~Third Person's POV

x-x-x-x-x

As the crackling and soothing sound of fire started to embrace the silence of the dark, tranquil and quiet room, both of them sat on the nearby wooden chairs silently, rather shamefully, holding a huge mountain of guilt and embarrassment on their shoulders, still not ready to believe that how can they stoop so low and what a great sin each of them had committed!

The sin of breaking a heart as soft as a feather!

The sin of breaking a heart as pure as crystal!

The sin of breaking a heart as beautiful as an angel!

Both of them sat there silently, holding their own grudges, depression and guilt, while their eyes were burning with uncountable painful tears......

She loved him more than anyone, yet he had the guts to prove that she was a fool.

She also loved her sister with the depths of her heart, but her sister also proved that she was a fool, again!

Why had life been so cruel to her and why had her loved ones caused her so much pain when she needed them the most?

What a huge storm of pain, agony and trauma would have fallen upon and completely destroyed her innocent soul when she had to leave her house with the intention to look back at it
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Never again!

x-x-x-x-x

~Shahveer

The warmth coming out from the fireplace was enough to burn each and every part of my heart which was already burning with guilt and agony. My head was spinning wildly as I was still not in a state to accept the fact that she had left her own house. The girl I had travelled thousands of miles for, had eventually ran away!

But slowly and gradually, a storm of curiosity started to envelope me in its embrace, driving me completely crazy and forcing me to know the answers of my unasked questions.

Where had Hooriyah Jahangir Khan gone?

Why did she leave her own house?

Why did she leave her parents and sister all alone in this silent, sorrowful and lonely cottage?

As far as I knew, she was certainly not a selfish girl! Then why did she leave her loved ones? Did she leave because of me? Did she leave her parents because of my misbehaviour? But why did she punish them because of the mistakes done by me? Why would such a sensible girl like her do something so foolish?

We sat on the wooden chairs in the lounge and stared at the floor blankly, neither of us wanting to start the conversation. It was such an awkward moment. I have met Iman for the first time. I had never seen her before, maybe because she was born after I had left Pakistan. But she had those same angelic features as her elder sister. The pain in my heart started to accelerate rapidly as soon as I examined her face, which reminded me that how much I was dying to see her sister's face!

Hooriyah's face!

"Where had she gone?"

I finally mustered up some courage to speak and repeat the same question which I had asked her half an hour ago.

"I don't know!" She mumbled.

"What do you mean by you don't know?"

I asked with annoyance.

"I mean that she had not contacted us since six months!"

She replied coldly, making my heart stop beating for few seconds.

I immediately stood up from the chair as it was getting hard to control.

"Excuse me miss, your sister has disappeared all of a sudden and you don't even wanna know or find out her whereabouts? Don't tell me that you are joking around! I'm not in a mood of cracking jokes here!"

I pursed my lips with anger and tightened my fist as I was completely loosing my mind.

"Yeah yeah yeah!" She smiled sarcastically.

"Ofcourse, why won't you crack jokes here? After all wasn't it you who had made her whole life a terribly pathetic joke? Yeah?"

She looked at me with her anger filled eyes which held lots and lots of complains.

I remained silent.

"I want to meet Hoor!" I almost whispered.

"I don't even know if she is alive or dead!"

Iman's eyes twinkled with tears of grief and sorrow.

"Don't say that! For God's sake don't say that!"

My whole body trembled with fear.

"I came here to apologize! I came here to wipe all of her sorrows and brighten up her life once again. Please tell me where is she? Please don't hide it from me!"

A stream of tears cascaded down my cheeks.

"Atleast you have some guts to apologise to her. But how will I ever apologise to her for what I had done was even more worse!"

She burst into tears as she hid her face behind both of her hands and cried like an innocent child, regretting on her past.

I worriedly sat down again, not able to interpret what was about to come next.

"I had hurt her so much that even Allah is also not going to forgive me!" She continued to cry painfully.

"Iman!" I murmured.

She didn't stop.

"Iman!" I called louder this time, to which she stopped crying and then looked straight into my gloomy eyes.

"What have you done?" I asked innocently.

There was a silence for few minutes.

"I had accused her innocent soul for something which she couldn't even do in her dreams!"

She finally disclosed a bitter truth.

"Accused her for what?" I asked impatiently.

"For Baba's death!" She burst into tears once again.

