The Crown in the Storm ✔️

Run little girl run...

His eyes bored into mine. I couldn't imagine what he saw. Fear, panic or acceptance? His were devoid of any compassion and feeling. Slowly, he wrapped his hands around my throat, choking the life out of me. I rubbed my wrists together desperately trying to free my hands. My knee jerked up, trying to dislodge his arms. He moved away, easily avoiding my feeble attempt. I was quickly running out of air.

My vision clouded and I stared at the ceiling praying for a way out. Dots had started to appear and I squeezed my eyes shut. Ammi Jaan, Rania, Uncle EJ, Izzy... who would warn them? Who would save them? His pressure on my neck increased and my struggle weakened.

This was it. I was going to die here. More tears leaked out of my eyes. Zaroon. My heart clenched at his name. I never even got to tell him that I did love him. My death would destroy him. His father would destroy him.

A loud ring echoed around the room and Uncle Azhar jumped. His grip slackened and I greedily took in huge gulps of air. He stepped back, fumbling for his phone. Fortunately, the knife fell to the ground. Making sure to keep my eyes on Uncle Azhar, I twisted my body to reach the knife.

He grumbled profanities as he searched for his phone and attended the call.

"Hello? How...What? Calm down son! I'm sure she's fine" Zaroon.

I thought of screaming his name out loud but sensing my train of thought, Uncle Azhar walked out of the room. Taking my chance, I scrambled towards the knife. I took in huge calming breaths as I placed it between my fingers and pressed it against the rope. Moving in slow and frantic motions, I cut my hands free. Keeping the knife secured behind me, I tried to find a way to break the chains around my feet.

Heavy footsteps alerted me of an approaching presence. Uncle Azhar was walking towards the cabin, his strides heavy and forceful from anger.

"That was my son. He's worried about you. Not about me. He's worried about you."

Zaroon, find me. You have to find me somehow. I knew I was wishing for the impossible here, but I had to hope.

"He loves you." I said, hearing the crack in my voice. My throat burned from his earlier assault. It felt like sand paper. He laughed bitterly, his harsh gaze cutting through me.

"He's been in love with you before he even knew what love was. Even now, all he could ask of was you. He reminds me of when I was young. I was crazy after his mother." He bent to sit in front of me. "You're not her. You're not a fraction of what she was"

"I'm sure she was amazing"

"She was," he said, tears flowing out of his eyes. Sensing a weakness, I softened my words.

"She was beautiful. Zaroon showed me her picture. I'm sure you miss her"

"All the time. Zaroon wanted to give you her ring. I love the boy. I couldn't tell him no. The happiness on his face, she would have loved to see it. But they killed her so I killed them"

"I'm glad you killed them. I'm glad that you did what the system could not. At least I know that she got justice" he stared at me, his eyes hollow. The eyes of a dead man "Your son is just like you. He loves me. What do you think he'll do? Let's go back. We'll fix this. I promise you. No one has to know..."

"I..."

"This will destroy him. You'll rip him in two. Do you want him to be like you? Hurt? Unsatisfied with life? You had something to live for. You had a son, he has no one"

"He has me"

"He will always have you. You might lose him if you hurt me. You know this, I know this." I let that thought sit in his mind for a second. "We can solve all of this..." he moved closer. "Please, do it for him. He lost a mother, he can not lose a father"

"How can I trust you? What do you get?"

"My life. I do what I've set out to do. I'll make sure that something like this never happens again. You said I was on the right track"

"You will stay away from my son. You will refuse him" his words caused my blood to turn cold. I felt as if ice water had been dumped over me. "That's my price. Your life for his" He watched me, his smile turning cruel and predatory. He had me and he knew it.

"Done". His eyes widened and he nodded. Moving forward, he unlocked the chain. I pretended to wrangle my hands out of the rope and threw them in a corner, keeping the knife hidden behind me.

"You're a smart girl. You have blue blood. You made a decision without any hesitation. Good, now we have to think this through. How will we approach this..." I watched him move around, rubbing my arms and legs for some warmth. I reached behind me to curl my fingers around the knife.

He turned around to get a chair and without a second thought, I jammed the knife into his back.

Uncle Azhar howled in pain, his back arching as he tried to twist and pull it out. Scared, I dodged his arms, grabbed his phone and ran out the open door, into the dark night.

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