MELODY (Book 1) ✓

Chapter 41 ( The Police )

Blood everywhere...

Tears everywhere...

Throbbing everywhere...

Everything swirled inside my head. A Maelstrom of gruesome, blood-stained images... Screams... Gunshots... echoes...

"Asha! Please!... Wake up!" The nerve-racking wails and the drums inside my skull continued to boom out in my ears.

"Ash! Don't leave me! Ash!" I cried, shaking her still body and hoping for a miracle to happen.

No! Asha can't die! She can't just die!

Placing my ear on her chest, I squeezed my eyes shut, my lungs burning with uncontrollable sobs and snivels.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

God, is this sound only in my head or is her heart still beating?!

"Melody!"

A faraway soothing voice called my name. It wasn't Asha... It was him! Akram!

How could this be?

Thump! Thump! Thump!

"Melody, please open the door!"

His sweet voice was anxious... pleading.

"Akram!"

A sudden sense of relief washed over me. I couldn't determine how long it took me to realize that Vivian was gone... The pool of blood was gone... Asha's spiritless body was gone...

Thump! Thump! Thump!

"Melody?!"

Lifting my racked body, I fumbled to find my bearings in the faint light peeking out of the window shades. My pillow was wet with tears, breath ragged, eyes sore and blurry, hair sweaty. A mess of a human being who occupied a place she didn't deserve; His peaceful bedroom.

I scrambled out of bed and faltered to the door. I had to make sure I wasn't delusional. It was hard to tell the difference between reality and illusion right now.

One more thump!

I yanked the door open and the vortex in my head stopped turning in a second.

Akram stood at the door, gorgeous and wholesome and tangible. His cinnamon eyes greeted me and a concerned frown weaved through his precious face.

"Morning." He scanned my face and his brows lowered. "Did I wake you up? I thought I heard you call my name and then... Were you crying?!"

Like a demented person, I stood still in front of him, clinging to the door knob and gawking at his face. I was afraid this might be an illusion. The vivid image of Akram beaten and injured in that photo was too much to bear. I couldn't imagine the thought of him being hurt. Especially because of me. The thought of losing him was suffocating.

"Mel, you're freaking me out. Please say something," he pleaded, an anxious line wrinkling his forehead.

Without a single word, I threw myself in his arms. I hugged him fiercely and buried my face into his chest. A series of ragged gasps were all I could manage to express how I felt.

Akram tensed up for a moment as I caught him off guard. I knew I might be crossing the line, but I couldn't let go. I needed to feel his presence. To make sure he wasn't a figment of my imagination.

It was reassuring that he didn't push me away, and eventually, I sensed the warmth of his arms embracing me ever so gently. Almost as if they weren't touching me. He let me soak his shirt with my tears for a moment that could never be long enough, reveling in the comfort of his touch and the fact that he was safe and sound.