By the time Meera and Aryan reached the village, it was morning and the market was buzzing with people. Aryan found the photo studio where the photo of Fatima with Yasmin was taken and started asking the people nearby if anyone knew where the woman lived.
"Oh yes, I know her," a shopkeeper said, "She is Yasmin. She is a sweet girl. She used to live here with her aunt. But Fatima was diagnosed with cancer, and they went to the city for her treatment. 2 years ago, Yasmin returned with a little girl. She said Fatima was no more and she had adopted this little girl because she didn't want to be lonely."
"Where does she live?" Aryan asked.
"Take the first left from the crossroad ahead, fourth house to the right," the man said.
Aryan drove to Yasmin's house, but chose to park the car a few yards away, to avoid raising alarms for someone who might be watching. He didn't want to risk Yasmin getting killed like Shadab.
He instructed Meera to tiptoe quietly through the house's backyard and enter the gates without being noticed. Meera peeked through the closed window and spotted Yasmin. She was a beautiful young girl. On her lap was a little girl child who laughed playfully as Yasmin sang to her. Meera recognized her daughter and tears of joy filled her eyes.
Meera couldn't hold herself back. She knocked on the door. When Yasmin opened the door, Meera dropped her veil to let Yasmin see her.
"My name is Meera. That's my child," Meera said tearfully.
Yasmin was suddenly alert. She quickly allowed Meera and Aryan to enter the house.
"I knew you would come," Yasmin said, "Although I did expect you earlier. Are you sure no one is following you?"
"Not that we know of," Aryan replied nodding at Meera, "But I'll keep watch. Be Quick."
Meera held Amairah in her arms for the first time and her heart was filled with joy like never before. She showered the little girl with kisses as tears continuously flowed from her eyes.
"Thank you for looking after my baby," Meera said.
"That was the least we could do for Kabir," Yasmin replied with a smile, "When my aunt was diagnosed with cancer, we were devastated. The financial burden drained us completely, so much that we had to mortgage this house to raise money for her treatment. And in spite of everything, her chances of survival were grim. I could have lost her; she was my only family. But when we consulted Kabir, he not only agreed to operate free of cost, he treated her condition so well that she became healthy once more. For a few years we were happy, but the cancer returned, and this time...Kabir wasn't around,"
"Where was he then? Kabir was an amazing man," Meera said, "But why did he work for the likes of Qais?"
Yasmin's eyes got tearful as he spoke, "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Kabir found out about something that was bad for Qais. Qais was going to have him killed, but Kabir negotiated and offered to work for him in return for sparing his life. Qais is involved in a lot of illegal things and he did need a doctor to clean up his mess, so he agreed to let Kabir live. But Kabir was constantly monitored and his life was severely restricted. He wasn't free anymore."
"We tried several places where we could get Fatima treated at lower costs," Yasmin continued, "We were already burdened with debts. And then finally Fatima made a decision. She decided to sell herself as a slave. She decided not to go for any treatments and live for as long as she was destined to. She negotiated a large sum of money in return for her lifelong services, so I could get our house back. Now I have money, I have this house, but I don't have her. I continued working at the orphanage because that is where Shadab used to drop small letters from Fatima for me and take my letters to her. I didn't have my aunt but at least we could communicate. Also, I loved the company of the children when I felt lonely. And one day, that driver Shadab brought your child to me with a note from Fatima."
Yasmin showed Meera the note.
Dear Yasmin,
Please take care of this little girl. Her mother Meera, has named her Amairah. She is Kabir's daughter. Kabir is planning an escape with Meera. Kabir or Meera, will come for the child when the dust settles. Till then, please take care of her. Consider it a repayment for the debt we owe him. Also, you are not safe in the orphanage anymore, I suggest you move back home. They will try to find our address through the orphanage's records. Deal with that before you leave. Take care and God bless you.
Love
Fatima
Meera had tears of gratitude in her eyes for all the people who had helped her.
"But where is Kabir?" Yasmin asked, "Why isn't he with you?"
"He's dead," Meera said tearfully, "He died trying to save me."
"Meera," Aryan said in an alarming tone, "We may have a problem!"
"What happened?" Meera asked.
"I need both of you to leave, along with Amairah," Aryan said, "I just spotted a van full of armed men. They seem to be headed this way. I'll hold them off as long as I can."
"No, Aryan, they'll kill you!" Meera said, grabbing his hand, "You are coming with us!"
