Thankyou @bobnuggets for the creative chapter art! :)

I accidentally stared at Ahsan in horror longer than I needed to. He peered at me, confused.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He took a step back with caution. "You look...creepy."

"I...I want to take a bath," I told him carefully. Well, that was not very far from the truth. "Can you quickly put up a fire in the dungeon bath?"

"Oh," he relaxed. "Come along."

I quickly turned back to Saad to make sure he was still in a deep slumber before I hastily followed Ahsan.

He pulled out a match from one of his vest pockets and lit up the firewood in the far corner of the dungeon bath. Thankfully, he left the room and I waited until I could no longer hear his retreating footsteps to close the door and slip off my flats. My shoulders slumped in seeing that the "door" was nothing more than a typical jail door, consisting of vertical, rustic metal columns with space between each bar.

Great...

Using the small mug, I poured as much water into the large bucket as I could and dragged it along the floor to the far corner of the room where I could not be seen from the doorway. I quickly stripped myself of all clothing, trying to make this bathing process as quick as possible, and attempted to soak my jilbaab, abaya, and especially my undergarments. I hurriedly twisted and wrung out all of the clothing, and laid them beside the fire so that I could spend the most time cleaning myself. Judging by the speed of the warm liquid that oozed down my thigh, I definitely needed to quicken my pace.

My period could not have arrived at a more horrible time.

I was disgusted with myself and for the first time ever, I hated being a female.

The stone ground was frigid beneath my bare feet and I shivered after pouring the first mug of equally cold water on myself. My teeth chattered from the brisk, icy feeling and I tried to shift my focus on cleansing myself rather than the water's abnormally glacial temperature. On the count of three, I threw the icy water on my head, with the slight, irrational fear that my brain would actually freeze, and struggled with the knots in my wet hair.

What the hell was I thinking when I decided to grow out my hair this long?!

I had a sudden desire to be bald.

After successfully untangling and parting my hair with extreme effort, the tresses draped down my shoulders and back like a damp curtain. Now, I was clean and my clothes were just about to dry, but the flow was not cooperating with me at all. I folded my arms tightly, trying to keep as much heat to myself as possible, and muttered a string of curses.

I had no pads. I had no tampons. Hell, I had nothing!

Glancing over to where my clothes were, I saw that my underwear was still stained even after excessive wringing.

"Damn it," I swore again aloud and mumbled out some more colorful vocabulary.

Apart from water droplets crashing to the floor, there was an eerie silence that hung in the moist air. Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway and my heart raced up to my throat.

Crap.

I swiftly tiptoed over to the fire, reaching down to grab the garments only to find out that they were still soggy.

The sturdy footsteps got louder and I guessed whoever it was had just turned down to the corridor where only the dungeon bath was located...which meant that person was going to see me fully naked and dripping in more ways than one.

What the hell am I going to do?!

I crouched down in the far corner of the room, in the hopes that I was completely out of view from the doorway when the footsteps suddenly stopped in their tracks.

"Hayat?" Ahsan called out just outside the door.

The douche is never here when I need him, but suddenly shows up when I do not want him anywhere in my sight.

I knew that he knew that I was still in here, but I decided to whimper on the floor like a puppy, praying that he wouldn't open the door and see me in such a sorry state.

"Hayat?"

"What?" I snapped at him from my little corner.

"Do you need help?"

What...

I refused to answer.

"Hayat, do you need help?"

"I need you to go away," I growled and squeezed out the water from my hair.

"I have cloth for you." He sighed. "Reach out and take it."

What?

"C-cloth? Cloth for what?"

"Uhm," he began awkwardly. "Well, I thought you might need it."

While having extra cloth sounded amazing right now, I had to ask him, "Why did you think I needed cloth?"

"I think you know the answer better than I do," he said quietly.

Shit.

"I..."

"You left a little trail down the hallway," he told me slowly as though he hated to speak the words himself just as much as I hated hearing them.

Sure enough, there were crimson dots of various sizes from the entrance of the room to where I was sitting.

