Paradise Chapter 19

How are y'all doing? Hope you're having a good day, tomorrow I might not post, hectic day and I have an exam on Saturday, wish me luck! Enshalah it goes well, so it's a bit of a mess tomorrow and on Saturday, forgive me if I don't end up posting.

Hope you enjoy this chapter though. x

-

Previously in Chapter 18:

I needed to keep acting but I also needed to know why he sounded so freaking familiar.

“Mashe, enrid’ha dakhl wla shnu?”

“La lal7een ma khale9t menha.”

“Khale9 bsr3a, nabeek etrid 3shan ana ared b3ad, gabl la eshikoon bas.”

“Ee okay mashe.”

“Yalla 3yal,” I heard the stranger say and I assumed he turned his back to leave so I took the risk to open one eye to look at him.

But opening one eye to stare at him was the only thing I needed to instantly recognize him, which only caused both my eyes to shut open with pure shock.

It was Mi7sen!

-

“What the hell?!” I hissed once the door was closed and locked again, it was only Eissa and I now.

“Ft7tay 3younich?!” Eissa snapped at me.

“How the hell could I not recognize his voice y3ne?!” I argued, standing up from the floor, letting go of the act I was putting on before.

“I told you to keep them closed!”

“Why the hell don’t you want me to know?!” I snapped at him. “He was with me, with us, in that room, acting all this time!”

“Because it puts you in more danger, shfeech entay?!” He yelled back, growing frustrated at how stubborn I was.

“How is that more danger?! I trusted him, I was growing close to him!”

“Eee w al7een faj2a betwakhreen 3ana w bishik bel mwthou3, shfeech entay?”

“Was that why you wanted me to act like I was raped in front of them? So he would hear the whole thing?”

“Ee.”

“Why.. why the hell is he on their side..” I asked, my expression dumbfounded. I was in shock, I couldn’t process any of this.

“Fee wayed ashya2 ma et3rfeena…”

“Tell me now!” I demanded.

Eissa simply shook his head, keeping ahold of his injured and painful arms.

Finally it clicked. I remembered that before there was also a Young Voiced kidnapper, I named him Young Voice and that’s how the whole process of nicknaming Eissa of Deep Voice happened.

Ever since Mi7sen came into the picture, Young Voice vanished, I hadn’t seen him again… could it be that Mi7sen was Young Voice all this time?

“Did he wear a mask too, was he a part of the group that took us in awal shay?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“Eee,” Eissa looked at me, pity painted his eyes.

“God,” I breathed out and plastered a hand over my head, suddenly I felt this overwhelming headache take over.

“Jawaa…” I felt Eissa get closer but I ignored him, I felt like crying all over again. I hadn’t ever felt so vulnerable before; a classmate I trusted for so long would do this to me? And joke over rape? And would actually rape me?

Who else was in this?

Dalal? I wouldn’t be surprised.

Hamdan? No… he wouldn’t. But I never thought Mi7sen would either…

Muneera?

I couldn’t imagine Muneera ever doing it, ever. Even after Mi7sen betrayed us all, my trust in Muneera was unbreakable. I prayed to God in my heart that she wasn’t apart of this… that would truly kill me.

“Jawaa, are you okay?” Eissa snapped me out of my thoughts.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be okay,” I truthfully answered.

“Hey, you’re not alone in this,” he gently laid a hand over my arm. I pulled my arm away from his grip, not wanting to be touched.

“I still don’t trust you.”

“I know.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“I know,” he repeated.

“The only reason I’m letting you help because I’m desperate for a way out of all this.” I confessed and he was about to reply but I cut him off as soon as I saw his lips part. “And don’t say ‘I know’ again.”

Eissa smiled, obviously being caught on saying ‘I know’ again. “Enshallah.”

“Tegder etjawb su2al wa7d bas?” I asked.

“Shnu?”

“Fee ghair Mi7sen m3akom? Ely m3ana? Allah yekhaleek jawbny, bas ee aw la2 w la etchathb,” I looked into his strangely coloured eyes and pleaded.

