Dangerous Territory [Completed]

The Wooden Takht

It was a long drive. I kept thinking about how it’ll all end up. If Bisma would be alive. If I’d be alive. My mind kept going back to my Father, wondering if he was alright, if he’d gained consciousness. It scared me how all of a sudden my stable life had crumbled down into ruins. How I was at the verge of losing everything. 

The sun was setting in the horizon, and it seemed to be taking my reserves of energy with it. I felt like I had no will to live left, I wanted to give up so badly. I wanted someone else to save Bisma and then save me. I wanted to sit back and wait while others brought everything back to normal. Just like Father had done all my life. He’d never let us do anything, always cleaning up our mess for us. I wasn’t used to struggle and hardships. Adil was right - I was used to comfort and luxuries, I was weak, and I didn’t want to step out of my comfort zone. 

Moisture clouded my vision, and I had to stop the car to avoid an accident.Tyres screeched as I stepped on the brake and pulled up haphazardly by the side. A couple of vans passed in a blur as I rested my head on the steering and sobbed, letting out a gush of tears I had been holding back for the entire day. I sobbed at my sheer helplessness, at my pitiful loneliness, I wallowed in my sorrows. When no more tears came out, I looked up, saw the wet wheel through the clouded vision, and then gazed out the window. 

A prayer escaped my lips as I realised with a fresh wave, that I wasn’t really alone. The one who could bring such beautiful colors to the sky, was watching me, listening to me, saw me crying, was waiting for me to ask Him for help that only He could provide. So I asked Him, and when I did, it was like the clouds had shaded me from the blistering heat of the sun. I miraculously felt relieved, reassured that all was going to be okay. I wiped my face, my eyes and faced the road ahead. With newfound determination, I pressed my foot on the accelerator and drove the car forward - ready to face with courage and patience whatever might come, believing He was there to help me through it.

I willed all the despairing thoughts at bay, and turned on the recitation of His ninety nine names on my phone and kept all my attention on the driving. I stopped only when I had reached the small roadside shop. I could make out the rear of a truck under the dim sky, peeking from behind the stretched building of the inn, which had a portion of bathrooms, an open kitchen and covered place for a dine in. It was a cheap restaurant of sorts, with the paint of its walls peeled off, and I had no doubt it had no proper sanitation.

With my heart thundering inside my chest, I turned my phone off, took the duffel bag, and climbed out of the car. Inhaling a deep breath I started towards the old building.

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Taking heavy footsteps, and irregular breathing, I walked forth, keeping my grip firm on the handles of the bag, which was heavy with the weight of stacks of money. I felt like I was going towards my death, though I now had hope that I could come out alive. But still every step was full of dread. Once I approached the building and stood directly in front of it, I didn’t know where to go, and looked around, scanning the faces of the people. Even though most of the men had their eyes on me, checking me out, talking in undertones with their companions, there wasn’t a particular predatory gleam in their gaze. I dragged my eyes from where I had earlier seen the rear end of a truck, and took a step towards it. And then I noticed a man leaning against its side, who beckoned lightly when I caught his gaze, telling me to follow him around the building. I saw him disappear at the back and went after him, my heart hammering against my chest, the veins in the temples pulsating. With my throat suddenly dry,  palms sweating, I turned the corner, and found a number of men of all sizes lounging on takht beds, drinking and smoking as they laughed in a mild drunken state. The person who had beckoned me notified one of them in a loud voice, who immediately turned to me and took me in. 

With an intoxicated laugh, he got off, and I realized how incredibly huge he was, with his heavy body and broad shoulders and a big, bearded round face. “You got the money?” His voice was equally heavy and husky.

I could only muster up a nod. 

Then he turned to the one who I had followed, “Is she alone?” My heart skipped a beat at the question. 

“Not a soul within miles of her vehicle,” Tipping his head back, he gave a garbled reply with his mouth open and I realised he must be savoring paan. 

The burly man gave the strange laugh again, and took a few steps more in my direction. “Pretty woman with a bag full of money. What can be better than this?”

I swallowed. “Where is my sister?” I asked in what I hoped was a demanding tone.

“Safe?” he posed it as a question, quivering his eyebrow, and then snickered. Everyone behind him laughed too. 

I stood my ground, “Give me my sister, and then I’ll give you the money.”

Unsurprisingly, manic laughters arose in the air, coming from every single man around me. A cacophony of noise sending my head into a spin. “How about we keep both?”

“No.” I said, taking a step back. I wondered how they were so … so open and free with the crime they were committing. There was absolutely no sense of secrecy to them. Were they just that bold and intimidating that authorities couldn't do anything about them or was there no actual authority here?

“Or better, all three?” As he said that, he cocked his head to the side, and even though I knew it was a signal for one of his men, I couldn’t keep up with the flurry of activity. Before I could have produced a response, the bag was snatced from my grip, and I was struck on the head from behind with something really hard, but I didn’t feel much pain because darkness engulfed me in a moment and I saw myself falling to the ground. 

---

Light washed into my mind, I heard a low groan escaping my mouth and then I opened my eyes into complete darkness. The back of my head sent spasms of pain all down my mind, and as I tried to ignore the dull thudding, several sounds of breathing reached my ears. My heart leapt into a panicked somersault, and my first thought was that someone was there to rape me. But as my vision adjusted to the darkness and my mind registered the continuous movement indicating that I was in a vehicle, I saw that all around me, sitting against the wall were several unconscious bodies, their heads colliding into each other with every bump. I couldn’t call out to Bisma, I couldn’t see where she was, the faces of the girls weren’t clearly visible. But one thing was as clear as our image in a mirror - Iqbal Zafar was right, we were being smuggled to some other country to work as sex slaves. Where was the police? Had they lost us? Was Adil right on point afterall to worry about the what ifs? What if we wouldn’t escape? What if we were really done with our lives? 

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