ᴋɪɴɢ ʀᴀꜰᴀᴇʟ: ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ ✓

⭒49⭒

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls;
The most massive characters
Are seared with scars.
{Khalil Gibran}
______

A mixture of emotions were present on their faces. Uncle opened the door, and from somewhere in the house, auntie called after him to check who it was. My teary eyes were on uncle the whole time, as he was left too stunned to reply back. Soon auntie lingered around the door and upon further inspection, the glass of water slipped from her hands.

No later than that did the remaining Mukhtar family arrive. Everyone was In a state of shock, as if they'd seen a jinn. I would've laughed at their reaction had this been in different circumstances.

Auntie was the first one to unfreeze from her stance. She grabbed my face in her hands, gently rubbing them across my cheeks. I closed my eyes to the soothing touch, and opened them. If only mama was here. I couldn't help but think.

She pulled me towards her, embracing me In a tight hug, as if I would disappear any second. Perhaps I would. Her cries reached my ears and soon, both our emotions were in harmony. We felt each others pain and grief. It was as if they'd lost a daughter of their own.

At this, I couldn't help but let out more tears. Ya Allah. Thank you for reuniting me with the Mukhtar's! Soon, Lameesa and the twins engulfed me in a hug, rendering me unbalanced. I was about to fall had Lameesa not gripped onto me tightly. Auntie stepped back, chuckling in delight.

"Never ever leave like that again!" She chastised lowly and I embraced it wholeheartedly. Never again. Never again would I endanger others lives ever again. Anything could have happened to the Mukhtar's whilst I was away. They could have been tracked down or worse, killed! Ya Allah Khair!

Auntie ushered me inside, and everyone else followed behind me. I was about to speak up, but then uncle came to stand infront of me. He blessed me with a prayer upon my arrival, lovingly patting down my hijab clad head.

"I'm so proud of you, my daughter. I cannot believe you have grown up so much" he smiled wistfully, meanwhile I was left in a state of confusion. I did not know what to think of uncle's peculiar behaviour, regarding my disappearance.

Soon enough, everyone broke from their reveiere as the doorbell rang. Lameesa went to open the door, and almost everyone was shocked to see who it was. The smile on my face faltered upon seeing Rafael stood before us proudly. Uncle ushered him inside, and as soon as the door closed shut, he made haste in hugging the man.

I would have laughed had this been an ordinary encounter with an ordinary fiancé, but it was none of that. And of course, that wasn't possible when his gun was in view.

He wrapped his arms around uncle, and I bet in that moment he wanted to do so much worse than just tighten his hold on him. His suit stretched upwards, showing the outline of his gun. I glanced at everybody in horror, hoping they didn't see the danger induced weapon.

Thankfully all of their attention was on Rafael's face. Come on people. He's not that good looking. Without a chance for anyone to wake up from their hypnosis, I mouthed for him to hide his gun, which he successfully did whilst pulling away from uncle dearest.

A sigh of relief escaped my mouth, causing the twins to glance at me.

"I'm so glad to be back!" I exclaimed in delight. Now how do I explain to everyone what really went down. Oh no. They probably think I'd been having the time of my life with my fiancé. Oh god no. I could practically feel the blood rising to my face.

Everyone walked to the guest room, with uncle and Rafael in lead. Meanwhile I stayed back and dreaded the oncoming questions. What would I say to them? Would they believe me? What about my bruises! Did they see them too? I made sure to cover them with as much concealer as possible, in the plane.