In the morning, the dusky sky silhouetted before her eyes, she was laid lifelessly, while tears were slowly prickling through her eyes, she was looking outside the window, a wide ground spread beyond the ambit of glance, gold sprinkled mustard field was rustling with the soft air blowing, she remembered when she had fallen asleep she was in a very dark, dim room with her mind numb and fierce with terror and sadness but now the strange tranquility had ruptured the aura, her head was still hurting but she didn't want to move...
She captured a man mechanically moving a shovel through the stems and then she noticed him, her eyes got widened. She could still remember the fine shots he gave to those people, she remembered the heedless Rehab giving a damn even if the other person died and he enjoyed murdering people, she thought.
Draped in slate-black nike's sweat-shirt that hooded his broad shoulders and darker shade jeans with his hair gelled upward, the decent look that no one would even doubt his other darker side. Hopping off the bigger and small pits and then through the field he was coming towards the house and for once he had stared upward and their eyes had met, she immediately slid her eyes shut. But it was late she knew he had seen him.
When she slowly opened her eyes he wasn't in the view anymore he must have reached the house. She heard the creaking of the door as it opened behind her back, she turned around and caught him barging in the room and it was her first glance on the room as well.
Wooded floor with the bricked walls, a fireplace crowned with chimney at one corner while fire sizzling and erupting in the middle. Two red couches on either sides of the room and the single bed she was laying onto...
She immediately hitched upward but her one hand was tied up to the bed's corner, he was taking steps towards her, she shuddered and moved backward but he didn't stop he came closer and closer until he was standing just a touch away from her half-upward lifted body, his shadow darkened her face and body.
"Wh-What do you want" her voice trembled.
"I asked who you are?!" she raised her voice, forming a flurry of voice, it hit his eardrums. He didn't reply, instead he hovered, her breath stopped, terror roamed inside her whole body. She jingled herself backward but it struck the wooden bed-crown, she tried to scream but before he put his hand on her mouth, pressing it tightly and with the other he unbolted her wrist from the bed. He released the pressure on her mouth and turned around, crimson fingers were pasted all around her lips, she flinched and hiccups started. She gently massaged her mouth, then her wrist.
She saw as he went towards the fireplace, he extinguished the fire; it was cold even in the noon she understood that they weren't in Karachi at least, after it he reached the door and revolved the knob when she interrupted from behind.
"Who the hell are you?" his hands stopped and his ears erected...
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"What happened, why your face is so down today?" Samina asked her husband.
"Huh, your son, what else can perplex me in this world..." he shook his head.
"What now, Rehab is your son too in fact more than mine he's yours..." she sniffed in the hot gale leaving her tea cup.
"Ah, no in taking all the foolish decisions, he takes after you..." he argued.
"What happened, tell me. Then we'll decide if it's your fault or mine"
"He attacked the rivals and he has kidnapped a girl..." he said in displeasure.
"Wh-what?" she asked in a disbelieving way.
"Yes and not only this he's not asking for any ransom he's going to start this as his new business, you know what I mean?"
"Oh, I very well know it. So what's your concern?" she asked instead.
"My concern is we've been running this all so peacefully only because of our deals with the police and the rivals as well, but now he has taken the risk, I'm worried about our luxuries this all can be snatched you know and also we can lose him too, you see I can't earn much now, I was hoping him to back us up too but now..." he explained in exasperation.
"Why did he take such a big step?"
"He says the money we yearn for can't be earn with our current business, we need to expand it" he infuriated.
"Relax then, he's doing well then... Ah, you made me worried too. We should trust him, now when we know his intentions are good" she smiled at him.
"Hmm, if only that's what he mean so" he nodded in a deep thought.
☆☆☆☆
He turned around, she immediately reverted back her eyes. He left the room while closing the door with a roar.
"Ah, I had a close call on my life" she gasped. She heard footsteps leaving; she clenched her eyes because he could've heard her, she thought.
The door opened again and the same nurse entered the room, she had burnt toast in one plate as she moved towards her. Zoha felt her stomach making noises, while seeing even burnt toast. The nurse dropped the plate beside her half spread legs on the bed. She folded them.
"Ca-can I have water?" she asked in a low murmur. The nurse who was a lady in early 40's she made a highly infuriating face.
