Trust Me (An Islamic Love Story)

Chapter 47

The smell of dust and old wood hits me. My head burns, and I can feel something thick trickling down my head— blood.

Go back to sleep. I demand myself. Go back into the unknown. You don't want to be here.

Where am I?

Wherever I am, I want to be far away as possible from myself. Being unconscious is the only way I can escape my horrifying thoughts. I want to stay forever in this moment, in the moment of hovering between life and death, but something inside me— a voice that I can never hush —reminds me of reality.

I remember leaving Abbas's house.

I remember the rain.

I remember talking to Azar.

I remember being hit by a car.

I remember him screaming.

The more I remember, the worse my headache gets.

Azar's voice causes a conflict in my mind. A part of me is worried about him worrying and is pushing me to face whatever I need to face because I have to do it someday. Yet another part of me is too exhausted to even open my eyes and fight back to reality.

You need to be there for Azar. He came all the way here to find you.

"I want to be with you, Abeer." My heartbeat fastens as I remember. I have to see him and show him I am here and still alive.

My legs are hurting. My back is bruised. My ribs are hurting. My hands are... Realization hits me. They are cuffed back.

My heart skips a beat. My hands are cuffed?

I told you to go back to sleep, the desperate voice inside me says. Come on, you can still sleep. The nightmares will go away.

Just open your eyes. Maybe it is someone holding my hands. Maybe it is a drip.

I take deep breaths to calm myself, but who am I trying to fool?

I can't be calm. I can't turn away from reality no matter what I do.

I know it is real.

I know I am cuffed, and I know he is here.

I know he found me.

I am a pawn in his sick game. I have always been, and now his next move is me. This is what I signed up for when I left my safe place. This is what I put myself into when I left Azar. I have jumped off a cliff knowing there is no ground.

I don't know how to find the courage to open my eyes. I never know how, but I do so and find myself in a small, pitch-black room.

A dark pair of eyes meet mine. My nightmares, I realize as those eyes hold me, are nothing compared to the horrifying reality. Those eyes... Those eyes take out every ounce of hope or faith. Any chance. They take away everything. And the more I want to look away, the more I can't. They hold me hostage as they bare me on a guillotine. I wish I could look away because those cold, cold eyes hold the death of my childhood and my innocence.

"Angel," Raheesh says, kneeling in front of me, examining me from up close.

My heart is pounding. What a naive, wild little creature. Doesn't it know that there is no escaping the cage? "You have never been good at playing hide and seek." He pinches my arm until it begins to bruise. "Do you remember this beautiful pain?"

I don't respond. I can't. The iron grip of fear on my heart won't let me.

"I missed you so much. Your cries, your screams, your pain, your misery, it made me complete." He sighs as if he feels nostalgic, and it makes me want to puke. I can't be here. This can't be happening. "I sure have immense power now, but without you, I don't have that satisfaction. I am going to complete what I started."