Bekaraan [Limitless]

2. Change

The darker the night, the brighter the stars. The deeper the grief, the closer is God.

—Fyodor Dostoevsky

Her hands extended on both sides shook lightly as she stared down at the empty ground at the back of the Haveli. A harsh breath blew out of her mouth and her entire life swirled before her eyes as she smelled death too close to her— the life that was no good anyways. Without her dreams and the lover of her life, what good her life was?

She shuddered under the glow of the moon as her heartbeats rose viciously. She looked at the silver ball staring back at her from a distance. Her name's meaning was also moon, but how big of a contrast lay between the two. While it was there in space without any trouble and discomfort, she stood on the earth, bare to the clutches of beasts that roamed around here without any fear. She felt envious of that lifeless object and a tiny gasp threatened out of her wobbling lips.

That's when a deep voice crashed against her ears.

"Jumping from here won't kill you. At most, it would break a bone, or worse, injure your spinal cord and leave you paralyzed forever."

She stilled. She could feel his eyes against her back. She straightened up but her expressions gave away nothing. "My life has already been paralyzed, so what does it matter that my body gets too?"

He took two steps closer towards her.

"Don't come near me. I'll jump." She threw him a glance backward before fixing it back at the empty and elongated space in front of her.

"Okay, okay. I'm not moving." He threw his hands up in the air and continued with his part of bargain. "Paralyzing will leave you dependent on people and as far as I know you despise dependence."

"I didn't know you studied me so closely." She fixed her eyes at nothing in particular, the sheen now completely dry.

"I'm just observant." His hands were tied behind his back, his back ramrod straight and head held high. But the shadow of fear crossing his dark orbs wasn't hidden.

"You must be feeling very mighty now." She said after a while.

"Why so?" He arched a perfect eyebrow, stealthily taking a step forward lest he should make any noise and alarm her.

"For saving a damsel in distress."

"I don't see any damsel around me. Who are you talking about?"

She let out a humorless chuckle. "Admit it. I'm just another one of your prized possessions."

"You aren't an object to be anyone's possession." Silently, he took another step closer, and she was no fool. She knew what he was doing. His voice nearing her had told her he was moving towards her, and she didn't stop him. Maybe because she didn't want to die either. Dying meant twenty-four years of her life wasting away and all her dreams dissolving into nothingness.

She had so much planned out for herself but right now that so much felt a faraway dream— a dream she thought she could never reach.

"You know how to play with words, don't you?" A faint smirk crept up her lips.

"I'm just telling the truth."

"But you don't know my truth."

"I do and I don't care." He shrugged a shoulder. "You are scared for nothing."

"I am not scared." Her voice was stiff. She felt exposed and vulnerable at being read like this.

"Okay, worried for nothing then."