Kissed by Chaos

Kissed by Chaos (20) - The Deal

To those of you who are awesome enough to keep reading my rambling, I'm very sorry for the long wait. It's just that time of the year! ... well in Australia at least. I hope you enjoy this chapter!! - Zarin

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Kissed by Chaos

Chapter 20 – The Deal

“How are you, Claire?”

The insinuating voice wrapped itself around me, dancing around me with the darkness of a shade. I shook from head to toe as her voice filled my ears. I realized not too pleasantly that although I had travelled a journey that spanned across empires, Dunya was still with me, ready to haunt me if I ever forgot her. For a second, I had been foolish enough to forget her. Because of my mistake, she stood in front of me now with glowing green eyes determined to wear me down.

Cocking her head to the side, she asked softly, “Why, Claire, is there something wrong?”

“Who… who is that, Claire? Tell me, what is that?” my mother whispered fearfully from behind me. I suddenly realized the strangeness of this meeting – Dunya had not revealed herself to anybody but Raafi and me. What had changed now?

As if reading my mind, Dunya inquired, “Are you surprised that I dare show my face in front of your mother? You should know by now, sweetheart, that I am not afraid of anything.” The condescending note in her tone made my skin itch.

Clarity had abandoned my mind. It swum with thoughts made incomprehensible by the horrible effect of fear. All that I could produce from the swirl was, “Please, whatever you do, please don’t hurt my mother.” Only after the words had left my mouth did I realize how badly I wanted Dunya to hear my plea. I could not lose another parent.

She shook her head at me as if I was being terribly daft. “Of course I would not touch your precious mother.” As she said this, she gazed at my mother with a hungry look in her eyes. “But tell me, Claire, wouldn’t it be much better if you were a complete family again?”

I was caught completely off guard by her question. Blinking to clear my head, I asked, “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“Come on, you know what I mean,” Dunya replied, challenging laughter lingering in her eyes. “Don’t pretend that every time you saw your friends with their families you wished you had your own to go home to. You’ve been wishing all your life for a complete home, a home filled with love and a mother and a father. You want a happy ending more than anything. Tell honestly me that you don’t know what I mean,” she challenged.

How was it that Dunya knew exactly what I felt, exactly what I desired above anything else in the world? How could she read my heart as if it were a mere piece of parchment floating haphazardly in the wind?

Mother’s trembling voice suddenly cut through the bubble of confusion. “You’re a Jinn, aren’t you?”

Dunya’s red lips twisted with amusement. “Yes, I am. Very wise mother you have, Claire.” Turning back to my mother she asked curiously, “And how do you know that I am what I am?”

“I’ve heard of your kind from Mirzan’s elders.”

“Oh really,” replied Dunya with amusement. “King Zahir allows my kind’s name to be spoken, then?”

Mother looked uneasy as she spoke. “Well… he… he dismisses your kind as stuff of legends.”

Dunya looked mildly amused as she raised an eyebrow at my mother. “Is that so?”

Mother hesitated, wondering if she had said the wrong thing. She then continued, the hope in her voice a soft whisper. “If you really are a Jinn… then can you bring him back to us? Can you grant us happiness?”