Captive

Chapter-33

Sitting in front of the mirror Rubab was brushing her hair that hardly reached under her neck. She was lost in her own reflection and wondered if this person was really her!

There were prominent changes in her specifically those dark circles under her eyes. She used to have a round bubbly face but now she could clearly see the broken cheekbones of her. Just in two weeks, she had changed a lot due to depression, anxiety, overthinking and guilt. 

In these two weeks, Darwish never missed any chance of manipulating her with his words. He never missed any chance of reminding her that she was nothing but a burden and useless child to her parents. 

Tears blurred her vision the moment she noticed her reflection pointing fingers at her. " You are responsible for everything," she heard her reflection accusing her.

She shook her head in denial," I didn't do anything intentionally.

" Darwish is right. If you return to your family then it will just hike your parents' problems more," she heard a voice in her mind.

Rubab closed her eyes covering her ears with her hands," Just stop it."

" You don't want your father to go through another stroke, right?" Her own voice questioned her. " What about your mother? Do you want her to be paralyzed just like your father?" 

Rubab couldn't continue hearing anymore. Grabbing a flower vase from the nearby table she threw it right across the mirror. With a thundering sound, the mirror broke down into multiple pieces. Her eyes kept observing the broken pieces scattered on the floor. A horrible thought came across her mind and she didn't waste another second. With trembling fingers, she picked up a piece of glass in her hand. 

Slowly, she started moving it to her wrist but thankfully a voice startled her. She dropped the piece of glass getting taken aback by the sudden intruder. 

" Rubab," Darwish screamed rushing to her. 

Crouching down to her level he grabbed her hands," Are you alright?" 

" Are you hurt?" he questioned taking a good look at her from head to toe. He sighed noticing her unharmed.  

Getting no response from her he shook her slightly," Why did you break the mirror? What's wrong?"

She answered looking at oblivion," Everything is wrong."

" Tell her that I am not at fault. I am not a burden on my parents. I am not responsible for anything," Rubab pointed her finger at the scattered pieces of glass.

Darwish heard her silently and it was obvious that he would understand what was wrong with her. After all, he created such situation. 

" Shh.....shh........" he wiped away her tears. " Stop crying."

He stood her up," You need some rest. Let's not talk about the past incidents again."

" I don't want to see my parents suffering because of me," Rubab mumbled staring at the floor.

Darwish replied patting her back," Don't blame yourself anymore. Let's just say that the situation wasn't right."

Rubab didn't say anything further except shedding silent tears. Darwish took her to the bed and laid her down. He gave her a pill for relaxation. A few moments later she drifted into a deep sleep.

Darwish caressed her sleepy face," You will submit to me. You will." His obsessive eyes lit up with this thought.

After a long nap, Rubab woke up feeling better than before. Rubbing her eyes she looked beside and found Darwish sitting next to her with a wide smile on his face.