Trapped

Chapter 16

The night sky has replaced the light hues of the day leaving the streets vacant, the alleys dark and the people resting in their homes, except a few who seem to enjoy the night life of the city. Though, Zayn is one of those nocturnal humans who prefer to move around like a shadow of these mysterious nights but his reasons are different. He is not here to enjoy, he needs to complete his task at hand that he has been doing since two years. Every single day of his life spent amongst these gangsters, he has been executing his plan. All those strategies were just for his life mission and now, the priorities has suddenly changed for him ever since she stepped out of her house and stepped in the line of his sight. This time, it is nor his mission, neither his gang, it's her he is out on the streets for. The strong urge to inflict pain on the man who dared to trouble an innocent soul like hers is slowly consuming him.

His feet won't help him go around as fast as he wants to and so, he is racing the streets on his black beauty to reach those dark corners where he might find the devil himself. He has been scanning all the clubs and all the secret places to hunt for that single face. His face, a hard mask of toughness with his clenched jaw and eyes piercing every soul. "Where the hell are you?" He whispers to himself, clenching and unclenching his fist as he walks inside his gang's old meeting place.

The few people that he knows are having a loud chatter with some hard rock song playing on an old television set; the hard wooden doors clatter as he enters capturing attention of every single eye in the large room with few people and more chairs. The wallpaper might be wearing off but still holds the bright glow, just like the dark crimson curtains. "Hey brother! What brings you here tonight?" One young lad with chestnut hair and light stubble asks Zayn in an obnoxiously loud voice, blame the alcohol coursing in his veins now. "I was passing this place, thought of stopping by to meet old friends," he replies with a smirk as he spots the same face, Max.

"Never thought I would find you here again, mate!" He greets Zayn with a manly hug only to have his smile wiped off as they pull away, thanks to Zayn's grave expression. "What's the matter, m-" "Not here, somewhere private," Zayn interrupts him, his eyes on him as Max contemplates for a little longer. "The spot," is all he says as they head out to the bridge.

Soon, they are sitting on the bridge rails with a bottle of beer with Zayn mentioning the details of the man he is so keen on catching. "How do you know he is one of us and not the rivals?" Max enquires, his face contorted in concentration as he looks at him for answers while Zayn finds his bottle more interesting as his eyes are fixed on it though his mind is showing him those painful moments of her wounded which never happened. "I have seen him before, long back in the old place. He was keeping an eye on me when I started with you guys" "But why didn't we ever see him, then? There could have been at least one encounter between us or with my friends" "Assassin," Zayn whispers to himself as realisation strikes his mind like a lightening. "Assassin?" His friend sounds puzzled by his whispered words. "Private assassin hired to..." And he couldn't bring himself to complete the sentence. Even the thought of what can happen stabs his heart with unbearable pain.

This was not how he handled situations like these. This is not his way. Usually, he would plan out his strategy carefully, execute it in a perfect manner and though he was concerned about his assignments, about their safety but never had he found himself in such a dilemma before. It's all new for him and he hates this feeling of possessiveness and over protectiveness that he feels for her but he is obliged to do it. After all, he knows he is the reason she has been dragged into this mess that he so made sure to keep her out of it. But the universe has different plans for them. He may not believe in the game of fate and destiny, whatever words he might have told her before yet he is wondering if his words are being turned to reality by the force of nature and are being thrown back at him to mock him.

"You mean a skilled hired assassin to kill her. But we usually hire that to wipe out our-" "Our arch enemies," Zayn finishes him midway, staring intensely straight into his pupils. "I want you to find any detail about him," he states his need, his eyes trained on him in anticipation. "Whatever I can, I will get it for you," Max replies with a soft smile and slight shiny glint in his eyes that can only appear when happiness fills him from the inside and he is happy for the lad finally finding that special someone.

Max may be happy for his friend but Zayn has anger coursing through him, filling him with rage and an urge to destroy. His thoughts can only go back to her fearful face, her bruised features and shivering frame. "Let's go home, you need rest," Max tells him with one hand on his shoulder for a silent assurance that he will find him soon. Zayn gets down from the bridge rails and turns towards his home, reluctantly. He is unsure of why he is stuck with this feeling inside him and why can't he just let go of her. It is annoying yet amazing to be beside her, all at the same time and it is confusing the hell out of him yet he loves these puzzling moments. He is sure that he is on the brink of insanity; scratch that, he already is insane.

Unaware about the dangers lurking in her life, she finally finds herself at peace with Ed sheeran's voice playing in her ears and soon her eyes begin to droop and a small yawn escapes her lips, leaving traces of sleep in her features. For now, all her worries about work, about rowdy men, about the unknown stranger who saved her, about her friends and about Zayn have slowly floated to the back of her mind and only Ed's smooth voice with the lyrics of Kiss me fill her thoughts.

The melody blurs all the other noises. That's why she is unknown to the sudden appearance of someone, probably a young man, in her backyard who is crunching leaves strewn in the grassy patch with every new step. Lurking like a shadow looking for a prey, he moves stealthily and after a couple of minutes, he retreats back from the way he came. Though, she is safe for now, a storm is surely waiting around the corner.

If only she knew, what has fate landed her into; dark and dangerous world of threatening humans ready to kill anyone for their illogical reasons. Only God can help her now.

*****

Hello lovely readers, extremely sorry for delaying this update by months. Been stuck with too much work lately.

I am thankful to all the readers, voters and commenters. A big thank you for still reading it and waiting patiently for the new chapters.

Thoughts on this chapter?

This may seem a shorter chapter, so sorry for that.

Dedication goes to @-MissPlatinum for voting on this book!

Thank you, lovely!

Regards,

A.R.