WHEN STARS ALIGN

PROLOGUE.

I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as he walked towards me, his eyes blazing with anger. I tried to shield my face with my hands, but he was too quick. He grabbed my wrists and bound them behind my back, pulling me into a standing position.

"You should have listened to me, Zara," he hissed, his hot breath on my face making me feel sick. "I told you not to forget, but you did, and now you'll pay a heavy price for disobeying me."

He raised his hand and slapped me hard across the cheek. The force of the slap sent shockwaves through my body, and I felt a sharp pain in my ear, causing it to ring loudly. I tried to scream, but he covered my mouth with his hands, muffling my cries.

"You're going to pay for this, you witch!" I struggled against his grip, but he was too strong. He slapped me again and again and again, each blow landing with a sickening thud. My head was spinning, and I felt like I was going to pass out.

"You're a goner, Zara," he sneered, his eyes gleaming with sadistic pleasure. "Be rest assured that you'll die if you continue disobeying me."

He released me, and I slid down the wall, my legs trembling beneath me. He removed the white handkerchief from the pocket of his kaftan and wiped his hands clean before throwing it at my body. I felt a cold breeze brush against my skin, and my eyes fixed on his feet as he walked away, feeling a sense of disbelief.

My mind was a jumble of emotions, my thoughts swirling in a chaotic mess. I could not believe that this was happening to me—that I was trapped in this nightmare with no way out. I felt betrayed, by my own self and my own mind, that I had failed myself and that I had fallen in love with a monster.

I looked up at the portrait of Ayatul Kursi written in Arabic. It was sitting pretty in its glass; its beauty mocked me at that moment. I felt a sense of despair wash over me, wondering if Allah had casted me out, if He had turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to all my prayers and pleas.

"Oh Allah, save me from this life of misery," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "I have no one to run to and nowhere to go. Save me before I lose my life to the hands of this treacherous monster."

Hot tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I closed them. The room was silent; only the sound of my heavy breathing and my heart pounding in my chest could be heard. I sat there, my eyes fixated on my open palms, hoping against hope that Allah would hear my cries.

But for now, I was trapped at the mercy of a monster, and I knew my life was in grave danger.