Bekaraan [Limitless]

3. Weird

No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.

—Terry Pratchett

Humans are born in this world and take it as their home unbeknownst to the fact that it isn't everlasting. As they grow on, they get only more comfortable in it because of the dreams and other aspirations they acquire to achieve in their lives. Gradually, they start bonding with others and start finding their safe haven in those temporary people. But that's the problem with temporary abodes. They are, well...temporary.

And temporary abodes often crumble down.

The same had happened with Mahrukh Zanjani when she had found her safe haven in Bilal. She had put all her hopes and aspirations in his palms and expected him to be able to fill the void in her heart and give her wings. But that's also the things with expectations. More often than not, they aren't fulfilled.

It all started when he proceeded to show his interest towards her. As a kid he'd use to come to Zanjani Haveli quite often since his father, Jibran, was Aslam's advisor, so his visits were frequent. Mahrukh and Bilal had formed a friendship during their childhood only. Mahrukh had always been an edgy child with her nose in the air and anger always at the brink of getting unleashed. Needless to say, how things ran in their mighty family wasn't up to her taste and she also never held back from displaying her sentiments towards it either.

She was a princess of that Haveli, but she felt no less than a slave.

Deprived of father's love, having a mother who was too scared of the word of Talaq being thrown towards her and so held back from taking a stand for her daughters, she never had parental love from either of her parents.

Sana, in all this, had turned out to be more mother to both her siblings than a sister—reason both Mahrukh and Hamail were too attached to her and regarded her with highest respect that even though after her demise, reminiscing her still left a dent and ache so profound in their hearts that it would take days for them to recover.

Hamail was younger to Mahrukh by four years which meant fourteen years from Sana. So, he was more like a child to Sana than a brother and she treated him like that only and raised him like a mother was supposed to. Results were here and he hadn't turned out to be like the rest of the men in the Zanjani clan. He was more like his Taya—who doted greatly on his daughter and wife—than his own father. To speak of it Hamail hadn't turned out like his father at all. He had gotten good genes from both sides and turned out be how a human is supposed to be. Both Sana and Mahrukh were sure he'd do great once he'd build a family for himself.

But the same wasn't true for Mahrukh. Unlike Hamail who was calm and peaceful, she'd get provoked easily and always questioned why it was so difficult for any of her parents to dot on her. Sana had left her too quickly and with her the love and anchor were also gone. Hamail wasn't mature enough to have a heart-to-heart conversation with that time and would also be away mostly due to his boarding school and after turning cold towards her mother due to Sana's demise, she felt lonely for the first time in the truest of senses.

It was during that time she had thought she had lost her everything. With Hamail not around her the majority of the time and Sana leaving her forever, she had felt there was no point in her living either. She was there living with her family but still she felt completely alone. The people who were supposed to be her loved ones were there, but love was nowhere.

In those times Bilal's interest towards her came like a boon she didn't consider would one day became a bane and a root of all the chaos in her life. He had been empathetic and supportive towards her which was all what she needed. One thing led to another and before they knew it, they had become a thing—a secret one at that. She had found comfort in him and mistaken him for home, even fell in love with him.