Scarred

Chapter 25

"What I know for sure is this: You are built not to shrink down to less, but to blossom into more. To be more splendid. To be more extraordinary."

-Oprah Winfrey 

Sobs and whimpers was all she could hear, low cries of agony and helplessness and a distant voice of soft innocent whimpers. Both the cries had odd connection which was making her heart twist. She was standing in a closed bedroom with beautiful golden and white theme, in a room where there was no one she could still hear the voices, she tried to move forward, she was in frenzy and wanted to reach both the ones whose calls were making her heart shiver. Just as she took a step she noticed the chains clutching her feet.

Her heart skipped a beat.

What was happening?

Helplessness was running through her own nerves now.

Getting on her knees she tried to fiddle with the chains when both the cries got louder she looked forward to noticed someone leaving the room and a girl running behind them.

The door closed with a thunderous voice and suddenly all the whimpers stopped, before Daniyah could call out the girl she turned. A yelp left her mouth and her body froze looking at the disheveled girl in front of her. Soon the room filled with soft yet breaking voice singing a lullaby. A lullaby she herself had listened yhroughout her childhood.

But frozen in her place her mind didn't comprehend the familiar words but just focused on the face, she stared back at the girl with dangerously hollow cheeks and sunken eyes, her hair a mess as she kept signing and singing. Daniyah's heart was erratic as she kept looking at a horrid form of her own reflection which was no less than a nightmare.

Her eyes opened up with a jolt as a feeling of falling down consumed her system, her heart beat was an erratic mess and her chest was heaving. Daniyah took deep breaths to calm herself but she couldn't, in matter of seconds the whole dream was becoming a blur but somehow it was still imprinted on the curtains of her memory. Sitting on a soft mattress in an air-conditioned room with the night bulb she could still feel her feet chained. She tried shrugging her thoughts away but it didn't help much.

Getting out of the bed she first got herself a glass of water from the room refrigerator then in a desperate need of fresh air she left the room. Walking through the quiet hallway she made her way down the stairs and wrapping her dupatta around herself she went for the backyard. Past twenty four hours were a roller coaster ride for her and many events were yet to come. She was still in emotional turmoil from her expectant pregnancy to whatever ordeal Janaan was stuck in. Her life, to her seemed like a plotted Pakistani drama, a bitter laugh escaped her lips on the thought.

Her steps halted as she came out in the backyard, under the open sky where a large swimming pool was. On the opposite side Janaan was walking speedily while talking on a phone. Rooted to her place Daniyah saw her frantic movements but it wasn't longer that her presence was noticed. Surprised for few seconds, Janaan waved at her while she also ended the call and then walked past the pool towards her.

"What are you doing up so early?" Janaan asked with a smile, as if it was perfectly normal for them to walk in the backyard at this hour.

"Woke up and now couldn't sleep. What about you?" Daniyah intently looked at her expressions which didn't falter for a second, the impressive thing about the Kirmani siblings, she thought at that hour was, they don't easily let anyone read their mind. They were deceitful with their expressions.

"Same." Janaan gave another smile before looking away. Daniyah let her eyes stay at her for strong few seconds before shaking her head. She moved forward towards the pool as Janaan followed her. They both sat letting their feet getting soaked in the cool water as silence surrounded them.