In The Pursuit Of Love

The Haunting Past II

'Abdullah bin Mas'ud (RA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: "Whoever suffers from destitution and he beseeches the people for it, his destitution shall not end. And whoever suffers from destitution and he beseeches Allah for it, Allah will send provisions to him, sooner or later."

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2326, Book 36, Hadith 23)

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The contents of this chapter will be a bit disturbing. Read with caution.

The silent room was now filled with Mehreen's sobs and a few sniffles from Nargis as she sat with her arms around Mehreen rubbing her back. She didn't ask anything further and let Mehreen cry her heart out. She wondered where it all started and cursed her own self for even bringing it up, for this was the last thing Mehreen must be doing the night prior to her marriage.

"Sshh..Its okay. You both are fine now, right?" she wiped Mehreen's tear with the palm of her hand.

"We aren't.. we weren't then too.." she whispered ever so slowly that Nargis had to strain her ears in order to listen. Mehreen took her own time to calm herself down, and Nargis didn't complain. She continued rubbing her back, giving her comfort and a silent assurance that she was there, for her.

"That torture-" she continued, her speech broken by her hiccup, but nevertheless spoke again, "that torture continued for two days."

An audible gasp left Nargis' mouth but she urged her to continue.

"They mostly beat up Bhai and all I could do was scream. My limbs were tied and I couldn't do anything. Bhai kept slipping into unconsciousness after every hour and in that hour all he did was comfort me with his words, if he was even able to speak. His body was covered in dirt and blood. The blood had dried in several places and I wasn't even sure if he would be able to live the next day."

"They were anxious because of the missing news our parents had spread around and they didn't leave any chance to get out their frustration. By the end of the second day, I too had a burst lip with all the slaps I received while shouting, and Bhai, well he was hanging on the thread between life and death... It was somewhere around midnight, when the door burst open, awaking us from our painful sleep,.."

"You bastards are sleeping while taking away our ssleep" the old man entered swaying while his speech was slurred.

He was drunk.

He walked up to Zeeshan and kicked him in his stomach, making him curl up. He didn't even have the energy to groan. His limbs were tied as well and he just closed his eyes for another blow but it never came. The room was silent for the next few minutes and Zeeshan thought that he had left, but to his dismay. The very next moment he heard Mehreen gasp and he opened his eyes only to see the man crouching in front of Mehreen, his face close to her.

"Stay away from her" Zeeshan shouted with all his might, but he didn't budge. Instead he closed the gap between them and sniffed her neck from above her hijab as a tear rolled down her eye. She was scared, to the point that no voice escaped her mouth. She turned her head away as he came near her with his stinking breath and pushed herself to the wall. She knew that he was drunk and feared that any defiance from her side would aggravate him further to take the drastic step.

The man continued and rubbed his nose on her shoulder making her shiver. He then sat back, making them release their breaths, but that didn't last for long as the next second he was rubbing his nose on her cheek, his hand on her waist, "You still smell good"

"No. Please please, stay away from her. I beg you. Please" Zeeshan cried.

By now Mehreen's body was shivering, his breath was making her nauseous, his hand made her soul feel dirty while the tears kept flowing continuously. But she didn't make a sound. His hand came past her face, making her flinch and something in his eyes darkened. He got hold of the ends of her hijab and pulled it with a force that it came undone, all the while ignoring the pleas of her brother.