CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4 : The Chirps And Memories

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Author's pov :

The man turned around to see from where the voice came from . It was a girl. He almost chuckled at that . Sweat dripped from his forehead. He has been running away for a long time to escape from Fawad's hand.  He was almost regretting, giving the information of drug consignment to Mrs Z.  The biggest rival Zayan had , but he couldn't help but trade his loyalty for more money.

She walked towards him and with a swift movement she collided her fist with his jaw.

The force of the blow sent the man stumbling backward. The man was stunned by this . The girl stood tall, her fists clenched, ready to defend the unconscious man.

"Leave him alone!" she demanded, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and courage.

The man regained his composure, a mixture of anger and surprise contorting his features. With a snarl, he lunged forward, but the girl was quick. She dodged his attack and landed another punch, this time aiming for his stomach.

The man grunted in pain, doubling over, but he refused to back down. He swung wildly, aiming for the girl's head, but she ducked and weaved, evading his blows with practiced ease. Before he could do something, she swung her heavy tote bag and landed it with a force across his face.

Safia continued to fight, her movements fueled by adrenaline and a fierce determination to protect the vulnerable. With each punch and kick, she pushed herself harder, refusing to let the man intimidate her. Whenever she felt her punches going weaker she used her tote bag to slam across his face again and again .

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the man stumbled backward, defeated. With a final glare, he turned and fled into the darkness, leaving the girl standing victorious in the forest, her heart pounding with adrenaline and relief.

Her breathing was heavy as she tried to gain her posture . She didn't knew that she was that strong to defend someone until this very much moment .

She crouched down while looking at the man whose head was bleeding .

"Are you fine ? " She breathed out . She was very tired herself to do very polite or soft in her approach.

She sat down completely. She slipped her fingers carefully under the man's face to remove it from the muddy ground . She wanted to inspect his wounds .

She put her grocery bag on the side , while pulling out her phone from the purse.

She opened the flashlight, to inspect the face . Her jaw dropped as she saw the person in front of her.

"Fawad Criminal Siddiqui!!" She gasped. In front of her was laying one of the most influential man in India .

It was clearly known to everyone , how indirectly he plays a part in election by funding the ministers for elections. There were few reports against him too , but the people who filed them went missing from the next day itself .

Safia loved reading about crimes and connecting the dots . She noticed how almost every big crime was related to Fawad Siddique. They were indirectly through him or by him.

But that wasn't her main concern now . She just needed to ensure that the man in front of her was safe . She pulled out a water bottle from the bag , which had only a little drops left and spinkled it on his face.

Fawad scrunched his eyebrows as he felt his consciousness coming back. But his head kept throbbing with the pain.

"Relax "She awkwardly said while noticing his attempts to stay awake. Her eyes fell on his head which was bleeding a lot more than what she thought

"Yah khuda ! You are bleeding badly" She whispered in disbelief.

"Hmm" his voice was deep which caught her off-guard . The voice was filled with pain .

"You need to go to hospital" She told him . She have never touched males before but it was a case of emergency.

'Yah Allah maf kariyega please (Oh Allah , please forgive me)'

She was well aware it's sin to touch someone who is not her mehram , but there was very little which she could do now .

She put her hand on his shoulder trying to get him up , but her grip loosened seeing that he could barely open his eyes . It was difficult to carry him all alone .

She decided to ask Ria and her friends for the help , so she decided to walk towards the area where she came from . She turned around for a second to look at Fawad. A part of her was worried about what if he gets attacked again ?

She bowed down to his level where Fawad was laying down , she closed her eyes and read Ayatul-Kursi for his protection.

"Yah Allah , please ensure his safety from anything till I come back" She mumbled with her palms open .

Fawad could hear it . He was weak to move but his brain and ears were alert.

For the first ever time , he heard someone praying for safety for no selfish reason or apparent reason at all . He didn't even knew her , so why was she even caring about his safety?

As he lay in the dark jungle , the voice of the cricket chirming took him back to his childhood memory.

'Ammi !! Ammi!! " He called out as tears made their way out of his eyes trying to find his mother . The only sound in the dense forest was the sound of cricket chirping .

It was scary .

The bugs were sticking to his body and biting it. He kept brushing it off his body with tears.

"AMMI" he screamed as loudly as he could but no body came at all.

It was supposed to be a family trip—but it wasn't anywhere near that . His father got a call so he left from the forest mid-way and his mother asked him to stay in the forest for a while , while she returns . But she didn't. It was dark now . He wanted to find the cottage which was outside the forest and they were living there , but he lost his way too.

Giving up he kneeled down scared of everything. He brought his knees close to his chest while hugging them as tightly as he could . His arms covered his face while resting on his knees. He kept rubbing them slightly to avoid getting bitten by the bugs. He was terrified.

The voice of pitter patter started . It was raining now. He didn't liked rain . He fell sick easily and had no one to care for him except the maids who served him soup with unfriendly faces.

He always connected the bad feeling of being left alone sick with rain.

"Are you fine?" He heard the voice . He looked up to find a little girl in a blue frock .

"Who are you?" He was confused. The girl looked younger than him. He felt embarrassed to be so scared in front of her.

"Shafia—you?" She asked.

"Fawad" he replied while getting up from the ground while wiping his face with his own palm, to remove the tear stains roughly.

"Ushe thish" She passed on a handkerchief. He took it and wiping his face . The rain was soaking both of them equally but difference was their reaction. Fawad was looking for a place to hide while the girl was clearly enjoying herself .

"Why were you crying ?" She asked him.

"I lost my ammi" he embarrassingly admitted.

"Let's find her together" she said while holding his hand .

"Are you lost too?" He asked her as they were searching for his mother.

"Uh hun" she shook her head. "I belong to thish village . I came here to play in the woodsh" She replied happily . Soon they reached the end of the forest where the cottage was . The cottage where Fawad and his family were living for now.

"Thank you Shafia. Why don't you come inside ! I can give you one of my toys" Fawad offered but she giggled and shook her head while rejecting the offer and ran away to enjoy the rain , disappearing in the thick forest.

"Who was there with you?" His mother carelessly asked.

"Shafia" Fawad replied and came to hug his mother but his mother stepped back.

"Your are wet . Go and change your clothes and stay away from these village children. They are taught to steal stuffs from the city kids" his mother replied.

"Shafia is good !"

"Everyone is good until we see their other side—now go" his mother said .

He walked inside his room . He was pretty sure that his mother came to the cottage for some work , but forgot to come back to him again.

He was changing his dress in the room while drying himself properly , but he heard his mother's conversation which made him stop his moments of putting the shirt around his neck for a second.

"What were we talking about again Shifali?---yeah about Mrs Shah...yeah—yeah I had to move to another room . Fawad was crying so loudly in the forest. I wish he could man up like what his father always desired him to be—oh no he didn't came back himself a girl brought him" the talk between the two ladies went on about how Fawad wasn't fit to be a heir of such a big family .

He stuck to be as near the door as he could and held his chest where his heart was and started crying .

"Hey..hey—keep your eyes open!!" She gasped but he couldn't help but fall into deep sea of unconsciousness.

To be continued...