From the stars, to the stars

Real or not real?

There was nothing but darkness engulfing him. Blinding darkness. There were voices inside his head. Only female voices screaming at him, searing his mind and his soul. Utter pain. Torturous agony.

Khalid clutched his head and willed the voices to go away but they screamed and screamed until his shoulders ached from clutching his head. The agonizing wound in his back was starting to form pus and there was no position that Khalid could sleep in that didn't result in shots of pain running all over his body.

"You murdered me. My family killed themsleves because of you" said one voice

"My father became a criminal because you took me away from him." screamed another

"Your wife loved me. I was her best friend. You killed me." This voice was Shiva's. It was pure agony.

The voices had become unbearable now and so had the pain in his shoulder. He wished Shazi would be here with him. Somehow she always knew the solution. He didn't know if he would be able to get out of this alive but he never got a chance to say goodbye to Shazi. What if he does and never gave her a last kiss or one last embrace.

He was certain the voices in his head were of all his dead brides. He wished he could see Shazi so she could comfort him from the physical and mental injury. It was sucking the life out of him slowly and he could not do anything. The outside world sounded like a muffled hum. It was as if he was underwater and the water had surrounded his ears so he was hearing everything muffled. He was sparsely aware of the soldiers and the Rajput near him. The doctors around him, tending to his wound. They didn't know that the wound in his back hardly hurt. The real wound which he was experiencing was in his head. The voices.

Oh Shazi, how I wish you were here.

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