TREASURES AND THORNS

Chapter 76

"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them."
- Khalil Gibran

OMNISCIENT
<PRISONER>

UNEDITED



Fear. The feeling that pulsed through her veins undiluted. The smell of a certain chemical filled her nostrils which did not make her situation any better. She could feel the vehicle moving at top speed despite her eyes being blindfolded. The rubber string that held her hands together on her laps, dug in to her flesh but she dared not move. The tip of the gun resting behind her back was a sound warning.

The events that followed her capture replayed in her mind. Still, nothing made sense. She wasn’t actually a ‘Modibbo’ so a target on her back could barely fetch them as much. However, the king pin had made it sound like he wasn’t after money. If that was the case, then what else could they want with her?

The confusion mixed with fear in his orbs appeared to her. She couldn’t properly process the emotion they held. She knew he would be distraught. She knew the whole family would be distraught.
They will come for me. I am sure they will.

She repeated those words to herself, helplessly clinging to the comfort they brought her.

After what seemed like forever, the speeding car started to slow. Rukkayya could not tell its position in the fleet of cars that had come to kidnap her. She was sure there was a convoy. The whole scheme was too grand to be aimed at just her. A nobody in a world of sophisticated, powerful people. The thought that she might be bigger than she considered made her continue chanting any and every dua that she could remember.

She was right. The car was getting slower, till it stopped for a few seconds. She heard the sound of metals clanging, she assumed that to be a gate. Then the car started again. As the metallic sound came again, Rukkayya’s heart beat accelerated.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhir rajiun.

Deep inside of her she knew for a fact getting outside that gate wouldn’t be as easy coming in. The car sped in, only halting after two minutes drive, when it came to an abrupt stop. Rukkayya jerked forward losing her balance in the process. She almost hits her head to the floor of the car luckily the car had halted fully then. She remained calm relying fully on her ears as they picked up sounds of the other cars parking.  The gun man behind her was as quiet as a ghost. If she hadn’t felt him adjust the gun such that it was pointing at her, she would’ve thought she imagined him. Little did she know that her supposed imaginations were only starting.

****

Instead of tranquility returning after the intruders left, there was only terror. It felt like it had somehow been infused in to the air. Ahmad had immediately become hysterical. It took both Mahmud and Yusuf to keep him from roaming around. The supposed ‘guards’ flooded in to the restaurant. No one bothered to ask why they weren’t there earlier. It was obvious they weren’t anticipating such an attack.

“Is everybody alright?” The guard asked no one in particular. His dark suit had turned dusty, evidence of either being beaten or his desperate attempt to stay alive. Not that anyone could blame him.

Nevertheless, no one responded. It took a while before Alhaji Modibbo spoke up.

“Where is Rofyan? Tell me you have men following them.” He was also in shock because even as he said it, he knew the answer already.

“Sir, the chief of security is down, he sustained a gun shot during the intrusion.”

Gasps broke around the hall.