Raihana | Sequel to Negina

Imagination Gone Wild

Chapter 20

-Raihana Malik-

"How are you, my lovely stepdaughter?" His eyes don't go off the newspaper but Arsen still asks upon seeing me come down the stairs.

How dare he call me his stepdaughter? I am not anything related to him! I glare up at him for a split second and choose to leave the argument; I stay silent and look away from his ugly face with a roll of my eyes. I take a seat in one of the many couches in the living room.

My head gets jerked back and I am forced to face him. I am taken off guard when his fingers dig into my tight bun and pull tightly. For the first time I notice his face, his eyes are a deep shade of green that resemble the forest. His teeth are straight, as if he had them treated with braces. It makes me wonder why a criminal like Arsen would need to have straight teeth. I hate to admit it, but his personal features are getting the best of him as well.

"When I talk, you listen. Understand, you bitch?" He slithers through his teeth.

So much for wonderful features.

My head hurts as he pulls tighter against my loose hair. I glare at him, he won't get those words out of me. Never.

"Fuck you. You hear me?" I find myself screaming at him. "Fuck you and fuck that stupid bitch that ruined my whole life! Fuck all of you!"

"Fuck me? Your mama already does that for me."

Is this him attempting to making a joke?

"She's not my mother and you're not anything to me either." I go farther against him. His facial expression tells me that he's about to explode, but it doesn't stop me. "Negina and Khalid Malik. Those are my parents. Not your sorry ass."

He let's go of my hair and I let out a quiet sigh of relief. His next action also catches me off guard when I feel a hard smack against my cheek, the force makes me fall off the couch and to the ground.

"You don't know how fast I can make you mine, stepdaughter or not. Better stop letting words out of that pretty mouth of yours before thinking of the consequences." He says with a dangerous warning tone.

A guy comes out of the kitchen. He probably heard the ruckus and came to check what happened. Arsen notices him. "Lock her in her room. No dinner for her."

I laugh. "You can take away as many meals as you want. You can lock me away for however long you want. But that isn't gonna stop the fact that you're a rapist. A maniac!"

The guy grabs me from both arms and starts dragging me along with him. "He's coming to save us! I hope you heard me, you dirty rascal!"

But he doesn't hear me because I'm already thrown inside of my room.

Oh no. Why did I do that? Oh my god.

I sit on my bed, only now realizing the consequences of my arguments with Arsen. He is gonna go and take it all out on Caleb and Arezo. I smack myself against my forehead and lay back into the white mattress. I'm so stupid.

I sit next to the window, the cold wind hits against my face and blows the hair out of my face. I close my eyes, the speed of the wind is too much for my eyes to handle. I feel cold all of a sudden but don't stand up to grab a blanket.

Anwar comes to my mind and my hand goes immediately into my pocket to feel got the phone. What is Anwar doing now? Did he tell me parents about our phone call. He promised to save us. Is he going to fulfill what he promised?

I force myself against calling him. I stand up next to the window, my hands lean off the railing, and hold the phone around in my hand. I twist the rectangle around, leaning over the railing.

"Raihana."

I gasp as my fingers don't feel the phone anymore, and I notice it splatter on the floor. Arsen comes out, glaring at me from the bottom while stepping on the cellphone. He's mad, he noticed.

No. No. No.

I hear heavy footsteps coming across the house and up the stairs. No, this isn't happening.

I imagine myself at home, with my family celebrating Eid. I imagine taking all of my brother's cash and accusing him of not giving me my Eid present. I imagine the green backyard and the dark night sky that falls every night. I imagine Aaron for a split second, but Anwar comes to mind instead. How I want him to hug me. How I want him to keep his promise and save me from Arsen's upcoming punishment.

"You're in trouble little girl, and no one can save you now." I hear his voice hiss softly against my ear.

I imagine Arezo, tightly asleep in Calebs arms. I imagine their Nikah, my father approving their marriage and letting us all become one big happy family. I imagine Anwar. Maybe if I die in this gang, maybe if they kill me, then Anwar won't have to go through the pain of leaving the girl he loves and he won't have to marry me.

My eyes shut tight, and I feel myself go dizzy as Arsen takes a tight hold of me. I fight back against my dizziness and push myself away from Arsen. I yell at him to stop but his hands grip tightly against my shirt and he rips it open without any trouble. His hand grips again my body and I yell for help.

His hand comes against my mouth with a cloth and I feel myself go dizzy again. I push back but within  seconds I have no energy to fight anything or anyone.

The last thing I hear is a gunshot going off.