Sadia ran.

She had no idea in which direction she was heading but all that she knew was that she needed to run.

Her legs were almost giving out. She had been running for so long. Her chest was heaving, her breathing was heavy but she kept going.

It was dark. The woods were an unknown territory and she had no idea about the structure of the area but her instincts guided her and all she knew was to run.

Adrenaline pumped in her veins, making her blood course through her muscles and enabled them to carry her as she ran. But her legs were burning and aching from so much running.

The leaves crunched under her feet and the twigs broke. That was the only sound that could somehow reach her ears amidst the loud ringing and roaring of blood. Her heart was hammering and her lungs were burnt out but she didn't stop.

Home. Reach for home. Get out of here! Sadia kept shouting at herself to motivate herself to run further.

"SADIA!"

A voice echoed loudly and broke through the thick silence of the woods.

Sadia's Feet came to a halt. For a moment, she thought that in her fear, she must've misheard it. That she must be hearing voices. Fear is a strong emotion. It can often lead to many misinterpretations.

Sadia's heart was hammering against her chest. Her lungs were burning for air. She was panting. And the ringing in her ears wasn't helping either. All her sympathetic activity was enabling her to be in hyperactive mode.

"SADIA?!"

Again, that voice. That deep loud voice. And it was in a rage. And it wasn't far.

Cold chilling terror seeped through her bones as realisation hit her.

"SADIA?!!!"

Sadia thought that her heart almost stopped when she heard how close the proximity of the voice was.

He was following her.

He was chasing her.

She had thought that he wouldn't be able to. Not after how she had left him behind. She was positive that he wouldn't be in any condition to get back on his feet yet alone chase her around the woods.

"SADIA"

She started hearing loud barking sounds as well.

And her fear struck her so hard that she willed herself to run again. She had to get away. She looked at the sky. The early signs of a clear morning were evident. If she could just make it somehow out of the woods. But it seemed endless.

She was so fixated on running away from the enemy that she didn't realise the long roots that caught her foot, causing her ankle to twist painfully which caused her to scream in pain, making her fall flat on her stomach. Her head hit on the hard surface of the tree roots and caused her to almost blackout.

Moaning in pain, she laid on her back and grabbed her head and pursed her lips tight to keep in her painfilled moans. She felt warm liquid trickle from her forehead and she knew that she was bleeding. It was painful but she had no choice but to endure it.

"Sadia!"

Silent tears leaked from her eyes and she held her breath as the sound of the enemy approaching her came near. The fear overwhelmed her. She clasped her fingers tightly around her mouth and tried her level best to keep silent.

"Sadia! Come out!"

Just then, she heard the loud bang of a gun fire. And it caused Sadia to freeze in fear. The sound of the crowd and the earth shaking from it was so near now. She saw beams of flashlight amidst the darkness and her chest tightened with fear and dread.

Please Allah, please save me! I don't want to go back there. She prayed when she realised what a mistake she had made earlier.

She had screamed. And now she knew that she was done for. Now that she was subdued, she could only hope for a miracle. She prayed with all her might. Those few moments were so nerve wrecking for her. Seh saw the beams slowly fade away and along with it,the barking of the dogs and the hollers slowly began to go into the distance. Sadia kept absolutely quiet. She didn't make a move as her muscles locked down. Within a few moments, the surrounding was dark and silent once again as the noise faded away.

Sadia waited. But the injury to her head was beginning to have a toll on her.

Slowly, Sadia tried to get up as soon as she got a hold of her bearings. Her head was bleeding heavily and her mind was getting hazy but she fought against it. On shaking legs, she managed to get up. Her ankle was badly sprained and as soon as it moved, Sadia had to gnash her teeth very hard o hold in her cries.

Holding in her whimpers, she tried to walk but failed as she fell on her knees, her head pounding and spinning. With shaking hands, she grabbed the hem of her kameez and tried to tear it. But she had little strength. Her diabetic condition caused her a lot of limitations.The wound on her head wouldn't stop bleeding and she needed to act fast. In her attempt at escape, she was reckless. But all she wanted was to get out of this place.