"WHATTT?" I jerked upon hearing those painful words from her mouth.

Jahangir Uncle's death?

Oh my God!

When did this happen?

He was my father's best friend. He was indeed the purest man. I had heard so much about him throughout these eighteen years.

My mind gradually started to stop functioning as I tried to recall the night when Alizeh got married. That night, Dad was crying a lot as one of his closest friends had died due to a cardiac arrest, something I hadn't even shown interest in, and didn't even dare to ask him that who was he crying for! Instead, I chose to leave for Manchester.

Such a shameful and pathetic act it was!

What a painful night it would have been for Hooriyah!

"Oh my Allah!"

A sigh of grief escaped my lips.

She was already overburdened with the tragedy of the humiliation and disgrace which I had brought to her life, and then she had to deal with such a huge loss. Oh God, I can't even imagine that how much pain she would have gone through throughout these months.

A layer of excruciating pain ran across my body making me feel numb, hurt and traumatized.

What have I done Ya Allah!

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to scratch my skin and brutally tear my flesh apart and drain all of that poisonous blood out of my veins which was the reason behind my evil brain and satanic heart!

I wanted to die!

I badly wanted to die!

"All of us were traumatized that night!
It was the worst nightmare of my life. Baba would leave us so soon, I had never imagined that in my life!"

Iman mustered up some courage to share the tragic events from the past.

"I wish I could erase this part of my memory, but it haunts me day and night! I wish I could wipe away my faults, but this memory hurts me everyday, it was extremely shameful of me! Extremely pathetic!"

She cried innocently.

"What made her leave her family?" I finally tried to speak.

She remained silent, trying hard to gather the broken fragments of her soul together, so that she could tell me about the reality and the reason that why each of us had lost the most precious gen, once and for all!

~Flashback~
...6 months ago...

Sitting in the corner of her room, she was silently weeping while watching the men from the window, leaving her house in order to fulfill the final rites of the funeral. She was traumatized, scared and lost. She was hating her existence and was continuously begging to Allah for death! She wanted to die, so that she could meet her father to be enveloped by him in his warm embrace once again!

"Baba"

Her lips quivered with pain and helplessness.

"Don't leave your Princess!"
She caressed the photograph of her father.

"I'm in pain! It's getting beyond my control!" She wept innocently.

She pressed the frame against her chest and moaned with pain.

"Your Hooriyah will be useless without you Baba, for you were an ocean of love and wisdom and I was nothing but just a thirsty wayfarer!"

Her voice cracked with pain as her swollen eyes stared at the ceiling.

She continued to cry untill she finally realised that there was someone else too who needed her support. Being the elder daughter, it was her responsibility to look after her small family now. If she would break like this again and again, then who would look after her mother who had completely lost her senses, and her poor little sister who was neither eating anything nor talking to anyone. After all it was her duty to take care of everything now! She had to force herself to become 'BABA' of her family. She had to do something to be a breadwinner of her family, and bring her sister and mother back to a normal life. Although she was the one who was the most affected by her father's death, but she had to be patient, and forget her own sorrows in order to rekindle the darkened room of happiness for her family!

Because it was necessary!

She slowly wiped her tears and kissed the photograph and got up from the floor on which she was lying since hours, and then she walked towards her mother's room.

She was tired and weak and was not in a mood to talk to anyone. Not even Hooriyah, who was dying to talk to her and was craving for her mother's love, but she simply didn't want to look at her face, as Hooriyah's grief stricken face continuously reminded her mother, of her deceased husband!

With a heavy heart she left for Iman's room, only to see her lie on the bed, lost in her own thoughts.

She quietly sat by her side and softly caressed her hair, trying to talk to her little sister but to no avail.

"Iman?" Hooriyah whispered.

But there was no response.

"Iman!" She murmured again.

After a few seconds, Iman lifted her head up and looked straight at Hoor's face which was now stained with uncountable tears. She was crying innocently.

"Why are you crying?" Iman asked with annoyance.

"Because no one is talking to me here!" She replied innocently.

"You don't need to fake it, sis!"

Iman gave her a sarcastic glare, making her feel confused all of a sudden.

"What do you mean?" Hooriyah's eyes widened with astonishment.

"I mean that you should stop faking it and stop acting lie you are actually crying!" She replied coolly.

"What are you saying Iman?"

Hooriyah asked softly and cupped her sister's face between her hands.