Oh no...

If there was ever a moment where I wanted the ground to swallow me whole, it would be precisely right at this moment.

"Don't worry, I cleaned up the hallway, but I think you'll need this." He stuck his hand through the space between the metal bars with dark fabric in his fist.

He cleaned up the hallway??

This really was not happening...

He sighed again. "Okay, how about I come in and-"

"No!" I shouted louder than necessary. "I'll get it," I said defeatedly.

How could I possibly look at him in the eye after this?!

I cautiously crept over to where the edge of the door was, snatched the cloth from his grip, and ran back to my discrete corner.

"You're okay?"

Uhm, no...

He patiently called for me again. "Hayat?"

"Y-yes, I am."

"Alright then, I'll be in the room." He paused for a few seconds. "Come back before the brat decides to screech again."

"His name is Saad," I said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, whatever." He strode away from the dungeon bath and was out of earshot. I slammed myself against the stone wall behind me, wondering whether I should be eternally grateful or heavily embarrassed.

The latter was more like it.

Trying to pull myself out of humiliation, I ventured towards the fire and swung each article of clothing over the flame so they would dry faster. With the cloth that I was given, I secured it around my underwear and slipped the whole thing on, feeling slightly more comfortable.

Fully dressed, I took my time walking back to the room and inspected the newly-shined hallway floor.

He did clean it.

With mixed feelings such as guilt, shame, uneasiness, stupidity and confusion, I wondered whether I should even go back to the room. I most certainly would not be able to face him without wanting to bury myself alive.

But there was Saad, my one and only reason to want to go back to that room.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the wooden door and strolled inside, unsuccessfully convincing myself that nothing had happened.

Ahsan resumed his place on the ground, peeling away his steady gaze at the ceiling to look at me. "Welcome back," he mumbled.

I rolled my eyes and went back to my original spot on the bed, beside the little sleeping bundle.

"No 'thank you's' this time?" He cocked an eyebrow in amusement.

"Shut up," I muttered, not enjoying his humor on my behalf.

"Oh, monthly mood swing mode, eh?" He was clearly entertained by my misery, a corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk. "I've only heard about that, never actually seen a girl go through it. How bad does it get? Do you throw around furniture and punch walls?"

"Do you want to die?"

He threw back his head against the wall and cackled for some time. When he recovered from his laughing fit, he said, "Easy on the threats, kid. Being aggressive doesn't suit you."

I glared at him. "Do you even have the faintest idea of how embarrassing this is?"

"Nope." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Trust me, I have no desire in wanting to find out either."

I reluctantly ignored him and wrapped my arms around my legs; my skin chilled from the unforgiving cold. My teeth chattered together uncontrollably, and I couldn't stop myself from shaking.

He noticed, of course.

"You didn't dry your hair?" His voice took on a less-mocking tone as he examined my damp tresses.

"It's not like I had a shelf full of towels or anything," I muttered.

Ahsan clicked his tongue in irritation and promptly left the room, returning within a few minutes with a towel. He stood at my side and threw the towel over my head, blocking my entire view. Then, he took it upon himself to frantically rub my head with the towel in a futile attempt to dry my hair. He smacked my hand away when I tried to reach for the towel myself.

The last time someone dried my hair this way was when my mother would do so when I was a toddler.

"Don't think I'm doing this because I care or some crap," he snarled as he continued kneading my head. "If you get sick, then I'll get sick and there's no medicine here."

"Can you stop now?" I asked, not caring whether or not he was taking out his anger on my poor head since I was on the verge of fainting. "I feel dizzy."

He obeyed and stretched out the towel on the metal headboard while I undertook the challenge of untangling knots with my fingers.

"Shit," he abruptly swore under his breath as he just realized something.

"What is it?"

"Follow me," Ahsan ordered, walking towards the door.

I looked up at him in surprise. "Now?"

"No, in ten years" he said sarcastically, raising his eyebrows in annoyance. "Yes, now."

"Where are we going?"

