Hello lovely people! All new readers and golden readers I just want to thank you all so much. Never in my dreams did I think that I'll ever reach 100 likes/stars. It's an surreal and amazing feeling being the newbie that I am and I hope to give you enjoyable chapters.

This is just the beginning of the journey and I hope you stick with me to the end. I am having a hard time visiting Wattpad nowadays as I have a lot of things going on in my university life so bear with me for not being so active. My updates might not be as frequent either but I am doing my best to write/read during any spare time I am getting for example in the bus.

Much love
Shona

---------

Shawn closes the door behind us with a click and I feel goosebumps over my whole body. This is not funny and I really miss home.

Facing me he give me one of his famous glares which makes me raise my eyebrow questioningly to indicate that he is confusing. Adam is sleeping soundly behind us and I hope the disgusting man in front of me doesn't start to yell like the maniac he is.

Boring his cold blue eyes into mine he expects me to read his mind now. "Haven't I told you to not preach about Islam? And for the love of God stop acting like a saint. You're far away from it if going by your faith." He nods at my long dark hair indicating that I am not wearing a hijab.

I roll my eyes as this is highly stupid. A murderer is pointing his dirty fingers at me, just great. Don't get me wrong, I know that I am sinning but that doesn't mean I want to be compared to a terrorist.

And at the same time, I'll wear it when I am ready. Not when a certain someone with cold blood tells me to.

He looks at me intensely. "Did you just roll your eyes?" Shawn asks making my heart skip a beat in panic.

I shake my head a bit too quickly. "No." I say intimidated and he seem annoyed.

Sitting down beside Adam I study Shawn for a brief moment. "What did you mean by my faith?" I ask him curiously.

He looks at me as if I am stupid. "You claimed you're a Muslim so I guess going by your faith you're not a saint." He clarifies rigid as he stands there as if he is from the military.

Analyzing his words and actions with crossed legs I blurt out my mind. "You're not a Muslim are you?" I ask him without thinking.

His face expression changes and he seem mortified for a split second. He stares at me for a brief moment surprised at the statement with complete silence surrounding us. It is as if Adams snoring went mute.

With a blank expression he finally opens his mouth. "I am as much muslim as you are." I furrow my eyebrows at the weird statement and before I can retort he cuts me of. "You're not in a position to question me." He looks at me as if searching for an unanswered question. "Just stop preaching, final warning." He says firmly and turns around.

This is just getting weirder and weirder. What's his problem?

"Are you trying to recruit me?" I ask out of the blue and he halts which makes my body feel numb due to anticipation. "If you're then let me enlighten you that the last thing I'll do is to join a extremist group." While my heart hammers in my chest I try to say it with as much confidence as I can muster.

The room goes silent and I can literary hear my heart beat and my throat goes dry as Shawn doesn't turn around. "We'll see about that." He says and leaves the room leaving me dumbfounded and somewhat emotional.

Nothing seem to go right anymore. Looking around the large elegant room I remise my pink girly girl room. Dad was literally forced to renovate my room from white to baby pink. "How did I end up here?" Tears fall down my cheeks as I whisper and try to comprehend that I am in fact living with another family.

Even though it might be temporary and even though it only have been a few hours the stinging sensation my heart gives remembering my family is suffocating.

Two soft small hands encircles my waist from behind bringing a smile to my face and I quickly wipe away my tears. Turning around I tickle Adam making him cluster his stomach while giggling adorably. "Stop it Sana." He laughs.

When he is on the verge of crying of all the laughter I give him a break and make him sit on my lap. "Good evening." Ruffling his soft golden brown hair I say.

His blue eyes sparkles up. Even though Adam shares the same colors as the terrorists his eyes are more soft and actually beautiful. "Good evening Sana." He says and gives me a peek on the cheek, on cue his stomach grumbles which he clings on to.

"Someone's hungry?" I poke his belly playfully and he nods. "Let's go." I carry him down to the ground floor as it is high time for dinner.

