Forever, we are young.
Flying petals, swirling like the rain.
Wandering through the maze of life.
Forever we are young.
Even if you fall and get hurt,
I keep running towards my dream.
~Forever young, BTS.
~~~~~~~~~
Happy reading. 🎈
Writer POV:
Taking the elevator down the building Laila was checking for money in her wallet. She had to buy some groceries so she was going through the things when the ding of elevator grabbed her attention and she got off.
She walked along the pavement with songs blasting in her headphones. The traffic sound gives her headache so she prefers this solution. She was humming the song lightly along with the beat.
When she was an alley away from the grocery store she took off her headphones. There she suddenly came across a man, the man who was the best yet the worst personality in her life. Her pace slowed down and her heart almost filled up with tonnes of emotions, Same went with that man. Both of them suddenly got stuck in the universe of emotions.
It's been more than a week since he last saw his daughter. He tried to kept up with emotionless face but was terribly failing and Laila could assure this.
"Salam baba", she greeted him with a very low voice.
"Walikum assalam", he replied in a monotone.
"How you are?" She politely asked him while fidgeting her thumbs. There was so much awkwardness and distance between them, this relation should have all the comfort of life but here they were drowned in distress.
"I'm good", his reply was simple. Her heart was hurt a bit. She bowed a little to him in respect.
"I'll leave then. Take care", she passed a small smile to him before taking steps away from him. Her heart was heavy, not just hers, his too.
He wanted to ask where was she living? How was she doing? If she ate something or not? How her exams went? And many more things but he was unable. He was frozen in his spot, hearing her fading footsteps when a loud thud skipped his heart to his throat. He suddenly turned and saw Laila on the floor holding her head in pain as if something hit her head.
He almost ran with those weak old legs to his daughter.
"Laila Laila?" His voice had so much concern, so much worry, so much love. Her heart filled more but that unbearable pain in her head was killing her.
"What happened?" He tried to help her sit when a gasp left his mouth on witnessing blood trailing down her face. He pressed her wound to prevent excess bleeding and took her head in his lap when few tears pricked his old wrinkly eyes.
"Oh my child", his heart cried with a sound.
She was hissing in pain when he saw a shadow taking over them. His heart almost stopped when he saw the same guy from that party. The blonde one. What's the name? He was unable to recall. His poor old heart was picking pace. He wanted to protect his daughter.
"You old geezer, get away before I kill you. Let me take her with peace", he heard him saying in a stern tone.
"No, don't touch my daughter, I'll kill you if you even try", he sounded hard but inside his heart was betraying him. What else could he do? He was an old man, how could he fight that strongly looking man.
"Listen you piece of shit", he grabbed father's hair in a fist and he hissed in pain in return.
Laila couldn't take it, she hit the man's leg with her feet with maximum force that he stumbled back.
"Don't you.. dare to.. touch hi..him", she barely spoke in between her wheezes while trying to get up. She had to protect her dad.
"Uhh these people", the man snorted before getting back to them and placed the revolver on her head.
Both father and daughter flinched on the attempt. He placed arm around his daughter in order to shield her. Tears were pooling her eyes, there were many reasons. She held her dad's hand, she was scared. Scared of her life, her father's life, what if something happened to them?
Harris where are you? Her mind called out but Harris was not here.
"Fine then", these were last words they both heard until they blacked out with sharp pain erupting in their heads.
*******
The agonizing pain intensified as she tried to shift in her position. Her short breaths were only audible in the dark laconic room. Fear crept under her skin, she tried to apart her eye lids but it was so much effort. Still she tried and somewhat succeeded.
Her vision took few seconds to be fine until she registered another presence in the room with her.
Baba.
Her heart filled suddenly and two tears trickled down her cheeks.
Slowly she registered that they both were held as prisoners. Their hands tied at the back with a cloth tightly wrapped around their mouths. It was hurting so much, body and heart both.
She witnessed her dad head ducked down, he was unconscious. He looked so old and vulnerable.
He doesn't deserve all these. Ya Allah save us. She talked in her mind crying hard but her voice was lost in her throat.
Slow grunts came to her after few minutes. It was her dad flinching slowly. His hiss were sounding like grunts. He looked so much in pain, her heart shattered into pieces.
He slowly lifted his head and looked into Laila's eyes. She cried more. His eyes were also filled with tears. She wanted to rush and free him from this place. After all he was her father and too old to handle all this.
Ya Allah pls help pls help.
They were looking like two helpless prey at eachother crying loudly in heart when after few minutes the door clicked and sharp light rays caused them to shut their eyes. There stood that tall blonde Charles.
"Tch tch tch, poor Laila and her father", his sarcasm was annoying.
"Look what Harris did to you two, if it's not him then you both wouldn't be in such horrible situation", he motioned to Laila and snatched off that cloth from her mouth. Her jaw felt sore. She let out deepest breath trying to catch maximum air. Charles took off it from her father too. His weak breaths were so deep and sounding. Laila eyed him with agony.
"Let's wait for him to show up", he passed a comment in stern tone and left the two innocent people suffering in the dungeon.
"You okay Baba?" She spoke lightly.
"Tell me.. if you.. are first?" Her dad replied. She so wanted to run in his arms and cry and take him away from here.
"No", she replied while sobbing.
"Don't cry. My Laila is not weak", he adressed her as "my Laila". Her heart busted with emotions.