"To the rooftop."

"But why?" I asked, frowning.

"Stop questioning everything and just listen," he snapped, stepping out of his brief nurturing qualities. "Hurry up."

I scowled but turned around to pick up Saad. Poor baby would probably be forcefully awake soon.

"Leave him here," he demanded, watching me about to lift the child.

"I can't leave him here alone!"

"You can't bring him with you either!"

"Why not!"

"Because I said so," he growled, giving me a murderous glare. "Now, Hayat."

"Ahsan, you can drag me up there, but I am not leaving him here by himself!" I exclaimed defiantly, crashing my fists into my hips.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, blatantly irked with my persistence. "Fine, but if anyone asks, I did not bring him to you."

"Oh, so you are scared of someone after all," I told him, slightly baffled as to why he would constantly warn me not to speak of his involvement with anything. "Who is it?"

"You're really pushing it." He glowered at me, shooting daggers right into the whites of my eyeballs.

Before Ahsan could change his mind, I quietly gathered the sleeping Saad in my arms and gently rested his head on my shoulder. Bowing my head in obedience, I ushered myself out of the room with Ahsan trailing closely behind.

Trekking up the stairs was an impossible task in itself. Since I secured Saad to my body with both hands, I had occasionally tripped up the stairs, thanks to my flowy abaya that pooled at my feet. Ahsan was on the brim of utmost impatience as he grasped my upper arm tightly, leading me up the stairwell. Upon reaching the fifth floor, I was absolutely exhausted and leaned against the railing that led up to the sixth floor.

"How many...more...flights of...stairs...until we...reach the...top?" I asked Ahsan, breathlessly.

"Two," he informed me and my mouth flew open.

"Two?!" I gasped. "I can't do this. What's up there to see anyway?"

"You'll find out when you get there," he said domineeringly. He studied me for a moment, and in the blink of an eye, Ahsan scooped Saad and I in his arms and stomped up the next flight of stairs.

"What the hell!" I looked at him wide-eyed and wriggled in his grip. "Put me down!"

"I highly suggest you stop squirming or else you'll drop the brat," he muttered, briefly glancing at Saad with disdain.

"His name is-"

"I don't care."

Seeing as there was no way I could win, I clenched my jaw and impassively waited until we had reached the door that led to the rooftop of the seminary dormitory. He had finally set me down and I was happy to see that Saad was still asleep. Ahsan opened the door and the sudden heat blurred my vision.

My eyes lightened with awe as the sun was in the midst of making its first appearance in the morning. The golden orb kissed the entire town with its mellow rays. I found myself staring at the brilliantly radiant sky and nearly smiled in spite of myself.

...that is, until my eyes darted downwards.

"A very, very good morning to you, Hayat!" Faizan pushed through a dozen men on the rooftop and flashed a smile that was brighter than the sun itself. "Lovely morning, isn't it?"

His attire was just as black as it had always been, except now he wore a short-sleeved black shirt with a keffiyeh draped loosely around his broad shoulders.

Ahsan brought me up here to see Faizan?!

I'd much rather be locked up in the dungeon forever than to have to see Faizan's beaming face again.

"Oh, you have a child now too?" His eyes bolted from Saad to Ahsan and then back to me. "Well, that was rather quick, wasn't it?"

My face was on fire as some of his men laughed, but Faizan promptly diverted the topic. "Alright men, line up!"

Each of Faizan's covered men, including Ahsan, stood behind five male civilians who were a mere few feet away from the edge of the building. From the looks of it, they, too, were hostages with unevenly chopped hair and unkempt clothing. They all seemed underfed, feeble and extremely frightened.

"Enjoy the view, Hayat," Faizan dangerously hissed in my ear and grinned wider than before.

I blinked in shock when I came to an epiphany: Faizan didn't bring the civilians up here for them to "enjoy the view".

He brought them here to throw them down.

Glossary:

~Keffiyeh: A gender-neutral checkered scarf that can be worn around the neck or head, mainly in Arab countries.