Lost

Chapter 38: Plug the Plot Hole

Asim stared distrustfully at the dark haired boy, before taking a seat on the wooden bench upon Niall's invitation. Zayn sat opposite to him, looking completely at ease. Greatly unnerved by the stony silence that stretched between the pair, Niall sank beside his friend hoping for a civil conversation to flow.

"Thank you for coming, man. Zayn wanted to --"

"Did you attack my sister?" Asim got to the point, after he gave Niall a quick, curt nod, not without looking away from Zayn.

A tense silence enveloped the three boys.

"You already know my answer --"

"I'd rather hear it from your mouth," Asim cut Zayn.

Zayn smirked.

"Very well," he pulled his hoodie back a little. "No, I didn't."

Asim clenched his jaw, feeling his temper rise by Zayn's complete indifference.

"Then what happened to her, care to share?"

Zayn stared into Asim's distrustful eyes before reaching into the pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a folded piece of paper, and slapped it on the table in front of Asim. The younger boy picked it up to see his sister's hand drawn sketch of the forest - a hard copy of the same map she had sent him on the phone.

"The day she made that call to you guys," Zayn started. "I asked your sister to take me to the stream for a wash. There, she handed me a piece of paper and announced that she was leaving. I had no idea where to. She just left me in the middle of nowhere with no explanations and a hand drawn map."

Salma's P.O.V.

Asim denied Zayn had visited Salma, and so did Anne and her Mother. However, Salma was convinced that he did. The urge to slap him was too powerful, and too clear in her mind, to have been a result of a nightmare. Not to mention, Salma was certain her mind was too tame to conjure up a nightmare like that even in her wildest dreams.

The previous day, she was told a certain Agent Wickfield wanted to see her. Salma had an inkling it was about the thugs. She was not bothered by the news so she said she was ready. Her family, however, seemed paler than usual ever since. None of them brought up anything from her time in the forest, so she kept silent on it as well, but, she could see they were obviously troubled by it and she knew she had to answer the questions roaming in their minds even if they never asked.

So, when the doctor did his routine checkup that day, and before letting the Agent in, Salma requested the presence of at least one of her adults during the interrogation. To her, this was the most convenient way of letting her parents know of everything that went down between her and Zayn, when they were alone in the forest.

The door opened and in stepped Anne. Salma gave her a bright smile, which she returned with a nervous one. Her discomfort was quickly explained when a beautiful brunette followed her into the room. She had radiant smile and soft, twinkling, brown eyes.

"Hi!" The brunette smiled. "I'm Alexandra Wickfield."

"Salma. It's nice to meet you." Salma returned the smile, extending her hand to shake the agent's. "Dare I say you don't look FBI at all, Agent Wickfield."

The Agent raised her eyebrows in amusement as she shook Salma's hand.

"How come? I'm surprised you know who I am." She smiled. "Call me Alex, please."

"You're too charming to be FBI," Salma replied, making Alex chuckle. "And yeah, I've been told to expect one, so I knew, a new face entering my room would be that of an Agent's. Also, my family seem to have a lost a couple of years fretting over me meeting you. I figured."