It's darker than it was previously, thanks to her laptop going on power saving mode. Her insides clench with fear as the shadow makes slow silent movements. Oh no! Not again. She groans internally, hating every second of this moment and praying with all her might to turn this into a bad dream, a horrible nightmare, just anything but real. She wants to escape this in any possible way but her legs are jelly, not ready to make a single move for that may bring her the attention of the intruder.
She slides down the wall, slowly, to be invisible or at least away from the vision of the carefully moving shadow. The movements of the intruder are so slow and sophisticated that one might miss them in a blink of an eye. Holding her breath, she drags her body extremely carefully towards the door. She doesn't care if anything is stolen, because she doesn't have anything much important in her house except some money and a few daily gadgets like her laptop and cell phone. The only thing she cares for is her mother's watch which is on her wrist, right now and she decides to leave her residence and get help from her neighbour or anyone for that matter. She takes quick glances as she carries on moving. But one particular glance makes her whole body go numb for the shadow seems to be holding a thick knife.
A gasp is about to escape her but she manages to gulp it back down her throat and soon the numbness is replaced with the goose bumps covering her skin. Though she is still shocked and unable to control her sudden shivering of limbs, she manages to reach the door which is just one step away. Just one last step and the moment her hand touches the door knob, the shadow disappears. She twists the knob in desperation as she hears a thumping sound and as she skips outside the door, the man himself appears near the staircase, the same place she had first discovered his presence. She hurries away from her house on the semi-dark road and the man chases after her.
Running to the neighbour's door and waiting will be a waste of time, she thought and so, continues to pass block after block in hope to find someone. Once she reaches a busy street, he won't be able to harm her, that she knows and so she hurries towards the main street with her aching feet and adrenaline mixed with fear pumping in her veins, burning her lungs. She passes a small alley, that is just before the main street. Yes, I can do it; she thinks to herself. But the end of the alley has bought her only more trouble and shock. The turn to the end of the alley makes her stop and hide back against the wall instead of turning the corner to escape and she soon realises that the man that was chasing her, seems to have disappeared.
A groan makes its way to her ears from the turn ahead and she, unknowingly, turns her head, cocking it to the side to catch a glimpse of the events occurring on the other side of the alley wall. The scene unfolding in front of her eyes, makes her gasp and a shiver runs down her spine, chilling her to her very bones. The groaning man lies on the ground, writhing in pain with the blood staining his clothes while two men continue to yell at him. Another man stands with his back to them, lighting up his cigarette. She tries to keep herself concealed, controlling the urge to throw up with a great effort.
"C'mon. Spit it out. We don't have all the day for you." A smooth, velvety voice speaks nonchalantly that seems to be coming from the man who is smoking with no care. She feels herself freeze as she hears the voice, familiar voice. But, last time she believed in her intuitions, she was wrong. Am I going crazy? Or does every man have the same features here? She thinks, still stuck at the same place. She is pretty scared to even move. Neither can she move ahead the path, nor can she risk by retracing her steps. It’s a deadlock, as they say.
"Take him." The same voice mumbles, turning in the same instant as she takes another glance, the reality hitting her like a tough punch in her gut. It can't be him. Not him. Not his face. Her thoughts start making her dizzy, seeing her very own stranger friend, standing over the unconscious man. Her breathing is uneven and soon she starts to hyperventilate. Her body is cold with all the chills the fear is inflicting on her body and she stumbles backwards as his eyes meets hers. The men are gone with their victim, leaving him alone with his eyes wide in shock. Both of them are rooted to the ground, horror-struck faces still staring at each other, being unable to digest the fact of what had happened. While her features hold disappointment and hurt, he is simply shattered.
His men seem to be returning and she is very much still in front of his eyes, hair dishevelled, tear stained cheeks and limbs shivering. No no no. This is the only word that his mind keeps chanting for everything that has happened and everything that is happening. He pulls himself together and tells his men to go back, making an excuse to meet them later. To make sure, he waits till they leave in the car and once they are out of his sights, he turns towards her to find her unconscious on the hard asphalt ground. He finally finds the strength to move from the same spot and dashes towards her petite figure, taking her in his arms.
After thinking for several minutes and being unable to guess her house from the whole colony, he has only one choice and so he heads towards his own apartment, in a cab. Her head, resting on his shoulder as he places her beside him in a sitting position. His arm hesitates before going around her waist, holding her close as gently as possible for him. He chuckles thinking about this situation; he carried her in his arms few moments ago without even having a single thought and now he is hesitating, ironic. He watches out the opposite window as the dark streets lighting up with orange lamps passes by and his gaze returns upon her serene face that was filled with horror before. Her light skin glowing under the beams of headlights and street lights. Her brown wavy locks are flowing past her shoulder only to end up on his own shoulder, leaving few stray strands to lay on her cheek, tangling slightly with her long eyelashes which only makes her look more innocent, almost childlike.
Though he is tempted to sweep those few strands away from her face with his fingers but he thinks he might end up stirring her awake, like from a peaceful sleep. He knows she is not in what we call a sweet slumber but it sounds better to him to say she's sleeping. He keeps trying to stay away from her, to just avoid her existence but he ends up beside her, knowingly or unknowingly. Every time, he makes a resolution to forget about her and erase her from his memory, he ends up being face-to-face with her. This makes him think back to the day he dropped her halfway home, leaving her speechless with his statements about destiny and controversies of the universe. It makes him think if his made up theories are actually being implemented by some force of nature when he only meant to conceal the truth of his stalkerish behaviour.
The cab comes to a halt, bringing him back to reality. He pays for the fare and gets her in his arms, walking up the stairs, which he doesn't mind. Laying her on his bed, he walks around clearing a little bit of mess he left before and settles down beside her with a glass of water. A slight frown appears on her face suddenly, which he notices. Of course, his gaze is reluctant to leave her face and fall on any other object. Her slow stirring catches his attention and makes him sit straight, intently waiting for her to wake up any moment now. The stirring soon turns into a full on struggle against an invisible attacker for she is mumbling incoherent words like, "Stop" and "Leave me!" and he knows he has to bring her back to reality. His contemplating mind stops him, making him question himself. Will this reality be any better for her now that she knows?
He can see her in pain no more and he catches her arms that she is flinging around in an attempt to free herself. He tries to shake her back to this world, holding her by the shoulders while she continues her actions, making it difficult for him to even hold her and eventually she gives up as her eyes open up. Tears rushing down her cheeks in the same instant as he brings her closer, hugging her tight while her head is buried in his shoulder. Second time, he is this close to her and he feels the same jolt he felt for the first time he was near her.
Something clicks in her as she suddenly pulls away, too harshly for her own liking and gets as far away from him as she could, pointing her finger in his direction with wide, red eyes. "You, stay away from me." Her voice, a hoarse whisper with her whole frame shivering with anger and maybe fear. He raises his hands in defence, trying to convince her that he is harmless. "Trust me, I am not-" "I will hear no more words from you", she attempts to yell but fails as her voice cracks. "Stay away from me." She manages to whisper, taking a few steps back and leaning back on the wall as weakness grips her body.
*****
Yes, I know I am late in updating again but I decided to make up multiple chapters before posting so there won't be much delays like these. So now I am ready.
Tell me, what do you think about this chapter. Waiting eagerly for your responses.
Regards,
A.R.
YOU ARE READING
Trapped
Fanfiction"She will be the death of you, Zayn" "She already is...", He whispered back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alisha, a simple average girl, working on normal salary and leading a normal life is pushed deep into a different world that she has only heard about...