"You're not in a restaurant and you're not going to pay me either so sit quietly I'll give you water in an hour" she sibilated. Seeing a woman in this unknown city or village, she didn't know, had given her a bit hope, but knowing that woman, snatched even that speck of hope in her heart, she felt like someone had squeezed her heart, her eyes got filled again as she tried breaking a loaf of bread, the tears were forming inside her throat she felt like spitting it as she took a bite.
She remembered when her Tayi would give her freshly baked bread in the breakfast with the nutella or cheese. She remembered Zuni's chilling face that she would see every morning in the sunlight, but now everything was so darkened even in the fervent shower of daylight. She was gulping it quietly when she heard something outside the window, her hand stopped. She stood up on her legs, she reached the window glass and she peeked outside, there was a rabbit, snow-white. It made her smile for a bit, but it vanished as soon as the rabbit vanished too through the garden into the field.
She was staring quietly outside when she saw Rehab crossing the driveway all the way out and a truck standing outside, he took two shoppers from the truck driver's hands, and then it left, she noted the truck's number plate in her mind, immediately, she knew she had to leave as she could smell their wrong intentions, Rehab's intentions as she thought...
☆☆☆☆
The woman entered with the jug and a glass and she glared at her as she put it on the side table. Zoha stared at her quietly then she weaved up a plan in her mind, she remembered the woman talked about the money.
"Hey, wait" Zoha stopped the woman before going out. She snarled and turned around.
"Can we talk?" Zoha suggested.
She ignored her and walked out of the room while stomping the door behind her. Zoha felt like crying, she stood up and reached out the jug and poured water in her glass. She threw the glass on the floor in frustration and as it scattered into million micro crystals, the door pushed open. Rehab entered in utter rush, he stared at her and then on the glass pieces, he wasn't wearing shoes, in rage and fury he snarled and grabbed her wrist tightly, she got horrified seeing his reaction, he trawled her all the way to the bed and on the way many tiny pieces torn her skin and slashed her flesh she cried out, but he didn't listen. He took out the cuffs again and tied her hand to the bed.
"What do you want from me?" she screamed.
"Don't ever dare to scream if you want to live! And don't ever do the mistake of breaking anything in this house again!" for the first time she heard him, glanced at the red in his eyes and through his eyes she peeped into the darkness and lust inside his soul. She went quiet. Her eyelids were wet. Her imagination was blurred, she felt so vague and frustrated. He walked on the pieces without looking down, she had understood that Rehab didn't feel, his feet were bleeding but his expressions were firm, he couldn't sense even his own pain, let aside of others, she thought. She had forgotten about the pain luring the blood out of her body. She one by one grabbed the pieces out of the wounds and scratches, she winced and cried while doing it, and with hatred she glanced at the door from where he had just left the room.
☆☆☆☆
"Where is Zoha? Hasn't she come?" the girl in magenta color frock asked Zunaira who was going towards her sister on the stage in the bridal dress.
"No actually she was sick so she stayed at home" she hesitated in lying but her parents had asked her to lie to everyone just till their daughter's marriage, they wanted to do the Rukhsati peacefully then they'd disclose it to the whole family, after all they were the guardians no one ever wanted to take the custody of two orphans, they had done the good deed and as they thought they reserved all the rights for both of them.
"Really, what happened let me call her" she took out the mobile phone.
"Nah, it's alright actually you know she has migraine so she took the sleeping pills and slept, she had come to the wedding but you know she was in much pain so mama asked her to remain at home" she briefed and animated the smile then she rushed passed her, she was guilty but she had to do it for her own sister.
"Kashif, Rohaan is coming tomorrow what we will tell him?" worriedly she asked her husband.
"Don't worry, we'll manage, right now don't discuss it at all, we can't take risk...
You know how relatives exaggerate things" he was muttering slowly and she nodded to her husband.
The wedding lights illuminated the dark aura that had been there for a few days, they were all happily mingled with lots of cheering and laughter reaching out the sky, giving in to the night, the clouds was slate grey, indicating the thick rainfall.
While deep down the murky lanes, through the woods and the city lights, all the way through the fields, she was peeping out the window, staring in a deep thought at the clear sky and the full moon that enlightened her facial features, her dried lips and eyes with cold. She was quietly staring at it when the back door opened...