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The next morning when Azlan Shehryar woke up, he found himself leaned against the foot of the bed, his knees pulled into his chest, the piece of fabric still nestled tenaciously in his hands as he held onto it with his dear life.

He swiveled in his position as he looked around feverishly, trying to make sense of everything – his head heavy – until his gaze settled on the piece of cloth in his hand and his breaths hitched.

She was still missing.

And he was here sleeping.

He cursed under his breath at his nonchalance as he stood up on his feet in an instant. The sudden head rush made him stumble and he almost fell on the bed. He was in severe need of proper medication as the effects of beatings from the other night kept on worsening. But he couldn't care less about it. There were better things that needed his attention.

Pulling himself together, he made his way towards the annex in hope that she might have returned. Maybe. Just maybe.

But to his dismay, Asmara shook her head in the negative yet again without uttering a single word, lips pressed.

"Where's Arham?" He asked, his voice hoarse.

"He went to the office. There was some important meeting and he didn't wanna bother you with it." She divulged as her eyes bored into the piece of cloth in his hand. And that was it. This was enough of a proof that Safa didn't leave for no reason. Something had happened between these two. She was sure now.

She had never seen her boss in such condition. For all she knew, her boss was a well-dressed man with trimmed stubble, his aura always composed. And now here he was with his unkempt hair, crumbled clothes, eyes bloodshed as if he hadn't rested in centuries.

The façade of impassiveness he had always managed so well was now torn apart, the remnants of which were clear in his wistful eyes, longing for her and her only.

"You need a shower." Her sudden statement left him surprised.

"What?"

"You need a shower, sir. And proper rest. I mean, I don't want to be disrespectful but have you even looked at yourself in the mirror?"

"Excuse me?" He gaped at her with eyes widened at her sheer audacity as he raised a perfect eyebrow, clearly offended.

"I'm just stating facts." She before going inside the room and coming a minute later with a pocket mirror in her hand. Whipping it in front of his face, she chided. "Look for yourself."

His eyes dilated as he caught his reflection in the mirror. With locks of his tangled hair falling on his forehead and stark cuts decorating his worn out face, he looked no less than a homeless person. Asmara herself didn't look in the best of state but at least she had gotten a hold of herself unlike him who seemed to have forgotten everything.

"You are right. I should go home and take a shower." He craved it anyways – for his nerves to relax.

"There's a bathroom in the shack in case you didn't know." Her tone was clearly sarcastic.

A sudden surge of dread brandished over his face which wasn't hard to detect. "No, I...can't." He shook his head as if in daze, earning a perplexed glance from her. "Can I use the one in the guest room?"

"Of course, it's your property anyway." She shrugged.

******

Now that he was dressed properly with the vestiges of dust off his body, he felt somewhat better. But the headache, it was still in no mood to leave. After gulping another dose of tablets and making himself some coffee for the ride, he left the annex to go to the office.

As he was striding towards his car, a kid's voice halted him in his track and he moved around with questioning eyes.

A 10-11 years old kid was approaching him, neatly dressed in a school uniform with bag slinging from his shoulders, his face clearly distressed.

"Have you found ma'am?" He chirped in his soft voice, a glint of hope shimmering in his black orbs.

With a slight shake of his head, Azlan answered in the negative, and his heart broke at the sight of the kid's expressions insinuating from hope to sadness before tears started rolling down his now hopeless eyes.

Gradually, he pulled his head up. "Will you find her?" He lamented as the crack in his voice cut through Azlan's heart.

Bending down to his level, Azlan grabbed the kid by his arms as he wiped the tears away from his colorless face. "I will."

"You promise?" His lower lip pulled downward. And at that moment, only one face flashed across his eyes. Ayaan's. Now too far away from him.

He had already lost so many people in his life. He was not going to lose her. Not this time.

Shrugging the thoughts off, he focused his attention back to the kid. "I promise."

Promise? How can he make a promise when he himself wasn't sure?