The woods seemed endless.

Sadia failed at trying to tear a piece off of her kameez. Pressing her hands hard against her forehead, she tried to make a run for it but her consciousness was dwindling and darkness was beginning to prevail her vision. She didn't want to give up and her will was strong but her condition was bad.

Her senses were no longer sharp. Her vision was blurred and her hearing was blared. Her head was spinning and she held onto her consciousness by the weight of a thread.

Bloody, wounded and severely subdued, she fell on her stomach. She tried her hardest to maintain consciousness. Fisting the dirt in her hands, she tried to get up again.

"G-get up, S-Sadia!" she whispered to herself as tears began to stream down her dirty face. Her emotions were overwhelming and the blood loss wasn't enabling her to think clearly. Her face fell to the side, her head too heavy with pain to function normally. The might of her condition overwhelmed her and she gave into the darkness.

***********

Sadia drifted into consciousness when she felt that something kept touching her forehead. It wasn't painful but it did cause her discomfort. A moan left her lips when she felt the pressure on her forehead increase and now it was a bit painful for her.

She tried to recall what had happened with her. Her eyes opened and her blurry vision started to adjust. The first thing that came in her line of sight was a white ceiling.

Sadia squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. And again, she saw that same white ceiling. And when her eyes shifted up, she saw Syeda Amma dabbing a cloth upon her forehead. There was an IV line passed into her arm.

Realisation hit her hard and her breath hitched in her throat as tears stung her eyes.

She was back.

She couldn't escape after all.

She felt utterly defeated. So many emotions overwhelmed her. And she knew that she had lost.

Utter despair gripped her heart and she released her loud sobs. Slapping Away Syeda Amma's hand away from her head, Sadia turned on her side and wept and wept, her cries filled with her devastation and anguish.

***********

Zameer was fuming. His eyes were fixed on the door and he wanted to go inside and reek havoc.

How dare she? How dare she try to run away from him? How dare she try to escape. When he had told her so many times that she couldn't escape and she shouldn't even try, then why? Why and how did that that little girl manage to outsmart him?

His jaw was clenched tightly as he gnashed his teeth together and he folded his right hand into such a tight fist that his nails dug into his palm hard enough to draw blood.

Taking a large swig from the whiskey bottle that he was holding, he tried to keep himself at bay. But his anger was too out of control and all that he was seeing was red. He had been drinking too much. He wasn't allowing himself to be sober. All his inhibitions here out. Not after what had come to pass a few hours ago, he could no longer contain himself.

When she had made her escape, he thought that he would never be able to catch up with her. But his loyal bloodhounds were good in tracking down Sadia's scent and when he found her unconscious, lying on the forest floor, it took every bit of his patience to not do anything too harsh or reckless to her. As he carried her back, only one thought was in his mind: he needed to teach her a lesson.

Why did she run away? Of course she was his captive but she was also his wife!

She was his wife!

Only his!

How dare she try to get away from him?!

And moreover, how did she manage to out manurer the security measures? Why weren't the guards keeping watch? All of these questions had only flared Zameer's anger and he ended up killing all of the security guards at the mansion. He was never this careless or impulsive. But his situation was too compromised. The mere idea of losing Sadia drove him crazy. When he saw her climb out of that window, He felt betrayed. If he was sober, his better judgement wouldn't have allowed such feelings to take root but they did and now he had fully embraced them.

When she had subdued him, it took him a while to get to his feet but the anger was enough to drive him. He was angry at so many things. Already, he was troubled by so much. First the whole Nawaz attack, his Saeen surviving through it and falling into a coma and Anissa's disappearance. His mind was already occupied with so much worry and anxiety. With the Saeen down, the MMM was virtually disabled, left leaderless and open to the enemies at all fronts. He blamed himself for most of it but the anger that he felt now, it was all directed towards Sadia.

