ندای عـشـق تو دیشـب در اندرون دادند
Within me last night, the voice of your love did break

Tuesday - 1:21am

The darkness had never felt more bright.

The room depicted a strange kind of darkness, a kind that swallowed a man as a whole and left nothing behind but the ashes of unrelenting miseries and horrifying imaginations. The two combined had an effect that was such a level of disaster that the world had never witnessed before.

No source of light flickered through the spacious room; no window gave way to wind that would have caused her lashes to flutter. Everywhere she gazed at, it was immense darkness, only vision her retina reflected was pitch blackness.

A few moments dragged by with speed of a turtle before her ears picked the sound waves and her heart, speed. Eyes suddenly widening, she looked around her surrounding, narrowing her eyes to slits but still, only blackness seemed to welcome her.

Opposing the phenomenon of physics, sound came before light and not a second had passed when her lids picked a source of light, some meters above the ground and held by a man who slowly walked towards her - a tall, intimidating man whose face glowed above the candle.

"Hemayal?" His voice was no louder than a whisper, but even that was enough.

The dense darkness in the room was now broken by thefaint stream of flickering candle and the woman felt warmth flooding her. His perfume invaded her senses and she smiled, a small but a definite smile. The man, after a moment of hesitation, stepped inside her private circle and her eyes searched his with a sense of anticipation and fright.

"Ma.. nam..h'..ham am..man dal..al da..m.." He took a step forward, and the woman's eyes widened as confusion laced the brown irises.

"I don't underst.." She had yet to finish her sentence when she was stopped by a voice that rose with each uttered word.

"Az..man mun..fir ne..st.." He added and before the woman could respond this time, he sliced the small distance between them with ease.

With quickness and smoothness she didn't expect, the man raised his arms only to coil his hand around the woman's slender neck, pressing on the spots he knew were sensitive and her eyes widened in surprise, astonishment and most importantly, grief.