Walking down giggling with Adam the door bell rings. Shawn acknowledge me with a stern gaze before opening the door. Standing beside the staircase with Adam in my hand we both examine the entrance curiously.

Seeing four men on the entrance Adam gives away a scream which startles me. Adam jumps down from my hand in joy and runs towards the four men who have their hands reached out for him. They all talk at the same time calling for Adam making it hard for me to connect the dots. "Adam come here!" "Who's the best uncle?" "How's my little boy?" I can't even make out who's saying what.

Adam hugs one of the guys in the middle and is quickly carried by him. The house fills with noise as they all shower their love on Adam. "Have uncle Shawn been a pain for you?" The guy asks and Shawn closes the door with a blank expression.

Aunt Heba comes out from the kitchen. "Assalamalaykum boys." She says and they all respond to the greeting. "How have you been? You all must be famished." She inquires while I can't take away my eyes from the guy carrying Adam. He seem awfully familiar.

Shawn comes and stands beside me while I stare at the man as if I look away he'll be gone. "Why does it seem like you have seen a ghost?" He leans in and says close to my ear.

Furrowing my eyebrows I try to make out if I just heard some mocking in his voice or not. The guys eyes meet mine and he give me a teasing smile. That's when it clicks and my jaw falls in horror. My heart rate quickens and my body turn cold.

Impossible. It's impossible. "Close your mouth, you're looking like a fly catcher." Hearing Shawn say I blink several times to make sure if my brain is playing tricks.

The same man is in front of me and the resemble is too apparent. My mind have shut out the conversation between the guys and aunt Heba. Following the man with my eyes he gives Adam to one of the other guys and walks towards me with a smirk etched. The same green eyes, blond hair, lean figure and the tall height.

He stops in front of me and I take a step back colliding with the stairs. I hold on to the railing to not fall and my eyes are widened as one word leaves my lips. "Dead." The man in front of me laughs as if I just pulled the funnies joke of the year.

I stare at him and then look at Shawn who seem unbothered by my reaction. He rolls his eyes as if I am the biggest drama queen of the year. The man in front of me puts his hand forward for me to shake it and I just stupidly stare at it. Furrowing my eyebrows I look up at his face and down on his hand again.

"Hi, I am Javed." He says and smiles.

"You're dead." I say loud enough for him to hear this time. "You're not real." He shakes his head smilingly making his hair fly.

"How many people do you think died that day?" He asks with a teasing smile.

"I don't know, even one is too many. I saw you die with my own eyes." I say again and try to recollect the event.

He chuckles. "No one died that day. See it for yourself, shake my hand and you'll see I won't disappear." My imagination smiles teasingly.

"I am not mad and if you're real how did I see you die?" I ask him feeling stupid.

"Just shake my hand first." He says now still with his hand in the air.

I raise my eyebrow and put on a stern voice. "I have a golden rule, never befriend a ghost or a terrorist." His hand drops and he instead runs it through his hair.

He smiles and turns to Shawn. "She's something right?" Javed smirks.

Shawn glares at him and walks away. "Touchy." Javed comments and gives a weird smile while looking after him.

I clear my throat. "Will you tell me your reincarnation story now?" He shifts his attention to me again.

"If you put it that way you can call it more like a Romeo and Juliet story." He winks at me making me grimace.

"I saw you die with my own eyes. You were shot in the head." A shiver runs down my spine as the horrifying flashback runs through my mind.

"Yeah, and it was me who shot him." Another of the men comes while grabbing Javeds shoulder. Being taller and slimmer than Javed he owns a pair of brown eyes and hair.

I stare at the man horrified while cold sweat form on my palms when realizing who I am confronting. The four men are the four terrorists that I met the other day at the incident.

"And this is Ibrahim." Javed introduces. "He is our artist who made it all look so real." He continues proudly.

Mortified and speechless I stare at them while Javed continues to introduce the two remaining companions. The only thing I make out of the jolly conversation of the guys is that the other two are named Zaki and Saeed.

They seem so happy and go lucky that I can't make sense of the fact that they're terrorists. How can someone fake their own death? Why would someone fake their own death? "You faked your own death?" I hear myself ask and they all snap their head towards me. "Why?"