“La2, bas Mi7sen,” he didn’t let go of my eyes and answered genuinely.

“Ashwa,” I breathed out in relief, my trust not wavering in Hamdan and Muneera.

“I have to take you back now Jawaa,” Eissa said, seeming sad about it.

“Okay,” I replied.

“Don’t act weird with Mi7sen, act like you never found out, he’s watching us, especially you.”

“Wai3, jad.”

“Adre bas 7awlay or else it’ll get so much worse.”

“I didn’t realize that there was worse than this,” I sighed.

“There is… way worse,” Eissa said with all seriousness, the type of seriousness that terrified me.

Eissa later pushed me back into the room, acting violent with his mask on and no figure, Mi7sen was pushed back in right after me. He was shaking uncontrollably, acting like he was tortured. It disgusted me.

“Shsawaw feekom?!” Muneera cried out in alarm and Hamdan hurried to Mi7sen’s side since I wasn’t causing so much drama.

“Tortured us…” Mi7sen stuttered, not being able to speak.

I glared at him, wanting to punch him in the face, I felt like a hypocrite a bit since I lied about rape before but it wasn’t my choice, non of this was my choice, I was prepared to do anything to save us.

“Jawaa, are you okay?” Muneera hugged me.

“I heard her scream, I think he raped her again,” mi7sen spoke on my behalf, acting terrified and pitiful for me but I just wanted to slap him and attack him for saying that, adding more to the lies I had to act on.

“El 7m*r!” Hamdan looked furious, he left Mi7sen’s side and approached me.

“Shsawa?!” Hamdan looked at me, his arms unable to hug me or touch his fists and me were clenched, wanting to attack someone.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I croaked out, trying to act vulnerable, I left all of them and went into a corner and acted asleep to ignore all of them. I heard Mi7sen blab about how he fought one of the kidnappers off but then he was tortured with sharp objects while the blindfold was on him.

There weren’t even any new scratches on him but they easily believed him.

The annoying familiarity of his voice was not saved in my mind, I couldn’t erase it, I kept remembering the words he said to Eissa about raping me, this was one voice I would always recognize now, even if I was asleep.

It was the voice of the devil.

-

I hadn’t realized that I truly fell asleep until a pair of hands nudged my shoulders.

“Wake up,” he hissed.

My eyes felt like they were glued together, I was exhausted, I don’t know how long I was asleep for and what time it was or even which day it was.

“Hmm?” I sighed and finally my eyes were open. Eissa’s face was inches away from mine and I could see the blurred colours of his eyes in the dark since that’s the only thing I could focus on when he had his mask on.

“Eissa?” I looked at him in surprise.

Was I dreaming?

“Goumay bsr3a,” he whispered.

“Dgeega pinch me.”

“Mu wakta m3a siwalfch goumay!”

“Ha laish?” I asked, confused.

“Goumay gabl la ysma3 w ygoum b3d.”

I looked around and I saw Mi7sen asleep, Dalal and the others were sound asleep too, I could see the hall was dark and I assumed it was really late and everyone was sound asleep.

“Wain?” I asked, suddenly fully awake and on high alert.

“Goumay w bas,” he whispered and kept looking at Mi7sen to check if he heard any of his words or woke up.

I listened and quietly stood up.

“Wake them up, they’ll trust you, I’ll wait in the hallway.”

I did as I was told, I woke Hamdan, Dalala and Muneera as quietly as possible, they were all confused but they listened when they saw that the door was wide open.

But they were about to wake up Mi7sen too, I stopped them and shushed them, promising I’d explain later.

We all found Eissa outside and Hamdan was about to attack him, thinking that we were going to get caught but I stood in front of him to stop him.

“Stop, he’s with us,” I whispered and Hamdan looked confused as hell. I didn’t blame him, even Dalal and Muneera shot me shocked and weirded out looks.

