Book I: My Muslim Man | COMPLETED

Mariam

Mariam's POV

There are a thousand voices in my head shouting out at once. My head, it aches every moment these voices make an appearance. They are too loud today, as they should be. They demand answers. I have none.

You're not a kid!

They can't control you like that!

They can't  do this to you!

Why don't they listen to you?

Why don't they believe you?

Something burns around my sinuses and then tears make their way. I try to stifle my cries but it hurts even more as I try to not a make sound. I curl up in my queen sized bed as I lay my head on the pillow and close my eyes. I clasp my open mouth with my hand to keep in the sobs. How I wish what happened today had never happened.

Sausan is one my close friends. She has been with our group since fifth grade. I remember the first day I saw her innocent face staring blankly across the classroom. Little did she know she would meet a crazy group of girls like us and become a part of our tightly knit friendship.

So it was natural for her to come up to me to share her secrets and worries. As she did a week ago, when she told me that a stalker guy had been after her and was trying every way to get closer to her, be it simply stalking her on social media or creepily walking her to her home. He hadn't spoken much to her, he would only smile when she would look at him fearfully. The only time he spoke to her was online through direct messaging. He said the most creepiest stuff to her, sometime commenting about the colour of her eyes of the shape of her figure. She was too shaken and was getting weaker and weaker every day be it mentally or physically. She was too scared to talk to her parents about it as she was their only child and they very strict and very protective of her. I understood her and sympathized with her immediately.

The girls took on the duty to block this guy's account and make her a new account. One decided to accompany her on the way home. And I decided to gather his information and submit a complaint against him to the student's council. This would at least alert the school security and they would be looking for him around the campus. Luckily, the compliant was investigated thoroughly and the guy turned out to be from the neighbouring boy's school as we had all expected. His parents were called to our school to make them aware of his actions and he was suspended by his own school as well.

The joy on Sausan's innocent face when she was served justice was invaluable. That day we celebrated and thanked Allah for providing our friend with justice and the protection she needed. But little did I know that I was going to be the next target of his.

A long week had come to an end, and I stood waiting for Fahad bhai, my eldest brother, to pick me up in his car. Slowly, the crowd around me started to disappear as everyone went back home with their respective guardians until it was only myself, left alone outside the school campus. I got more and more anxious as the time ticked on my wrist watch. Then I heard a car's sound coming from far away and I finally took a breath of relief. But to my disappointment, it wasn't Fahad bhai's cars. It was a maroon car and the windows were rolled down. When I noticed the faces of the passengers inside the car, my blood turned cold. Because one of the faces belonged to the stalker.

I gathered that he and his good for nothing friend had come after school to hunt for a new prey. The car slowed down as it went by the footpath where I stood. All of their heads turned to me. I could feel their filthy eyes scanning every inch of me. I backed away and wanted to run back into the gates. The guard had closed the doors but he was still inside his cabin. That's when I made a very wrong decision.