Salaam readers,

I hope my presence was missed. I did miss my characters and my wonderful motivators.

Forgive any typos as I just wanted to finish this chapter and put it up, as your comments motivate me to write further.

Ambassador duties had held me up, but now as the training is over and I have settled, I promise to focus on updating more often Inshallah.

Leave behind loads of comments.

Dedicated to halz_muslimah Taqi-Writer
maheeray bushrafaris sarah20996

Love <3

'Wake up, Sleeping beauty,' Isaac whispered from his seat.

Sameera opened her eyes to find him smiling sweetly, 'Has the flight landed,' She mumbled coherently.

He tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ears, 'You look really tired. I hope the change of place will do you good.'

She hoped the same too but didn't say anything. Her heart still ached when she thought about thufail and her eyes moistened on their own accord. She began securing her hijab which had fallen loosely when she had slept through the journey.

'Isaac?'

'Yes,' He drawled as he began pulling their luggage from the closed department above their seats.

'Was I a coward to run away during such family crisis.'

He slipped one bag over his left shoulder and balanced the other on his right hand, 'You are thinking too much. It isn't like you could make the situation any better, some things are just not meant to be set right. Only time has the power to lessen the pain.'

Sameera nodded her head as she followed Isaac towards the airport. Even though his answer had made her feel less guilty, she couldn't help but believe that there was more trouble on the way.

'Sweetheart, you are walking in snails pace,' He mocked lightly.

Her lashes fluttered and she came back to life again, 'Oh, sorry.'

Isaac wrapped his arms around her waist and pecked her soft cheeks, before they resumed their pace to their new life, oblivious to the fact that there were more thorns on the way than flowers.

The roads weren't cramped with traffic nor the pavements seemed filled with giggling children. Everything seemed organised and well maintained.

Some stretches were so isolated, such as the Eyre Highqay, which crossed the Nullarbor Plain. The roadhouses serving the small amount of passing traffic seemed like the only sign of human activity for hundreds of kilometres and she already began feeling homesick.

'Isaac, I want to go back home.'

'What?'

'I worried about mom and Izaan. I'm sure they are still in daze.'

'I spoke to Izaan as soon as the flight landed and he is very happy that you chose to accompany me to Australia,' Isaac replied gently and squished Sameera's hands affectionately which she had kept tightly folded on her lap.

'I'm sorry for not being a happy bride and spoiling our initial days,' Sameera whispered as fresh tears cascaded down her cheeks.

Her sent a understanding glance her way, ' I would have been more bitter than you, had I gone through the same. It isn't a wife's role alone to make the marriage work and I don't expect you to play the perfect bride. I want you to openly display your emotions and I'll be glad to play perfectly smitten,' His black orbs shone with volumes of love he felt for his women.

Sameera smiled at his gesture and shifted her posture, as she laid her head on his shoulder and clung to his arm affectionately.

'How am I supposed to drive? You are heavier than you appear,' He teased.

She punched him on his stomach, 'You'll just have to get used to it.'

~*~*~*~

Izaan's alarm went off for the fifth time and he graoned out in annoyance. He hadn't slept the previous night, all he did was loads of tossing and turning, trying to ward off the negative thoughts from his memory.

As the sound of the sixth snooze, he hastily switched off the red button, and rolled on the bed, tucking the pillow below under his wieght.

His mind wandered back to all the happenings from the wedding till date. He sighed loudly as there did not seem to be any connecting link. He would just have to work hard, if he wanted to solve the mystery.

The conversation he had with his mother, the previous night, came flooding back to him. His mother wanted Zera in the house and if that was going to make her cheerful then he was ready to forgive her for sneaking through his papers.

But could she be involved somehow?

He laughed aloud at his own conclusions. He should have been out of his mind to blame her the other day in the office.

Why on earth would she be involved in murder? She looked vulnerable enough to get hurt by a mosquito and he felt his heart constrict at the thought of her being in trouble.

Izaan shook his head at his chain of thoughts. He could bet that he was completely loosing his sanity. A few days back he suspected her and now he wanted to protect her. God! He seriously needed to get some grip.

He whistled out loud as he pulled his bathrobe from his cupboard and made his way towards the bathroom.

~*~*~*~

Zera found herself glancing at the journal for the hundredth time, her eyes groggy from lack of sleep.