The light diminished as the lone candle fell on the floor with a thud.

~~~

Hemayal Khakwani woke with a start.

The lids snapped open as alarm and terror shot through her spine, the irises widening in sheer horror. It took a mere few moments as the scenes of the dream flashed before her eyes, each one adding to the horror of the already petrified lady. Sweat beaded the forehead; thorns grew in the throat, and Hemayal Khakwani didn't think she had felt more scared in twenty-five years of her life.

Her palm instantly went north towards the throat, settling at the base of it as she caressed it with renowned fright and immense gratitude. Closing the heavy lids, she let the lashes fuse and a sigh escaped past the parched lips. Moisturizing her lips with the tongue and gulping down the bile, Hemayal attempted in vain to soothe the fire that was lit inside her, before opening her eyes slowly.

However, the only things her eyes reflected was a heavy darkness and she relived the moments of her dream in a matter of few seconds. Panic surged through her as she hurriedly closed her lids, rubbing it with the back of her hand before opening her eyes again. Still nothing stimulated the nerve in her eyes and she registered with fright as darkness completely engulfed her.

The difference between the dream and reality was vague and the similarities they shared scared her to no end. The darkness was common as of yet, but she was terrified that the succeeding scenarios would also repeat in the meantime.

Gulping heavily and deducing with the movement of her limbs that she was lying on a bed, Hemayal placed her hands on either side of her before forcing herself up against the headboard, an effort that made every inch of her body stand out in protest as a sharp, excruciating pain traveled up the length of her spine.

Flinching as the sudden pain was too intense for her to bear, she narrowed her eyes and thought with confusion the reason behind the thick darkness - she always slept with lights on; it was a childhood habit.

Forwarding her arm towards the nightstand, she tried to find the switch of the lamp but her hand only danced with the air and the narrowed eyes reduced in size even more. Frantically moving her hand, she attempted in vain to find the switch but to no avail.

Although not the lamp, her hand did collide with something placed on the table, but the quick and desperate action of her hand stimulated its fall from the table. The shattering noise of glass came like a sound of a gunshot in the silence that surrounded her, making her wince in fear.

However, it wasn't only the explosive noise that came, it was also the memories of the reality that hurried towards her along with it and the flinched, brown eyes widened in sheer horror. Confusion that previously laced her face was quickly replaced with terror and she felt her heart beating wildly beneath the breastbone.

She wasn't home.

The realization came like a blow, hard and unrelenting, and Hemayal Khakwani felt dread flooding her abdomen without warning. Frantically moving her hand over her body, she expected worst but sighed heavily in relief when she felt the fabrics of her cloth pressing against the skin. Looking around, she narrowed her eyes to find any source of light but the room was thick with darkness.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" She shouted at the top of her lungs, a hoarse sound from the lack of water escaping her mouth.

She waited for what felt like eternity but which actually was a mere second before a sound came, a small, timid sound but in the absence of her vision, her ears picked the sound waves more readily, her hearing senses sharpened. Instantly straightening in her place - an action that made her hiss in agony, Hemayal widened her eyes to the fullest, looking around her wildly to find source of the sound.

She placed it a a moment later.

Someone was unlocking the door from outside.

Heart thumping, she waited in fear as the sound of the keys meddling with the lock reached her ears and next moment, sound of a click came and Hemayal felt blood leaving her body. Turning of the doorknob made goosebumps scatter all over her body and she tightly clutched the satin sheets spread below her.

The movements stopped for a second, all together, a period when no sound vibrated her ear drums and Hemayal swore she could hear her heartbeat in her ear - an erratic, explosive sound that made small hairs stand at the back of her neck.

And without warning, lights flooded the room - bright, luminescent lights that made sharp pain shoot through her brain before she hurried the lids close. Clenching them together furiously, the eyebrows creased in pain, Hemayal lowered her head in absolute affliction.

After a few moments, she fluttered her eyes open, giving the pupils time to adjust to the lights before fully opening the brown lids that had slight fear crawling in them. Blinking her eyes rapidly, she became accustomed to the white light bathing the room with utmost helplessness before turning her head east towards the door, hoping to see the man who had held her hostage here for God knows how long.

The sight that greeted her, she anticipated, would haunt her for years to come.