But he couldn't snatch that hope from the kid now that it was flickering again in his eyes. He had to do it. He had to; if not for himself, he had to do it for the kids.

******

Retrieving the key of the shack from her drawer, Asmara made her way towards it. The expressions on his face from their previous conversation had probed her to go there. Something happened there and she need to know what.

She moved past the fields but the soft wind didn't help to sooth her nerves down. Rather, it was gnawing at her. Her best friend was missing and she did not know what to do. Everything was messed up and she did not know how to fix it. Asking Azlan wasn't even an option because as crude as he was, he wouldn't give in. That she knew.

Pushing the door open, she moved inside and to her dismay everything was in order. Her boss was a clean freak so it was only explainable. Even in sheer anger, Azlan Shehryar knew how to keep himself composed and calculated. The room didn't exude any chaos. It was in perfect order except for a few lines on the bed sheet.

Another hope to get her hands on something that'd lead her to Safa shattered right in front of her eyes. She felt all the strength flushing away from her body as she staggered and before she could calculate herself, fell right on the floor.

"Ya Allah, Safa, what have you done? Is this how much I mattered to you that you didn't even feel the need to tell me anything? Is this what our friendship meant to you?" She whispered to herself as she harshly wiped the tears away from her face, her dupatta pooled around her on the floor as her hair formed a curtain around her tear stricken face.

"Wait till we find you, I'm never gonna talk to you ever again. Just be safe and alive for me to pull that off, okay? I hate you, my love!"

******

When he dragged the door of his cabin open, the image of Arham hovered over strewn files came into view – his elbows propped up on the table as he was sprawled on Azlan's chair, hands clasped at the back of his craned neck. On spotting Azlan, he stood up from his seat.

If the situation was different, he'd have made a snide remark of Arham trying to take his place in the office, but he didn't have the heart to even jibe. Not when his world was falling apart.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

That he wasn't expecting.

"This is my office, remember?" He threw his hands in mid-air in his effort to remind him. "I'm the one who got a sharp blow on his head and here you have lost your memory." He strolled towards the opposite chair and took a seat.

"Alright, Azlan, look..." Arham continued as he dropped himself on the chair. "What's going on? How did you get yourself beaten up like that? I know something's going on. I'm not stupid."

He knew he wouldn't leave pestering until he had told him the reason behind his bruises, so heaving a deep and painful sigh, he began.

Once he had narrated the incident – till the part Safa had saved him – he breathed out vehemently.

"Ya Allah!" Arham let out, eyes widened in shock, and even though he knew Safa leaving abruptly had something to do with what might have happened afterwards, he didn't probe him further. He knew his best friend would never give away the information he didn't want to no matter how much he pressurized him. "Dude, you need to go to the hospital."

"No. I need to work." He replied.

"Azl..." Before he could say anything Azlan cut off.

"Look, I need my fogged brain to open up and without work that doesn't seem plausible. Work is the only sanctuary in my life. Indulging myself in the whirlpool of it, my brain comes into action which is exactly what I need right now to find her."

Arham stared at him before giving in. He could see the pain in his bloodshed eyes which had lodged all the words in his throat. "Alright." He gave up.

With a slight nod of his head, Azlan had just stood up when the vision in front of him swirled and he winced in immense pain as his hand went up to his head mechanically.

"Azlan!" Rounding the table quickly, Arham held Azlan from the shoulders as he provided him support. "Alright, that's it." You're going to doctor right now."

"No..."

"Stop acting like a brat, you brainless shit!" He hollered.

"You're not helping, man." He grimaced at the intensity of voice adding more to the shooting pains piercing his head.

"And you are?" He deadpanned.

For a few seconds he didn't say anything. Arham was right. He couldn't argue with that. In his own mess, he had worried everyone – something he didn't want. "Alright. Take me to the hospital." He drawled, his voice merely a whisper, as the pain intensified.

