Daneen

Despite facing a long tiring day, a good night sleep was the last thing on my mind. But my brain was getting fuzzy after spending last 48 hours trying to figure things out in Nalwari. After much explaining to my supervisors, on how I ran away after seeing angry crowd blaming me for the death of security guard, got lost and then Shan found me and brought me back to the village, I had finally returned to the camp. Luckily, they bought my story without any questions or scrutiny, maybe because Dr. Asma and Dr. Murtaza were engaged in a heated argument about the safety of everyone on that trip. They didn't had time to pay attention to petty details of my partially made-up story.

They were preoccupied in making efforts to call for help. Contacting the HR office of university, madam principle, their own friends and peers, even the driver who dropped us off, they had tried everything but it was all in vain. Nobody's cellphone had any signals.

When I entered the tent, Zehra who appeared worried sick rose up to get her feet under and embraced me in a tight hug.

"Oh God, you're okay!" She let out a relieved sigh and kept me at an arm length to inspect me. "You are okay right?" When I nodded, she snaked her arms around me again. I could sense that she was apprehensive, so I hugged her back.

"I'm sorry. I should've told you where I was." I whispered as I knew the other girl, Sarah, was intently watching us from behind, expecting a full swinging melodrama. Zehra nodded slightly as she knew that I couldn't share anything as long as Sarah was with us. Zehra only let go of me when Yousuf entered our camp unannounced.

"What the hell Yousuf! Can't you at least warn us before coming in. This is girl's tent for God's sake!" Zehra snapped at him. It felt like as if she was venting out her anxiety on Yousuf because she sounded too upset by his unauthorized entry. His doing was wrong of course but Zehra's reaction was out of proportion.

"Why are you overreacting Zehra?" Sarah asked.

"Why are playing dumb darling?" Zehra shot back as she glared at her with murderous look in her eyes.

Sarah got to her feet and contently smiled towards Yousuf who was wearing a smug grin, clearly amused with the exchange of sharp comments. She brushed past Zehra uttering a faint 'whatever' to her.

On reaching the exit, she turned around and said, "I'll be back in few minutes girls." With that, Sarah pushed few strands of curls behind her ear as she shyly peeked at Yousuf and exited the tent.

"Like I care!" Zehra mumbled from behind her. What the hell was that? I thought to myself. Yousuf didn't followed her out immediately as he stopped in his feet. An evil glint was apparent in his narrowed eyes.

"I heard you killed a guy Daneen. Poor fella! I'm sure you'll take medicine more seriously after that. You see... it's no fun and games." He passed a mocking grimace as if he cared.

"Enough with your sly remarks Yousuf! I'm well aware of your non-existent compassion for humanity so stop pretending like you care." I scowled at him defiantly.

He chuckled and said in his usual cocky tone, "Whoops! You got me."

"You better shut that shit hole yourself or I'll have to do it manually!" Zehra raised a warning finger at him and took a step in his direction. I held her wrist to stop her from smacking his perfectly aligned pearly teeth. She was clearly on the edge tonight.

He held up his hands defensively and said, "Whoa! You need to put a leash on this wild pet of yours Daneen."

I kept hold of Zehra's wrist who now gave a jerk to break her arm free. I knew too well what letting her go meant. So I tried to calm her down by saying that he's not worth it. He presented us a two-finger salute gesture.

"See you around Group Leader." Yousuf chirped as he left.

Zehra and I rubbed our foreheads in unison. Yousuf was indeed a pain in the ass but we had bigger problems to tend to. She turned to face me again, her eyes filled with fatigue and concern.

"Where were you Dani? I've been hearing senseless rumors since morning."

Before I could share what had happened in the past two days, my curiosity peaked after hearing the word 'rumors'.

"What rumors?" I asked,

"Believe me, you don't want to hear all this crap."

"I want to!" I said almost immediately that it sounded too desperate. Although Zehra passed me a weird look but told me everything anyway.

"People are saying that this place is possessed by a Satan. A demon lurk around this territory, it's made of fire and burn the pious ones. They've even named that imaginary thing."

"What are they calling it?" I asked. She looked at me with wide eyes, clearly amazed at how on earth I'm buying that bullshit.

"Don't tell me you actually believe in such stuff. They're all uneducated psychos! Yes! That's what they are." She scoffed while putting her hands on hips.

"Tell me the name Zehra?" I demanded.

She let out a defeated sigh knowing too well how stubborn I am.

"They're calling it Maloon, means The cursed one."

A flashback from last night took over my composure. The fire, the horror, the panic, all came down flooding, shuddering each nerve in me. I realized that I had zoned out for a moment when Zehra snapped her fingers right in front of my face.

"You alright? You look... pale. What happened Dani? Tell me. Please!" She took my hand in hers. I thought about sharing everything with her but how would I convince her about Maloon. She just called the villagers 'uneducated psychos'. I knew she doesn't believe in such stuff and it was probably for the best to keep it that way. I decided to share the same story that I told my supervisors. She listened to me intently and pulled me into another hug towards the end.

"Oh Dani! These people are nuts. What if they've gone violent on you. Like physically assaulted you. You did a smart thing by running away. I'm just glad that you're unscratched."

She paused for a moment and looked directly into my eyes. With a face full of compassion, she said,

"You're safe now. Get some sleep. You haven't had much lately."

