Requital (COMPLETED)

Chapter 30 - Nightmares.

"Be strong, things will get better. It may be stormy now, but it never rains forever. "

***

* 1 year later*

Her screams reverberated throughout the dark room, the desperation and helplessness evident in her voice. She yelled for help, she cried and she begged, as he dragged her by her hair.

He stood over her with an evil glint in his eye, and an evil intention in his heart.

She sobbed and begged for him to let her go, but he refused.

She thrashed around, flailing her arms infront of her, she called for him again, but he couldn't reach her.

He exerted himself and he tried hard to move forward, but his feet refused to move. It was as if there were invisible ropes holding him back, his feet were rooted to the ground. Before he could comprehend what was happening, he saw him pulling out a shiny metal object and three earpiercing shots along with her shrill cry was heard.

He looked at her lifeless body, the blood seeping through her favourite lilac dress.

"Noooo! Zahraaa!!"

He jolted awake, quickly sitting up.
He wiped the sheen of sweat that had coated his forehead.

One year had already passed since her death, yet her lifeless body still remained imprinted in his mind, even when he was asleep he was not at peace. Very seldomly did he sleep peacefully.

After Zahra's death he had fled to the town that he grew up in. Eversince he stepped foot in Rustenburg, he stayed at his friend Bilaal's house. His friends had sent him to a rehab and had also helped him abandon drugs, uptil now thanks to Allah and his friends he was clean and he hoped it stayed that way. It was difficult to give up, it wasn't easy at all. There were times he slipped up and went back, so he decided to resort to smoking cigarettes instead. Hanzala and Bilaal were not pleased, but they let him be, even though smoking was not the best resort it was better than drugs.

He had forced himself to forget about his life in Johannesburg, that was the past now, his present and future would be here.

He had started working in Bilaal's father's car spares shop and he began saving money for an apartment or flatlet of his own.

One thing he couldn't do was consider marriage. He had tried to see other girls, but all three girls that he had gone to see, he couldn't help but compare them to Yusaira. He wondered if she was still single, would she wait for him? She probably hated him with all her heart. He had fled without saying a word and their Nikaah was supposed to be a week after the tragic incident.

Now that he sat and thought about it, running away was not the best solution.

His mother as well as Taeeba had phoned him countless of times, he had assured him that he was safe and they shouldn't search for him. They spoke on the phone often, but those phone calls also were so agonizing for him, for he heard the sadneess and longing in their voice and he couldn't help but blame himself for what they were going through.

His family knew who murdered her, but they never once blamed him, they never once pointed a finger at him, yet he still could never face them.