Javed smile while the other chuckles as if I am stupid. "It's a long story but isn't it better this way then killing people?"

Dumbfounded I look at him and speak my mind. "Since when do terrorists care about how many lives they take?" They all look confused for two seconds.

"We're not terrorists. We're more like artists who're trying to make the world a better place to live in for all the Muslims." Saeed explains and I furrow my eyebrows.

"Oh really? So by terrorizing and abducting people you turn to artists? And how on earth will this way lead to you helping the muslims around? You're just initiating more hate." I say sternly and they stare at me while the hall goes quite.

My throat turns dry due to the silence and even though I should be scared of the four terrorists before me I can't see them hurting me as normal they appear.

Zaki with his dimples is the one to break the silence. "Look, the network we're in and working for they know what they're doing. We're spreading fear now, fear will make people tiptoe around us which will in turn carve a path for all muslims and human beings equality." I blink my eyes several time.

That statement sounded beyond stupid. "You actually believe in that? Hate give born to more hate while love destroys hate." I retort while crossing my arms and the guys look taken aback by my reply. "And you guys call yourself muslims by terrorizing and spreading fear? Wow." Somehow I know it is a bad idea to go against the four men or anyone in this household.

As soon as I go against them a warning bell rings in the back of my mind. Yes, they didn't kill that one time but I have a feeling that if they need to they'll kill anyone in their way.

To be honest I have no idea where I get the sudden confidence boosts from. Shawns intimidating glares should be enough for me to be as quiet as a mouse but no, my mouth and mind has a life of its own. "Never mind." I mumble and walk away from the thinking men to find Adam with the terrorist in the living room.

I haven't been in the large living room before which is homely furnished. The theme is brown and white giving a welcoming feeling. Shawn is watching cartoon with Adam and they both seem to be into the movie. They're watching Big Heros 6, one of my favorite.

Helping aunt Heba, Sara, Maryam and Sahara with setting the dining table we all sit down to eat when aunt Hebas husband and sons arrives. The sons gives me the creeps especially the younger one Ahmed. It's like he is on edge to kill me any second, just like his brother Yousef were back at the madrasa.

Allhamdullillah I am sitting beside Shawn and Javed and much away from the whole Osman family. I don't know their last name but uncle Osman seem like a nice man. Obviously once his mask slips he will show his true colors, or that's what I guess.

"Take more food! You guys haven't visited us for ages and seem like you all have starved!" Aunt Heba says to the men and they all laugh. Even Sara, Maryam and Sahara seem to enjoy themselves comfortably in the presence of the men.

Observing the cherry people in the room I take small bites from the food. For me it's really hard to even get down one morsel as I feel guilty even though the food is delicious. I can't help to notice that they all seem so happy seeing each other. They're laughing, conversing and joking as if they're in some kind of family gathering.

It actually reminds me of the Fast and Furious movies, ok bad comparison I know but still. I mean Dominic always says that he doesn't have friends but he got family.

Ok mind, please rewind and back to the track. Anyway Adam is sitting in the lap of Ibrahim and is fed by them all. He seem so happy now then when he was with only Shawn. Shawn doesn't joke with him and play with him the way Saeed, Ibrahim, Javed and Zaki do.

I wonder who Adam is actually related to. He calls everyone uncle but who are his parents? On cue Adam says he is full and runs away after taking permission to continue to watch cartoon.

With a drumming heart I ask the question. "Who's Adam?" The room falls silent in half a second and everyone stares at Shawn.

No one actually answers but waits for Shawn to react. Shawn is staring at his plate with tight jaws. Maybe I shouldn't have asked the question.

I am sure that he's hiding something. There is something behind this awkward silence and the stares he's getting. The way he is looking down on his plate with a distant gaze, I am sure there's something more to the story. Who's Adam? Can it be his son?

Afraid of entering a red zone I try to change the topic as nicely as I can. "So Javed, was it fun to act dead?" I ask monotonous and everyones head snaps towards me in surprise.

