"Would you take my soul?
Would you eat me alive?
I am under six feet ground,
It's not even worth a fight.

♤

B

ig rocks, mounted upon each other. What was it, a cliff? A cave? A tribe who lived in a displaced? She couldn't point it.

She stood straight under the moon. The earlier horror slowly fading away into the mist. Isolation, what was the place screamed around her. Hunger screamed from her stomach and she bind her hand around her waist tightly to not feel it. She tried to go into her oblivion but the roar of hunger was too for her to concentrate on any thought.

Inhaling heavily she walked around the rocks. Her fingers grazing the hard exterior of the rocks. It didn't even have any kind of moisture around it. Everything screamed dry. Gulping she walked and prayed to her Lord to guide her. Warm breeze blew over the desert and they both sighed in pain.

He walked to his resting place and soon found his favourite rock resting. Jogging near to the rock. He lazily slumped around the rock and slide away dagger from its hidden place. The cold, edgy metal felt hard against his skin and he shuddered with pain. Tightening his hold on the dagger he grazed himself on the same place where once the snake bite him. Blood oozed out as if the dam broke. His fingers pressed around the wound, making the blood ooze out faster. He let the blood flow out and rested against the rock tilting his head.

Loosening his keffiyeh he wiped away the dried blood from his face, roughly. Her horror filled eyes flashed against his memory and he frowned hard.

"Why do I even care?"

Murmuring, he torn away a piece of cloth from his thob. His fingers worked smoothly as he tightened the small cloth around his bicep.

Pain still lingering around his bicep and rested his arms in ninety degree angle.

A small sob echoed followed by a sob. And his eyes flew open with a jerk. Alert arisen, he stood up with his arms in the same position and ran around the huge cave to find the one who's sobbing.

His steps halted as he saw her laying and crying in sujood. Something beat in his body. A thing felt alive. Strange sensations coiled around him and he felt suffocation overflowing in his body. Suddenly, his clothes felt too sticky to him even though he was wearing lose robes. Something tightened around his throat and his rose to loosen the keffiyeh around his neck. But, there was no keffiyeh around his neck.

Sighing, he ruffled his locks messing up them more.

Her puffy red eyes glistened with tears as sensed someone and stood upon her her feet lazily. Her hands again binding themselves in a lock.

"For the sake of the Lord of this world, leave me alone." A cry escaped in a whisper through her mouth as she bowed in dizziness. Her head falling heavy against her neck.

A sudden warm feeling rushed through his neck and he felt violated by her misery and cry.

His face appeared blurry as tears again gathered to mourn on her loss.

Something wriggled in his body to let out free. And his whole body shivered with the intensity of the buried sob.

She does not realized when he walked closer to her and bend down on the ground. Wiping her eyes roughly, she cleared her vision but the blurriness still stayed for a while.

His jet black locks jumped back as he straightened his posture and slowly took a step back.

Her vision now more clear made a glance reflect to his face. And she has never seen the beauty she saw now. But, with the beauty there stayed a scar. Diagonal to his left eye. It was brown against his pale Iranian skin. His liquid sandy eyes casted lower to his shoes and he slowly pointed at the dates kept on the cloth.

Pointing at it he went away, back to his village where he didn't have a place but he couldn't also stay here. Near her, she alarmed the feelings he felt; once upon a time.

Layla was lost in her own miseries desperate to be solved she doesn't know whether she wants to stand all strong or fall weak and shatter around into small pieces. She needed time to understand all this. Her life.
Slowly, the scorching travelled into the dark night and welcomed the moon.

Various hushed whispers not letting her sleep. Something crawling near her legs. Was her mind playing with her? Or there was really something scaring her? Her breath heaved up and down. Scared she looked here and there but found no help.

Oh how she wished for Baraq to be here. But, she was the reason why he went away from there.

Her shaky wide eyes searched for protection in the dark. But, it was all dark and she was all alone.

Her breath got stuck in her throat when she heard the bang sound. A metal fell on the hard ground. But, she was in the middle of the desert, how could there be any hard ground. Her insides burnt with fear as they night got darker and wind blew colder. Something churned bad in her gut and her body shook with fear.

Fisting her fingers in a tight fist she gathered all the drops of courage she could find and padded slowly with the fear coiling around her heart. Her body grew rigid and colder. The tightness in her body made her breathing grew slower and hushed.

Her heart pulsated with agitation and she feared to take a step ahead. She couldn't even walk without anticipation crawling on her back.

Wide opened eyes helped her in searching the place from where the voice came. Her fingers grazing the hard rock. Dread grew darker in her eyes as she touched the gap between two rocks. Her breath blew out with a silent gasp as she tightened her hold on the edge of the rock. Gathering her courage she turned near it to have a look and placed both her hands on the rock.

Apprehension grew rigid as she saw nothing but all black inside the cave. Blowing out a heavy breath she pulled the rock out, harder. Her knuckles growing white and finger tips numb with pain as she tightened the hold on the rock and slowly pulled it away.

The rocks around her shook and she found the rocks falling one by one. To save herself she pushed herself into the cave finding enough space to fit herself. The place shook wild around her and she tried to scream but something around her throat tightened and she couldn't even let out a word. Cold and numb body fall on the ground. She could no longer believe this was her life. It was all dream. A nightmare. So she gathered her courage and tried to fight her fate.

Standing up she walked inside the darker cave and saw a light illuminating inside the cave. Terrified, her mind couldn't work harder and she didn't had a single thought if how could there be any light in the dark.

The flame of the old, ancient lantern flicked forming shadows around.

Huge pillars designed with ancient intricacy screamed something she couldn't understand. Roaming her eyes around she found herself stuck around various statues. Statues made so defines and with finery that for a second she thought, they were humans.

Wonder struck, she walked along the lanterns and found more various statues in various position but something was common in them and that was the horror struck on their faces. Even the statue of the child's face screamed horror. The artist did a defined work.

Her steps fell short as her gaze flickered to the biggest statue in the cave. That was the only one with neutral face. The stone of it was carved in such a way that it was impossible for any human to believe that it was made by the human. Wonder struck, she admired the place around her with knowing the storm which already destroyed the place around her.

Enjoy the book.