Captive

Chapter-28

" It's been a month since she is missing," Zulfikar sighed controlling his tears. " I wonder if she is fine," he said holding one of his mother's bangles.

Darwish said taking a sip from the tea," I wonder where did she go?"

" If she was kidnapped then the kidnapper would at least ask for money. But, we haven't gotten any call like that," he added sounding confused.

Rubab just stared at him with an intense glare. No sooner had Darwish's eyes met her eyes than she lowered them. She concentrated on her father who have become mute after losing his wife. She held her father's hand tightly.

Well, Rubab and Darwish were in Rubab's house to console her brothers and father. It was been a month since her mother had been missing. Her family members and the police had been searching for her mother for the last month but there was no news about Rubab's mother.

" My mother had no enmity with anyone," Joheb's voice cracked. " She was a good person."

Darwish mumbled dramatically," So good that she didn't think twice before defaming an innocent person."

" I will pray to the Almighty for her," Darwish told his in-law's standing up.

Rubab followed him without uttering a single word. " Stay here tonight, Rubi. We will feel better by your presence," Joheb insisted.

Rubab looked at her brother with emotionally soft eyes but she started shaking her head the moment Darwish looked at her. She refused smiling," Some other time, Joheb."

Joheb was no fool. He realized a long ago that something was wrong with Rubab. He never trusted Darwish and today was no different. He only glared at Darwish. If his sister doesn't open her mouth then how could he confront Darwish?

Before leaving the house Rubab hugged her father tightly and cried in his arms. Once she broke the hug, she held his hands tightly and looked at his drained face. Her heart cried out in pain after seeing his eyes. Those eyes were reflecting pure agony.

" Take care, Baba," Rubab said before turning behind.

She gasped the moment her face collided with a hard wall. She raised her head only to realize that it was no wall. It was Darwish. She gulped down nervously looking at his smiling face.

" I am just curious," He said.

Rubab blinked her eyes," About what?"

" What did you shove into your father's fists?" Darwish questioned directly making her heart race a Marathon.

Masking her scared expression she replied," I just gave a verse from the holy Quran to my father. If you don't believe then you can check."

Rubab's father was trying to read the piece of paper she gave him. As everything was written in Arabic he did not understand.

" Baba, keep this verse with you. It will lessen your anxiety," Rubab said looking at her father's confused eyes.

Darwish checked the paper but didn't understand a single word. He didn't know anything about Arabic. However, the way the words were written seemed similar to the verses he learned when he was young.

" I told you it's just a verse," Rubab smiled at Darwish who didn't suspect anything and decided to leave.

When Rubab and Darwish left, her father Selim tried to understand what did she write. He wondered how did she manage to write in Arabic. As far as he remembers she doesn't know Arabic.

" Joheb," Selim called his youngest son. " What's written here?"

Joheb was surprised," Who gave you this?"

" Rubi," Selim answered panicking. " Do you understand what is written here?"

Joheb analysed the paper but didn't understand anything at first. He knows Arabic but the words Rubab written, they were not meaning anything. By the time Zulfikar also joined to solve the puzzle Rubab left.

" It's coordinate," Zulfikar figured out the number hidden among the Arabic alphabet. Hearing him, Joheb and Selim were dumbfounded.

Zulfikar said loudly after checking something on the internet," It's 'X' city. This city is in the northern region of our country. It is one of the most remote places in the whole country."

" Why would Rubab give us a co-ordinate?" Selim was puzzled by her action. " That too written in Arabic?"

" Does she want to tell us something?" Zulfikar wondered.

Selim mumbled," Then she should have talked to us directly. Why did she use a piece of paper and the Arabic language?"

Joheb figured out giving the paper to Zulfikar," I guess I know."

Zulfikar read it but couldn't figure out anything. He looked at Joheb confusingly.

" Put the capital letters of the last line together and it forms 'Mamma'," Joheb said making Zulfikar drop the paper on the ground.

***************************************

Darwish lit a cigarette balancing himself against the headrest. Taking a puff from the cigarette he covered his naked torso with the thin quilt.

Rubab started coughing while covering herself with the quilt. The smoke was disgusting to her.

He put the cigarette in the ashtray watching her coughing loudly. Getting close to her he touched her arm.

" I am sorry," he apologized. " I won't smoke in the room again."

Rubab didn't say anything. She just nodded her head a little. She sighed after seeing the concern in his eyes.

" I want to visit a gynaecologist," Rubab said.

Darwish was taken aback by her word. He observed her and questioned," Why? Is there something wrong?"

" I want to take a contraceptive shot. I am not ready to have a baby," Rubab gave a straightforward answer.

Darwish's face hardened at her blunt words. " You are perfectly healthy to have a child and I want my heir. So, no contraceptive shot, my sweet wife," he tried to act cool while caressing her cheek.

Rubab turned her face in another direction," You said we will live like husband and wife but it seems like I am not your wife. I am your slave who has no say in any matter."

With an abrupt turn, Darwish made her face him. She looked away in another direction.

" You tried your best to provoke me but guess what I don't even care," He brushed his fingers against her fluffy cheeks.

He added," You have aborted one of my babies before. I haven't forgotten it yet."

" I want what I lost and you are going to obey me," he said making her gulp down. She did not say anything except lowering her eyes. 

Wrapping a towel around his torso he left for the washroom. No sooner had he left than she took a long breath hoping that her father and brothers will understand the message she left.

A fat drop of tear left her eye the moment she recalled how he made her helpless to obey his every command.

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