Well, what did I think? I hadn't uttered a word during the whole dinner. My throat turns dry and I feel rather awkward with all the stares. Tucking my hair behind my ears I gather myself to look at Javed.

He smiles at me. "It was the coolest thing I have ever experienced. They actually lowered my heart rate with tetrodotoxin but had the antidote ready." Delighted he tells me the whole process of faking his death, making the bullet seem to pierce through his head, how he then got carried by their team workers into an fake ambulance from where he then could change to their attire and then drive off with Zaki to escape.

To be honest, his story is entertaining and interesting. However I can't help to steal glances at Shawn. He sit there rigid the entire time while everyone else continues conversing.

What's up with him? He is so rigid all the time as if he doesn't fit in.

After dinner the ladies with the help of Javed and Zaki cleans the table and do the dishes while Saeed, Ibrahim, Shawn, Ahmed, Yousef locate themselves in the study room with uncle Osman.

The study room is located between the stairs and the living room. Being tired I sigh while Adam look beyond excited watching the end of the movie when Hiro tries to save the day.

"Adam I am sleepy. Is it ok if I go upstairs?" I ask him while playing with his hair. He barely nod as to signal me that it is ok for me to go. Ruffling his hair I walk out of the room.

Passing the studying room nonchalantly while running a hand through my own hair a word catches my attention. ISIS. Furrowing my eyebrows I walk backwards and stand beside the slightly opened door.

Did they really mention ISIS, meaning the extremist group implying that they want a muslim world? Trust me they only want money, power and male dominance. If they ever succeed taking over the world, we're all doomed. They're not muslims, they're oppressors.

Ok, I hate to pry and my heart is drumming that I barely can hear what they're saying. If Shawn catches me I might as well be dead.

"What's the latest news?" I guess Saeed asked.

"I heard the next one will be in Yemen." Uncle Osman replied.

Wait. Is it another attack they're talking about? Gosh this horrible braindead animals can do anything. Scratch that! Not animals, it would be an insult to animals to call the monsters aka terrorists animals. Wait, how do they know about ISIS next move? Is it any chance that they're connected? Where is Shawn? He isn't heard.

Maybe he is busy glaring while being the rigid statue he is. Ok this must seem really weird but I start to chuckle at my own thoughts and panic when I feel a presence. Hope they didn't notice me laugh.

I hear someone clear their throat behind me and I hush the person to be quiet. The person make some more stupid noise behind me so I indicate with my hand over my shoulder to the person to be quiet as I try to listen if they've heard me from the inside. Hearing some movement inside I take a step back and collide with something hard.

Wait. Oh crap. Grimacing I pray that it is one of the females in the household. In two seconds I am turned around by a grip on my elbow and facing two intimidating blue eyes. Perfect. Shawn explores my eyes with a glare. When and how did he come out of the room?

"How did you?" He cuts me off before I can finish my question.

"Shut up. I am the one asking the questions." He says and my heart skips a beat in panic. "What are you doing here?" He says not leaving my eyes.

I try to come up with a decent reply. "I was just."

"Spying." He finishes my sentence and I shake my head. "Liar." He murmurs furrowing his eyebrows and an angry red color spreads to his neck.

Just on time uncle Osman opens the door with Ahmed, Yousef, Saeed and Ibrahim behind him. "Do we have a problem here?" Uncle Osman asks, thankfully while looking at Shawn.

However as always Shawns stupid angry eyes holds my in his. "Yes." He says and my eyes widen in horror.

My heart claps so hard that I feel dizzy. "What happened?" Osman uncle asks with tight jaws and I can feel tears prick my eyelids.

Shawn takes a moment to answer as debating if to listen to my begging eyes or not. "She lost the way to the room. I'll just show her." He says which makes me breathe out in relief while blinking away my tears.

He signals me to follow him and I obey without any hesitation. I am just slightly more comfortable with him then the rest, just slightly.

"Thanks." I say when entering the room and he again looks at me as if he can't figure me out. "I have a habit to be polite." I shrug.