She was right. I was drained and desperately needed some rest to replete my energy. I nodded and without saying anything else other than our usual good night, we shared a quick reassurance hug and took our places to lie down.

It took no longer than few minutes when the deafening silence was filled by Zehra's loud snores, which probably were louder than an old crooked motor engine. It made me smile thinking about how she could peacefully pass out anywhere anyhow. Snoring was an indication that she had probably entered the hibernating phase of her sleep cycle, means it was next to impossible to wake her up now.

I rolled and reeled beneath the soft sheets of my own but the ritual couldn't settle my nerves. Whenever I closed my eyes, a series of disturbing thoughts started to pop up at the back of my head. A serene slumber was playing hide and seek with my mind where it had hidden somewhere in the far-flung corners of my brain. With an annoying huff, I finally gave up on dozing off. Our supervisor, Dr. Asma and Sarah was still nowhere to be found within the tent. So I removed the blanket and walked out for some fresh air.

Chilled breeze stroked my face as soon as I stepped outside. It was dark but not dark enough. Above me, there was a radiating army of twinkling stars led by a semi-circular moon, cheering up the dull clear sky. A sheet of sombre was smeared across the entire land. It was mesmerizing to observe how monotonous and yet so colorful a night could be. Gigantic mountains had the darkest shade of black in the scenery, almost giving an impression of a thousand feet tall shadow. Surface seemed a bit silverish under the lunar glow whereas the trees appeared as a denser shade of gray. Everything had an indistinguishable tint, but nothing was alike either.

I held my arms folded across my chest as goosebumps on my bare skin had already started to swell up from the cold. I thought about heading back inside the tent but the blend of gloominess filled by the symphony of cricket in the background was too soothing for me to do so. Therefore, I closed my eyes to take in all the peace and comfort available at hand.

What is this thing they call Maloon? Did Maloon killed that security guy? And what about those people who pushed that van off the cliff? And the driver. Does my father own any land here somewhere? Why would someone kill an employee of my father's company. Why did I shared my past story with Shan? What got into me in that moment?

My mind was flustered with so many unsolved mysteries. Dots were so dispersed that I couldn't connect one event with another. Nothing made sense.

"Confused?"

A faint voice, masculine but soft, said it from behind as if reading my mind out loud. Ugh! Shan! What does he want now? I thought as I slowly opened my eyes and without turning around I announced,

"If you're here to apologise for what you said earlier then please understand that I forgive you Shan. Now would you be kind enough to leave me alone as I'm too drained to have another verbal-duel with you."

From behind, scrunching sound of breaking sticks beneath someone's feet felt a little closer now. I turned to see a guy approaching me. At first, I really thought it was Shan who came here to apologise for being an insensitive bastard earlier but the figure approaching was lean and shorter than him. As the shadow came closer, I realized that he was Uber guy. What is he doing here this late? I reflexively took a step back in caution.

"Daneen Tabreez?" He asked in a certain way as if he was almost sure about the answer but validating out of courtesy.

My mouth dropped open in shock. It was just about yesterday when he didn't even acknowledged my presence after bumping into me and here he is, calling me out with the complete designation.

"Who are you?" I asked,

"Your father has sent me. Your life is in grave danger."

What in the heavens name is he talking about? My life! In danger! Who would harm me? And why should I even listen to anything he has to say. Out of all strange people in this village, HIM!

All I could muttered was a stupefied what?, in response to which he repeated himself.

"Trust me. I'm here to help you." With another calculated step, he was few feet away from where I stood.

Right after our very first interaction, I didn't like the character he was. Shady, suspecious, intentions difficult to comprehend, but for some odd reason, I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that he was sent by my father to protect me.

But why am I willing to believe on this rarest, most untrustworthy possibility?

In that moment, I realized that it wasn't him I wanted to believe, it was the idea that my father actually did something for me, to protect me, to show that he care for me. To show that I'm not some forsaken child who he despise with all his heart. Yes, I wanted to believe that very much, but I can't.

I had to put a lid on my overflowing emotional tap, arising from the depth of my very aching heart. I shook my head a little and cleared my throat to get hold of the quivering nerves in me.

"Is that so? And why would I trust you?" I said, a bit too firmly in an attempt to sound more confident, that it sounded hoarse.

Taking a step forward, he extended an arm to offer something shiny, a tiny object resting right in the middle of his palm. I too took a step ahead to take a closer look. It was a ring, made of smooth sterling silver frame with a cubically carved Ruby, resting in a crown-shaped mini frame at the top. And immediately I recognized the very familiar jewellery in his hand. It belonged to my father.

"Who gave it to you!" Instinctively, I asked.

"Mr. Tabreez Shams Kirmani." His reply was curt and simple. He motioned to raise his extended arm a bit higher, indicating me to take the ring. I did so. I took it, despite the hesitation of a confusing situation I was in, I took it anyway. It was strange holding something which didn't really felt to be linked to me. For a slightly extended period, I stared at the jewellery in my hand, unsure if it truly belonged here, in my grasp.

Once he was slightly free of doubt about not having my undivided attention, he took another tentative step forward, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Well miss Daneen... I'm afraid you're sent here for a reason. I'm still figuring that part out but there's one thing I'm absolutely certain of..."

"Yeah? And what's that?" I asked.

"This isn't a regular field trip."

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