Wide eyed, mouth agape and a gaping hole in her chest, she looked sideways towards the door with shock slithering up her spine, making her mind cold in bewilderment and all screams and words of protest died in her throat. Hands beginning to shake, such being the intensity of the revelation, Hemayal stared without looking at the man who stood arrogantly, glared fiercely and looked devilishly.

The tall man stood in the door frame, the shadows of the lights reflecting the planes of his aristocratic cheeks and edges of the sharp jaw, his facial hair intimidating. Long legs encased in dark blue jeans and lean frame adorned with moss green, button-up shirt, the man had had his black hair falling on his forehead in an intricate mess. Chin held high like a conqueror and eyes radiating fire while being fixed on the woman sitting on the bed, Ibrahim Yazdani made Hemayal Khakwani's breath hitch in her throat effortlessly.

"Ibrahim?" A name escaped past her lips without a sound, her lips having moved inaudibly.

Hemayal Khakwani had seen her share of surprises throughout her life, she had found herself in such situations numerous of times where her mind abandoned her and her heart refused to pump. And yet, despite having life treated her so unknowingly, she could swore she had never been bewildered this intensely all her life. Right now, her brain had retreated in its shell and Hemayal Khakwani was nothing but a numb chaos.

"So you do know me!" The man took a slow step forward before closing the door behind him, his gait menacing, frame threatening and Hemayal gulped with difficulty at the fear that almost crippled her.

Expressions resembling stone and eyes fire, Ibrahim Yazdani stopped at the end of the bed, hands thrust in the pockets of his jeans as he glared at the frightened, fragile lady. Hemayal, not yet recovered from the blow that tilted her world, didn't dare tore her gaze from his - too scared, too shocked.

The man didn't either, his eyes fixed on Hemayal and gaze intensifying with each tick of the clock. Hemayal, after a moment, found her heart and brain, hidden beneath a thick shell of surprises, before yanking them out with a single tug. With her brain now processing and heart now pumping, she felt warmth replace the numbness and blinked hard.

"Why did you bring me here?" Hemayal found her voice, although with difficulty but strong enough to last a while.

"As if you don't know." The man sneered and Hemayal bit back the wave of shock that suddenly pooled her body.

"I don't." Hemayal stated, her voice loud this time but confused nevertheless.

"You don't remember what you did two days ago?" The man replied, the corner of his lip twitching in rage as he looked at the unsettled woman.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Ibrahim." Hemayal added again, brows creasing as she tested her patience with the man who looked down at her with nothing but contempt.

What did she ever do to be at the receiving end of his hatred?

"I'll give you that; if I didn't know better, I would have almost believed you. You'll make a mighty fine actress." The enraged man stated with disgust and Hemayal's eyed widened at his tone.

"Don't use that tone on me, Mr. Yazdani. Start talking about what I did or leave me the hell alone." She reiterated fiercely, courtesy to the past they shared, but the man's eyed widened infinitesimally for a split while before a chuckle left his lips, a small, amused laughter that made his head fall back slowly and hair stand up at the back of her neck.

"You're not in the position to dictate, if I may remind you. And I must add, you are stupidly brave to act like this." The man smiled, a mocking smile that lifted one corner of his lips and Hemayal fixed her death glare at him.

She didn't care if she well knew the man who stood arrogantly in front of her; she didn't care if her heart used to stop just at the mention of his name; she didn't care if knots tied in her stomach when she gazed at him; she didn't care if the man made her mind flutter in intricacies; she didn't care about anything.

Nothing mattered except the fact that at the present moment, her self respect was fore more important than any stupid feeling that resided in the pit of her stomach and the depth of her heart. Ibrahim Yazdani could mess with her heart for all she cared, but no man was allowed to meddle with her mind.

"Then elaborate, please. I'm getting tired of being kept in the dark." Hemayal said, pulling off an indifferent tone she had long ago mastered.

"You want elaboration? I'll give you the damn elaboration. Stand up!" The man said through gritted teeth and clenched fists and Hemayal's face momentarily lost its colour as his harshly pronounced words fluttered her heart like an autumn leaf.

Refusing to leave the bed, Hemayal continued staring in his brown eyes with anger shielding the layers of fright behind them. The man, on seeing no movement, tightened his jaw and Hemayal's eyes momentarily shifted towards the temple where a vein visibly throbbed.

"Get down from the bed, woman. Don't make me repeat myself." The man stated furiously, hardly containing his anger and Hemayal sighed inwardly.

The man's presence had comforted her a little, she hated to admit it. Before he had made an appearance, bone-chilling thoughts of abduction, rape and even worse scenarios had made it difficult for her to breathe. Ibrahim Yazdani, if nothing else, at least lessened a few of her worries, but God she didn't want to test his patience.

