Anya was on her way home after saying goodbye to the boys.  She still found it difficult to believe that Dia was at her house.  Last night when she saw Dia in her room,  for a moment she thought she was seeing things. It was only after she saw Khadija coming out of the bathroom when she believed her eyes. Khadija told her the whole story as Dia was too scared to talk. Khadija also informed her that Ali was waiting for her on the stairs. Anya first talked to Dia and made sure she was fine, and then she went to meet Ali. 

"Why are you climbing down? " Ali asked Anya while standing up. "You are suppose to climb up.  When did you come home? "

"Fifteen minutes ago. "

"You took the lift to the first floor? " Ali asked with his eyebrows raised.

Anya frowned before sitting down on one of the stairs.  "I pay the maintenance of the building. Why can't I use the services? "

Ali shook his head. "Exactly."

"Thank you. "

Ali shook his head again. "You don't have to say that.  I am glad I could help. "

"Your phone. " Anya gave him his phone back.

"Why didn't you pick up the call? "

"I did not realise it was vibrating. "

"Oh. Did you see how many times I called you? "

"Too many.  I really wanted to slap you when I saw it in the train. "

"You saw it before coming home?  Why didn't you call me back then. "

"Because my mind was already messed up and I did not want to deal with you. " Ali narrowed his eyes. "I thought you wanted your phone back that's why you kept calling.  I did not think it would be something like this. "

"You should have called. It was difficult to convince Dia to come here. "

"I am sorry for that. Why are you here and not at home? "

"I find it uncomfortable to be in someone's house without them and that too in a girl's house?  No please. I am happy out here."

Anya closed her eyes when she remembered what Ali had said.  She scolded Ali for entering her house when he didn't even enter her house.  "This is why you are always sad.  You make others sad. " Anya scolded herself.  As the days were passing she was getting more and more disappointed. She found a reason to criticise herself everyday. It was becoming more and more difficult for her to be around herself.  She shut her brain and stopped thinking.  For the rest of the journey she looked out of the window. Her mind was thinking about different things but not about the critical situation she was in.  Soon she got off the bus and started walking towards her building. The closer she got, the more uneasy She felt. She didn't want to be in that situation.  She didn't know how she would console Dia.  And tears in Dia's eyes were not making the situation better.  Anya didn't know how to be there for Dia so she ran from her house early in the morning.  She forced Ali and Kabir to join her. She wished she could roam around for some more time, but she didn't have a choice.  Before she knew she was standing in front of her door. She took a deep breath before opening the door.  She was in a bad mood,  but she knew Dia's mood wasn't any better.  In fact she was sure Dia was in a worse state than her.  She smiled before entering the house. She didn't want Dia to know she was upset and wanted to go in with a cheerful mood.  She closed the door behind her when she saw her cousin was not in the living room.

"Dia? "

Anya looked in the room which was next to the living room,  but it was empty.  She crossed the living room and went to the kitchen which was empty too.  She checked the bathroom which was empty before she started walking towards her room.  The door was closed so Anya knocked the door and waited for some time.  But there was no sign of anyone being inside.  Anya slowly opened the door and went inside. 

"Dia? " She called her cousin again.

The room was dark and it seemed as if no one was there.  Anya was about to start panicking when she saw something in the dark.  She switched on the lights.  Dia was sitting in a corner of the room, her head buried in her knees, which she was holding tightly.

"Dia what happened? " Anya walked to her cousin.

"Di." Dia slowly looked up.  Her whole face was soaked in sweat, her eyes were wide open and she had tears in the corner of her eyes. 

"Dia what happened?  Did something happen?  Someone came?  You met someone!  What? " Dia did not say anything but she started crying .Anya stopped asking questions.  She slowly rubbed Dia's back. Tears started to slowly roll down Dia’s cheeks.  She was holding Anya's hand as if she would never let it go.  She felt like Anya was the only person she had. After a while it became Uncomfortable, but Anya did not move.  She stayed in the same position until Dia decided to let her hand go and move back.  Anya carefully made her sit on her bed, before running to the kitchen.  Within seconds she came back with a bottle of water.  Opening it she gave it to Dia.  Dia took it and started drinking.  The bottle was almost empty when Dia gave it back to Anya a minute later.  Anya kept the bottle on the floor and looked at her cousin with concern. Dia wiped the tears under her eyes, feeling embarrassed for crying like a baby. 

