Silent Downfall

Chapter Seven

Nayif discovered a hazy view hanging before him as his eyelids gently slid up. With bewilderment adhering to his inner self, he got up to sit on the unusual surface. As he tried to get hold of his glasses, a suspicious-looking palm invaded; on its top lied what he was looking for. He grabbed the pair and put them on without a second thought, following which his head moved in a robotic fashion, responding to the curiosity that was pinching his mind. His eyes were captivated at once, but only for as long as it took for him to realize that the piled-up cut scenes in his head were not really the oddment of a ruthless nightmare. His lips parted for a second, awaiting his approval to let out a word or two. He nevertheless swallowed the appeal and looked away.

"See?" Shranav chased away the silence, sensing the sudden storm in the soul present before him. "We can be nice too. Occasionally."

Nayif's soft vision descended to his knees.

Shranav swung around, knowing that he could not really expect a response to the words. Hardly a moment later, he detected a little movement behind him, after which a hand gently landed on his shoulder.

Shranav turned back to face an unusually sober Nayif. "I'm sorry, Shranav," the opener said in a faint tone.

The batsman's eyebrows jumped up at once; they, however, descended back in no time. "For what?" he asked in a rather puzzled voice.

"For being an absolute jerk last night. What you said made much more sense. I was being dumb. I don't know, but... maybe... Mayank indeed tried to save him."

Shranav sighed. "It's alright. I don't blame you either. You see, the guy is crazy. Absolutely crazy. But there's one thing of which I can assure you: he'll never go to that extent. Trust me, he is nowhere near as dangerous as he appears to be. Deep inside, he is just a stupid little kid."

"Well, you certainly know him better than I do."

"Don't give up all hope just yet. When we believe and try at the same time, miracles do happen."

"But I was wondering—" he added in an indecisive tone.

"What changed me overnight?" Nayif cut him off as a fragile smile took over his lips.

The other guy nodded hesitantly. "Something like that, you can say."

Nayif looked down at his fingers, which were engaged in a pointless game. "A nightmare from the past still haunts me. I simply realized that I couldn't be its only victim."

"A past event? Worth sharing with a mean guy?

The smile on Nayif's face grew wider before slowly fading away. "It's about my sister. My baby sister."

"You have one?"

"Had."

Shranav sensed a sudden, strange squeeze inside that led him to push out an immediate response. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Nayif looked rather indifferent to the apology as he carried on. "I was a boy of twelve. She was six. Although we weren't supposed to be playing on the rooftop that was under reconstruction, the afternoon couldn't be more regular for us. Our parents were fast asleep, and we had no reason to worry about the restrictions. It was a fairly warm day, and we were enjoying ourselves. It was her turn to be the thief and my turn to be the cop. Everything was going well until she reached the edge of the roof. It took several moments for me to process that the criminal had managed to get out of my range for good. For a lifetime."

Shranav's lips trembled for a second. "That's... terrible. I could have never guessed you were dealing with something so... awful. You didn't deserve that." He stood still, unsure of how to react, as he watched Nayif wipe away his tears.