Echo

7. NOOR

Every cell in her body, every stitch holding together her skin, every gap among the thoughts in her mind, and every thread that tied her existence together ... it all knew horror and only horror when Noor saw Dev's blood travel to the northern mountains, where the Emperor lived.

She saw it coming, but nothing in the world could prepare her for this.

"Noor," Suraj called to her. "We have to get her back."

"We will."

"It's a suicide mission," intervened Dev. "This is the Emperor we're talking about. As good as he may be to the Gifted, he is just as horrible, if not worse, towards the Ordinary. Especially one that is Anahi."

"We'll get her before he can get his hands on her."

"That's impossible."

"Have you ever tried it?"

"No, because it's putting myself up for dea—"

"If you haven't tried it, then do not deem it impossible. We will get her back, before Eshan get his filthy hands on her, or so help me Gods I will make it the world's problem."

She hadn't realised how close she had stepped to Dev till she was done speaking, and as much as she wanted to step back, she knew staying would convince him.

It was how she used to convince him when they were friends.

"Alright," he let go of a long breath, and somewhere inside it gave comfort to Noor that he hadn't changed entirely, that she still knew him, provided it was only a small portion. "But if we die, I'm never letting you rest in peace in the afterlife."

* * *

Noor's mind played memories of the academy once again, of when she used to be able to use her powers. She was content with not using them, but nothing could match the euphoria of when she'd felt the magic surge through her veins, of when matter was in her control, and she could use it to her liking without losing a piece of herself every time she did.

A knock sounds at her door, forcing her to zone back into reality. Forcing her to accept, once again, that she could never feel the ecstasy she did at one point in her life.

"Come in."

The door creaked open and in peaked Dev's head, his lips pouting the way they always did when left idle for long. His lips part, and for a moment no sound comes, but then he speaks: "Suraj wanted me to drop this off to you ..."

In his hands was her medicine, and it took all her leftover strength to not snatch it from her hands out of desperation. "Thank you," she didn't look him in the eyes. She knew she would spill all her secrets to him if she did. She always had when the two of them were alone.

"Why are you drinking that?"

Silence.

Before she could speak, her body betrayed her with a cough.

Blood. Partially red, partially black.

Her hand balled into a fist as she tried to hide it from Dev, and she quietly wiped it at the back of her shirt.

"It calms me," technically not a lie. She hoped he wouldn't catch her hiding the truth from him, but her hope was in vain when she heard a short sigh escape his mouth, the one that always did when she would lie to him, but he said not a word.

All that he did was take hold of her other hand and place the medicine in her palm, and for a brief moment, their hands touched and were unwilling to leave the warmth of the other.

"I met my mother today," he said, filling up the silence, and Noor's heart skipped a beat. Multiple, maybe. "I meet her whenever I can, because of the patrolling I don't get much time. She hasn't changed you know, since you allegedly died."

There it was. The anger that she'd wished he would have felt when he so gently offered her a place to stay. The anger she'd wished he would display.

She deserved it, for leaving like that, for faking her death, for betraying her friends.

"Why?" Noor's heart shattered at the sound of his voice, how it almost broke but had also his fuming rage. "Why fake your death? Why leave like that, Noor?"

"I—" she tried to speak, but couldn't gather the courage to tell him.

"What, you can't tell me? Like you couldn't tell me you were still alive?"

She stayed silent.

"Would you please just fucking answer me?" Dev's neck's veins popped out, signalling towards his frustration. Noor narrowed her eyes to slits, wiping off all emotion from her face, so as to push out Dev from her room.

He let out a breath and left, gently closing the door, and in a matter of seconds Noor heard something breaking.

She still remembered her last day at the academy. A day she would regret for as long as she still has her consciousness. If she could change what had happened, she definitely would.

She gulped down her medicine and tried not to let the memories plague her again, but her mind flashed them anyway.

"Noori!" Dev had greeted her, jumping as he laid his hands on her shoulders. "Why did I just see you coming out the coordinator's room? Get into trouble?"

"No, they just taught me a spell. I'm supposed to do it for the Emperor's annual visit."

"Ooh, what spell?"

"I would tell you but they said not to tell anyone."

Dev had gasped at that, putting on a dramatic show of how hurt he was at being included in the 'anyone' — "is that all I am to you, Noori? Just another 'anyone'? Or should I just refer to you as Noor, now that you've displayed your true relationship with me?"

Noor had laughed at that, smacking his left arm, feeling much better because of his foolery. She was still drained of energy, since the spell was a powerful one, but some of it managed to make its way back around him.

"So, what are your plans for today? I've been seeing less of you lately, wanna go out for some chai?"

"Depends on my schedule for the day, exams are going on, and you know I want to top."

"You always do, there's no chance you're not this year. Come on, we've hardly been seeing each other! You're always either out practicing, or studying for the theory exams."

"Fine, but only if it's—"

"Gopal bhaiya's chai stand, yes yes, I know."

The next day she had woken up, Dev beside her still fast asleep, and felt a shooting pain in her head. When she looked in the mirror, it was her she saw, but not quite. The eye whites were replaced with red, and the veins near her eyes were black cracks on her face. What terrified her the most was the black smoke around that girl in the mirror, and the sickening smile she gave her. A smile that showed her teeth stained with blood ...

"You can't escape me, Noor. I am your fate," Noor heard her voice now. A voice that haunted her mind since that day.

Oh, how she wished she could tell Dev what had really happened. Who did this to her, entrapped her in this curse. But she couldn't. She didn't have the courage to see how he would react, to see just how much more he could hurt.

Lying to Dev would break his heart. Telling the truth would shatter his soul.