"Meera you don't understand!" Aryan shouted, "If I don't stall them, all of us will be captured. I just can't let them get their hands on you and Amairah. And those men are heavily armed, I really don't want Amairah to get caught in the crossfire."
"No..I...can't..." Meera said tearfully.
"Just go Meera!" Aryan said.
Meera looked at Yasmin who was holding Amairah in her arms. Yasmin looked terrified. Meera unwillingly left Aryan and grabbed Yasmin's hand and led her safely to their car. Once Yasmin and Amairah were comfortably seated in the car, Meera got onto the driver's seat and started the engine.
And then suddenly she realized something. The rifles they had picked up after killing Qais's men were in the car. Aryan just had a pistol and he wouldn't be able to hold off several armed men for long.
"Yasmin, can you drive?" Meera spoke with determination.
"Yes," Yasmin said.
Meera quickly fed the coordinates of the house Rizwan had arranged for her and Aryan to stay into the car's GPS.
"Drive to this location," Meera said, handing over the keys to the house to Yasmin, "Stay in this house. Once we deal with the situation back there, I'll come get my baby."
"You mean...are you?" Yasmin asked.
"Yeah," Meera spoke with determination as she picked up two assault rifles from the car, "After all Aryan has done for me, I can't leave him alone to die."
"But Meera, they'll kill you," Yasmin spoke in a worried tone.
"I'll be fine," Meera said with a confident smile, "I've dealt with worse."
Yasmin nodded and drove off. Meera returned to Aryan with the guns. He was kneeling by the window eyeing the activities of the armed men. Aryan wasn't expecting her to return.
"What the hell Meera!" he shouted.
"I brought you guns," she said sweetly, "I couldn't leave you."
Aryan didn't respond. He was angry that Meera had risked her life. All he wanted was her to be safe. The armed men had now reached the door of Yasmin's house. Without losing a moment, Aryan shot down two of them while the rest took cover and began firing back.
Meera ducked next to Aryan trying to escape the raining bullets. Aryan stalled the men for quite some time and managed another kill. Rashid was extremely angry as he watched his men die. He picked up a sniper rifle and climbed up to the roof of a building opposite to Yasmin's house. He had a clear shot at both Aryan and Meera as they tried to stop his men from entering the house. He was tempted to shoot Aryan in the head but he remembered his orders that they were to be captured alive. He aimed for Aryan's right shoulder and fired a shot.
The bullet tore through Aryan's flesh and he fell on his knees in excruciating pain.
"Aryan, NO!" Meera screamed in utter panic as she struggled to bandage his wound to stop the blood flow, "Aryan, stay with me please!" Meera said, trying to shake him awake as Aryan was nearly fainting.
"They are behind the east window," Rashid instructed his men.
Before Meera could realize, a gas grenade was tossed in from the window a few inches away from her feet. The toxic fumes made both of them pass out in seconds.
*******************************
When Meera regained consciousness, she realized she was inside a moving vehicle. It was dark, but she could feel Aryan lying next to her.
"She cradled his head on her lap and hugged him and cried bitterly. "I am so sorry Aryan," she said.
"Meera," Aryan said, touching her face with his blood-stained hand, "You were very brave to return with the guns sweetheart."
Meera smiled at him.
"But I need you to promise me one thing," Aryan said, "You won't tell them where Amairah is, no matter how much they torture me, because that is what exactly they are going to do."
"I won't, I promise," Meera said tearfully as she realized how inevitable their torture was, "I'll be strong."
"That's my girl," Aryan said, smiling at her.
When they reached their destination, Meera and Aryan were dragged out of the truck and their hands cuffed behind their backs. They were roughly dragged to the room where Qais and Armaan were waiting for them.
Armaan smiled looking at the defeated couple. He casually picked up an apple from the fruit basket and rested his back against a wall and munched on the apple enjoying their plight.
Rashid forced Aryan to kneel and Qais walked towards Meera. On seeing Qais, a chill ran down through her mind. All the painful memories of how he had tortured and humiliated her spilt forth into her brain like a tide of nightmares.
"Strip her," Qais ordered, "I need to teach the cunt her place."
Meera felt like a deer in headlights and two men cut off her clothes with knives. She was stripped completely and made to stand stark naked in front of so many men. Her handcuffs were taken off. She wept silently and tried to cover herself with her hands. Aryan closed his eyes out of helplessness.
"So you got rid of the tattoos, eh?" Qais said boldly running his hands over her naked breasts, "This time I'll have you branded."
