One Night

Chapter Thirty

Alara

A fuming man pushes the contraption off his leg and stands. Signs of an injury show when he limps towards me. He stays speaking to me—not with anger, but like a father would chastise someone he loves.

He's not old enough to be a father. He looks similar to the men who took me on that boat and threw me into the ocean. A dark beard, heavily tanned skin and a naturally intimidating facial expression. His eyes are like the other woman's—an intense green colour that I have never seen before. Not on Qadura or Wadi or any land.

He wears a loose white shirt and white pants. The knee area of the pants are now slightly dirty, after grazing against the ground.

Unsurprisingly, I have no idea what he is saying. "I'm sorry," I apologise, though it will be pointless. I suppose my luck is not good enough to find someone who can understand me.

His expression changes, his eyebrows lifting which causing lines on his forehead. "Yalla." He gently takes my arm. Finally, a word that I can understand.

He starts dragging me towards his tipped over bike, speaking to me hurriedly in his language. After fixing the position of the bike, he climbs on and waits as if expecting—no. I'm not going with some strange man.

My mom may have not taught me a lot in terms of formal education, but she most certainly taught me to never follow or trust strange men. She would say she'd have a hernia if I did—although I don't know what a hernia is, it doesn't sound good.

I take a step back. He notices my hesitance and starts rambling. But this time, I recognise the words 'Qadura' and 'Diyar'.

I nod my head. "Diyar, how do I get to Diyar?" I just want to go home. My mom is my home.

He points forward, making big gestures with his hands and trying to explain something to me. His voice is rugged and has a slight lilt, an accent I've never heard.

He is bigger than me. He most definitely could hurt me, but he has information that might be helpful.

I'm going to take the risk.

He shifts forward to make space for me on the back of his contraption. My heart pounds in my chest at the risk, and at the chance of finally getting some answers.

I get an aching feeling in my chest, wishing Zayen was here. I'd never had a male figure in my life, but when he was around I felt safe—like for once, I didn't have to fight alone.

The contraption seems to come alive. As soon as he starts it, the wheels begin to turn causing that same blue light to emit. It makes gentle whooshing sounds as it moves, like rapidly spinning liquid.

I nearly fall of the bike, trying to see the wheels, and the man chuckles and makes a comment.

He has a warm laugh that makes me want to laugh along with him. There are smile lines on the corners of his mouth and creasing the edges of his eyes which put me a little bit at ease.

We pass many buildings that are all the same; tall and white and unusual. The buildings seem to have pieces of grass and greenery growing on it, like it is alive.

People walk along the sidewalk, everyone looking completely normal and ordinary except that they wear the same white uniforms. A few other contraptions with the same blue spinning wheels go past. At crossing points, when the contraptions stop, the blue colour disappears and the wheels become transparent.

I nearly fall off the bike completely when a strange creature crawls along the side of the walkway. Because we are moving, I don't get a proper look but it looked like a crab, except much bigger and rougher.