“Yalla bsr3a,” Eissa hissed and the rest only followed me because they trusted me. Eissa had locked the room as quietly as possible before ushering us down the dark hallway.

“Wain ray7een?” I hissed to Eissa, my heart galloping in my chest but the words that came out of his words only made it race even faster.

“I promised I’d save you, didn’t I?”

-

Comment down below and tell me what you think!

Sorry, I know it’s a short post today but I tried my best writing, I don’t have many ideas tonight.

Paradise Chapter 18

Was very tired, long day and have an exam in two days, Ramadhan is already so hectic, add finals too? That's torture!

Ignore any mistakes and hope it's long enough, honestly couldn't think enough to write more.

Hope you enjoy! 

Kind of nearing the ending.

This post is dedicated to Basma, you're beautiful, truly. The baby sister and an angel that I love. 

-

Previously in Chapter 17:

 Before we could speak, the door was pushed open again and Mi7sen was pushed back into the room in a hurry.

That was way too fast... and weird.

Mi7sen looked frightened, he looked straight at me and his hands were shaking.

“Jawaa,” Mi7sen stuttered. “They want you.”

They?

They who?

“They’re coming for you in a few minutes,” Mi7sen gulped, his Adam’s apple bopping up.

What the hell is going on?!

-

“Emshay,” Eissa was the next person who came in. I meant, Deep Voice. It was hard to differentiate between the two names, the mask always reminded me of the cruel Deep Voice but I couldn’t erase the face that was hidden under it.

I followed silently and I heard Hamdan grunt.

“Wain?! Mu kafee ena khathait’ha gabl?!” Hamdan screamed at Deep Voice in frustration.

“Eskit bas, male khlgk,” Deep Voice snapped at him and pulled me along, shutting the door and locking it before Hamdan could continue arguing.

“What’s going on?” I hissed under my breath so Eissa could hear. I tried looking at him but he didn’t turn his head to face me, he simply guided me down the hall and ignored me.

I grew frustrated.

“Ei-“ I was about to speak again but I grew suddenly quiet when we reached to a strange looking living room. The camera was on a stand and Jerry, the person who I thought was an Indian classmate who really was a Kuwaiti named Rashed stood there with the other kidnapper, Mu6lag who was called “Bu Salem” by the others but I found out his real name from his little evil sister Haya, who helped me in the bathroom before.

“G3day, we want another video,” Rashed grinned, looking evil.

“No,” I snapped.

I felt Eissa squeeze my arm, quietly telling me to listen.

“Do it or I’ll kill one of your annoying friends,” Rashed looked bored.

“Yalla.” I challenged him, my gut said he was bluffing and I didn’t want to seem afraid.

“9ij 7m*ra,” Rashed laughed. “Yeeb hatha el ghabe.”

“Ok.” Eissa let go of me by pushing me towards Bu Salem who instantly grabbed me, I was shocked by his sudden move and he went back to the room that they kept us in.

I grew nervous, I suddenly regretted challenging the scumbag. I thought he was bluffing.

“A7, shway shway!” I heard Mi7sen cry out in pain and I watched Eissa pull him by his ear to make Mi7sen look stupid.

“Want me to chop off his ear first?” Deep Voice smirked and the Eissa I knew melted away before me.

“3noud!” Bu Salem suddenly cried out and I saw a strange girl leave one of the rooms, her hair was dark black and long, it reached her waist and she looked about 16, her eyes were heavily marked with eyeliner and she had a smirk on her face once she saw us.

“Oulla ma khale9taw?” 3noud laughed.

Who the hell was this b*tch?

“Yebeeli may 3afya,” Bu Salem grinned.

“Get one yourself,” she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Yalla 3ad, we had a deal.”

“Weeh okay,” I saw her hurry off towards the hallway, her hair flying after her.

“How many of you are there?!” I cried out in surprise.

“Enough to kill you all in an instant,” Deep Voice grinned.

I glared at him and I saw his eyes smile with amusement, enjoying my reaction.