"DON'T TOUCH ME WITH THESE FILTHY HANDS OF YOURS!"

She barked upon her as loud as she could.

Her body stiffened with fear.

"Iman!" She sobbed.

"You are a f*cking murderer!" She shouted at her again.

"Watch your words Iman! Stop swearing!"

This time, Hooriyah raised her voice.

"You murdered our Baba!" Iman
shouted again.

"Are you in your senses? What the hell are you saying?" Her eyes widened with shock.

"Yes! You didn't care for him! You left him during the days when he was already not feeling well! He needed you the most at the time of his illness, but spending time with your boyfriend was more necessary I guess?"

She smirked sarcastically.

"Behave yourself Iman!" Hooriyah stared at her with shock.

"Oh ofcourse, why is it always me who is asked to behave? Because you were always the most important, most beautiful, most graceful and well-mannered girl in the eyes of others and I was a spoiled brat! You were always an apple of Baba's eyes and me? I was just a piece of trash! Even on his deathbed,he called you who was busy partying in Lahore , instead of me who had cared for him day and night!" Iman's eyes burned with immense anger and hatred.

Hooriyah remained silent, still not able to understand that what was cooking inside her sister's heads since so long.

"Just for the sake of the love of a rich guy, you didn't even care to ask that what were all of us going through! How much pain Baba had to go through, he was dying to meet you, but I guess spending your pleasant days and nights with the most handsome guy in town and degrading your already filthy character was more important than_______"

Before she could complete her sentence, a loud and harsh sound of slap echoed throughout the walls of the room.

Her eyes were nothing but just a red pool of tears which had been given by a sister who was unfortunately so dear to her heart...

"Never say a word about my character, again!"

Hooriyah's bloodshot eyes were glued on Iman's red cheeks which were burning with the pain which was the result of a much wanted harsh slap!

"I hate you! You killed our father! If you would have reached Murree before time, he would have been with us right now!" Iman cried with anger and frustration.

"He had always preferred you over me. Everyone had preferred you over me! Even Mr. and Mrs.Shehroze were always praising you as if you were the most pious woman on Earth. No matter what I do Mama always compare me with you! God knows what spell you have casted upon everyone!"

She gave her an envious look.

"I wish everyone could see that there is a whole satan hidden behind this fake innocence of yours! I wish all those who used to call you pious could see that how characterless you are, that you stayed with a non-Mehram for two weeks and God knows what disgrace you might have brought along with you ,to our family!"

Iman continued to speak ill for her sister and poured all of her jealousy out from her heart which she had been accumulating since several years!

"The false accusations which you have appointed upon me, will certainly make you regret for the rest of your life!"

Hooriyah's soul shaking voice was enough to destroy thousands of gigantic mountains all at once.

"Get lost! And go back to that rich and handsome boyfriend of yours! Your presence will hurt me and Mom too! Your face will remind her of Baba. You will cause her a lot of pain, so please get lost! If you were not present at the time when Baba needed you the most, then you don't have any right to come back when he is no more!"

She pushed Hooriyah out of her room and slammed the door shut, leaving her in a state of shock, agony and helplessness!

She continued to stare at the closed door for the next fifteen minutes, trying to come back to consciousness, but her senses had gone numb. She was accused of so many things yet she was innocent in all the cases. A sister which she had loved more than her life had turned out to be the biggest enemy of her life. She didn't know what to do next. Staying here further meant more disrespect, more pain and more guilt for something she had not done at all!

What else could she do now? What else was she left with? Her biggest support had turned out to be her biggest irony and that too, just within seconds!

She kept on waiting for the next five to six hours for someone to come out but neither her mother came out nor Iman!

This silent ,creepy and sorrowful house was driving her insane. She couldn't take it anymore. She felt like garbage, or a piece of tin which was first being kicked by the one whom she had loved since two decades and then the one who was her best friend, mentor and support!

It felt as if her own life was laughing upon her disheveled state!

Everything had turned upside down overnight. She had never imagined that her joyous and colorful life would suddenly turn all grey and gloomy. She was still not ready to accept the fact that how quickly she was loosing her loved ones, one by one without committing any sin or mistake. What sort of punishment was this? If Allah had promised His Believers that He won't test them beyond their limits, then why was she being tested so much that it was becoming hard for her to breath, hard for her to live and hard for her to be patient.