"When I woke up,  no one was at home." Dia said.

"I went." Anya paused to think of an answer."I had some work." Anya pointed towards the kitchen.  "I left a note on the fridge."

"Oh."

"Someone came here?  You saw someone? "

"No." 

"I locked the house so that no one bothers you. " Anya lied.  That was one of the reasons why she had locked the door, but the main reason was to lock Dia.  Anya was scared that her cousin,  out of fear will go back home.  Anya was not going to let that happen.  Her cousin will never step in that house again,  that was the promise she made to herself.

"I didn't not know the door was locked."

Anya resisted the urge to groan.She was planning to do that daily.  It would have been easier for her if her cousin wasn't aware of that.  She was mentally coursing herself for spilling the bean.

"Then what happened? "

"I was scared.  I kept thinking he would come. I was scared if I move or leave the room someone will see me and then I will get caught.  It got scarier when the room became dark. I slept some time ago and saw a dream in which he had found me and was." Dia looked at her cousin. Anya frowned, eager to know what he did. "I woke up screaming. I thought someone must have surely heard me. When you opened the door,  I was sure it was him.  So I got scared."

Anya kept looking at her cousin in disbelief.  The Dia she knew was fearless. She remembered how she was always the one who used to be afraid of everything and Dia used to be the one who always did things without thinking what would be its effect. She was afraid of nothing.  Anya wanted to and even her parents always told her to be like Dia.  She always thought of being like her,  fearless,  confident and bold.  Anya had a serious doubt in her mind whether the girl sitting in front of her was really her cousin or an impostor.

"Who are you? " Anya said even before she could realise she did. 

"What? " Dia asked,  still trying to get her heart rate normal. 

Anya closed her eyes. "You don't have to worry.  He has no clue about you.  He won't come here and even if he comes what makes you think I will allow him to take you?" Dia pressed her lips together, still scared.  Anya took her hand, "love,  I promise to protect you.  Believe me.  Just for once.  I will not let him do anything to you. Never. " Dia tighten her grip on Anya's hands.  "Everything is fine.  Everything will be fine.  Trust me.  You trust me,  right? " Dia took few seconds before slowly nodding her head.  Anya smiled. "That's my girl." Dia looked down, not sure where her life was leading.  "Now." Anya started again.  "You can. " She pointed at the switchboard this time.  "Switch on the light.  I pay the bills on time. I also work and get some money in return.  So don't worry about that.  Whenever it's dark, on it. OK? " Dia moved her head to her right and then nodded.  "Good. Also,  I don't like people to see me,  so I always keep the curtains close.  You can go and check. All the curtains are shut. So even if you leave this room,no one will see you. And my floor only has one more flat which is occupied and that couple is here only at night.  They both are working so they leave the house early in the morning and return after eight. There are very less chances of anyone seeing you here.  You can move freely in the house.  OK? " Dia nodded again.  "Good. Then? " Anya tried to remember what else her cousin had said. "Yeah. Even if you scream I don't think anyone will hear you.  The flat next door is close.  The windows are close and luckily the flat right above us is empty too. So don't worry about that either.  OK? " Dia nodded a couple of times "You did not leave the room the whole day? " She shook her head in a no.  "You haven't eaten anything since you woke up? " It was a no again.  "When did you wake up? "

Dia though for a while to remember what was the time when she woke up, before saying,"when it was not dark."

Anya froze for a minute.  That was not an answer she was expecting.  That was not an answer her old cousin, who she knew would have given.  Anya found here cousin different and that was driving her crazy.  She did not know the person sitting in front of her, and she did not like that. 

"OK. Let's go and eat something then." Anya stood up and started walking towards the kitchen. " You must be starving. "

"I don't know. " Was the reply Dia gave her after some time.  Anya stopped in her tracks.  Everything her cousin said and did made her think that maybe she was confuse and the girl in her house was a stranger just with some strong resemblance with her cousin. 

