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Zahira's Pov
No....
As his words rang deep inside my head and I couldn't help but tremble
" No, Faiz y-you ca-can't do this...y-you won't-"
I whispered as if not believing he would do this,
to Aaqil
when suddenly I felt a hand cup my cheek and my eyes snapped towards, heavy with tears, to see it was Faiz
who looked at me with such warmth,
with such love,
but I knew what was hidden behind those
A devil
" try me,
if you can stop me
but remember,
I never leave them alive who come between me and my love
and you should know it better, Zahi...
he didn't do right by coming between us...
and trust me, my Jaan he will have to pay...
even if it means by blood...."
and with that, a tear slipped my eye,
then two, the three
and then they were non-stop,
as my mind absorbed all his words, his darkness, every single syllable he uttered and I became absolutely numb
and my watery eyes moved towards his face, with utter bewilderment as I couldn't believe
he was Faiz
My Faiz
and before I could even react he softly kissed me on my cheek,
my tears, just like he used to
when we were little
" see you later, love..."
he whispered in my ear and before I even know
He left
leaving me, in tears, sadness, pain
broken
___
18 Years ago...
" come fast Zahi, Maryam Aunty must be waiting"
Hazira shouted from the hall as she continuously looked at the watch and tapped her feet
When finally a little girl shows up, coming with her father as she slowly and steadily walked down the stairs
but at that time she looked no less than a fairy straight from heaven
as the pink frills on her frock blew due to her bouncing and jumping and her father secretly whispered something in her ear
which made her giggle like the real fairy she was as her little hands clutched that of his father's big ones, as she went down
"Ammi!!"
she screamed happily on seeing her mother and rushed towards her as she hugged her feet,
Hazira who was irritated a second ago, on her seeing her little princess, smiled as she looked so pretty and took her in her arms
"Shall we go?"
to which little zahira screamed excitedly
" Yess!!"
__
the car stops at a place as all of them get out of the car,
Zahira in her father's arms awe in surprise as the mansion was no less great than their own then
and they enter the marvelous rich mansion, when a woman, not more than a year or two older than her own mother rushes to them
but what made Zahira surprised was how similar she looked to her mother!
" Assalamu alaikum
, O my god, Hazira such a pleasant surprise!!"
she shrieked in excitement as she immediately engulfs her in a hug
" Wa alikum Salaam Aapi!"
Hazira happy replies as she hugs her sister back,
it was after such a long time they were seeing each other that they missed each other a lot
Maryam parted from Hazira as she smiled at her younger sister when slowly her eyes trailed to the two figures standing behind Hazira
The man standing there, it was Abbas, as she recognized it was her younger sister's husband
but what caught her attention was the little fairy in his arms, her eyes widened and suddenly her heart filled with excitement as realization hit hard
" And who is that little pixie there?!!"
she asked in a happy-filled voice as she moved behind her sister and closed the baby, Zahira who was clueless about her, peered at her with her innocent eyes, as she was meeting her for the first time
but for Maryam, it was as if she immediately fell in love with the baby, as she realized it was her younger sister's daughter,
her bhanji!
Hazir though younger than Maryam was quite more mature than her elder sister who looked at her daughter with such adoration and she just smiled looking at them bonding
" wish her Zahira! she is your Khala, see!!"
and zahira's little head snapped towards her father, who gave her a big smile and encouraged her and she looks back at her with her innocent eyes and speaks softly
" Assalamu Alaikum-m"
but before she could speak anything her aunt shrieked in excitement as she took her from her father's arm into hers and cradled her
" Wa alikum Salam, Zahira you are soo cute!!"
Zahira felt a little uncomfortable as she looked back at her abbu to take her back,
but seeing how her Khala was looking at her with so much adoration and a smile, she realized she was not a bad person and started getting comfortable with her as she hugged her back smiling
when suddenly
"Ammi!!!"
they hear a loud scream of a boy and all of their heads snap towards the source to see a boy, not more than a year or two older than her, came running from the stairs to the hall where they were,
followed by Maryam's husband, Farhan Baig, also abbas's old friend, who is also a big businessman but not as big as abbas, as he ran behind his careless boy
Zahira was looking as the boy came running towards her khala and huffed as if he had run a big marathon,
he looked like he was about to say something to his mom when his brown eyes snapped toward her,
and that very instinct when he saw someone else other than him in his mother's arms he puffed his cheeks and crossed his arms in anger, but zahira being clueless of the little boy looked at him with her innocent eyes
" Ammi where were you- who is she??"
he asked as he pointed towards zahira, maryam just chuckled looking at her little boy and got zahira softly down as she landed on her feet
" my sweet little Zahira,
meet my son!
Aaqil Baig "
she introduced her son to zahira! as she turned to Aaqil
" and my sweet, remember I told you today my younger sister, your khala would be coming over!!
meet Zahira
she is my sister's or your Khala's daughter!!
isn't she cute! let's be friends with each other!!"
she said excitedly when her son retorted back crossing his arms
" No, I am cuter than her and I don't want to be friends with her."
he said rudely, slamming his feet, but listening to someone's giggles
to see it was zahira who was giggling because
' he says he's more cuter than me, is he a girl?'
and as if realization hit Aaqil of what he said, he became embarrassed as his cheeks become red and he says again arrogantly
" N-No-I mean- i am a brave and handsome boy!! and I don't want to be friends with a girl"
he declared, and zahira pouted as she didn't understand why he didn't like her
but the adults who were watching were quite enjoying listening to their little bickering when finally Maryam broke it by saying
" C'mon don't be like that Aaqil, you are momma's boy right?
Now show her your room and all your toys!
