A flame in the Storm

Chapter 41

My eyes were locked at Rizwan's smirking face behind bars. We were sitting opposite inspector Prakash in the police station giving them the details of the attack. What angered and pained me the most was that he was not even sorry for his actions; there was no regret in his eyes.

Every memory, every feeling which I had buried in the deep recesses of my heart came out in a flash. It was like a screen playing in front of my eyes. The first time I saw him, his first gift. Those beautiful words he used to say, his ultimate betrayal and the brutality with which he treated me in those three months. My mind wandered to girls he had used the same way preying on their innocence and they kept quiet for the fear of humiliation and society. I was just another naive girl who had fallen for that. If he hadn't kidnapped me and the matter didn't blow out, then I might have been among them, suffering alone, hidden from the eyes of the world.

My eyes started to burn and I felt being choked again. This time it was not his hands that were hurting me, it was his eyes and the smirk on his face. Before the tears came out I excused myself from my parents and Raafay who was sitting with me in front of the inspector and came outside. Not wanting to let him know that I still suffer because of his actions and give him joy, basking in the fact. I inhaled air to the maximum my lungs could take; as if it would dissolve my pain.

I jumped as someone put a hand on my shoulder. Turning back, I saw Raafay extending water bottle towards me.

"Are you okay?" He asked, "Do you want some water?"

"No," I said feeling annoyed recalling his words from last night and not wanting to deal with it right now.

"I will make sure he gets death sentence for what he did," he said with determination in his eyes.

"You don't have to" I replied "you are neither a judge nor a police officer. So stop pretending you can do something" I said moving away from him.

"I will help Inspector Prakash build a strong case against him," he said taking hold of my wrist.

"Will you just stop touching me?" I shouted jerking away my hand from his, drawing attention from the people around us. "You are never going to get what you want. I am not naïve anymore like I was when Rizwan trapped me with his facade of love. I am not going to fall for it again."

He went silent taking a step back, his face became set like a rock and before a tear could fall from his eye, he lowered them and went away without turning back.

I saw him leave in his car and dropped to my knees crying out loud, not caring they were people looking at me. For once I wanted to drop the act of being fine and let my real emotions come to the surface. I let the tears flow until my throat ached and my head throbbed as if my brain wanted to explode from inside.

Mom knelt in front of me and cupped my face in her hands, her own tears running down her cheeks. I threw my arms around her and all the pain that I had refused to feel all these years came out.

"Its okay Maria," she said running her hand through my back. "It's all over, he is behind bars. No one can hurt you anymore."

But my sobs only increased.

I was asked to sign on some papers in the police station to complete the formalities.

"Please make sure he gets the punishment he deserves," dad said to the inspector shaking his hand.

"We sure will. We are sorry we couldn't find him before." He replied.

As we reached home, Farah, Uzma and Salman were waiting for us.