Faryah

75

--------------Central city east, Los Angeles, California.

------------------------ 100 S Santa Fe Ave, 3:40pm.

" Thank you sir" I said as I hurriedly got down from the taxi and paid him his fee.  I looked around the busy area and stood right in front of the address Najmah was kept, Tasha's diner. Why were they keeping her in a diner?. There were tall buildings all around, probably residential apartments.

I pushed open the door to the diner after reciting Ayatul-Qursi and walked in with shaky legs and heard a chime. I was frightened to my core but I had to control myself if I wanted to get Najmah out of all this mess. This place was empty. There were chairs, tables and everything that made it a diner but there was no one around.

" Hello" There was no one to respond to me. I moved to around to see if I could find any clues or anything but I got nothing. Were they trying to trick me or something?.

Najmah's loud cry resounded in my ears over and over again and I looked around to see where it was coming from. My baby was here. " Najmah" I called as I followed her cry to a door that led to the diner's kitchen. There was nothing there. " Najmah" I yelled again and I could hear her cries become louder and louder. I know I'm not hallucinating, I can hear her. " Najmah" There were big tears rolling down my cheeks as I moved around the kitchen throwing the pots away so I could find a way to get to my daughter. The only door that led outside was locked and her cry was becoming louder and was going crazy looking for her.

I stopped pacing and tried to calm myself so I could properly hear where her cry was coming from. It was coming the right extreme end of the kitchen, where the gas cooker was. I rushed to where it was and heard her cry coming from beneath the gas cooker. There was a metal chain underneath the cooker. That was where she was. I tried my best to push the cooker away, and with much effort,  I did.

Grabbing the chain that was connected to a wooden part of the concrete floor and pulling it up with all the strength I never realized I had, a flight of stairs that led to a dark space was revealed. Najmah's cry was coming from there. She was in there. I had nothing with me to light my path in and I was scared. Najmah was there so I had to brace myself, I was going to take her home.

In Sha'a Allah.

After reciting Ayatul Qursi again, I stepped on the first step of the stairs, staring into the dark with shivering legs. Lights suddenly came on in the dark space and I walked further in to get a closer view. It was an old deserted parking lot.

I followed Najmah's cry further in and found her.

I found my baby and she was locked in a big cage right at the middle of the parking lot. The pretty face that looked exactly like Khalid's was right there, crying her heart out in a cage and she was all alone in the dark. Why won't she cry that loud for Allah's sake.

They were treating my baby like an animal. That witch.

I ran as fast as I could to Najmah and a smile spread across my face as I stopped in my heels and knelt down to see if I could open up the cage.

" Mummy's here Naj Naj" I said as I dried my tears and tried to open the cage. It was open.

Something was wrong.

I opened up the cage and looked closely inside, Najmah was right there but it looked like she wasn't. She didn't stop crying and she just sat there, in one position. I reached inside to touch her but my hand went right through the image.

No. 

It was a hologram. The device was right there and there was a speaker behind the image of Najmah.