To Break the Jinx

Chapter 11

Slowly but totally,
Let go of your guard,
Let your walls down.

Startled, Yusuf jolted up from the bed in a rush to meet his wife in the kitchen.
Panicking, he wondered what could've made his quiet wife scream in the middle of the night. On getting to the door, he gasped loudly and looked from his pale wife to Rahma whose face held no expression.

"Yus...s..s...ssuf,kknnnniii....nniifffeee...Rah...ma...ugh"

Majeedah stammered pointing at Rahma but her voice fell and it all came out as a whisper.
Her jaw slacked and she turned as white as a sheet.

Yusuf figured that he had to rescue the situation after he got a clue of what had happened. Rahma posed defiantly, only that the hand holding the sharp glittering knife had fallen to her side.

Approaching Rahma cautiously,he questioned softly "Rahma,what's happening?"

No response

"You know,we can talk this out. Just hand over the knife,you can't kill yourself, you'll incriminate my wife and i" he pleaded.

Quietly, he moved over to Rahma's side on noticing how tired she suddenly looked. She complied and handed over the knife which he kept safe in its place.
He then beckoned on his still-dazed wife to come closer.

"Let's talk in the living room Rahma"

The trio moved to the living room almost discreetly with Rahma leading and the couple in tow.
On getting to there, they took a seat in the large three-seater sofa while Rahma used the armchair.

Then slowly,the guard that Rahma has kept since forever seemed to have resigned from its post. All her walls broke down right there and she sobbed quietly for a start, then soon resorted to loud fits of sobs.
Making a move to console her, Yusuf stopped his wife and they left Rahma to cry to her heart's content.

After about twenty minutes,she cleared her voice and started, her blank expression has found its way to the permanent residence in her eyes.

"You have to...i...have....have to die" she said between hiccups.

The couple looked at her like she's crazy. Noticing their expressions,she let out a mirthless chuckle and continued.

"I was cursed long before i was given birth to, by my mother's first husband. I don't know the details but my grandmother and other people say that it can only be averted if i die "

The couple's expression changed to shock and worry. Majeedah could also feel anger creeping through her throat.

"Her grandmother..." The two words echoed in her head as her mind flipped to how much her own pampered her even after she grew up, so much that her parents whined.

"Grandmothers are meant to pamper their grandchildren, but her own joined people to make her life miserable. Filling her head with things like suicide?"

Her throat constricted and she felt it go drier than it was. It soon started burning with fury and she had to struggle for air when she thought again about how a grandmother and some people's stupidity almost implicated her family.

"Would that mean you were trying to commit suicide when we found you by the roadside?" Yusuf asked.

"Yes" she whispered in response.

Glancing around in frustration,she continued
" Please let me go,let me go away...it's the only way out. I see my mother and sister in my dreams everyday. Their image torment me every night i try to close my eyes and sleep. Pl... ea... seeee, even you people might have a share of the curse. No,you definitely will, if i stay longer"

She broke down again, and this time cried till sleep overtook her tired body.

Yusuf and his wife exchanged looks,confusion and helplessness filling the little space between them.

Oops! Seems like we've finally gotten a clue...

I didn't really have an experience but from what i've seen and read,grandparents should be one of the best things that ever happened to man...but like in every case of exceptions,seems like little Rahma wasn't as lucky, too bad yeah?

How far will Rahma go now to break the jinx? How far will the cute couple go to protect the helpless strange girl they found on the bridge?