“Yalla 3ad, we don’t have all day, do the video or Mi7sen here will have no ears, killing him is too nice,” Rashed laughed.

“What the hell do you want?” I snapped at him.

“Abeech tg3den w tabchen mara thanya, we got loads of views, the audience love watching someone suffer, especially someone from a royal family.”

Bu Salem/Rashed pulled me along and forced me down onto the floor, he roughly tied up my wrists and I watched Deep Voice do the same to Mi7sen and pushing him down next to me. Mi7sen’s left shoulder was hitting mine and he was quiet, looking exhausted.

“1…2…3… Action,” Rashed said behind the camera.

I simply stared at the camera, not saying a word. Mi7sen was looking down, unable to speak but I heard him breathe heavily, he seemed like he was about to faint, he was sweating rapidly and I could feel his shoulders shake next to me.

“Ebchay!” Rashed ordered. “God they’re hopeless f*cks.”

“Fix it,” Rashed looked to Deep Voice first.

I saw Deep Voice’s hands shake a bit, as if he was thinking of a way to hurt me without hurting me but that was impossible.

“Knife or gun?” Deep voice asked smoothly. “Knife better actually.”

My heart began to race, I watched him slip out a small knife from his jeans and he approached us. Mi7sen’s eyes widened but Deep Voice approached me instead of him.

“Girls cry better than men.” Deep Voice laughed and Rashed grinned, Bu Salem clapped his hands in excitement.

“This will get us SO many views, they cry over girls getting hurt,” I heard Bu Salem hiss to Rashed but it was hard to listen to anything other than the sound of my heart thumping, wanting to explode out of my ribcage.

I squeezed my eyes shut, Deep Voice was behind me now and he was holding my wrists.

I felt him give my wrist a squeeze.

“I want you to scream,” I heard him whisper into my ear, he was so quiet that only I could hear him and his head was low, as if he was focusing on cutting my arm since my veins on my wrists only needed one deep slice to kill me instantly.

I felt the sharp blade tickle my skin but it didn’t slice into me, I focused on staring into the blackness whilst having my eyes shut instead of the whole process.

“Scream,” he hissed.

I screamed, the tears flowed instantly from fear, I had no idea what I was screaming for but the fear of dying took over me in an instant.

“Oulla!” Bu Salem cried out in surprise, I couldn’t understand what was going on.

I felt a sharp pain into my skin, the blade hit my skin but it wasn’t a deep slice, it was a light one and suddenly he pushed me down to the ground.

“Ya 7m*ra!” Deep Voice suddenly cried out in anger.

I winced in pain, screaming still.

“Stop!” Mi7sen cried out, I watched his face, he was in pure shock and he stared at me, his eyes suddenly tearing up.

What was going on? I couldn’t see anything but suddenly I saw drops of blood right besides my thigh and my heart began to race all over again.

Did he cut me that deep and I hadn’t noticed?!

“The f*ck, you pushed me and you sliced me instead!” Deep Voice said in such an angry tone that I believed him, the words sounded so true but I knew they were lies, I hadn’t moved an inch and I could feel the cut on me, it was tiny.

“A7san, tstahlain, enjoy the blood on the ground and on my arms, it’s all from the cuts I gave you,” Deep Voice suddenly grabbed my hair and is other hand cupped my face, his fingers appearing to be slicing into my cheeks violently but his thumbs tried to be gentle, I could feel him stay back.

“Wakher!” I screamed and let the tears flow but I was still confused. I got a sight of his arms, they were cut and they appeared to be deep cuts but he quickly pushed the sleeves of his shirt down to hide them.

Did he try to make it seem as if he cut me so deep that I was bleeding down to the floor? Did he cut himself instead?

“Perfect! Video ended, yalla lets get this posted on youtube as soon as possible,” Rashed grinned and Bu Salem looked proud.

“Emshay, ana bawareech shnu basawe fech al7een,” Deep Voice grabbed me and pushed me up to my feet.

