myself sprawled on the ground again.
"John- boss is callin"
"Tell him we're on our way"
He slowly turned to Niha who was glaring at the ground, clearly trying to cook up something.
"What to do with her?" He muttered, so quietly that only I could hear.
"Please" I whimpered as he fingered his pistol.
He cocked his head at me then rolled his eyes again.
"Niha-!" I screamed just as he took hold of the front of her sweater and in one swift motion slammed her into the side of the kitchen bench. My eyes widened in horror as she slumped to the ground, the side of her face bloody.
It was all I could see as I was dragged to my feet. All I could focus on as they pushed and shoved me to the car waiting outside.
Niha
Yassin
Bilal
Badr
Their names echoed in my head as we sped away, far away, from home.