Chapter 16
Moving away.
The next thing Melek knew is that she was dragged by Kemal to the car with a luggage packed , she was heavy and she didn't even look as if she was in her second month and more like she was in her 5 or 6 month.
Her eyes met Kenan's in the rear view mirror. Melek licked her lips, her mouth dry from all that crying.
"Stay still and keep quiet," Kenan said as Kemal was the one who was driving the car. "We have a long journey ahead of us."
There was nothing in his gaze that she could relate to, no emotions. His eyes looked black. Melek suppressed a shiver, turning away to see where they were. There were planes.
She had never been to on a flight before so she looked surprised as she sow them, she sow large and small planes , Kenan went to a small plane as Kemal had put Melek into a wheelchair.
"Everything is settled right ?" Kenan asked the man.
The man shiver and nods.
"Good" That is all he said as he entered the plane.
Kemal took me and then helped me get into the plane.
She never went in a plane before so she was anxious.
Melek didn't speak a word as all she did was cry, She didn't know what they had done to Ceren and she had no idea how to get rid of the creature in her stomach.
She looks down at her belly, hidden behind her black sweater. She refuses to touch it. Her stomach. There's a baby inside there. Undeveloped, unaware. What if he or she has his eyes? Those eyes. The same pair of eyes she has nightmares about. The coldness, the bitterness, the sheer violence captured only in his eyes. And his hands. Will the baby have his hands, too? The rough, dry, calloused hands. The hands he used to touch Melek, as she trembled, frozen, not feeling a thing, because she couldn't. Because her brain wouldn't allow her to. But now she has this. And her brain isn't protecting her from this.
She remembered her mother talking to her about Babies and that babies come out of love but she couldn't understand how she didn't love Kenan but she has a baby growing inside of her.
She holds resentment for the unborn child. The unknowing baby he created. She can't bond with it. It is not staying. She cannot carry it, or give birth to it to pass onto someone else. It has Ergenç DNA running through it's blood that is horrific. Ceren had tried to convince her of this, but she told her
"The baby will not be like him. This baby is not him. You have to understand that. It didn't ask to be created; especially not like that,"
she answered "but it still has Ergenç DNA"
Soon she drifted to dream land as she slept.
*********
Melek walked up and she was in a car as she looked threw the car window. They weren't in Turkey anymore. That was a fact , they maybe spend ten to eleven hour is a plane. They could be anywhere in the world. She leaned back against the seat and breathed deep, trying to keep calm.
She ran a hand over her stomach not intentionally but at that moment she was feeling uncomfortable as if there was a tumor growing inside of her.
She was alone in a car with a Kemal and Kenan. Kemal slowed down to take a right turn; she heard the turn signal go clickclickclickclick and when it stopped, she waited until her heartbeat had slowed down to the same rate before finding the courage to speak.
"Where are we?"
"Somewhere safe." Kenan answered.
Melek shifted a little, glancing at the nearest door, wondering how risky it would be to try and jump out.... There was no way she could outrun him. She had no plan, no backup, no chance.
"If you're thinking of doing anything foolish," said Kenan, "I suggest you reconsider. This is a place where no one knows you or your real identity and to them you are just a tourist who doesn't even speak the same language nor knows where she is."
She swallowed. "What about Ceren?"
"She won't find you."
"N-o, I m-ean – you won't hurt her, will you? " Melek asked with innocence in her voice.
Kemal frowned. "No he won't , Right Kenan?."
"I don't know , I am thinking about it" He said it with a chilling finality. In the face of his iron certainty, she felt herself crumbling. "Please–"
"Melek , if you will not be silent, I will make you."
The silence that followed was thick with tension. It hung like a cloud in the air, heavy. Her Father would come for her. The only reason Kenan had changed houses and know changed the country is because everyone is looking for her.
*********
Musa met Ela back at the house, striding in with such furious energy that his wife didn't have to ask him what had happened. They'd failed to find Melek. Ela cried everyday remembering her 13 month old daughter that she still didn't find. Ela had just found out that she was alive and Musa had recorded the conversation with Kenan so Ela got to see her daughter. Musa and Ela just found out that Kenan had spirited her away and they had no idea if she was five miles away or five hundred miles.
"I couldn't reach the police," Musa said quietly, holding up his phone. "I think it'll have to wait until morning."
"We don't have until morning. My daughter could be out of the country by then." Ela cried her eyes out trying to get threw Musa.
"He could be out of the country by now."
Musa twitched. He felt – too much, he felt rage and desperation and guilt and most of all he felt murderous. He paced up and down, feeling as though he might burst.
"God dammit," he hissed, and he flipped the table breaking everything on it. The resulting crash was not nearly as satisfying as he would have liked.
"Hey!" His eldest daughter said, not quite shouting, but in warning.
Musa turned towards his daughter, who was with her group of friends.
