It is not what it looks like

Is anyone there?

I don't know how long I stay awake in bed, eyes closed but unable to sleep. The night is quiet. At least, it seems so at first. The longer I listen, the more innocuous sounds creep back to my attention-the chirping of crickets, the rasp and loud breath in and out of my throat, the heavy thump of blood beating past my ears, the faint sounds that prick my ears, growing loud per second. As I strain my ears, I hear a tap on my door then shoes scuffing against the floor followed by hushed voices then, the whisper of metal drawn from a sheath.

The latter makes adreline to ebb from my limbs causing my entire body to ache. I am not a great fighter. But if someone is in trouble, I have to help them.
I know pretty well that I should sleep, I should mind my own business but caught up in the overpowering grasp of instinct, I decide to go out and check what's going on without sacrificing the silence.
Dagger in hand, I get out of my room and follow the voices taking one step at a time. I hear a distant haze of conversation but can't make out any words. As the darkness wraps me in it's weightless embrace, my movements become as silent as the shadows themselves. My nerves kicking in big time.  My bare feet kiss the cobbled walkways like a passing breeze.
"Who's there?" I ask silently but get no answer.
Fear grips my heart and I really want to turn around and go back but my feet keep moving forward.
As I advance, my eyes grow accustomed to the darkness, enough to discern a coner several feet away. I can now see shadows at the end of the coner.

My weapon feels heavy in my hand. I keep moving regardless, blade tilted so that the flawless metal would catch no wandering light from the security lambs behind me.

I hear a muffled cry followed by a voice laced with threatening impatience. I see two people, one laying down in a pool of blood, the other one hovering over him, wearing a mask so it's hard to know who it is. It's an instinctive reaction that propels me to throw my dagger straight at the other person but it misses by an inch. The masked person spots me and without hesitation, gives me a hard blow hurling me to the cobblestones. And momentarily, the person vanishes, into the obscurity of the dark alleys.

The heavy impact of cobblestone against my back sends a jarring jolt through every bone in my body. My whole body aches.
Any slight movement significantly worsens the pain. Clumsy and clawing for the support of the nearby wall, I stand there dreadful and uncertainty breaking my calm focus. I feel like just another shadow, struck with a stranger in the dark and interwoven pathways like a bird caught in a cage. The metallic tang of blood hits my nostrils bringing me back from my trance. The stanger; I approach him slowly, my heart fluttering in my chest, disoriented for a moment. Just as instinct had propelled me into this place, it forces my legs to move again, like a leaf caught in a swift current. I need to save him, if he's not yet dead.

I retrieve my dagger, cut a piece of his cloth and tie it around his torso, where he was stabbed. I don't know how long I've been out here but the distant ding if a bell snaps me out of it and realisation comes back to me.

'shit' that's the emergency bell. Finally, someone has come to my aid. It's still dark but slowly, the grey hue has been over taken by orange. People come flooding like rain to the scene. The soilders sorround 'us' ,a sign that no one should come near. Here I was thinking that they came to help but it's obvious they all think I killed him.
"Everybody, stay away. No one should come near the crime scene." One soilder intones. I can see it,though fear Wells in the eyes of every spectator, no one dares say a word. The unspoken understanding Sparks through the air like static at the front of a storm. Another misfortune has befallen Lankaya.

Then out of the crowd of onlookers, Manuh and Anjali appears. They approach me but before they even say something, in my defense I blurt out, "it's not what it looks like."
"How then can you explain what this is?" Manuh drawls, pointing out to my dagger that is resting across the dead man's stomach, with patches of blood on the blade.

"Convince me that you didn't kill him."
With that, I'm short of words but I cannot let them accuse me of somebody else's crime.
"I was only trying to help. Somebody killed him but when I tried to attack, the person hurled me to the ground and ran away."

"Come on guys. That's enough. Manuh, we both know Mady is incapable of killing a person. I believe she was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mady dear let's go get you washed up. You'll tell us what happened later."
Anjali says then takes me into her embrace and leads me back to my room. Exactly what I needed. I can't believe everyone thinks I killed him.

"I believe you Mady." Anjali says as we walk to my room. "I know you are incapable of harming anyone."
"Thank you so much Anjali. I don't know what I'd do without you."
We embrace for what seems like an eternity then she leaves me so that I can take a bath.

After that, I sit, huddled at the corner of my bed, taking shallow breaths, shoulders quivering with an unnatural impulse. How strange to witness firsthand something I've always detested. The jumble of thoughts and the repressed memories from last night vying for my attention- how did this happen? Who would do this to the poor man? Why did they knock on my door and most importantly why am I being blamed?  Confusion bubbles in my stomach, rising so that I feel like I'm going to be sick.

Moments later, I feel the floor swaying beneath my feet and I instinctively reach out for support from the bedpost but I'm caught by someone else; Anjali, the one person who has never let me fall. Soon, they're replaced by someone else's hands which are more harsh and firm against my arms.

"Mady, listen to me." My mother insists, trying to bring me back to reality. However, I feel my head spinning and my brain coming up with new ways everything could possibly go wrong- they had found me with a dead man, they think I killed him and that I'm trying to pass out as innocent. I'm definitely going to jail.

"You're zoning out, listen to me darling." My mother's voice startles me again and I look up to find everyone's eyes on me. I don't even know when they all came in. Including my dad. His hazel eyes drill into mine, dark eyebrows furrowed and I feel sweat run down the nape of my neck.

"Mady," Anjali calls, and I turn to face her so quickly I get whiplash.
"It's okay. You just need to explain what happened and you'll be free."

"You're not going to jail. We all believe you didn't kill him. Go and give your statement. It'll help them investigate this matter." My mother says.

With that, the General strides past me like I'm another weathered board on the wall. His two guards are not indifferent. Fixed beneath their warning glares, I decide to keep still as they handcuff me and take me away.