"Your mother...it was all your mother. She told me everything that happened."
"But you put yourself in danger. You know my father...you know what he is going to do to you if he sees you."
"Come on Samiya,you should know by now that risking is one of the things I'm made of. And I know that you like to be the rescuer not the damsel in distress but not this time. Your father is not here but he will be any time from now. We need to move!" It was more of a command.
She smiled then rushed forward and embraced her fiercely and tightly. "Thank you for coming."
"For you,always," her rescuer replied and kissed her fiercely then handed her a bag. "We will need this. Now,let's go."
She didn't want to let go of the rescuer that fast but she had to. At least her mother had come through and done something special for her for once. She clutched her bag in one hand while she held on to her rescuer with the other allowing herself to be led away.
There were only two entrances and exits in the house. Using the front one was risky since they could run into her father while he was getting back. They opted to use the back door and they quickly headed there. They had hardly made a step outside when they came face to face with the dragon himself. They stopped abruptly surprised by the sudden turn of events. They looked at each other not knowing what step to take.
"You think I didn't know that something like this would happen? You can't outsmart me Samiya. I have lived with you long enough to know all the tricks that you and your mother might come up with." That statement caught her off guard. That only meant one thing. Her mother had been caught. "Bring her out!" he commanded. Two guards appeared with her mother struggling between them. "You two don't deserve to be alive. You bring shame to our community." He took out his gun and directed it to her. Her mother gasped and her eyes widened in horror. Samiya didn't move an inch. Instead,she looked straight in his eyes.
"Go,get out of here. This isn't your battle to fight," she instructed her companion but didn't turn,her eyes never left her father's. She now directed her words to him. "I'm not afraid of you. You are a selfish self righteous asshole. Come on! Do what you know best,daddy," she added scornfully. "Kill me,show everyone the kind of father you are." She took a step forward."You might hold the power right now but that doesn't make you any less of the failure you are."
"Samiya," the voice called from behind her. "Sami,listen to me." She didn't stop. She stretched her arms wide on her sides and surrendered.
"Threaten me all you want but I will never beg for mercy or apologize for who I am. If it is a crime,I will gladly pay the price. So,shoot me now,kill me and get me out of your sight since I seem to disgust you much so."
Her father cocked the gun and tightened his hold on the trigger. A little more push and a bullet would pierce directly through her heart. She had no doubt that he would pull it and once she was down,her rescuer would be next and then her mother. She had no way to rescue her mother but she could cover for this one person who had tried to rescue her. What she didn't know was that the universe had other plans for her. Her fate was after all not hers to decide. It happened so fast but it took her an eternity to register what had happened. At least that was how it seemed like. She had her eyes closed waiting for the last string that held her between life and death to snap. She wanted to say something to the person who had shown her that life was beautiful when lived the way it was meant to be. The person who had been beside her creating their own little world in secret,the person who could build a whole perfect picture of life from scrap but she couldn't look at her and say the words that came out next.
"Thank you for giving me the life I have always dreamed of. Even though it was short lived and I can't have my happily ever after,the time we had it was worth it. And no matter how many lifetimes I go through,you will always remain dear to my soul. Goodbye Neesha Sutar." She looked at her mother,"Goodbye mother."
The shot rang out loud and clear and blood froze in her veins.The ringing of the bang and the blood curdling scream that came with it reverberated in her head as she fell and hit her head agaisnt a pillar but not too hard to knock her out of her consciousness. She had been so sure that she had been shot until Neesha's body slumped right next to her in a thud. She panicked,her face stricken in horror as soon as blood started oozing out of Neesha's chest. She crawled up to her face whereby she was struggling to keep her eyes open and talk at the same time. For two straight seconds she didn't know what to do. And then it all came back to her.
"Noooo!" she screamed bitterly not even trying to hide the anger in her voice. "Neesha,stay with me please. I was the one supposed to die,not you. Don't do this to me!" Neesha's eyes blinked in and out of consciousness but she could tell that it was mostly death left in them. She fondled her face as tears fell on the gentle skin of her rescuer on the ground. Slowly Neesha lifted her hand and touched one of hers. She attempted to smile but a guggle came out instead.
"I...g..got out Sami." Was what she managed to say.
"Wh..what?" she asked more confused than she had ever been in her whole life.
"The...ans...answers," she struggled trying to direct her eyes on her body. Slowly she pointed at the bag strapped across her shoulder with a shaky hand. "Go Sami...go."