So much was occupying his mind and he would've dealt with it all with a cool mind and unhindered composure but what Sadia did had managed to cross through to his most deepest emotions and accessed his anger beyond control. What he felt now towards Sadia was too great to be comprehended, all of his control and patient had dissolved. What he had been feeling for her, the deep desire that he was trying to keep at bay was now free and unleashed.

He had absolutely taken leave of his senses. His ability to reason and his sensible acumen had completely surrendered to his anger and fury.

Zameer got distracted when the door opened and Syeda Amma exited the room.

Sadia was alone now. And at his mercy.

Syeda Amma saw the darkened look as he stood at a distance, leaning against the wall.

"Sahib, she-"

Zameer's went up to his lips in a gesture to silence her. He didn't need to hear any words or anything reasonable that could absolve Sadia of what she tried to do. Syeda Amma understood and sealed her lips shut. She knew that she was in no position to speak. She was just a maid after all. Bowing her head slightly, she left without saying another word. If Zameer was in his senses, he would've never approved of his behaviour or the way that he treated Syeda Amma just now but he wasn't.

He was in absolute rage. And a monster inside of him had woken up. This bloodthirsty monster was a part of Zameer that he always kept locked away. Until or unless it was absolutely necessary, Zameer had always had a strong hold on it. But now, it was free from the clutches of Zameer's control And his drunken state didn't allow him to see any reason to lock back the monster.

This monster was his rage.

And once he was in a rage, there was no stopping him. He was seldom in a rage. It was so very rare for him. But the alcohol in his system had brought the worst out of him. What he intended to do, he didn't care what the circumstances it might bring.

Finishing the alcohol, he threw away the bottle which landed with a harsh crash on the floor and broke into pieces.

Only one thing was in his mind and he was about to execute it.

Sadia kept grieving into her pillow but she jumped in her position when she heard glass breaking outside of her door. She turned and faced the door. Her tears were endlessly streaming down her face.

The door opened and Sadia saw Zameer at the frame of the door. She turned her back to him and covered herself with the sheets. She was in no condition and she felt too disgusted and defeated to feel otherwise. Her head was pounding in pain and her body was aching all over.

But she was jolted in surprise when the sheets were harshly taken off of her. She quickly sat up and out of instinct, her hands went up to her open hair and she realised that she was bareheaded in his presence.

"What have you done?" Zameer whispered, his voice low and steady.

Sadia saw his face. And she couldn't recognise the man who was standing in front of her at the foot of the bed. His face was hard, each of his facial features dark.

The man that stood in front of her, he was someone she didn't know. His face was a mask of dark viciousness. His expression was empty. And despite the gauze around his forehead where Sadia had inflicted a heavy blow; it didn't seem distracting in the least. An absolute terrifying and intimidating air surrounded Zameer.

And when Sadia looked into his eyes, they were nothing but black pools of depleted chasms. And What she saw in those black bottemless pits, made the hair on her neck to stand.

Cold shivers ran down her spine and goosebumps crawled on her fresh as pure unadulterated fear exploded in her chest.

There was a certain maliciousness in the aura that Zameer carried.

She swallowed hard when she saw him move forward. This wasn't the Zameer Sheikh that she was familiar with. No, this was someone else who was very dangerous and had evil intentions.

"What did you fucking do?" He repeated his question as his hands loosened the tie around his neck. Sadia was left dumbfounded. What was he doing?

He continued to unbutton the top buttons of his black shirt. And Sadia's heart threatened to skip a beat as soon a button came undone.

Sadia gulped. She saw that his body was shaking and his hands were folded into fists by his side. She had never seen him like this before. The last time she had seen Zameer so visibly shaken and out of composure was when she had foiled his plans against her father.

And the look in his eyes: she couldn't see it at first but now that she looked more closely, she saw it: He was angry. No, he was beyond angry. He was furious. And his body language portrayed it so well. And then, there was something else in those black eyes as well.

Lust.

Wanting.

A burning vengeful desire.

And they were all channeled towards her. His eyes were too intimidating and too dark as they concentrated on her. And it was enough to warn Sadia.

Her eyes widened as she realised what he was here for.