WrongSufferedAtHands

8.

When Afiyah opened the gate to her house, she recognized Khizar standing tall in her doorway. He had a magnanimous grin on his face that veiled a slew of heinous deeds underneath it. Khizar was carrying a bag that seemed to have been purchased from a market.

"Are you going to invite me in?"

She stayed silent, her frame blocking the path to her house. She searched for his face and anything out of the ordinary.

"Sameer and Papa Jan are not at home; please return later." She tried to shut the door in his face, but it got caught in the middle. She lowered her gaze to a slender foot wedged between the gate and the clasp. The foot in the slippers looked like a premature baby bird, with no fur and only veins and bones.

"I bought you a cake since I know you fancy sweets. Please take these and make me a cup of tea. After that, I'll depart. I promise." He attempted to persuade her to concur with his accent and serene demeanor.

"Five minutes." She demanded as she stepped aside and opened the gate wider. Her expressions remained placid despite the fact that her interiors were going to detonate at any point.

Khizar sat down on the couch, and she headed into the kitchen to prepare tea when she was overcome with remorse. She despised the thought that Khizar was sitting outside, alone in the home, with no one around them. He may attack her, assault her or perhaps murder her, and then sale her organs.

Her heart missed a beat when she burned her finger on the stove and heard a growl behind her, everything occurred so quickly.

"How long do you think it'll take? I'm in a rush."

She eventually turned to confront him; he was hanging in the door frame. His arms splayed ajar as they gripped the door frame whilst he leaned into the kitchen. He was beaming, his fangs on display.

She pretended to be distracted for a moment, stating the tea would be served in a minute. He didn't leave until she'd waited for the tea to boil; he stayed by her side until she poured the tea into the cup. She was hardly breathing because she was terrified that if she did, the motion of her breathing would be perceived as an invitation by Khizar.

Khizar mentioned his crush, which genuinely surprised Afiyah. The gossip was reasonable until she overheard him mention something outrageous;

"She forced me over her, and I couldn't resist, so I went to her place. We did a lot of things." he snickered, the noise originating from his chest, "I didn't want to touch her, but she persisted. My pals and I got there, and I observed them hooking up. I wasn't the one who was doing it, but my pals were. I simply sat there, staring at her as she-"

"You're engaged." She inquired, but it was more of a caution, a reminder.

"Oh..." he laughed, hesitantly, "It was two years ago."

"The tea is getting chilly and beside you have to be somewhere like you mentioned before."

Khizar was sufficiently alarmed to shift his focus to the tea. By this time, the atmosphere had thickened and became oppressive. The loudness of their breathing and the slurping of tea were more audible. It was November, but the cause of her trembling self was something else entirely.

"I wanted to show you something, by the way." He fetched his phone and fiddled with the controls. All the while, he had a smug smile washed over his face, "Look here."

Afiyah frowned as she inspected the cell phone's brightly lit screen. The green gown, half-tied hair, big doe eyes, and a sequin grin were all captured in a photograph. She should've gasped since the girl on the phone was Afiyah herself, and she felt her windpipe constrict.