Bint of Gilgit ~ Pakistani Love Story ~ ONGOING ~

Bed and Breakfast

The long overgrown nettle leaves poked her bare feet as she ran through the forest. Her home - so close yet so far glimmered in the darkness far off yonder past the valley. She only needed a small burst of adrenaline and she would cross into her home.

Behind her, someone roared and simultaneously fired a shot in the vastness of the pasture. She didn't dare turn around - frightened that she would come across the empty black eyes that threatened to destroy her completely. Instead, she searched wide and hard - her path suddenly becoming foreign to her - rocks that were too high to scale.

And then, warm brown eyes silently stared at her - a hand outstretched and a smile so subtle that she almost missed it in the darkness. Her heart - although racing like a mad horse calmed the second her hand met his. He was different - her savior among all those savages that wanted to ruin her.

She was in his arms suddenly and the small flickering lights over his shoulder looked so inviting. He had saved her from the monster and she was grateful, she thought - her lips stretching wide in a smile so foreign to her. But suddenly as she met eyes with him - she detected only hostility. The hands that held her close suddenly dug into her waist before he pushed her backwards.

Her mouth opened in a scream - a hand still foolishly outstretched towards him in futile hope that he would save her. Instead, the only one who saved her or rather captured her was the same monster with eyes as black as the night. "You can never escape." He whispered, before cold metal touched her temple.

The only thing that remained was the gruesome sight of brains and blood staining the once evergreen valley . . .

Nazli jerked awake - her heart in her throat at the nightmare she had encountered. Tears leaked out involuntarily and she desperately wished she could scream. Maybe that would ease the turbulent storm that rippled within her. But instead, a glass of water hung in front of her and she jumped back into the headboard of the bed.

Imad had barely had a wink of sleep in the last 24 hours. The night before he had spent long hours planning all possibilities of negotiation with the villagers. Asadullah had stayed up with him - meticulously analyzing every detail of their plan. But that had all gone south the minute Khalid had entered the picture. And now, just when he had gotten Fahad off his back, he had awakened to small broken screams. If it hadn't been for his light sleep and sharp hearing, he would have missed it.

"You will drink." He commanded, shaking his hand slightly in front of her. She merely looked back at him as if he was a two-headed monster or Asadullah himself. Building trust with her was as difficult as making sense of Asadullah's thoughts. He wondered how she would feel if he told her that she and the one she was so frightened of had great similarities.

"You will drink this by my hand or Asadullah's." He warned, ignoring the pang of discomfort that shot up his spine at the look of betrayal in her eyes. Still, she took his threat to heart when she gulped down the glass of water.

Why wasn't he leaving, he questioned himself as he took a seat on a chair discarded by the side of the bed. The girl had the same question lingering in her eyes - her shifting ever so slightly and consistently towards the other end of the bed. But Imad had a question of his own - one he intended to get an answer for from her.

"Are you pretending?" He hadn't realised how harsh his voice sounded in the quiet room until her eyes widened in shock. "This whole act of being a mute because you don't want to answer Asadullah's questions? Is that right?"

If she was lying, then she was a bloody good one, Imad admitted to himself. He was keen and observant - always looking for cracks in the faces of Asadullah's enemies, but this girl barely hid any emotions so he was not sure what to look for in the first place. She wore her emotions as plain as day and he would be a fool to expect anything more from a villager girl.