"Baba , is something wrong ?" Deniz asked worried.
" kizim (daughter)" Ela said as she wipe the tears in her eyes and pull herself up " take your friends and get something to eat outside" She stated as she picks a couple of money from her bag.
"Annem..I am not a kid anymore , I am seventeen now , you need to tell me what is happening" She started to shout.
"Don't raise your voice in-front of your mother, take the money and do as your mother told you" Musa shouts back which made Deniz taken back by his action as she groan and take the money and go out.
When Ela hears the door slamming she speak up.
"Do you think we will ever get to see our Melek ?"
"He will....He wants that hospital more than anything so of course he will comeback." He remembered his conversation with Kenan on the phone.
"It is all your fault Musa , you should have given them the hospital" Ela was weakened by those event that happened lately.
"Never" He spoke up.
They both fell silent at that.
***********
He took her to a place with wonderful view to trains that she always asked her brother to go to and to a place were everything was green and the place was breath taking and the neighborhood and houses were up in the hill. Melek stared out over silent fields as the car stopped, wondering just how far they were from Turkey. Kemal opened the door for her. She looked up at him and then immediately lowered her head.
"Melek." Kenan stated.
His tone was slightly exasperated. He didn't need to explain himself; she knew what he meant. She stepped out and turned away from him, folding her arms. He gestured her towards the entrance of a tall building. The owner, an old lady, let them in at once and Melek stared as she walked past but there was no sign of curiosity in her eyes. She was losing interest in everything.
"This way."
He took her upstairs and showed her into an apartment. There were ten floors in this building but she didn't notice anyone living here. They entered the apartment to find four rooms and exquisite antique furniture. Another door led to a suite bathroom.
"You must be tired," said Kenan . "You will sleep here tonight, but first..." He took a step towards her. She flinched instinctively, her heart racing again. Kenan held out his hand
She shrank back as he searched her face. "Look at me."
No, she thought. She twisted, deliberately avoiding his gaze. Kenan clicked his tongue. He wanted to slam her against the wall but he couldn't. she was carrying his son, he was sure it was a boy but still they couldn't know. She cried out when he was forcing her to look at him. He cupped her face with one hand, forcing her to look at him. She stared at him, eyes wide and fearful.
His gaze turned dark. "Don't even think of doing anything while I am gone understood?"
She didn't answer. Kenan's eyes remained locked on hers. Everything about him was intense.
She finally decided to nod.
" You have my baby inside of you and this is going to be the only reason that I am keeping you alive since your father broke his promise and I have told him that I would kill you so you must be thankful that until now I am keeping you alive"
" but if anything happens to the baby while I am gone , I am going to break your neck , do you understand "
She sobbed and nodded her head.
"I need to take care of some business , I am going to come back soon" He stated as he put his hands on her Baby bump which makes her shiver in her place.
She despised his touch.
"Kemal is going to be here with you" He stated as he took off leaving her alone in the apartment.
************
5 Months had passed.
Things change. Kenan can't help but notice.
She's more talkative for a start. When he asks her a question, she'll answer it, and occasionally she loses herself in arguments. She loves reading , watching movie but most of them were animation or cartoon which is something I have noticed when I got her to pick a Chanel on TV to watch. Those Green eyes of hers sparkle when she talks about something she's passionate about. It would be laughable if it wasn't so...beautiful?
She's cautious about talking to him, she didn't like talking to him or even being next to him but she was just a kid.
Kenan wakes her up at that moment. She's been sleeping better these days, so much so that it takes a little while longer for him to get her awake. Finally he tries harder to make her feel comfortable around him but still...
She turns to him, blinking the sleep away from her eyes. "What is it?" she asks. She reaches up and rubs her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he apologizes (for more than this) "but your breakfast is getting cold." He nods to the side where a breakfast tray lays. There is orange juice, (not coffee, because that's not good for her and besides, why does she need it?) and a bagel along with a side of scrambled eggs and pancakes.
"What would you like?" he asks. "Half of everything? You can have it all, but it may get cold."
She stares at it, the breakfast tray. It's laid out so carefully, as if...
"Thank you," she says. She doesn't look at him, eyes still on the tray. She's eaten in bed before but this is different. Has he made this for her? Not just the tray, but the food?
He shrugs like it's no big deal, but there's a pleased smile on his face. He takes the tray forward and hands her the juice. "Drink up. It's good for you and the babies." As he says this he remembers that she's been looking better lately. Fuller somehow, more whole. Her eyes are different too.
But still there is something that is bothering him.
She still get sad when he mentions the babies, She wasn't expecting one but four.She still couldn't understand what was pregnancy all about all she could understand that this creature was going to call her Anne. Her baby bump was getting bigger and Kenan wondered what it would be like to live with a family once again but this time Kenan's blood family , His wife and kids. He knew Melek was going to grow out of this vase once she sow her babies.