Maintaining eye contact with him, Hemayal shifted towards the edge of the bed before lowering her feet to the ground. Standing to her full height, she looked evenly at him before taking a step forward. Next second, a searing pain shot through her and she winced in pain before falling back, the bed fortunately cushioning her fall.

Biting her lips fiercely to keep the tears at bay, Hemayal held her foot in her hands as her lips pursed in extreme affliction. Broken pieces of glass had picked at her sole, embedding deep inside the skin only to make her tremble with intense pain. Slightly shaking, Hemayal lowered her fingers to the foot with the intention of removing the shards but stopped when a pair of brown ankle boots came in her vision.

Face scarlet and contorted in pain, Hemayal trod her eyes up Ibrahim's body and reached her destination at his face, hoping to see concern lacing his expressions but all she witnessed was indifference and ignorance and something broke in her with an ear splitting sound.

"If you're done with your dramas, I need to talk." Ibrahim stated, words hollow and unconcerned and Hemayal pressed her lips tightly before lowering her head.

Removing a few large pieces of broken glass with her hand, Hemayal winced every time a shard bid farewell to her skin, her teeth clenched fiercely together. Her foot was covered with blood, the marble floor coloured crimson an alibi and yet, the man in front of her didn't move an inch.

"I need tissue." Hemayal whispered after the longest of pause, head still lowered while silencing her ego for too much blood flowed out of her body.

She didn't hear any sound, the man's feet still in her peripheral vision, not moving and she cursed all the previous times when she had considered Ibrahim Yazdani a gentleman. She didn't know what misunderstanding Ibrahim had regarding her, but she was positive that nothing warranted this much magnitude of hatred from him.

Out of nowhere, a handkerchief fell in her lap and Hemayal's eyes shot upward towards the man who eyed her with nothing but stony expressions. Lips still tightly pursed, Ibrahim gestured towards the handkerchief with a scowl.

"Clear the wound quickly." He said before turning around and Hemayal saw as he walked towards the sofa placed at the side of the room and sat on it, his muscles tensed.

It was only then when Hemayal noticed the room she was kept in - a small, simply furnished, white walled room with no window to let the air pass through. Only a door connected the room to the outside world and Hemayal immediately knew where she was - a motel.

Her eyebrows raised in confusion but she didn't say a word, instead focusing her attention back on the wound that still bled profusely. Dabbing it slowly with the white cloth, Hemayal tended to it for a few minutes before all the pieces were removed and she bandaged the handkerchief around her foot.

"I used to think very highly of you." Ibrahim's voice came out of nowhere, pulling Hemayal out of her reverie and she regained her focus as her eyes snapped towards him.

"Before the accident." He added after a while and Hemayal's eyebrows drew in confusion.

"What accident?" She asked, eyes narrowed as she saw Ibrahim's bent posture with his elbows resting on the knees and fingers interlaced.

"My mother's accident, God dammit. Is it so common for you that you actually forget it merely two days after you hit her with your car?" His voice rose and Hemayal shrank in her place as the fog seemed to lift finally.

Ibrahim Yazdani had misunderstood her for the person who had hit his mother, the man was persistent that it was Hemayal Khakwani who had committed this loathsome act while Hemayal was as oblivious of the act as a wolf. She did not know how Ibrahim drew this conclusion but that wasn't her headache at the moment; the major issue at hand was to clear his misunderstanding.

"Ibrahim, I think there's a misunderstandi.." She began, softly this time but the man was quick to cut her off, his teeth clenching as he furiously uttered.

"I saw everything with my own damn eyes. Don't you dare tread the path of misunderstanding!" He exclaimed, angered, and Hemayal bit the inside of her mouth as she eyed him evenly.

The man sat there with his head raised and eyes aflame, his posture rigid and expressions deadly but even then, some foreign part of Hemayal Khakwani was not terrified as it had been a few moments ago - she was calm, composed and ready to talk.

"Why did you bring me here?" Ibrahim's eyebrows creased, a small m forming between the brows - a thing she noticed with well concealed curiosity.

"Are you really that stupid or you're just testing my limits?" He asked, eyes narrowing into slits and Hemayal resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"What I meant was that you could have filed a report against me. Why did you kidnap me? You don't trust the police?" Hemayal narrowed her eyes, in curiosity and challenge, and saw Ibrahim's brown eyes turning frost.

"I don't trust anyone when it comes to my mother." His words muted Hemayal for a second who felt loss at words as she eyed the deadly, broken man who sat in front of her with nothing but ashes in his eyes.

"I thought she was fine now." Hemayal said after a moment, but regretted a moment after the words left the parched lips.

Ibrahim who had lowered his head for a moment before, raised it abruptly, his eyes hurrying to find Hemayal's as bewilderment and shock laced the light brown irises. Eyes slightly wide, he registered Hemayal's scarlet face with rising anger and deepening hatred.

