SIYAH

Chapter 2: Part 2

Roya's father's POV

What's the life of a person who has lost someone so close to him? Do they live like they used to? Do they enjoy the sunrises and evenings like they did before? No, they don't, right?

They are living, breathing dead bodies who are just pushing themselves into this colourless life because they still need to live for the people who love them.

I lost my wife 1 year, 2 months, and 7 days ago. I died with her when she took her last breaths in my arms.
I died then and there.

I wanted to kill myself and get rid of myself, but when I saw my daughter, my baby Roya, I stopped. I couldn't leave her alone either.
She was broken, and she needed me after her mama passed away. Sure, I have no wish to live now, but I can't be this selfish. I can't leave her alone in this cruel world.
So I endured this life and tried to move on. But whenever I thought I had made progress in moving on, I got back to square one. Life always drags me back to my darkness; it just won't let me have any ray of hope in it.
I am familiar with this darkness now, but I can't let Roya be engulfed by it. I need to save her from it by any means.

She lives far away from home, and I stayed patient while letting her go away after her mama's death. She needed to be away from this place.
Although I am really worried about her safety, I am helpless. I can't let her stay near me. There are many dangerous people around me; they will not let her go if they get hold of her.

So, I try every possible way to delay her visits home. I visit her whenever I get the time. But her semester ended, and she really wanted a break from her routine. So after much convincing, she is coming back home.

In the past year, she has only been here twice. Once when her mama left us, and the second time I was sick, so she came to meet me. I really missed her during this time, but it's good that she does not live here. I wouldn't be able to protect her if she were here. I hope these two weeks go by quickly and she leaves safe and sound.

Her flight landed at 7:00 PM today, and after we got back home, we had dinner. It felt as if the house had gotten life back into it again.
I laughed and smiled after such a long time. Only if she were here, my love, my soulmate, it would have been a perfect family dinner. I could feel Roya was missing her too. But she didn't mention it to me; she was giggling and smiling the whole time. She really is getting good at masking her emotions. She has matured a lot; I guess that happens after you lose a parent. You grow up quickly. Still, we both tried to make each other happy. And I think we succeeded in doing that.

Both of us were hiding our thoughts from each other. There are some other parts of my life that she doesn't know about. And I really hope that she wouldn't know about it ever.
When her mama was alive, everything was so easy. If only she were here, everything would have been the same. Our lives wouldn't be this messed up. Or you can say I wouldn't have landed us in this mess.

We just had our night tea, and after she was done telling me all the gossip of her university life, I told her to get some rest. It was getting late, and she had a long day today. So she got up to leave for her room.

I rested my head on my hands, trying to relax my nerves. I was relieved that nothing had happened until now. I prayed that nothing would happen.
I was happy that everything was calm these days-no late-night calls and knocking on the doors. But the moment I heard the banging on the door, panic grew through my body.
Roya would have been upstairs already, and I hoped that she wouldn't hear this all. I walked quickly towards the door to stop them from making more noises.

When I opened the door, I saw that he was standing there-my worst nightmare. And I knew this time it would be difficult to just make them leave me alone. He was injured this time, and his expressions tell me that something was up. And that means that I needed to step in.

"What are you doing here again? Didn't I tell you guys to leave me alone?" I said this to him, opening the door and not letting him say anything.

"Normal people give greetings to each other, but okay, that's a different welcome, Doctor," he said, chuckling slyly.

"I told you to stop bothering me, so don't expect any warm welcomes from me. Now leave my door and go away," I replied, ignoring his condition. He was injured; there was blood on the right side of his face and on his shirt as well. But still, he wore a calm expression on his face. As if he was not bothered by anything.

"Open your garage and let the car in," he said to me in a dry tone. He also ignored what I said and ordered me, as he used to do. But no, this time I won't do anything he says.

"No, leave my house and get the hell out of here!" I shouted at him. I just hoped that Roya would stay in her room; she should not listen to us and should never be here. But luck was not on my side today, as I heard her voice.

"Open the door, Dr. You know the drill: Get the car in and the man out. Hurry! " He said it again in a cool tone, unfazed by my shouting.

After barking orders at me, he straightened his face and looked behind me. The corridor was dark, but the living room had light, and from where he was standing, he could see inside very clearly.

I turned my head to see what he was staring at, and I heard Roya's voice then. I panicked.
"No, this is wrong. Why is she here?" I thought to myself. I turned to her and asked her to leave.
She looked worried. I knew she would not leave this easily, so I ordered her angrily. I need to protect her from them, so she should not even stand here for a second anymore.
She was trying to figure out who was standing at the door and why we were shouting. But I hurried towards her and made her leave.

Hopefully she would go to her room now, and I turned towards him to make him leave as well. A part of me knew that this wouldn't happen. As I said, I was lucky before, but not today. Luck was not on my side. When I looked at his face and saw the amusement in his eyes, I knew this was not going to end well.