𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

Chapter 1: The Murder

It was November. Zehra Pathan was in Jammu. She was impressed by the beauty of that place. She was capturing the bagh-e-Bahu Garden of Bahu Fort. Children were playing, couples walking and families resting on the grass. She was pleased by the weather. Her dream had become a reality. She was doing what her heart wanted to do.

"Haidar, It all looks like a dream." She said to her cousin who was with her there.

"Yeah! This place is amazing."

"I am not talking about this place. I can't believe that Dad agreed for me to do photography." She said while capturing pictures of trees. She was walking backward without knowing that there was a pond behind her.

Haidar pulled her forward by grabbing her arm. "Oh! Be careful. You would have fallen in the pond."

"Ya Allah!" She looked at the pond fearfully. "Thanks, Haidar."

"Pleasure. I came here with you just to do this." He was smiling mischievously.

Zehra gave him a side-eye.

"No, no, you are thinking wrong. I mean I am here to protect you." Haidar explained while showing distress.

Zehra said nothing but it was clear that she was hating that moment when he touched her. He often used to make flirty comments like that. She didn't like it. If he wasn't her cousin, she would have hit him with her sandals.

She started going to the exit. Haidar followed her silently. It was beginning to get dark. All of a sudden, they heard someone's footsteps. They both looked behind. There was standing a tall man with broad shoulders. He had a fair complexion. He was dressed in a sleek black shirt contrasting perfectly with grey pants. The sleeves of his shirt were folded up to the elbows.

He pointed a silencer gun at Haider's forehead. His hand which was strong and steady, held the gun with a certain grace. Tension filled the air. But despite the tense situation, there was an indisputable beauty in the way his fingers gripped the gun. He was holding that gun firmly in his right hand as if it was not his first time holding that. He had beautiful, prominent veins. Zehra couldn't look away from his hand.

Suddenly, Haidar collapsed onto the ground. Zehra was startled. She looked at the blood which was flowing from his forehead. She did not understand anything and then looked at that man fearfully. He came closer to Zehra and placed a handkerchief over her mouth. She tried to step back. But he seized her head with his other hand and pulled her back. Her vision started to get dark. She was about to fall but that man grabbed her waist and saved her from falling.

"How dare he touch you! No man in this world has the right to touch my princess." He said while caressing her cheek with his hand.

******

*1 week ago*

She was looking at the dark sky from her room's window. Perhaps searching for something. That night, the moon was not visible. As she gazed at the sky, her eyes fell upon those cars passing in a line in front of her house. Just then, she hears a voice in her ear.

"What are you looking at?"

She startled. It was her younger sister standing very close to her.

"Move away!" She pushed her back. "You scared me, Nida. What if I had fallen outside?"

"Oh? So, I should have stood even closer, then your concern would have changed into reality." Nida teased her.

"You... Just wait, I'll show you!" They both started running and while running, they reached the kitchen where Farah Pathan was busy cooking.