"This audacity of yours surprises me. You hit her with your car, run away like a coward, refuse to accept that you did anything false, and yet, somehow, keep tabs on her condition. If you don't come clean this very moment, I swear to God woman, I'll never leave you." Ibrahim warned at the end, his voice turning fierce with each uttered word and for the first time since he had entered the room, fear gripped Hemayal Khakwani.

"I'm coming clean since the beginning, I did not do what you're accusing me of. It's just that you are too ignorant to accept what I have to say." Hemayal said with an eye roll and indifferent tone, despite the terror that was clawing inside her.

Even before the words had escaped her mouth, she knew it was a bad idea but Hemayal still succeeded in managing a brave front - a thing that was courageous but downright stupid too. She was testing the man's patience - a man who had already warned her beforehand that he had none left and only God knew how he will react.

She, however, didn't have to wait too long to find out herself either.

The man kept staring in her eyes, his gaze hollow and void. Slowly, he placed his palms on the bent of his knees before standing up to his full height and breath hitched in Hemayal's throat. Wide eyed, she saw as he elegantly made his way towards the bed, his eyes never leaving hers as he took slow, dangerous steps in her direction and she found herself rooted on her spot.

The sound of his boots crushing the glass pieces resembled that of a gunshot and Hemayal Khakwani felt like it was the sound of her broken, terrified beats.

Standing right in front of her, the fabric of his denim almost touching that of hers, he peered down at her with nothing but raw hatred and disgust and Hemayal knew her heart died a little. These were the last expressions she wanted to witness in his eyes for her, and yet, these were the first.

Bending down ever so slowly, his face hovered inches away from hers, his eyes moving across the brown sea of emotions and his jaws tightened followed by his thin lips that formed a straight line. His hot breath fanned against her dry cheeks, the smell of his cologne paralyzing her senses, his closeness numbing her mind and Hemayal arched reflexively, an action that caused their heads to collide slightly.

Just as their heads touched, an electric shock jolted Hemayal awake and her rapid breathing further intensified. But before she could move her head back, a hand came around her neck and gripped it with a force she had never experienced before, raising her head fiercely so her horrified eyes were inches away from his deadly ones.

"Do you know what I want to do right now?" He said, his voice threateningly low and all of Hemayal's previous fears begin to surface as blood left her face in volumes.

"I want to make you regret the day you were even born." He said, his voice dangerously low and Hemayal was positive that it was naked loathing that she saw in the crystals of light brown.

Gulping heavily, she felt him tightening his hold at the back of her neck and a sharp pain shot through her body, causing her to wince in sheer agony. The pain in her neck was followed by that in every part of her body, every single inch of her ached - her face, limbs, feet, neck, and heart.

"You won't." She managed with parched lips, thorned throat and thundering heart.

Ibrahim's brows lifted as he read the inaudible words that had moved her lips and a slow, agonized smile touched his lips, a smile that made her heart sink in the oceans of fright and terror; such was the intensity his one minimal action held. Leaving her neck suddenly and straightening in his place, Ibrahim exited her private space and stepped back a foot or two; his eyes, however, were still fixed somewhere across the planes of her face.

"I won't. I've already stooped too low my level to have brought you here. But God, I do want to." He answered, truthfully, in a tone that held indifference and despair, and Hemayal found herself in an immense dilemma - should she be relieved or worried?

Siding with former at the present moment, Hemayal moved back a little as she caressed the back of her neck with cold fingers that, however, only added to the pain. Ibrahim observed her movements with a scowl but didn't say a word, his eyes finally setting her free from his unrelenting gaze as he turned sideways and silence stretched between them.

"How long do you plan on keeping me here?" Hemayal asked after a moment of complete silence, trying to look unfazed after his previous revelations and plans, with only the sound of clock ticking tearing through the thick layers of quietness.

"As long as my mother doesn't get fine." He answered, his back to her and Hemayal observed the smooth ridges of his back as he crossed his arms with a new sense of courage rising in her.

"How's her condition?" Hemayal asked, carefully choosing her words this time.

"Anything but fine." Ibrahim answered, his back still facing her and Hemayal heard a little strain of helplessness and grief in his voice.

Dadu had lied.

She only now understood. Emotionally blackmailing Hemayal into thinking that it will be difficult for her to go to his home once his mother gets discharged, he had convinced her to go to the hospital instead. She remembered the way Dadu and Mehmal argued with her, making her believe that Mahwash Yazdani was fine and asked after her. In reality, she was not even in the state to ask about herself.