Before leaving Anya had made breakfast as well as lunch for her cousin,  but as her cousin had not left the room the whole day,  they had a lot for dinner.  Anya wasn't happy about that, but she was glad she didn't have to cook after a long day.  It took Anya an hour to make Dia eat, because she was not ready to eat as she no appetite, but then gave in because of her cousin's efforts.  Anya then made her sleep which was even more difficult. But Anya wanted some time to sit and think about what to do next,  and when Anya wanted something she always got it.  She switched off the light, sat next to her cousin and sang a lullaby which her mother used to sing, while softly patting Dia's forehead.  It took her thirty minutes before Dia finally closed her eyes. Once Anya was sure Dia was asleep she went out of the room, making sure of not making any noise.  Anya did not have dinner earlier because she was feeding Dia.  Now, she was sitting on the sofa with her legs spread in front of her,a plate on her hand and phone in another.  She told her friends what happened when she got home. She had the habit of texting them everything on their WhatsApp group. She texted them and then waited for few minutes, before Ali came online and they started chatting.

"She was so scared?" - Ali Rahman.

"Yes. She was sweating." - Anya.

"How is she now?" -  Ali Rahman.

"She is sleeping. I’m really worried for her. " - Anya.

"Any news about her husband?  Is he suspecting you in any way? " - Ali Rahman.

"I don't think so." - Anya.

"How was he?  Was he worried or is he a real big jerk? " - Ali Rahman.

"He was pretending as if he is so worried for her. As if he loves her with all his heart." - Anya.

"Anya what will you do about him?" - Ali Rahman.

"I don't know. But he is very powerful. My uncle and aunt did not say a word against him. And his father is a politician." -Anya.

"It won't be easy then Anya. He can find her soon. And if he is really powerful then he won't just have police who would help him." - Ali Rahman.

"I don't really care about that.  All I know is that I will protect my cousin any how. I don't care what he does to me,  but if he again try to touch my cousin I will not leave him. " - Anya.

"Anya do you have my brother's number? " – Kabir.

"No! "- Anya.

Anya, for some reason was offended by that question. She wanted to type " Why will I have his number?" But she did not want to sound arrogant. She frowned when Kabir sent his brother's number in the group.  She quickly took a spoon full of rice and put it in her mouth before she started  texting him,  but before she could do that his message came. 

"Dia needs help and you can see that.  Take her to my brother.  He is a good psychologist.  I know you had a fight with him in kindergarten,  but take your cousin to him please.  It's for her sake." - Kabir.

Anya frowned when Kabir mentioned about her fight with his brother.  Kindergarten was an exaggeration,  but it was true that they had a fight years ago which Anya was still not ready to let go. Anya heard some noise so she quickly looked to her left.  Dia was twisting and turning, but she was still deep in sleep.  Anya looked at her phone screen again and saw that Ali had deleted a message.  She ignored that, erased the message she was typing earlier and started typing a new reply.

"Of course I will not let that stupid fight come in the middle.  I was thinking about that too.  She really needs help. But I'm not sure if she will agree. " -Anya.

"Force her. You cannot let her do whatever she wants.  She did that once and look where she ended up. Take her please." - Kabir S.

"I will talk to her tomorrow.  I just hope when she wakes up tomorrow she is not crying or sweating."  - Anya. 

Anya kept the phone aside after replying and finished her dinner.  Once she was done she washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.  She did not want to work, but she wanted to get rid of negative thoughts. She tried to keep herself busy. She filled the empty bottles and kept them in the refrigerator. She then looked around to look for something else to do.  There was nothing else,  but she wasn't ready to sleep.  For some reason she had a lot of energy left in her and she wanted to stay up and awake. 

" NO! " Dia screamed.  Anya quickly kept the hand towel she had in her hand on the kitchen counter and ran to her room.  "Go! " Dia was screaming in her dream.  "Leave me. " She Whispered this time.  Anya was scared to go closer to her.  "Please go!" Tears started rolling down her cheeks.  Anya ran mrto her as soon as she saw the tears. 

"Dia." She tried to say.  She didn't know what to do.  Dia was sweating and her eyeballs were moving very fast.  "No." Anya frowned,  feeling helpless.  She took Dia's hand in hers.  "Dia." She said with love in her tone.  "You are not alone baby doll.  I am here. " She started rubbing her hand gently.  Anya did not anticipated it but it worked.  Dia calmed down. She murmured something under her breath but soon she went back to sleeping without screaming or moving.  Anya sat next to her for a long time.  She felt helpless, lost, upset and angry. She wished she could take all the pain away from her sister.  She wished for a lot of things, but she only had one thought in her mind.

"I am going to kill that jerk! "