Prisoners Of Paradise (CTBB Spin Off)

~12~

Narrator's POV

Back home in Melbourne, Australia, chaos ensued the disappearance of the beloved oldest son of the Özmen family and the eldest daughter of Ola and Hassan Barakat.

It had been five days since the night of the boat party, and the people present had all testified, claiming that nobody had seen Huda Barakat and Ilyas Özmen once the police arrived.

"We were too worried about ourselves," said one man by the name of Amir Barakat. "He gave me his phone, and then POOF! He was gone. Like freaking Houdini!"

"I'm so sorry!" Ilyas' younger sister, Elif, as well as Huda's best friend, sobbed. "It's all my fault! We shouldn't have gone to that party! Oh my God, I hope they're okay. What if they're not okay? What if they're d -"

"You know, I was joking when I said I hoped she stayed there forever," sniffles one boy who identifies as Huda's awesome younger brother. "Yeah, she's annoying and loud and always on her phone and thinks she's beautiful, when in reality, she's an ugly baboon - ow! Mum! I was gonna say, yeah she's all those things BUT she's still my sister and I love her and I hope she doesn't die - OW!"

"Ya Allah, please let them be alive!" her cousin, who is described to be a very pious woman, prayed, murmuring du'aas beneath her breath among the chaos. Her extremely good-looking husband joined her, comforting her while cradling their one-year old son, Imran.

"I will pay anything! Just do your job properly and look for them!"

Ilyas' father shouted into a phone for the thousandth time, losing his patience with the incompetent people he had hired. Why was it so hard to locate two people in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? He refused to give up, because it was not just his son's life, but that other girl, a troublesome girl who according to some witnesses, was last seen dancing against some men at that boat party.

"Does she have no respect for herself?" he wondered. "Is my son stuck with a woman like her?"

Little did he know that his own son had done some questionable things during his stay in Europe as a college student, however, in his eyes, his offspring could do no wrong. It was definitely, without a doubt, that troublesome Barakat girl who was the cause for all of this. He could feel it in his gut.

No, wait, he was just hungry. Never mind.

"We have to keep it a secret," the Barakat family decide. "We cannot let the world know of this situation."

"But we can be on TV!" Haydar pleaded with his parents, imagining how popular he would be at school for being interviewed on television. He would be, like, famous!

"We don't want that attention, habibi," his mother shook her head. "This is a private matter."

"But what if Huda and Ilyas are watching TV and they see themselves on there? Then maybe they will come home?" the boy proposed his idea, and his father's face lit up like a light bulb.

"Oh, of course! If we submit this to the news, maybe they will see it and come home!" he announced this as if he himself had come up with the idea, and his wife praised him.

"Habibi, you're a genius!" she kissed his cheek, while Haydar watched, dumbfounded.

"That's what I said!"

But his words fell on deaf ears as the two parents called the journalists they had so passionately rejected the day before.

The Barakat family were interviewed the following day, and Haydar got his wish. He was popular. But Rachel still didn't like him back, to his disappointment.

Meanwhile, Amir decided to call Elif, the only person he could talk to about this entire situation who he felt understood how he was feeling.

"Hey, Elif?"

"What do you want, Amir," she sounded weary, which was exactly how he felt.

"Can we meet up? I need to talk to someone."

So they met up, Amir fidgeting more than usual and Elif sitting there calmly, sipping her caramel frappucino.

"I know we are not exactly friends, but I really need to talk to you," Amir began. "I feel so guilty about all this."

"Me too," Elif set her caramel frappucino down, gnawing her lip. "It's all our fault, isn't it?"

"Actually, it's my fault, not yours," Amir spoke up assertively. "If I didn't invite everyone to that yacht party - which I didn't know was illegal, by the way – they wouldn't have gotten lost at sea or whatever."

Elif snapped. "Lost at sea or whatever? Amir, they're out there, somewhere, starving and alone and scared. My dad and the search team are trying their best to locate them, but we don't know anything. We don't know if they drowned, or - "

"Elif –"

"- got eaten by a shark, or –"

"Elif!"

She stopped talking, her breaths heavy and panicked. He noticed her increasing worry, and knew he had to comfort her somehow.

"They're going to be okay. Don't – don't worry. Just...have some hope."

Elif stared at the man before her who spewed vague optimistic advice, yet however vague it was, it worked, and she felt her breathing calm down to a natural rhythm.

"Okay," she exhaled. "Okay, I'll try not to be so...unhopeful."

"See? This is why I wanted to talk to you," Amir brightened up. "So we can help each other. You know, like moral support."

"We're lucky we didn't get arrested," Elif said. "But I'd rather we all got arrested than..."

"There's nothing we can do anymore," Amir spoke up maturely, seriously, realistically, three things he rarely was.

"I guess we could pray that they are safe," Elif shrugged, grabbing her drink. "I started praying again."

"Praying? You mean, like, Salaat?" Amir looked surprised. He didn't know Elif was religious. Not that he knew much about her anyway.

"Yeah. I know Huda was – is – really religious. At least, more than me. And if I can try and get closer to Islam again, maybe it will bring her closer to us, and she can come home."

Amir couldn't help but gape at the woman. She made him feel guilty, even more than he already was, that he wasn't praying, skipping more Salaat than he skipped college classes. Maybe he should pray too.

"That's a good idea," he nodded. "Let's pray for them."

"And make du'aa too," Elif added. "I make one every night that they will be found. I can't believe it's been a whole week..."

"They'll come home," Amir sounded sure of himself, before remembering something he should say in times like this. "In Sha Allah."

"In Sha Allah."

---

I HAVE RETURNED!

It feels like forever, but I am finally back writing this story! I should've written this ages ago but every time I just got too lazy 😂

I will try not to get too lazy now, since I'm not just writing this story but two other ones as well on my other account sereneuphoria (it's just bts ff lmao)

anyways I watched the MAMA Japan Awards WHILE WRITING THIS wow look at me such a multi-tasker and multi-stanner hehe

I will update soon In Sha Allah 💖

until then, ma'a salama and PEACE OUT ✌