But even before the revelation, she knew why. Not going to see Ibrahim Yazdani's mother was an act that could have grave consequences in the future. She hadn't realized it then, she was realizing it now. But nevertheless, she couldn't help but feel betrayed and abandoned by her Dadu for tricking her into this.

"Ibrahim, this is not the solution. You can approach.." Before words had completely left her mouth, the man swiveled around, his eyes narrowed, face masking anger - raw, untamed, fierce anger.

"Solutions? Do you think I give a rat's ass about solutions?" Ibrahim bellowed, shouting for the first time, his fist clenched furiously by his side and Hemayal felt a wave of terror drowning her.

She had seen Ibrahim Yazdani's sensible side, his respectful but firm side, hell she was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of his carefree side as well and yet, this shade of his, this hard, unrelenting, deadly side of his made knots tie in her stomach and had had her crawling back in nothing but fear.

"Ibrahim, I think you need to hear out what I have to say. This is not the way..." Hemayal urged to find a note of sensibility in their conversation but she was harsly cut off by him.

"Do you think I'll let you live peacefully after what you did? Do you think I won't do anything to you just because you're a woman? Do you think I won't make you and your family feel the pain my family is feeling right now?" Ibrahim Yazdani was shouting, his voice rising with each said word and Hemayal Khakwani felt dread and panic rising in her - in waves, in packets, in numbers.

"I didn't do any..." Hemayal shouted back, voice higher than him but he was quick to silence her again with a slow, deep sound that chilled her to the bone.

"I will make your family suffer, I will make you suffer. Just imagine what will happen to your family's honour after this; after their daughter spends a night in the captivity of a stranger." Hemayal's heart dropped as his words registered in her mind, goosebumps scattering all over her body as she felt herself slightly shaking.

This was not the man she knew, the man she admired from afar. This was a whole different being and God, she did not want to do anything with him. This man was not supposed to threaten her in any possible way, this man was not supposed to put her respect and honour at stake. Ibrahim Yazdani was not supposed to do that.

And before she could recover from his verbal blows, he stepped in her direction, making her forget the art of breathing in a matter of few seconds. In two long strides, he was again in front of her, his face scarlet and eyes deadly, before he caught a grip of her elbow and forced her upward, his actions too abrupt.

Sudden pain teared through her - from her injured foot that hit the marble floor; from her arms where his hand was coiled; from her legs that were throbbing due to previous attempt of escape from the kidnappers, and from her heart that was shattering with each passing second.

Her hand instantly went for his shoulder to stabilize her posture as she was forced flush against the man's torso, her head again forced to look up in his eyes due to courtesy of the hand that again found the slender neck of hers. Their proximity refused to have an effect on her, his facial hair almost touching her and yet they didn't make her heart stop only because another feeling was already present in humongous quantity in her - fear.

"I will make you pay, and I will raise holy hell if you don't." He whispered in a dangerously low voice, his eyes burning and face contorted in sheer anger and Hemayal gulped as her stomach dropped.

They stood like that for a few seconds, staring in each other's eyes for eternity - anger against fear, both raw, before the man's hold on her arm and neck loosened and he instantly let go of her. Hemayal, who was totally leaning on him due to an injured foot, fell back on the bed with pain again rising in her.

Glaring down at her for a few more seconds, Ibrahim Yazdani for the first time saw gloss and glass in the brown of her eyes; for the first time he saw any expression of hurt and grieved in the depths of her eyes, something other than physical pain and bewilderment that had been a constant since he had entered the room.

Hemayal saw as his lips tightening and after a final glance in her direction, he turned around, walking briskly towards the door. But as his palm coiled around the door handle, intentions of opening the door and stepping out in a cold night, a broken voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Today is your day, Ibrahim Yazdani. But tomorrow you'll come to know who I actually am and then it will be my day." Hemayal said in a low but firm voice, tears already forming in the eyes, threatening to spill but she knew how to keep them inside, making them fall on her heart instead.

"And I swear to God, I won't forgive you then."

|¤¤¤|

Hello, guys.

Not a happy chapter but I still hope you guys enjoyed it.

Is what Ibrahim doing justifiable or is it plain abhorrent? Do tell me what you think and vote!

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my sister for being the biggest fan of almost anything I've written so far. I know I don't say it enough but I do appreciate your presence in my life, girl!

Till next time,
Salam!