The night had seemed endless as she had kept contemplating on her decision to read further. Even though she had been curious, her fear had gotten better of her.

The darkness of the night did not seem like a wonderful time to read the prophecies of the dead, therefore, she had waited patiently for the dawn to break.

Her hand moved towards the huge book on their own accord and she briskly turned over the pages to read further.

The jumbled set of familiar handwriting made her heart race and she swallowed hard. There was no point in backing now, she would just have to follow the instructions until the end.

Eventually, she would be in deep trouble for learning few of the secrets that she wouldn't have known, or she would go insane worrying over the reason for the book to have landed in her bag. Either way this was going to be the death of her.

It was 3:30 am, it was weekday, and I was still in office working on latest robbery taking place in all the ancient museums.

There were a list of things stolen, a list of people suspected, but no definite reason.

A loud noise made me jump from my seat, as the office had been entirely deserted, except for my computer and me.

I saw a man walk up towards the CEO's cabin and search through the drawers until he spotted the file that had the reports of the recent murder. Lack of any potential weapon and common sense made me hide my presence.

The sileheoutte of the person resembled the CEO himself and he began trampling the security cameras. It felt like the person knew the place really well and reached the exit with ease as soon as his task was accomplished. I felt perspiration dew my forehead and wiped them with my free hands when I felt relatively safe

A while later, I resumed my pace but a pair of footsteps had me turn around in haste,  only to find the CEO staring back at me.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, unable to form a sane sentence, I just stood there frozen.

He smiled at me, revealing his bright teeth. 'What's wrong thufail? Have you just seen a ghost?'

I shook my head, 'It's---- that----'

He waved his hands in air, 'You work too much. Go home and get some sleep.'

'But----'

'What?' The seriousness in Mr.John's face broke into a crumpled mass of wrinkles displaying amusement.

There was only one way to prove my suspicions, I would just confront him. I cleared my throat, 'I saw you stealing a file from your cabin.'

The loud sound of laughter echoed through the office, 'Thufail, I'm sure you have began hallucinating as you work more than needed. Get a grip, and for godsake vacate the premises before midnight. Why do you keep lurking around in the dark.'

That night I left the office without trying to clear the confusion but that did not quench the million questions that ran through my mind and this was just the beginning of all the evil that I had yet to witness.

Whoever is reading this is sure to gather the same threats but I hope you'll be stronger than me. Your curiosity won't allow you to stop reading this and humanity won't allow you to allow injustice.

The last sentence made her throw the journal as far away as she possibly could, hoping to ward of any evil that it spoke of, but nothing was going to stop the extreme fear that ran through her spine and the helplessness that accompanied it.

~*~*~*~

The persistent knock on the door made Zera move from her bed in anger and make her way towards the locked bedroom door, 'Mom, please leave me alone. I don't need breakfast and nor I'm going out today.'

The sight in front of her made her bright crimson, 'Oh I'm sorry. I did not expect you.'

'Ofcourse,' He mocked, rubbing his ear with his forefinger, ' I heard you got hired by the Ahmed family.'

'Yes, ummmm, but,'

His lips curled into a rueful smile. One could easily describe him as lively as he seemed so full of life and every situation appeared bright from his point of view.

'Why are you blabbering?'

'I don't know,' Zera threw up her hands in total frustration, 'Sinan, I need your help,' She answered meekly as silent tears began cascading down her cheeks.

His perfect eyebrows creased in confusion, 'Allah! are you crying? Please don't. I hate it when women cry.'

'I have to confide a lot of things,' She replied between the sobs that escaped her trembling lips.

'Please stop crying. I'll bring you the moon if that's what you want,' He winked.

Zera tried smiling but failed miserably, 'I have gotten myself into a lot of trouble.'

'And that's totally acceptable as trouble follows you like your best friend. Did you loose any of your valuables?' He questioned, his brows still knotted together.

'No,' She huffed in annoyance.

'Oh, You spoilt your new dress?' One of his eyebrows rose in a questioning gesture.

'Please stop acting childish,' Her voice cracked as she spoke.

He raised his hands in surrender, 'Sorry, no more assumptions. What did you get yourself into?'

'I have the clues that might lead to famous Journalist Thufail Ahmed's murder.'

His orbs popped out their socket and he shouted with all his might,

'Whh----at?'