"My life has become completely useless, Oh Allah!" She wept silently while laying down on the prayer mat.

"Tell me, what is the purpose of my life now?" She hiccuped between her sorrowful moans and cries.

"Whom should I live for? Whom should I breath for? My loved ones have kicked me out of their lives and left me alone. Baba has left me alone in circumstances which I can't handle alone. Ya Allah, take this life away from me! The purpose of this life has been finished tonight! I had always tried my best to stay humble, pious and lower my gaze and be a perfect example of chastity and pureness, but still your creation has accused my character and destroyed a heart which was full of your love! My heart was your house, oh Almighty, then why did You allow your people to break it? Show me the purpose of my life! I can't spend this meaningless life anymore! I want a purpose! I want a task! Otherwise I will end this life with my own hands. I want to spend a purposeful life! I want to do something for others! For the less fortunate ones! Show me the purpose of my life and guide me towards the path which would lead to that purpose! If I didn't find anything worth spending my life for, I will suffocate myself to death! I will end my life along with the misfortune which I had brought to everyone's life!"

She cried harder and harder, continuously for the next few hours until her eyelashes began to drown due to the weight of the grief and regret, and finally, a peaceful slumber took her fragile soul into a warm embrace, which was later welcomed by a storm of sweet and tranquil dreams.

The next morning, as she woke up, she found herself still lying on the prayer mat. There was a sweet and peaceful sensation which was glimmering throughout her heart and mind making her feel lighter than last night. She felt as if someone had lifted all of her sorrows up and a ray of hope could be seen shining from afar. This slightly peaceful feeling was indeed a gift from Allah which was a consequence of the beautiful dreams which she had been watching the whole night.

"Show me the purpose of my life!"

She recalled her words from last night.

Indeed, she had been shown the purpose of her life. The purpose because of which Allah had given her so much strength that even a huge monstrous mountain of grief couldn't succeed in drowning her in the ocean of depression and taking her life away. She had been given strength, patience and peace. She was really special near Allah, and Allah can't see His dearest ones in pain. But now she was slowly and gradually understanding that why didn't she die even after praying for death.

Because she was chosen to complete a task!

She was chosen to fulfill a dream!

A dream of her father!

She was now familiar with the purpose of her life!

And now she had to head on to make it successful and complete it!

She smiled innocently and finally got up to pack her clothes and stuff.

She was leaving! Silently and secretly!

There was no point of staying in a house where she was nothing but just an unwanted, unimportant, and the most hated soul!

Without informing Iman, or her mother, she quietly left the house with a heavy and destroyed heart, not wanting to give it another look, as she knew that if she gave it a final look, it would become harder for her to leave.

But still, she was helpless.

She turned slowly and looked at the beautiful wooden cottage with her tear-filled gloomy hazel brown eyes.

"I hope my absence will fill prosperity in your life Iman!! I wish nothing, but just success for you and peace for Mama! I am leaving, leaving once and for all, only to come back, never again!"

She wrote some heart wrenching lines on a piece of paper and placed it on the nearby table, and without wasting any other second, she finally left.

She had still not decided where to go, but there was one place which she badly wanted to pay a visit to before leaving Murree.

And that was her father's grave.

She recited Surah-Fatiha and sprinkled some fresh and wet rose petals on the grave and sat down for a while, so that she could pour her heart out in front of the man whom she used to consider her king, but now he had permanently hid himself from the existence of her beautiful princess.

"Baba!"

Her voice trembled with pain and grief as she looked at the beautiful rose petals, while a storm of tears cascaded down her creamy cheeks.

"I am leaving Baba! I am leaving this village, this land and these people! But I will never leave you Baba! You will always be there in my prayers, my dreams, my thoughts and in my heart! I will revive your soul in the form of your dream and will fulfill your dream at any cost. Because that's the only way I can get you back. I promise you Baba! You dreamt for a school for orphans! I will fulfill it! If you were the dreamer, I will be the one who completes this dream! Now it has become the purpose of my life! And that's what Allah had brought me in this world for! If my life would have been purposeless, I would have died the same night on which you left me alone to face the brutality of this world. But I promise you! Your Hooriyah won't be weak anymore! From the heavens high above, you will see your Hooriyah become a powerful, strong, ambitious and a determined woman who will risk her life for this noble cause which you had always wished for! Your Hooriyah will prove that she is no more a piece of trash which could be crumbled under the feet! NO! Your Hooriyah will show the world that even after being neglected a thousand times, even after being hated a thousand times and even after being humiliated a thousand times, she didn't loose hope, and still managed to spread love and joy and sprinkle happiness wherever she stepped. You will see me grow! You will see me flourish! You will see me become the most beautiful daughter of yours! YOU WILL SEE ME BECOME THE REAL HOORIYAH! YOU WILL SEE ME BECOME THE REAL HOORIYAH JAHANGIR KHAN!"