“Ekhth el thane bas,” Deep Voice ordered Bu Salem and he obeyed. I silently followed Deep Voice to the room he took me once before and he locked the door behind him.

I swore that I could hear Rashed whisper in the back “he’s going to rape her again, ashkara!” And laugh, probably to Bu Salem.

“W-what happened?!” I suddenly asked once the door was locked, he grabbed my wrists and freed me instantly. I looked at my arms and I was right, I was sliced on my left and right arm with soft short strokes of the blade, it stung but it wasn’t deep at all, it only needed a day to heal but it would probably scar for a few months.

I turned to look at him and his mask was off, he was sweating and grabbing a handful of tissues to press up against his arms.

“What the hell did you do?!” I hissed in horror, staring at him. I quickly grabbed his arms and saw all of the blood he was trying to hide and act as if it was mine.

“Men 9jch tabene amawtch?!” He hissed back in frustrating, wincing in pain.

“God Eissa,” I wanted to tear out of my hair from the frustration. I grabbed more tissues and tried blocking the cuts to stop the bleeding.

“I want you to yell out stop in ten minutes, they think I’m raping you,” he looked up at me and his eyes looked tired, the Deep Voice act was over, I finally could see the real him again.

“I want this to stop, I hate lying, I can’t go on this way,” I shook my head.

“My plan will work, you just have to act a little longer.”

“And what if it doesn’t Eissa?” I looked back up at him and he winced from the pain but tried ignoring it.

“I’ve been planning this ever since I found out they took you, they were never supposed to take you.”

“Please just answer my questions, I need to understand,” I begged.

“I can’t, just understand that. Not now.”

“Ugh!”

“T3wrtay?” He motioned towards my arms.

“You’re the idiot who really hurt himself, you barely cut me properly,” I rolled my eyes.

“Mu 3ajbch? You want deep cuts b3d?”

“La shaku!”

“Tetshare6ain b3ad about how you get hurt?” Eissa rolled his eyes at me.

“Chub bas, you won’t stop bleeding,” I put more pressure on his cuts.

“I’ll be fine, I’ll say you attacked me with the knife when I tried to rape you again.”

Suddenly we hard loud knocks on the door.

“Efta7 el bab!” The voice sounded so familiar.

“En6r bas!”

“Oullaa sh3ndk em6awl?!”

“Shasawe el 7m*ara 6a7at ghashyana!” Eissa suddenly got up and pushed me away from his arms, he took his sleeves down to his arms again and pointed to the floor, meaning to say act like you’ve fainted.

“Aham shay!” He laughed hysterically. “3yal efta7 el bab khanshouf.”

I obeyed and quickly laid across the floor, acting like I fainted.

I felt Eissa unbutton one of the buttons on my shirt; only one to appear like he was trying to harass me but nothing was visible. He ripped one of my sleeves and rubbed his bloody arms on my shirt and cheeks to make it look like I was beaten up.

“Don’t say a word,” he hissed into my ear, “no matter what.”

“Okay dgeega! Bas khan albes,” he smirked and yelled out to the man.

“Yal 3ayar! Enta shemsawe m3aha?!” He laughed in amusement.

I heard Eissa move around quickly, probably trying to make the surroundings look believeable that something did really happen and that it was abusive.

Finally I heard the door click open.

“Offfffh,” I heard the second guy say.

“A7la wa7da feehum hathee, 9j lsanha 6weel bas jsmha nar,” Deep Voice laughed hysterically.

“Zain etsawe feeha bas she’s such a b*tch,” the guy continued.

Was it Bu Salem? Rashed?

No, the voice was too familiar but it wasn’t them!

I couldn’t focus on the voice properly, I never knew how to know anyone by their voice, I always needed to see their face, I would so be confused if I didn’t save the people I knew on my phone with their names or else I would ask “mnu” a hundred times whenever they would call. My friends always complained that I was a 9amkha when it came to identifying voices.

“Offh.”

“Laish kela dam?” The stranger asked.

“The b*tch tried attacking again so I sliced her again,” Deep Voice smirked.

