Operation: Dard and Devotion

25 | Narcissism & Nausea

"I apologize for not knocking." The corner of Faizan's lips curled upwards in a sly smirk.

The devil was in my room and I could not do anything about it.

"Ah Hayat, love, long time no see." Faizan's lustful, deep voice bounced off the barren walls of the dungeon and throbbed in my ears. "I believe the last time we met was on a lovely afternoon in the courtyard, just about a month ago. Do you recall?"

The day I was flogged.

Unbeknownst to Ahsan, my back still occasionally went through bouts of searing pain whenever I turned, bent over, or straightened up too quickly.

How could I forget?

"Why are you here?" I hissed at him, possessively lifting Saad from the cot while he was still asleep and clutching him close to my chest.

"Is that how you greet a friend after such a long time?" Faizan sighed, crossing his arms and leaning on the door frame.

"Friend, my foot," I muttered, tightening my grip on Saad.

"I will try to set aside some time from my hectic schedule to teach you some manners." Faizan, with his arms still crossed, took slow, menacing steps towards the cot, and shook his head. "Your mouth will get you nowhere, girl."

"In that case, you should have been long gone by now," I mumbled before I had realized what I had said.

Hayat, you idiot! Do you want to die right now?!

Faizan quickened his pace and I expected him to whip out a switchblade to slice my throat right then, but he didn't.

Instead, he laughed.

"You're lucky I find you attractive and funny, or else you would have been finished ages ago," he said, running a hand across his neck to imitate a beheading.

Oh, how I wish your hand was actually a knife!

My gut clenched at what I would have considered to be compliments in any other situation. The same words coming from Faizan just seemed to be a prolonged death sentence. The bastard made his way to the foot of the cot and plopped down, causing me to spring up slightly. I hastily brought my knees to my chin, sandwiching poor Saad between my chest and legs.

"Now, why do you do this?" Faizan clicked his tongue and frowned. "What have I ever done to you?"

My jaw crashed to the ground.

Did he just say that?!

"You drugged and kidnapped me, you killed so many people in front of me, you dragged me around to your stupid assignments, you treat everybody here worse than dirt, and you flogged me! That's what you did!" I yelled in one breath. "You're a liar, a murderer, and a monster!"

"I'm flattered that you give me so much credit." His eyebrows rose slowly as he pulled out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket. He took a long drag on it before continuing. "But credit goes to where it is due. I hardly carry out these things myself. I'm more of the mastermind."

"Makes no difference to me," I told him through gritted teeth.

"Again with the anger." Faizan rolled his eyes and had the audacity to blow out three consecutive smoke rings in my face. "Why are you so hostile? The people who died were nothing more than the scum of the planet, just kuffar. They were meant to die anyway; I just made the process faster."

"You deserve to die," I let out before realizing the contradictions in my statements. Wishing death upon someone, even if that person is Faizan, made me no different from the likes of Al-Tho'baan. However, I was not in the position to think logically.