I lie down next to Sabby and try to get some sleep, tired from pondering over what life has dished out onto my plate.

I am half dosed off when the sound of my irritating ring tone refuses to allow me to sleep. I grab my phone and answer it without even looking at the caller ID.

"Hello", I whisper in my dwarles. A pause and then, "Did you miss me?", the unmistakable raspy, unisex voice booms into my eardrums.

I sprint up straight in bed. Oh my god. I had totally forgotten about these unknown calls. How could I? This is the first thing I am supposed to inform Detective Brian about.

"What? Regretting about not telling that Detective about me and my phone calls.", the voice laughs.

"What? How do you know about the Detective? Where...wait...don't tell me that you are here with me on the ship." My heart beats hard against my sternum. The burning sensation in my stomach returns.

Why did I not take these calls seriously?

"I had warned you. I told you NOT to board the cruise didn't I.", the voice shouts. I wipe the beads of sweat on my forehead.

"Who are you? ", is all I manage to ask.

"Don't you get tired of repeating the same questions over and over again? You have asked me before. Did I give an answer? NO. So what makes you think that I will answer you now."

Then I started to put two and two together. My breath starts getting uneven.

"It's you. YOU are the monster. You are the one that killed Malak.", I screech into the phone. "I will get you. I promise I will get you",I scream.

To my surprise, the person chuckles. "Calm down Amy. For once, you are wrong. I had warned you not to come on the cruise because your life was in danger. But you...you refused to listen to me and look what happened. Malak had to lose her life to a war that was not hers."

What is this person saying?

"Are you trying to say that you did not kill Malak?", I ask. Wow, this is becoming a conversation.

The person chuckles again. "No...I am trying to say that Malak was not supposed to die. But...yes...I did not kill Malak. I am your well wisher Amanda. Not a murderer."

"Huh!", I snort. "Like I will believe you. Which murderer would say ...yes yes I am the murderer. Puh Leez. Well wisher??"

"Tell me something. What wrong did I do? I had only warned you because I care for you...uh...I mean I am worried that nothing goes wrong. Especially since I knew that your life was in danger. And you have experienced that danger, yet you still turn a blind eye to it.", the person shouts out in frustration.

"What are you talking about? The only danger I have from anyone is from you. And what do you mean by I am turning a blind eye to a danger that I have experienced? I really don't get what you are trying to say.", I shout back. This person should know that I can scream as well.

I will immediately run to Detective Brian and inform him about the call.

The person remains quiet. "You really don't know or are you just being ignorant?"

"What are you TALKING ABOUT?", I yell in desperation.

"Oh, so... You really don't know. Amy, the person that killed Malak did not want to kill Malak. The person wanted to kill you.", the voice pronounces every word clearly and each word seeps through the pores of my skin and into my flesh.

My mouth becomes dry. "What? You don't believe me. Amy, there are many reasons for which someone would want to kill you. You won't want me to tell it to you. Do you?"

Oh my god! Who is this person and what does he/she want from me? What does he/ she know?

The voice carries on talking when I don't respond. How can I respond?

"Amy, I had found out that someone wants to kill you. I had immediately informed you. You did not listen to me and you boarded the ship. And like I had predicted, the person did try to kill you. But, god had other plans. You shared a room with Malak and the person that wanted to kill you, had killed her instead. Mistakely. You are still not safe Amy."

I laugh. "And you think that I would believe you. You are the murderer and you are misleading me. "

The person sighs. "How do I make you believe that I am only your well wisher?"

"If you really want what is best for me, then come out from your hiding
Why don't you just tell me who you are. Why are you such a coward?", I challenge.

"I am NOT a coward. I just can't tell you who I really am. It's for your own good. And for mine too. What if you slip up and blurt out my name to someone. Then I will be in shit. Only because I wanted to help a hapless damsel in distress."

"Oh ho ho Ho. I am no damsel in distress.", I say.

"You are, but you are too adamant to accept it. But listen, you have got to trust me...please be careful, and don't trust the people around you.", the person persists. The people around me?

I remain quiet for a while. Oh no! The words are affecting me. The person did inform me that my life was in danger but I had thought that it was a prank. And now...Malak is dead. Is the voice speaking the truth?

"Look, whoever you are. How do I believe you? How do I know that what you are saying is the truth? How do I know that you are not the one that wants to kill me?", I ask this time seriously. I really want an answer. I want to know if I can really trust this person. Because, his/ her words have started making sense.

"You don't have to believe me. Amanda KHAN."

The voice remains on the line but doesn't say anything further. And if it does, I wouldn't know because the phone had slipped from my hand and fallen onto the soft carpet as soon as he/ she had finished the sentence.

I clench the bed sheets as the tears fall from my eyes. I am scared. Very very very scared. My teeth gritter in my mouth. This person knows. Knows my hidden secret. That secret that i had forgotten. How? Who?

I sit, curled up in a ball for about five minutes until my fingers find their way back to the still intact phone on the carpet.

I am surprised to see that the person is still on the line.

I clear my throat and muster the courage to speak into the phone. "If you can't tell me who you are, then at least give me a clue about yourself."

The person chuckles again. "Like what clue?", the voice asks amused.

"Are you a girl or a boy?", I ask the question that was bugging me for a while.

"A boy"

I knew it.

"And...", I ask hoping for more.
"And what?", he asks.
"The clue. Give me a clue about yourself.", I say as I play with words.

"I just did. I told you that I am a male. What more.", the person asks.

"That was not a clue. That was just an answer to my question.", I argue. I should be a lawyer. Layla says that I would make a good one.

"Okay, here is a very BIG clue that would make you believe me. But you will have to promise me that you will NOT tell that Detective about me."

I listen in anticipation. "Go on! I won't."

I do plan on telling Detective Brian about him. I won't hide anything from him.

"I am a boy and I work at Cola Buddy."

The line goes dead. My hand instinctively wraps around the heart pendant that lies on my chest. Shit!

"I believe you. I will wait for your next call." I tell the wall in front of me.