It Happens To Everyone... Fear

November, 2007

The rocky sound of a bus on a bad road brought me back to life. As I struggled to open my eyes, I heard voices.

"Is he awake?"

"No. I told you the sedative was strong."

"You did well this time Slide. You said his parents are away?"

"In Europe, and will not be back for another month." The voice was of a familiar woman's. How could I mistake my Nanny's voice? She has nursed me since I could remember to speak.

" I have made the transfer to your account. You can leave the country now. You have to disappear. I mean, until you are contacted."

"I understand Dagger. Don't tell me what I already know. Just make sure to send the rest after two days as agreed. This one was not easy to come by plus, his parents are the kings of pounds. The ransom will be..."

He shot her a sharp glare in warning. "I told you not to comment on how much we receive for our victims."

Slide nodded immediately, understanding her blunder. "Ok. I leave now. Just remember to keep your promise." She glanced my way one more time and for a moment, she paused as if trying to say something. Was she hesitating? But then, I heard the man called Dagger yell out.

"Stop the bus!" He commanded.

The bus stopped. Slide went down and it continued on it's way.

I quickly shut my eyes again. Partly because my head felt like it was literally coming off my neck from pain and partly because I wanted them to think I was still asleep.

I didn't need anyone to tell me that I had been kidnapped. Even if I woke up now, it would be to my own detriment. I heard the footsteps of a man come up to where Dagger and Slide had stood a moment ago. "Are you going to let her go?"

"Yes. Slide works for the boss, not us and the boss say she stays alive... For now." Dagger responded.

"If she were so golden, why had he lied to her? The boy is not kidnapped for ransom, but traffi..."

"Sniper!" Dagger's voice was a thunderous warning, cutting the other man off mid-way. As though there was someone present who should not be aware of their plans. Me? Did he know I was awake?

"Ok. Ok." Sniper said. "Just about an hour now and we will be at the border." He quickly switched topics and soon, I heard him leave.

I heard footsteps closer to me. "A lot of the men here are quite chatty, aren't they?" He asked, confirming my fear that I had indeed been caught pretending to still be unconciouss.

"They are usually not like that." He took the seat beside me." I felt his breath on my face. Smelly blend of cigarette and Indian hemp. "I know you are awake. What do they call you boy?" The rustling sound of paper and then, the thick smell of Indian hemp blended with fire and paper blocked my nostrils. Unable to keep up the pretense, I coughed out loud and pulled away from him. But when I tried to open my eyes again, the beaming sunlight sent piercing pain to my head, making it possible for me to only partially succeed in my quest.

"Don't strain yourself boy. A knock out Slide gave you trust me." His English was polished. It had a hint of Jamaican accent to it. Did these people work with other countries as well?

"Who are you?" I found my voice at last, but Dagger only smirked, blowing out another thick smoke of Indian hemp. "Where are you taking me?" I tried another question. With my eyes still shut and my head pounding like there was a live speaker tuned to it's highest volume in my brain, I knew I had been drugged. I had read about similar crime scenes often, watched crimes and thrillers a lot, but I never imagined I would be a victim.

"You heard loud mouth Sniper. We are almost at the border!" Dagger snapped and added as an afterthought smirking again. "Like your parents little one, you are leaving the country." His sarcasm did not escape me.

"Oh. Slave Trade? Child trafficking?" I feigned boredom. "I am just a child. I cannot help you much." Relaxing my head against the iron wall of the bus and completely shutting my eyes, Allah knew I didn't feel the calm I sounded. but I had to continue. It was my only chance of fishing out information on the situation. "It would be better if you just demanded some ransom."

For a while, Dagger was quiet and then he said "You are a bright boy", and another round of thick smoke hit me in the face. "You will fetch us much more money than you can imagine. It's a pity you are leaving the country. But then as an after thought, maybe when we are done with your body, we will shred it into pieces and send them in a golden parcel to your Diplomat of a father." He gave a sinister laugh then.

One more time. You can see what he looks like. I urged myself, opening my eyes again. I saw his face. A heavy ugly scar ran from under his left eye to his upper lip. His lips were extremely black, the effect from Indian hemp and cigarette no doubt. I had half the mind to tell him that his lungs were going as dark as his lips and he might die before he gets the chance to actualize his intentions . But I had a better judgment.

"Sleep boy. You will need all the energy you can get by dawn." Before I could register his meaning, hard fist swung at me sending me into oblivion. The last thing I remembered thinking about was that for such a horrid looking man, his English was polished...

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Assalaam'alaykum beloved readers. Thank you so much for being here.

This is my first book and it is my fervent prayer that MARRED reminds us of surpassing trials irrespective of what we have been through and I hope that this book brings us all closer to Allah by His Mercy.

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