Rabeea! Please take these children to the room!!"
when Maryam shouted and an old woman comes out of the kitchen with a tray in her hand and a big smile and Aaqil's and their head snaps towards her
as she neared, Zahira realized she didn't look that old, still probably in her 40s,
but for her age, she looked quite weak and poor, but all of this was well hidden by that beautiful smile she showed and the warmth in her eyes!
as she approached with some juices and snacks, for the adults and children
and as she neared, zahira realized that she was smiling at her only to which zahira also reciprocated innocently, she seemed like a kind lady to her
" Ji Madam, chalo malik aapko room leke chalti hu!!"
( Yes Madam, let's go to the room little cupcakes!!)
she said acknowledging maryam, the woman of the house,
and then turning back to the children as she sweetly talked and started taking them to the room,
they were climbing up the stairs together, Aaqil already ran to his room to prepare the toys as slowly zahira and Rabeea followed them
Zahira was enchanted as she looked at how beautiful and big the mansion was when suddenly she heard
" what is your name, my child?"
and she turned her little head to see it was rabeea who was asking the question as she had a soft smile on her face, that also bought a smile on her face as she looked nice to her and said
" Zahira!"
with a big smile
" Mashallah, what a sweet name! just like that of a fairy!"
she remarked softly laughing, Zahira smiled, she always liked to make people happy, to become a reason for their happiness and smile!
and especially seeing, Rabeea laughing, somehow little zahira couldn't help but feel extra happy about it as her insides bloomed... cause judging by Rabeea's face she looked like she rarely laughed but when she did it was enough to make her realise her laugh was beautiful!
" A-aapka naam kya he? aur aap yaha kya karti ho?"
(wh-who are you?)
zahira questioned sweetly, to that she said
" Me?
My name is Rabeea Khan
and you see this beautiful mansion you are in!
I work in this mansion as a maid!."
she replied without any hesitance, as she was talking to zahira, who at which nodded her head as if she understood what she said but rabeea just smiled looking at the confused naive girl,
Rabeea was a kind-hearted lady and knowing that a little fairy would be coming to her house made her overwhelm. unlike Aaqil, seeing her soft nature she couldn't help but give out blessings to this little soul
who also looked so cute like a princess in her frock and so pretty, and she was sure she would steal many hearts when she grows up!
when finally they reached the end of the stairs and took a turn to the room, rabeea said smilingly
" this is Aaqil's room, dear
I am sure you will really like it here!
I was told a sweet little princess would be coming to the mansion so I prepared everything for you,
but if you need something let me know dear!"
and opened the room,
it was a big room just as that of zahira, a typical boys' room filled with several toys, trains, cars, robots, etc on every corner. she saw Aaqil was seated on the bed and on seeing her he shouted
" Zahira, come here!!"
he signed her to come here and she ran towards him to see the toys he was showing, Rabeea just sighed shaking her head as she looked at the innocent little kids,
as it reminded her of someone...
and she felt wetness in her eyes but she quickly hid it
and with silence and no disturbance, she kept the tray of juices and snacks on the side table of the room and left to let the little kids enjoy
--
It was night time,
time already passed so fast that they didn't even realize when it was nighttime already, as Abaas opened the door to his mansion,
Hazira carrying zahira who was rubbing her eyes because of sleep, today she had a lot of fun in her khala's mansion and with Aaqil
even though he wasn't ready to share all his toys with her that easily and threw tantrums here and there still she had a lot of fun, as the adults got busy talking and catching up with each other
but what she really liked was their maid, Rabeea, she smiled remembering her she was a really sweet person and hardworking person to zahira,
and how she helped her whenever she wanted something or politely talked to her she really liked it and she really wished to go back there soon again
they had already had dinner in their house so they decided to straight away be off to bed,
And her parents made their way to the room, same went for zahira as she entered her room,
she gave a big smile on entering as how much she missed her room, she opened the window of her to room get the fresh air and jumped on her bed
remembering all those fun things and activities that happened today, she wished to see them in her dreams!
and she was about to lay down with her soft toy, mary when suddenly,
she glanced outside of the window only for her vision to get stuck there,
she frowned as she looked,
someone was standing outside of their mansion at a distance,
but due to the dark she couldn't see the face
she got quizzical and questions arose in her little mind, as she looked at it longer wondering if it will go
only to realize that
the person was also looking at her!
through the window!
as it stood there in silence,
she got curious wondering who that person was and he was looking towards her room only!
and she couldn't take her curiosity in for long and finally decided to see who it is
and if he needs any help,
extremely regardless of how it can be dangerous as well but her being a little kid didn't think of that
as with her hushed feet, she slowly went down the stairs, a finger on her cute lips in order to not wake her parents up!
and crossing the hall as she opened the door slowly, the guards were asleep as it was already pretty late and as such nobody was there, so it was clear for her to go
her little head spun in her position, as she got outside, to locate the mysterious figure,
when she finally spotted him standing away at a distance and internally she felt happy and excited like a kid
she realized that the person was looking at her only,
all this time,
she slowly neared the figure, to realize it was tall,
quite taller than her
but it was so dark that neither could she see his face or body parts or clothes
the figure stood still in its position as the curious girl neared him...
Zahira was curious,
she hoped it would say something, as she closed, but in return was only met with silence
her heart softened as a thought appeared in her head
' what if it needs my help and was scared to tell'
and she slowly walked it,
finally when she was at quite a distance from the person,
close enough to look at it
that's when
their eyes meet,
but zahira had never ever imagined of, who she would meet in the middle of the night
and her doe eyes widened and a little gasp left her mouth
as she was met with
' Those eyes...
The Boy who disappeared.... '
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