NURA

Chapter 27

Nura

Oct. 2011, Morocco

The first thing Nura felt as she regained consciousness was a scorching pain burning throughout her whole body.

Her head was pulsing, her left eye felt swollen and half-closed, and she was pretty sure her lip was split open and bleeding. But the worst pain came from her lower back and between her legs, making her feel like she had been split in half.

What she could only imagine was blood was slowly running down her thighs and to the hard concrete floor beneath her, and she almost frowned in confusion before a memory flashed through her mind, and her eyes flew open.

She sat up, immediately regretting that decision, as an excruciating amount of pain shot through her back, making her double over and expel the contents of her stomach on the floor.

Considering that the last meal Nura had had was two days before, there wasn't much she could get out, but her stomach still convulsed painfully for a couple of minutes before she finally slumped down against the hard wall.

Her sweaty hair was plastered across her forehead, her breathing harsh and broken, her sight hazy from sleep, and the fact that only one of her eyes was fully functioning at the moment.

There was suddenly a wet rag on her forehead, making her jerk back in fear of that monster coming back to get her, but instead of him, she saw a young girl kneeling in front of her with a rag in her hands.

The girl was around Nura's age, a year, give or take, her brown hair filthy and covering half of her face.

She was skinny, her ribs protruding through the pale skin so much that Nura was sure she could count every one of them if she wanted to.

There were a couple of purplish bruises on her chest and at the corner of her jaw, but they were fading away, so Nura guessed she'd gotten them some time ago.

Her brown eyes were huge, but probably even more pronounced now considering how thin she was, with long dark eyelashes surrounding them.

"I just want to clean your wounds; I promise I won't hurt you." the brunette whispered with a soft smile that made a small dimple appear in the middle of her right cheek before her eyes glanced around for a moment to check if anyone had heard her as if only then remembering that she should keep quiet, but the only ones currently in the room were the other prisoners and most of them either high or asleep.

Nura eyed her for a moment as every part of her urged her to say 'no,' but there was something in the girl's warm, chocolate eyes that told her that she could trust her, and before she fully realized it, she was nodding her head and relaxing against the wall.

The girl moved closer and slowly reached with the rag to clean her eye, making Nura flinch away from the sting. The brunette made a face, telling her she was sorry about it before continuing until her face was mostly cleaned.

"What's your name?" the girl asked her after a while as she started to clean a big cut on the inside of Nura's leg, but Nura shook her head and squeezed her mouth shut, remembering the first rule: make no sound.

The girl appeared to understand and nodded before looking up at her with a little smile.

'You could try to write it, you know, with your finger." she said while extending her hand, palm up. Nura looked at it for a second or two before reaching out.

"Nura?" the girl asked after a third attempt, and Nura squeezed her hand in relief.

"That's a pretty name. It's nice to meet you, Nura. My name is Zaria."