As dusk arrived and the day said goodbye, the residents of Kampung Permatang welcomed the coolness of the approaching night, but Suraiya felt nothing of the soothing calmness. The tension within had risen by the second as a torrent of insults came at her.
On whim and curiosity, she had accompanied her supposed new friend, Ain, on a personal trip to another stranger's house. Bad move as she discovered the young woman had lied about herself. And now, Ain or Syafa or whoever the hell she was, and the others started bad mouthing single women and their flirting with married men.
Their sideways glances told Suraiya enough who they had in mind. She just sat there and didn't know how to react as her secret turned cannon fodder for public gossip.
They are talking about you, my dear. A vixen. Stealing husbands and boyfriends. Listen to them. They don't even care you're hearing everything. They want you to.
Beads of sweat appeared on Suraiya's forehead. She noticed nobody giving a damn about her predicament. Kept yakking and glancing at her. Then laughing. Too loud that they pinged inside her like a thousand pinball inside her mind.
Why are you all doing this to me?
Suraiya was about to stand up and protest when her inner voice spoke again.
You think they are going to listen? You're a nobody. Who cares about what you think? Ugly. Useless. Now you know why he chose another woman, don't you? Everyone knows how useless you are. Look at them. Just look at them!!
Suraiya turned and saw the older woman ushered the young boy into the kitchen. Swore she saw the smirk in both their faces as they walked past her.
Oh she laughed too, the old hag. Enjoyed the jokes about lonely ugly maidens who long after other women's husbands.
… Even the boy….
Yes. Even him. Isn't that the kitchen they're going to? There's your chance to get back at them. All of them.
In her mind then Suraiya saw images of fire and brimstone. AinSyafa and her friends writhing as a blaze engulf them. Screaming in pain as they begged her forgiveness for all the humiliation thrown her way.
To hell with you! I will never forgive!
Yes, girl. That's it. Revenge will be sweet. Listen well. They're at it again. Called you a loose woman. That you're no better than a whore, my dear.
The laughter rang loud in her mind. Breathing hard, Suraiya stood up from her seat besides Ain and walked over to the adjoining kitchen. She bumped into the old woman coming out with a tray in her hand. Smiling.
That not a smile, you stupid girl. The old hag is smirking at you. You are so naive.
She ignored the old woman and stepped into the kitchen. Saw the boy sitting alone at a small dinner table, engrossed with his mobile phone.
A built-in wall and hanging cabinet line the kitchen wall on one side. A marble countertop formed an L-shape enclave with a double sink at one end and a three-burner hob on the other. A water dispenser stood in between.
Suraiya spotted the gas lighter, its yellow handle hanging from a rack next to the hob. Without thinking she took it and then stooped to open the door beneath, smiling when she saw the green colored gas cylinder.
That's it, girl. You know you want to do it too, don't you? Do it. Now.
Suraiya held the black rubber tube fastened to the regulator and then tugged hard, the nozzle clip popping from the force she exerted. Heard the hiss as the gas within escaping containment.
Can you hear your vengeance coming, girl?
She could hear the boy's movements, the stool he sat on creaking. Perhaps, only now he was curious as to why this strange woman was in the kitchen.
Ignore him. He laughed too. Now, give them a taste of your vengeance. Do it, girl, and know I am proud of you.
Suraiya smelt a whiff of the leaking gas as she thrusted the lighter inside. Felt the soft rustle as they caressed her wrist. Behind her in barely a whisper, she heard the boy asking "Auntie, what are you doing?"
She tilted her head - chaotic thoughts buzzing insanely within – and laughed as she pressed the trigger. Suraiya heard a spark and then a cannon let loose. An insanely intense searing pain tore through her body as a single thought crossed her mind before everything went blank.
****
Too late Ain captured the chaotic lunacy in Suraiya's mind and the swift exit of a telepathic presence. And even then, it was after hearing Ashraf wondering why the auntie arriving with Dad's friend was stooping down beneath the kitchen hobs. With the gas lighter in her hand.
Instinctively, Ain grabbed the person closest to her, Yani, and pulled them both down to the floor. Almost at the same time, the wall partially hiding the kitchen from view burst outwards sending shrapnel, debris, and dust into the living room. The force of the explosion shattering glassware and blowing the windows from their fragile frames.
As the house started breaking apart around them, Ain struggled to her knees. She pushed away torn cushions, broken woods, and twisted steel. Shards of glass everywhere. Her ears were ringing, and Ain found herself unable to breathe as smoke and dust swirled around them. Heard whimpering and realized it was Yani.
Ain helped her up and they staggered away from the once-beautiful living room. She saw Yani's uncle with his head bent awkwardly, his bloodied body on a tumbled sofa. A piece of wood plunged into his upper torso told Ain enough there was no saving him. Heard voices outside the house, shouting and screaming. She held on to the semi-conscious, Yani, muttering her son's name. Ain knew Ashraf was gone, having heard his last thoughts.
Fire was breaking out at the wrecked house, as sparks and embers caught torn fabrics and flammable materials. The crowd outside grew bigger.
This wasn't John's work. Someone else? Who? Suraiya… God help me…
Her mind alert again, Ain did everything she could to mask both herself and Yani. Made them invisible from those present, influencing them into not registering their presence. Fearful of a follow-up attack.
She heard cries from the crowd of a survivor, turning to see a few men braving the burning house to pull out Yani's auntie from beneath a toppled sofa. Carrying the old woman away to safer ground. Ain scanned her mind and read a mass of chaotic thoughts.
She's alive… Thank God…
Huddled underneath the rambutan tree, Ain began to soothe Yani's emotions, trying her level best to calm her mind down as a loud siren from afar signaled the arrival of a fire engine. She extended her scan and found John Doe unaware of what had happened. Detected a growing rot of the neural network linking his mind and physical self. Though curious, Ain cared little in staying and pulled back into herself.
Who did this?
She then remembered Suraiya's thoughts. Hearing and dismissing the whispers of indignation towards her newfound friend as purely a reactionary response.
Why? Why am I being targeted? Who are you really, Syafa?
Ain pulled her mind masking tightly to within a few feet of their temporary sanctuary. She closed her eyes, allowing her breathing to regularize itself and continued to console the woman she had betrayed in another life. Before them, firemen had started dousing the flames burning wood and concrete to cinder, the rising smoke filtering the moonlight shining brightly across a cloudless night.
****
Sitting on the toilet seat inside a bathroom modestly furnished, Saari was relieved his nosebleed had finally stopped. Despite his best effort, he could not find Syafa.
What's worse was how both of his arm hung limply by his side, the flushing bowl his seatback for the last half an hour. He had return from his roaming only to discover himself unable to move a single limb.
Kendall had left him to parts unknown, said she'd be back soon. They had stopped again at a small hotel at Tanjung Malim. He knew exactly why they were there, and it irritated him. He needed her to get him to Radian, sensing their office to be also the destination Syafa was heading to.
As Saari waited to see out the surprising incapacitation, he knew there would be no dispensing of the doctor. Ever since the Tanjung Malim engagement, Saari noticed his paralysis being longer and more debilitating.
He wondered if Syafa had the same limitations. She had bested him when he attempted to take over Arman's mind. Left him crippled for hours. Destroyed those who boosted his ability but for reasons unknown, spared him.
Saari let off a sigh of relief he began feeling the slightest tingling sensation of an impending numbness in his left hand. And despaired as he began to again lose control of his mind to the darkness that dwell within.