“Khanshouf, sheel ehdoumha,” I heard the stranger say and my heart began to stammer.

“Wakhr agoul, malte hathe,” Deep Voice bickered.

“Still have a crush on her ha?” Stranger asked.

God the voice was SO familiar!

“La g6ee3a, I just need her body.”

“Once you’re done with her, it’s my turn.”

“Ee kaifik lema akhale9 menha, ekhth’ha,” Deep Voice smirked.

I needed to look at the stranger but how could I open my eyes in front of him? He would so then take advantage of me.

I needed to keep acting but I also needed to know why he sounded so freaking familiar.

“Mashe, enrid’ha dakhl wla shnu?”

“La lal7een ma khale9t menha.”

“Khale9 bsr3a, nabeek etrid 3shan ana ared b3ad, gabl la eshikoon bas.”

“Ee okay mashe.”

“Yalla 3yal,” I heard the stranger say and I assumed he turned his back to leave so I took the risk to open one eye to look at him.

But opening one eye to stare at him was the only thing I needed to instantly recognize him, which only caused both my eyes to shut open with pure shock.

It was Mi7sen!

-

Shocked?

Or expected it all this time?

Comment down below!

Paradise Chapter 17

Hope you enjoy these two posts, I wanted to post two instead of one tonight.

Enjoy! I'm finally going to bed now, waray ga3da.

-

Previously in Chapter 16:

“Because you have to say it to them, you have to.”

“Why?”

“Just do it Jawaa,” Eissa said and started the engine of the car, driving properly again. I hadn’t even realized we were parked for so long, I totally forgot about my surroundings.

He drove in silence and I sat in silence, I replayed his words thousands of times in my head and I hadn’t realized that we’d drove that far off until he nudged my shoulder, telling me it’s time to go into the trunk to act like I was truly put there for the whole ride.

“Jawaa,” Eissa had his mask on, now he looked like Deep Voice again but his voice was Eissa. He looked down at me, I was laid in the trunk of the car and my wrists were tied to my back, he didn’t put the black cloth over me just yet.

“Abeech etgouleenlehom b3d shay,” he said, sounding uncomfortable.

“What else?” I asked.

“That I raped you.”

-

I didn’t know how I would tell them such news. How would I even lie and act it out?

I was pushed back into the familiar room we were held as captives, Eissa gave my hand a gentle squeeze before he locked me back in.

I heard the familiar voices of Muneera, Hamdan and Mi7sen.

“Jawaa!” They all cried in relief and I heard Dalal mutter in annoyance in the corner. I bet she wished that I were dead.

I felt a pair of hands take off the dark cloth on my face and I felt another pair free me from the knots on my wrists.

Hamdan was the one helping me with the cloth and Muneera was behind me, she quickly hugged me tightly to her once I was free and started sobbing into my shoulder.

“Walla 3bale ench metay!” She sobbed and my heart tightened inside my chest, I hugged her back and squeezed her in my arms.

“I’m fine,” I croaked out, playing the role Eissa forced on me.

“Shsawaw feech?!” Mi7sen was the first to ask and he seemed angry. Hamdan stood quietly behind me, watching me, observing my arms and legs for more bruises.

“I d-don’t want to talk about it,” I stuttered, I let go of Muneera and walked into a corner but they all followed me except Dalal.

“Jawaa, goulay…” Hamdan said gently in a comforting voice.

“H-he took me to a scary place, I couldn’t see anything and he, he just kept saying such cruel things to me and abusing me…” I said the words in a croaky voice but I didn’t face them when I said it, I didn’t know how to lie.

“That a**hole,” Hamdan grunted in fury.

“That’s all?” Mi7sen asked.

“He sounds scary,” Muneera fearfully said.

“No, it’s not it,” I continued.

“Shnu b3ad?!” Mi7sen cried out.

“La et7n, give her some space,” I heard Hamdan argue with Mi7sen in annoyance.

“Lazem en3arf!” Mi7sen argued back.