"No!" she replied firmly not wanting to believe that she was about to lose the only person who had ensured that her sanity was in check. The only person she had the chance to be herself with. "I am not going anywhere!" she said stubbornly. Where could she go anyway? Her father would hunt her to the end of the world. And which world was that? Her world had been with this woman lying next to her lifeless. Her little world was crumbled and between staying there with her to the very end and fleeing and be hunted all her life,she chose death a million times over. She shook her head even more firmly. "I am going with you to the next world. There is no way I'm going to leave you!"
Neesha coughed and a stream of blood spurtured out of her mouth.
"Please..." there was strain in her eyes but looking into them deeper,she saw the desperation in them. She saw determination to push her away and her words echoed back in her head. 'I got out.' Realization dawned on her immediately striking her heart and almost sending her into a frenzy. She had wanted this,she had sacrificed herself purposely for her to live. She had thrown her away from the line of fire and taken the bullet that was meant to kill her. At this point she didn't know whether to be angry or sad. "For...me...promise me," Neesha struggled with words as she pointed at the bag. "G..." she gagged. "Go."
Samiya looked at the bag then back into the face of the woman on the ground. She wanted to bawl,to kick,to punch herself in the face. She sobbed painfully and tightened her hold on her hands. She was going to a point of no return,to a place she would never see her face or hear her laugh and there was nothing she could do for her. Well,except the one thing she had requested. Leave and live.
"I love you," she said almost in a whisper.
Neesha managed a tiny smile,"I..l..ove y..ou most. Sami." As if those were the only words she had been waiting to say,she closed her eyes and was gone. Just like that.
Samiya could swear that the emptiness that overtook her entire core could be touched at that moment. She stayed in that position with her mouth wide open in shock for several seconds until a bullet whizzed past her and snapped her out of the shock. The next one wouldn't miss. That much she knew. Gathering the bag closer to her,she crawled away from the body and away from the direction her father was shooting at hiding behind the rocks and brush that surrounded their home. Her heart was in her mouth but now the anger,sense of loss and hatred for her father all added up and gave her the strength to run. With only her father hunting her,she was at an advantage as long as she kept clear of a direct shot. Within minutes,she was out of the compound through the back gate and raced down the street. She was all alone. There was no one to save her except herself and so she ran,fighting against the wind and with no specific place to go to. First she needed to get as far away as she could from her father and then figure everything out after.
Several minutes later and when she was sure that nobody had followed her that far,she stopped and leaned over panting. She was sure she had run for more than a kilometre judging from her surroundings. She was way out of town. She looked around and located some restrooms. She headed there immediately and locked herself in one of them. She sat down and opened the bag revealing it's contents. Neesha had talked about answers and whatever those answers were,they were associated with the bag. Even though her sight was blurred,she noticed a passport holder and quickly went for it. An American passport with her photograph and a different name. Right away she knew that Neesha had made plans to escape. She rummaged through the rest of the contents; some medication,bandages,some cash,a book which she didn't bother to look what it was about but nothing else. No other passport. That's when she realized that there were plans alright,but the plans were to get her out of the country,alone.
"Why?" she asked as even more fresh tears escaped from her eyes even though she knew there was no one to answer her. If there were answers as Neesha had mentioned,it was her job to find them. She took the book next and read the cover. 'TILL THE END OF TIME.' Even without wanting to,she chuckled remembering all the moments Neesha had read out so many chapters of the story during the moments they managed to be together. Now she could not have that anymore. The book fell from her hands the moment she went to retrieve the bag from the ground and something fell out. It was a sealed envelope addressed to her. She felt around it's edges but there wasn't anything hard. She knew she didn't have enough time to open it so she returned it back inside the book then back inside the bag.She rubbed her tears off with her hands straightened her slacks and got out. She walked,her head bowed to the ground and taken far away inside her thoughts. She didn't realize that she was almost at the local harbor until she heard a loud horn and knew that it was either a ship docking or leaving. Thinking about the passport,she wasn't so sure that she could escape through the airport. That was too risky. She fastened her pace heading to the harbor and sure enough,there was a ship about to leave. Her mind worked fast in the next few seconds. She rushed inside the nearest shop and gathered whatever edible thing she could,some bottles of water then left,leaving all the money she had with the owner. What was left now was to find her way inside the ship without being seen. "God help me now," she said closing her eyes tightly but as if the universe taking away one most important thing in her life had opened up another,she managed to get in seconds before the ship lauched it's anchor without being seen. She settled between the containers,away from the public eye. She let go and decided to let the universe take control. She closed her eyes and let it take her to whatever place fate would throw her.