The Nearest Heaven

Part 25 - Alone

Part 25 – Alone

"Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near."

~ Surah Baqarah, verse 214

All alone in the massive house, Faraaz felt his nerves slowly fraying and fraying until at long last they completely dissipated. Frustrated, he pulled on his hair as he tried to come up with ideas of what might have happened to her. As it stood, he could foresee only one of two things happening to her: the first was that his sister took her, or the second, that her ex had managed to find her and drag her all the way back to her hometown.

"Computer," he growled out. "Call Jacob."

There was a beep, as the computer switched on. "Calling Jacob."

Even though he gained usage of his hands, Faraaz was still a bit unsteady to type. It would take him longer to type the first word out than it would take anyone else. Since time was of the essence, he didn't dare to try to take the phone and make the call himself.

Within seconds, the phone was answered. "Hello?" Jacob's sleepy voice came through the phone.

"Jake! It's me, Faraaz calling. We have had an issue. Fadiyah is missing!" Even though it had been an hour since he had confirmed that something had in fact happened to her, he was still edgy. His voice was taut, and his words were crisp.

Like Faraaz, Jacob expressed his emotions through a bright and shocking choice of profanities. "I can't come through immediately, Faraaz, unfortunately. But I will do what I can from here and I will try to be there in about 4 hours. I drove to visit my cousin about 2 hours from Sunnington. But I will come down as soon as I can," he apologised feeling worthless.

Ashamed, Faraaz apologised. "I am so sorry, you informed me that you were going. I'm sorry to have intruded, Jake. No stress, spend time with the family man, and if you like I will keep you informed."

Even though Faraaz had apologised, he cut he call without giving Jacob a chance to speak. His mind begun pumping out idea after idea. "Computer, call Aasif Ali," he ordered.

Faraaz did not pay attention to his cell phone dialling his father. Instead, he gazed at the boring ceiling above him and realised just how bleak his life was without her. He had lived his entire life without her before, why was it so difficult now to live without her? He had never lived a day in his life (so far) without his father, but he found living apart from his father much more bearable than to live without Fadiyah. How could it be possible?

"Faraaz?"

When he heard his father's stern voice, Faraaz was forced out of his morbid train of thought. "Daddy," he breathed. The weight of the world was intoned into that single word. "Fadiyah has been kidnapped."

*-*-*

There was the sound of loud, obnoxious laughter was echoing through the place. Somewhere above, boisterous, nonsensical music was blasted. Each sound reverberated through her skull, yet still somehow unable to penetrate through the thick fog clouding her mind. Blurry words slipped past her, but Fadiyah could not make out what they were, or what they meant with her head pounding.

It felt heavy, she realised belatedly. With her eyes still incapable of opening, for even that simple task seemed too difficult, Fadiyah tried to focus on what she could. The first thing she noticed was that she was not at home. The smells in the air were stale, musty and dusty. She began fidgeting around, but her legs were tied together, and her hands were bound behind her back. To make matters worse, she was gagged. From what she could smell – and taste – the cloth was not some brand new material. Fadiyah forced herself not to think about where the cloth could have been, nor what it was used for. Breathing through her nose, she tried to find other odours in the air to help her find out where she could be. Despite how tremendously fast her heart was beating, she tried to keep a calm head. However, fear of the situation made clouded her judgement even further. Her breathing sped up until she felt like she was going to faint from the lack of oxygen. 'Calm down, Fadiyah! Calm down!' she mentally yelled. 'Think!'