"What were you doing there?" He asks sternly with clenched fists.

Debating the pros and cons of telling the truth I end up blurting out the truth. "The only reason I was prying was because the word ISIS got my attention." I tell him and he furrows his eyebrows, this guy is craving path for a lot of wrinkles. "You're connected with them aren't you? You work for them. The network you keep talking about is them." His face softens and a small smile plays on his lips giving me the creeps.

"You're too naive. Just like the rest of the world." He says and turn expressionless again.

"Well, I rather be naive than being you. You all act like you're muslims but in real you're just a bunch of heartless cold blooded murderers." Feeling insulted I blurt out.

He looks taken aback for just a second but regain his angry man expression. "Then maybe you should be a bit careful of what comes out of your naive mouth when standing in front of a cold blooded murderer." That gives me a chill down my spine.

"So you're a part of ISIS?" I question disgusted.

"Yes, we're a part of ISIS or to put it correctly ISIS is a part of us and yes we are terrorists and murderers. Happy?" He says frustrated in one breath.

Speechless I stare at him while he glares at me. This is just ridiculous and I should look away but his intense eyes have a grip on me which I can't explain. They make me see a darkness which is hard to look away from.

"Who's Adam?" I hear someone ask and Shawns cold blue eyes suddenly have a shade of shock in them which he masks quickly.

Right, the person asking turns out to be me. Why do I end up thinking out loud? His barely existing emotions are good at playing hide and seek. Only his anger is bad at hiding though. Wonder if he ever have considered anger management therapy?

"That is none of your business." Grabbing a glass from the bed side table furiously he throws it on the floor close to me making it smash to thousand pieces. A startled scream escape my lips while I close my eyes in fear.

"You will just do what I say and that's it." He points a finger at me making me jump back. "Stop pissing me of! Is that clear?" He warns me and I stare at him with wide eyes paralyzed.

"What's wrong with you?" I whisper holding my hair while sitting down on the bed. "Why are you keeping me here if you don't need me? Why keep me here when you know that I won't be cooperating with you?" I ask for the hundredth time.

"Just know that neither of us have a choice. If you don't want to stay here or in your words cooperate with me then you're free to leave." I look up at him with hope brimming in my eyes. "But know that a step towards freedom will cost you your life." He adds and a stinging sensation spreads through me.

Clearing my voice I try to bring back my speaking ability. "I don't care about my life. If this is how it is meant to end then be it. However, I'll never take a wrong step." I enlighten him looking away.

His next sentence catches my attention. "Then I hope you care enough for the safety of your family." My head snaps towards him and he looks at me expressionless.

How cold hearted can someone get? Just for me to cooperate with him he can threat my family? "You don't even know how low you have fallen. I guess your soul is blacker than coil. No wonder you don't have a family for support." A humorless laughter escape my lips.

Clenching his jaws and tightening his fists he leaves the room. The moment the door closes tears finds its way out of my eyes. I hate him! I hate them! Why Allah why?

Tired I fall back on the bed and pull the cover over me. Breathing heavily and being half asleep I hear someone walk in to the room. Making out sweeping sounds of glass pieces I come to the conclusion that it must be Shawn. Even the air around us turns ice cold by his mere presence. Ignoring him I turn back to my sleep.

Waking up all too suddenly due to darkness and suffocation I feel a weight on my face. I can't move or breath and feel sweaty. What's happening? My hands try to push away the soft material on my face. It has the texture of a pillow. Wait, a pillow is pushed to my face making it hard for me to breath?

Realization hits me. Help, I try to scream but the words are muffled. I do my best to kick and claw the person holding the pillow against my face but all in vain. The person is too strong for me. My brain starts to freeze out any idea of self defense. Allah, help me. I don't want to die this way.

Saying my Shahada, testimony, in my mind in case this is my last moment I prepare for one last fight. Struggling to get out of the persons grip my throat turns dry and I gasp for air. I won't give up easily. Clawing the hands of the psychopathic assassin I try my best to set myself free but the lack of oxygen makes me weaker for every single passing second.