"Oh my god!" Alisha whispers in shock as she steps inside her house with Zayn following her. The living room appears disturbed with things scattered around and she could barely wait to see the rest of the rooms. So she has already taken off to her bedroom upstairs and it seems worse as she pushes the door open. Everything is upside down, clothes lying on the floor, papers scattered around, mattress turned over, drawers half open and things left half hanging from the edges or on the floor; in short it is a total mess. He looks around in concentration, his eyes scanning every corner of the room and soon the whole house while she falls to her knees, the shock of the event proving to be too much for her to handle. Zayn is back in a matter of few seconds to find her slumped on the floor.
"Obviously, he was looking for something," he states walking towards the window in her room and looking down at the backyard. "Looking for something?" she asks, puzzled by this new information. "Yes, something really important. He must have been desperate to turn everything upside down." "But I don't have anything of much importance here. No valuables or expensive stuff except my laptop and mobile phone," she explains, realising something as she begins to walk downstairs to find the laptop lying on the couch and her mobile phone on the floor.
She takes a seat on the couch with her head in her hands, her breathing calming down gradually as she brings her knees to her chest, probably lost in the thought of why would someone do this to her. And mainly, why is he helping her? He walks into her kitchen and gets a glass full of water that he brings back to her. She looks up at him, innocently as he hands her the glass which she accepts ever so carefully, putting her whole concentration into the simple task. He can read her actions perfectly. The way she holds herself, her delicate movements, her troubled expressions and everything else shows him how broken she is right now. Broken, scared, clueless and probably losing it as every second passes by them as they breathe in the silence of their surroundings.
"Fortunately, he had nothing to do with your laptop or mobile phone. We have them here. This can only mean one thing-," "What is that?" She asks him, hastily, cutting him off mid sentence. "He is not after any information. Either he needs something that you possess or you" Horror-struck, she stood there as the words started to make some sense, filling her with fear. And as if all these events weren't enough to drive her insane, this information threw her off the bounds of her own sanity in question.
Soon, she has restored almost everything back to its place with his help. Their exhausted frames lay still on the opposite edges of her bed where they agreed to stick to their own sides (more of Zayn convincing her), lost in a world of their own, reliving moments, thinking of the past events, drawing conclusions and twisting details to make more sense of the events that have occurred yet. But, what they don't know is either of them is thinking about the same things, replaying the same moments and wishing for the same things. It is somewhere between the afternoon when he realises that he should have left earlier while his heart rebels against his brain's logical instruction. She is unsafe here, is the excuse he makes to himself to stay for a little longer, in her presence.
Her continuous offices leaves are troubling her and so are the new adventures that never fail to terrify her. "I think you should leave now. It's almost time." "I need to assure you are safe, first," He replies staring straight into her puffy eyes. "I am safe and anyways, you need not bother about my safety." "After all the help, you are still unconvinced about me. Seriously, woman!" He scoffs, walking straight to the door and leaving her alone with an unsaid goodbye. Fine. She yells back but only in her mind. "I will soon need a psychiatrist because I am sure I am on the brink if insanity," are the last words she mumbles to herself before calling Rachael.
It's just two rings before her friend picks up. "Where have you been, missy?" "To hell and back," Alisha replies with an exhausted sigh, pressing her temples with her fingers as the headache persists. "What's wrong?" "It is a long and complex story that I, myself am trying to figure out..." It seems like words are not enough for her to put forth the weird tragedy she has been through. "You know what, I am crashing at your place tonight and you can tell me everything. And no, don't try to hide anything," Rachael states in an orderly tone, trying to hold in the feeling of guilt that enters her mind as soon as she realises, how she has never been besides Alisha lately when she needed it the most. But she won't let it continue that way, she will make it right and fine.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Alisha yells just after ending her call with Rachael as the door flies open revealing the same figure that left her without a goodbye. "Helping you or should I say, saving you," he replies in a whisper, whisking her away to the backdoor. "What-" "No time to explain, move," Zayn mumbles hastily, scanning the whole area. Alisha lets out a gasp as she points her index finger towards the man that had made an appearance last night. Zayn pulls her down, ducking behind the kitchen counter before the intruder can catch even a glimpse of them. He cocks his head to the side to find the man armed and looking around the living room now. Zayn gestures her to follow him out the backdoor with her head low. She immediately obeys for obvious reasons; she knows she will be safe with him rather than any other man.
It has not been even full 24 hours and things have started to go abnormal again, like a scheduled pattern to trouble her soul. She follows him as he sneaks out the door towards her backyard. He is trying to get her away from this house when suddenly; the man notices two shadows running towards the street from the glass windows. He wastes no minute in chasing after them. Zayn pulls Alisha to run faster which she is struggling to do with her bare feet on a chilly night. They manage to get to his bike which is parked few houses away for his own reasons and soon they are speeding away as their chaser disappears into the dark night with the wind hitting harshly at their exposed skin.
"I can't keep running like this," Alisha mumbles in a shaky voice, holding on to Zayn tightly as he keeps rushing through the streets, weaving through the few vehicles finding their way back home. "Don't worry," is all he replies loudly over the whooshing of the air. Soon, they are back at his apartment and it feels like a déjà vu to him as he swoops her off of her feet, sensing her discomfort arising due to her bare feet hitting cold hard path, written all over her face. A gasp escapes her lips by his sudden actions but she doesn't protest. After all, she can rest her aching feet for some time and the warmth he is radiating seems too comfortable to be wasted. He manages to open the door and kicks it shut with his foot, walking gently towards his bed and if she wasn't in a situation like this, she would have fallen for his hazel eyes shining under the moonlight and his muscular built or maybe for the way he treats her like a fragile bird, with a look of admiration on his face that she notices every now and then but chooses to ignore them. And oh, that smooth velvet voice only adds to the list. But she knows how to differentiate between what is right and what is tempting. She knows that he is not meant for her, his world holds fire and destruction while she is the water that drowns the fire in it and leads to new beginnings, taking the mess away with it.
"I need to be somewhere. You will be safe here. Nobody comes here anyway, except me. So yeah," Zayn states while walking around the room, getting his things before leaving. "But why am I supposed to stay here and where are you going?" "I have a business to be taken care of and your safety comes first, so stay," and that is what he says before leaving her alone.
She is clueless about this unexpected arrival of new characters in her life and she is slowly starting to regret her decision for cribbing every time when loneliness hit her hard in her heart. It is frustrating yet lively. She feels a surge of electric power in herself that she never felt before. Is it because of the cold shivers that are left as an after-shock from her adventures or maybe because his presence fills her with such strength that she can't fathom or handle? Whatever it is, she has her mind in conflict and it won't be too soon until it is solved.
*****
Thoughts on this chapter?
I will update but they will be delayed, due to many things coming up these days. Apologies my readers.
Dedication goes to @dee_0910 for voting on every chapter and following me. Thank you, dedicated reader!
Regards,
A.R.
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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...