“H-he raped me,” I blurted it out quickly.

“Sh-shnu ma sm3t?” Mi7sen asked.

“Bas khala9,” I bit my lip.

“Jawaa, did you say rape?” Hamdan’s voice was quiet and I felt Muneera grab my hand, I could feel her wanting to cry all over again.

“Yes.”

“I am going to f*cking kill him!” Hamdan suddenly yelled out in horror and I felt the tears of guilt, Muneera saw me tear up and I could see the pity on her face. She thought I was crying because I was raped not because I felt like such a horrible filthy person for lying to them.

“Wakhraw,” Muneera said to the guys and held onto my arm to comfort me.

“Jawaa…” She said gently but I knew she didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to say to her either. How was rape supposed to feel? I felt disgusted for lying about such a thing; the matter was serious, very serious.

“It’s okay,” I told her, unable to look at her and meet her innocently sad eyes.

“It’s not,” she said, angry. The guys didn’t move away, they remained standing behind me, listening and I could hear Hamdan’s heavy breathing, he was trying to calm himself down.

“Hamdan t3al…” Dalal pouted.

“Dalal mu waktch,” Hamdan snapped at her and I heard Dalal gasp silently at how mean Hamdan sounded.

“Jawaa,” Hamdan said, more gently in a kind tone towards me. I turned to face both of them and Muneera kept on holding my arm, I didn’t get rid of my tears, as fake as I felt, I needed them to look like I was saying the truth.

“I will kill him,” Hamdan said in full seriousness whilst looking me dead in the eye.

“It’s too late,” I stuttered.

“I. Will. Kill. Him.” He repeated in a slower pace, his nostrils flaring. Mi7sen was standing besides him, his face was in shock, he couldn’t utter a word or even draw an emotion on his face.

“Can we stop talking about it? Please?”  I pleaded.

“Asif.” Hamdan breathed out and Mi7sen whispered the same but he was too in shock to say anything else to me. He later walked off giving me some space but Hamdan remained with me along with Muneera.

For the next hour or two Hamdan and Muneera sat right besides me, Muneera kept ahold of my arm and Hamdan would look at me every few times with sadness in his eyes.

Mi7sen remained off in his corner and Dalal in hers, they didn’t approach me but Mi7sen had some weird expression on his face. It looked a lot like disbelief and horror, I felt even worse when seeing that on his face.

“Is Mi7sen okay?” I whispered to Hamdan after a while, I felt Muneera slowly fall asleep on my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Hamdan turned to look at me with his honest eyes. I always knew what he was all about, his face couldn’t bear a lie and he was so straightforward, he always was.

“Enshallah,” I gave him a sad smile.

If only you knew Hamdan, if only.

“I wish he took me instead of you.”

“Don’t say that,” I shook my head.

“I would have killed him, I swear.”

I remembered the sight of Eissa’s muscles, they were larger than Hamdan’s and Eissa seemed like he had a lot of skills for fighting, Hamdan only had the muscles of a gym player, not the ones of a hardcore cruel fighter.

“Lets not talk about him anymore, okay?” I looked at Hamdan.

“Asif, khala9 khanghayr el mawthou3,” Hamdan forced a smile and my insides melted, he was too kind, too honest that he expected whatever others said would be pure honesty too.

“Shrayech nel3ab truth or dare? W ma ra7 as2al 3an el mawthu3 klsh, I promise.”

“That game is getting old,” I laughed.

“Yalla 3ad, namaw w bas e7na ga3deen.” Hamdan looked at the others and I realized that every one of them were truly asleep.

“Okay okay,” I surrendered.

“Pick one.”

“Truth, male khlg agoum 3shan anagy dare.”

“Yal kaslana,” Hamdan laughed and I noticed dark circles under his eyes. I wondered if they got fed recently or not. The guilty came back; I wish I asked Eissa to let me at least sneak in food back with me.

“Yalla okay, did you ever have a crush on me?” Hamdan suddenly shot the question at me.