She smiled and kissed her father's tombstone and finally got up to leave for the bus station, where her destiny was waiting to decide her next abode. The abode where she had to establish the foundations of her father's dreams! The abode where she was about to spend the next five beautiful years of her life with some new people, new cultures and new lessons!

The city, where she had never imagined to spend her life, was waiting for her anxiously.

She finally booked the tickets and stepped up on the bus which was ready to leave for the city where a new beginning, a new life and a new destiny was waiting to welcome her wholeheartedly.......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

x-x-x-x-x

~Shahveer

It had started raining heavily outside. The loud deafening sound of a wild thunderstorm finally brought me out of my senses. I was lost. I was scared. I was getting weaker with grief and pain.

Iman was weeping silently while narrating the whole incident. She was embarrassed and ashamed of her doings, continuously begging me to bring her sister back. How I wish I could tell her that I was as helpless as her!

"It's been half a year and I have neither seen her angelic face nor have I heard her melodious voice! When I woke up the next morning, although I was still angry on Hoor, but few seeds of guilt had already started growing inside my heart. I was feeling ashamed of my misbehavior. Perhaps I had poured all of my jealousy and frustration which was due to Baba's death on that poor soul. I wanted to sort out everything by myself as I knew that she was my elder sister and we used to fight a lot, and then sooner or later, we would make peace! And I knew that she would forgive me, considering my misbehavior as my childishness and immaturity. But I wish I knew that I was wrong. The words which I had used to accuse her were infact extremely pathetic and shameful! How could she forgive me so easily? She was different! She was always different! Hence she chose a totally different way to surprise me and punish me for my wrongdoings. I searched for her here and there, but there was no sign of her existence. And then my whole world turned upside down as soon as my gaze landed upon the note which was resting on the table!"

She smiled weakly, while looking at the paper which was resting in her hands.

"Such a pure soul she had, that even after being humiliated pathetically, she still send some money every month so that we both can live a peaceful and stress free life!"

"What? She sends you money?" I asked with amazement.

"Yes, she is working somewhere for our living, but where, I don't know! There is a man who comes here by the end of every month and pays us the money. I had asked him several times about the whereabouts of my sister, but he himself doesn't know the actual address as she sends money to him very secretively, without letting anyone know her identity and her address."

I looked at her with shock.

"Where has she gone?" I mumbled under my breath as a lonely tear escaped through my eyes.

"Do you know any place where she had always wanted to go?" I asked Iman.

"She had always wanted to go to Makkah, to visit the Holy Kaabah ! But she can't go there. She couldn't afford to go outside Pakistan! She must be in Pakistan!" Iman replied with a hopeful smile.

"If she is in Pakistan ,then it will be more easier to find her. I promise you that I will bring your sister back to you, no matter how long it takes, no matter how difficult it gets! She has become the purpose of my life! And now, I won't leave Pakistan without completing this purpose."

I stood up from my place with determination, as I did not wanted to wait anymore and start my quest as soon as possible.

"I will pray for your success, Bhayi!" Iman smiled as tears started to brim in her eyes.

" What did you say?" I asked with amazement.

"Bhayi! Didn't you like it?" She asked nervously.

The way she called me brother, it felt as if Alizeh was standing by my side.

"Certainly not sister! I promise you, I will bring Hoor back at any cost! The mistakes we have done, need to be compensated! We will bring her back, together. You just have to pray for me and your sister, and I will do the rest!"

I smiled and wiped her tears and finally turned to leave the house.

"Bhayi!"

I stopped.

"May Allah re-unite you with your love soon! Ameen!"

She smiled with affection.

"Ameen"

I smiled and finally left the house, ready to begin a new phase of my life. A life which was going to take a huge turn, physically, mentally, emotionally and most importantly,

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SPIRITUALLY!