"A monster is not always a monster."
He stared at her eyes, looking at the ocean which showed hope to him. That hope, which he longed to see in many years. For Jannat, his eyes were a menancing phantasm which she couldn't resist.
"A monster starves...
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"Have you ever had someone in your life before me?"
Jannat was hesitant, as though she was lying. She felt as though there was no one in her life to turn to, no one to protect her. Her fear of Shuraim's wrath was evident in her eyes, the anger in his gaze scaring her and causing her to hesitate. Her stomach churned and she felt as though she couldn't breathe. She had nowhere to go, no one to help her. All she had was her own fear of Shuraim and his rage, and that had her cowering in front of him. She felt utterly alone and helpless in that moment, paralyzed by fear but unable to move away from the danger she was in.
"What?" She stutters. Shuraim could see that she was scared. Her fear was indicating something that he was trying to find out, something from the past that was becoming increasingly difficult to uncover. He could feel her anxiety and fear, and he understood the difficulty of what they were both facing. He wanted to be able to help her and support her, but he couldn't quite find the words or the courage to do so. His wife was his brother's girlfriend. "What… What happened?"
He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay, but he couldn't guarantee it because something scared him as well. He wanted to offer her reassurance, but he wasn't sure if it would make a difference. All he could do was be there for her and hope that together they could find a way to overcome their fears and make it through this difficult time but deep down he knew only he could avenge his brother's pain.
"I asked you something."
She could see that he was gritting his teeth as he asked her why he was angry, and fear rose within her. She hadn't said anything that would provoke such anger, nor had she done anything to cause it. As he stared at her, she wondered what had gone wrong and what misunderstanding had unfolded. She started to panic, feeling guilty for something she hadn't done. Maybe it was something she had said earlier in the conversation that had caused him to get so angry, but she couldn't recall what it was. She felt helpless and scared, not wanting to make the situation any worse than it already was. As time stood still in the moment, she could only hope that he would soon understand that whatever misunderstanding occurred was not her fault.
"I don't know what you are talking about-"
"I ASKED SOMETHING, JANNAT!"
He became increasingly furious as more time passed and she continued to delay. She flinched at his horrible tone. The longer she took, the more it confirmed to him that something was wrong. He couldn't help but think the worst, imagining all the potential scenarios that could explain her hesitation. "Why wouldn't you answer me?" His mind raced through the possibilities as the minutes ticked by, the mounting tension and frustration growing with each passing second. He tried to remain calm, hoping that he was overreacting and nothing was truly amiss, but his gut said otherwise.