“Oulla men wain 6l3t hal su2al?” My eyes widened.

“Gelna lazm shay qawi 3shan enghayer el mawthu3,” Hamdan gave me an innocent look.

“La walla?” I laughed but I suddenly felt shy.

“Shfeech ma jawebtay?”

“La jad men wain 6l3t hal su2al?!” I laughed, feeling hot.

“Bas chithe.”

“Bas chithe ha?”

“Eee bas chithe, al7een ana ely ga3d as2lch, mu entay! Lema y9er dourch ts2leen s2leeny,” Hamdan grinned.

“W etha ma jawabt?”

“Then you lose.”

“Then okay I lose, game ended and you win.”

“Laa! Ma glna chithe 3ad, yalla jawbay, etha ma jawebtay then I’ll take it as a yes.”

“Mu 3la kaifik!”

“Embala kaifi, just watch me,” Hamdan laughed.

“Ohoo, enzain 3yal no, my answer is no.”

“La etchathbeen.”

“I’m the one answering, not you.”

“La etchathbeen,” he repeated, grinning.

“If you know the answer so well then why even ask?”

“So I’m right, you did have a crush on me.”

“Ugh Hamdan,” I nudged his shoulder, wanting to smack him.

“Taben etkafkheeny 9a7?” Hamdan chuckled and suddenly the whole weight of guilt I felt in my chest got lighter.

“Offh!”

“3ade kafkheeni, you can’t hurt me.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Shoufay,” Hamdan flexed a bicep and showed off his muscles. “Kel hatha, this is titanium.”

“Shayef nafsk wayed,” I laughed, smacking the bicep and he grabbed his arm, yelping out in pain, acting like he got hurt from my smack.

“You idiot,” I couldn’t stop laughing.

“An idiot you like,” he gave me a cocky smile.

“Yalla T or D?”

“Lal7een ma jawebtay!”

“Either way you’re gonna answer for me so what’s the point?”

“Hatha ghash, jawbay 3adl!”

“Gelt no w khala9,” I smiled.

“I don’t believe you.”

“3yal pretend that I said yes so you can be happy and continue with the game.”

“Fine I will,” he gave me an expression, acting like he was mad at me.

“Y3ne em3a9b al7een?” I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face.

“La laish a3a9b? Tawa Jawaa galetly ena she has a crush on me, so I’m super flattered right now,” Hamdan’s cockiness never dissolved off of his face.

“Ayal-“ I smacked him again before completing my sentence and he chuckled.

“Offfhh aaa7, that’s going to bruise!” He acted along.

“Chub enzain wla a6gk 9ij,” I laughed.

“Y3ne kel hatha mu 9ij hatha ye3tbr warm-up?”

“Ee so be afraid,” I gave him my scariest face and he only laughed even more.

“Your face is too cute to ever be scary.”

My cheeks flushed and I brushed off the compliment.

Before I could ask him again T or D to continue the game, the door was pushed open strongly and all of us went quiet to look at who just came in.

It was Eissa.

“Deep Voice.”

He was standing in the doorway with his mask on and I suddenly felt all of the guilt rush back for lying.

“Enta,” he pointed at Mi7sen and Mi7sen was wide-awake now with wide eyes. “Goum.”

Mi7sen obeyed and stood up instantly. Eissa grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him closer. He pulled him along and took him out with him before locking the door again, I saw Hamdan flex his hands, trying to not attack Deep Voice to avoid anything like before to happen again.

“What.. Where the hell is he taking him?!” Hamdan cried out in frustration.

Before we could speak, the door was pushed open again and Mi7sen was pushed back into the room in a hurry.

That was way too fast... and weird.

Mi7sen looked frightened, he looked straight at me and his hands were shaking.

“Jawaa,” Mi7sen stuttered. “They want you.”

They?

They who?

“They’re coming for you in a few minutes,” Mi7sen gulped, his Adam’s apple bopping up.

What the hell is going on?!

-

What do you think is going to happen next? Comment down below!