Escaping Ethan's Clutches (Ruining Innocence Vol 1)

Finale of Vol 1 of Ruining Innocence

Finale Part 1

The prickling sensation in the back of her eyes persisted despite her shut eyelids. If only, the thought occurred to her like a mirage, unreal and impossible, if only she could cut herself off of the existence by simply obstructing her view of the world. If only..., maybe then, just maybe she could drift away into the realm of nothingness. She yearned to be nothing... unfeeling and void.

"Marya..." Her heart skyrocketed but with an irregular rhythm at the slither of whisper against her ears, so gentle and unbothered as if... as if it was her own mind that had conjured it.

"Zack..." It escaped her lips, a mere rustle against them. His name, a zephyr-like caress against her vanquished heart. A soothing balm for her bleeding wounds, invisible to the tangible reality but they were there nonetheless.

With a gasp her eyes unsealed themselves from the curtains of her abyss. A loving touch against her wrist wrenched her back to her reality. A reality where her mother stared at her with agony, an emotion she mirrored with her own gaze. Maryam's gaze snapped towards her mother's palm on her right wrist. An abrupt urgency prevailed in her. Her free hand reached for her neck under her white scarf, feeling the cold sensation of the silver chain against her skin, familiar and filled with a longing. It was still there..., just as it was only minutes ago.

Gradually, she attuned herself to her surroundings, her gaze swirling around the bodies encompassed in white cloaks with a few other colors, here and there, until her gaze rested on the towering walls at her behest, at a short distance, embellished in the finest of black velvet fabric with an embroidery, woven in golden threads. She was in Masjid-e-Haram, she was in the first house made for mankind, she was sat before the Ka'ba at a distance.

Twelve months and thirteen days... 

She counted the number of days she was hidden from Ethan.

She bit her lips in anxiousness. He was on her mind... again, always. He was a plague that resided in her brain. A parasite in her thoughts. He lived there. He had her even without having her. Oh how she wished she could erase every memory of him. Oh how she wished she could turn back time. How she wished... that Zack was still alive.

I don't fucking leave any job unfinished, pet, remember that!

Who knew he was a man of his words...? The thought struck her.

"Ya Allah...," It was a cry. It was a plea. It was a question. It was a portrayal of helplessness. It was a display of weakness.

She sniffled silently, clutching onto Zack's chain in one hand and tightening her hold over her mother's palm in another.

"Ya Allah, I know many come here to this holy site like lost wanderers. While some of us come to you burdened with sins and others cloaked in their miseries." She inhaled sharply. "I've come to you carrying many deaths. The dead bodies of those I loved, love, linger on my shoulders... I've come to you carrying the essence of Zack when he took his last breaths in the warmth of my embrace..."

The day of her escape:

Her eyes squinted as the announcement raging from the cockpit tickled against her sleepy ears.

When had she fallen asleep? she wondered, striving to open her heavy lids. Her ears gradually registered the pilot's voice. They were about to land in 30 minutes. She sighed, almost in relief. Her mouth twitched watching her mother and Zack slouched peacefully against their seats. Her fingers reached out to her mother across from her, stroking her face that seemed to have aged too soon. With a groan, her mother woke up, blinking her eyes several times to adjust to the  early morning light invading through the window.