"She.. She has fought with this world.. alone and she is still shining brightest", her dad's words made her sobs louder. He stared at her while blinking back the tears.
"Why baba? Why?" She wanted to ask. After good ten minutes of silence she just asked "why".
"I'll not ask you for anything but just one", he spoke after a small pause. His voice was so hoarse and shaky.
"Forgive me before I die", she was almost frozen in her place, tears kept streaming down her hazel eyes.
"You don't have to ask for forgiveness. I don't hold anything against you", she whispered back with agony reflecting properly in her voice.
"I know you were my chocolate hero", her baby voice made him smile through pain.
"Because you're my daughter. My child. How could I have been so cold to you", still so much guilt she could observe in his voice.
"So do forgive me my child", he was crying now. She couldn't take it.
"Don't cry please", she cried back. She didn't have any energy to go to him. She was tied to a pole but she wanted to break herself free from here. She wanted to take care of her dad.
"I know you wanted to know why and you have all the right and I want to tell you, we don't know if I'll make out of here or not", the sadness was intensed in the sentence.
"You'll be alright. We both will be", she sobbed again.
"You'll be", he passed a drained smile to her.
"I don't know if you want to hear it and should get to know it this time but I want to tell you. Tell you the truth that you deserve to know. Truth of your life", his mysterious words made her gobsmacked.
She didn't know whether she wanted to know or not. If it's going to hurt her more then? There's already so much going on in her life but still she was curious as to why her life was all the time miserable.
******
He sipped his cola and shut the laptop turning his gaze towards door, it's been more than 2 hours and Laila wasn't still back.
He fetched his phone from his pockets and dialled her number but she didn't pick up. His palms got sweaty because he knew they were already surrounded by danger.
He tried twice but no response. He grabbed the keys and almost ran out of the apartment in hurry.
He roamed his eyes in grocery shop but there was no sign of her. His heart sank. He went here and there in neighbourhood to ask for her but no good news. His breaths were deep, he ran his long fingers through his hair in frustration when his phone buzzed.
"Laila where are you?" His voice was uneven.
"Hi", the voice on the other side was enough to make sky fell straight on his head. His heart almost stopped. He felt his tongue tied.
"Well I guess you won't speak but she is with me, do you know where am I? No right? Then do one thing and I'll help you find her", his voice was blank and hard but carried so much sarcasm. Harris' blood boiled but he had to be calm and smart at the moment because it's all matter of Laila's life.
"What do you want?" He tried to sound authoritative. He didn't want to let him get the idea that how terrible he was feeling at the moment.
"Diamonds", that was the only thing Harris expected to hear from that fucking animal and here it came.
"Where do we have to meet?" Harris was straight forward. He had to reach Laila as soon as possible. He could waste no more time.
He dropped his phone in his pockets and stayed frozen in his spot for like some minutes cursing himself for being so careless. He couldn't afford Laila's life in danger once again.
*****
"But first can I ask you something?" She heard her dad.
"Hmm?" She hummed lightly, her jaws were in pain.
"Harris?"
"We are married"
There was no response from his side. Only silence followed.
"I'll.. I'll tell you every... everything baba", she spoke in agony.
"Its okay my child, this time you need explanation of things not giving it away", he tried to console her. She passed a small drained smile to him.
"Is rope hurting?" Dad asked suddenly and she nodded blinking back the tears but they betrayed her and fell out.
"You'll be okay, you'll be okay", he mumbled in his mouth.
There was long silence until she heard him hissing in pain a bit before straightening his back.
"Baba", she let out a painful cry.
"I'm okay my child, I'm strong too", he let out a light laugh. Her whimpers were audible now.
It was such a tough time for both the lives. They were in utter pain, all type of pain. They wanted to aid eachother but they were incompetent for eachother, heart busting with floods of emotions adding spice to all the agony. They wanted to be eachother's healer but they were failing, and it's worst when you fail at being someone's need when they really need you.
"It was a winter night-" he started off after a long pause.
"We took her to hospital, her water broke so she ran into emergency. I accompanied her because no one agreed to come but I couldn't leave my first love alone. She was always there for me then how could I", his voice dropped as he talked. Laila kept her eyes fixed on his face under so much darkness around.
"The nurse came out in worry and told me they couldn't save her and one of the child out of two."
Laila's breath hitched in her throat. So he wasn't talking about her mother all the time. There was another woman.
"I cried for the first time in my life with all my heart. Because I lost my most precious thing", his voice sounded heavy. He gulped hard but Laila kept her eyes fixed on his face trying to reach the ending but nothing got to her.
"Doctor said, while saving one child, they lost two lives, I didn't know why but I almost hate the kid at that moment. May be I got selfish. Who can develop such feeling for his own child?" He let out a humourless laugh.
"And the child was you. Laila".
She felt the sky fell hard on her head. Her mind froze and body numb. Sudden shortness of breath made her uneasy. She felt so vulnerable unable to register his words.
Her low breaths went inaudible.
The truth just shook her upside down.
~~~~~~~~~
Salam everyone.
So another chapter is here. And omg what just happened. Huh!
Well I guess you all must have got much more but you'll get to know more about the truth In upcoming chapters.
Will Harris be able to save Laila?
Will Charles hurt them?
Will they be okay?
To know stay tuned and keep supporting.
Like and drop comments.
Thankyou.
Loads of love.
The writer. ❤