******

Arham waited outside in the waiting area the entire time doctor attended to Azlan's bruises, followed by a CT scan for the head injury afterwards. 40-45 minutes later, the doctor finally strolled towards him with reports in his hands.

"Is there anything serious?" Arham asked as he stood up from his spot, his expression contorted into fright.

"It's just a concussion." The doctor smiled in a professional manner. "But it can get serious if not taken care of. The effects will wear off in 15-30 days probably, only if he follows the precautions. Right, now he needs proper sleep as he hasn't have any in two days which has already worsened the condition. Try to keep him off work as for now. Thinking too much isn't good for both his mental and physical health. Limit the screen time as well. Right now, I've injected him with aspirin for pain relief, and some sleeping pills so he can sleep. Do not let him out of bed for minimum two days."

The doctor patted him on the shoulder before walking down the hallway,

******

The room was drenched in complete darkness when he woke up. With the support of his elbows, he propped up on the bed to make sense of where he was. Not a few seconds later, the lights turned on and he found himself nowhere but in his own bed, his own room.

"Finally the princess is awake." Raina derided in her attempt to cheer him up, with a plate of fruits in her hands.

"How did I get here?" Azlan inquired in confusion.

"Arham Bhai carried you here in his own arms. It was a sight to behold." She said dreamily. Anything to cheer him up. But nothing worked. Her stomach coiled into tight knots at her brother's condition.

"Raina!" His tone held authority and she knew better than to keep messing with him right now.

Placing the plate on the side of the table, she took a seat by his side. "Arham Bhai carried you hear with his support since he knew once you woke up, you wouldn't stay put."

"Well, he's damn smart, because I won't." He snorted as he pushed the duvet off, but Raina held him by the wrist.

"Bhai, you need rest." She reasoned.

"No, I need to find her." He contradicted.

"I know." She held both his hands in hers. "But do you really think you can find Safa when you yourself are not okay? We all want to find her, and we are on it, but you acting like this wouldn't help. You have to get yourself together. I mean come'n it's you. What can't you have?..."

Her – a voice in his head rasped which he shrugged away. He only wanted to find her because he was responsible for the chaos her life had become. Nothing more than that.

That. Was. It.

Right?

"... You can easily find her if you want, but for that you need proper working of mind and that won't happen unless you follow what doctor has recommended." She extended a slice of apple to his mouth.

"Wow! That's one really good speech you gave there." He jibed as he patted her on the cheek with a forced smile which didn't quite reach his darkened eyes. A grin graced her lips to find her brother back in his element, but she knew him better than he thought she did. She knew it was all a façade to not worry her.

Because maybe it's not the blood that makes us family, but the people who know our darkest secrets and still love us anyway.

******

He tried getting some sleep but it was only followed by bloodcurdling horror of suffocation and intensifying agony coiling up around him, threatening to destroy everything in its wake. Tired of lying in bed the whole day, Azlan Shehryar finally hopped off with a huff. Hadn't it been for Raina, he would have never stayed in bed for so long. He was a workaholic, and for a workaholic bed is not a good companion. What with him not having anything to concentrate on, his mind was going haywire with horrid scenarios concocting up in his head.

Slipping his feet into the slippers, he approached the door and stepped out of his room which had started to gnaw at him. He traversed through the hallway and as he walked past the room she had stayed in, his peripheral vision caught a figure standing in the far corner of the room, by the window.

His feet halted him in his track, his eyes settling on the vision in front of him. In her usual attire with dupatta placed on her head and cashmere draped around her shoulders, she was standing there with her back faced towards him. His breaths hitched as his eyes welled up. The same stance, the same aura, that woman radiated of nothing but home to him. A home he had been craving for so long.

He wanted to hold her...so tightly

And then...just never let her go.

And so, with heart hammering against the ribcage, he almost skedaddled towards the figure, but as soon as he held his hand out to reach to it, it vanished into air. Whatever it was, it was gone, making him take a reign over his burning senses again.

His mind was playing a ruthless game with him. His emotions he had always managed to bottle down in deep pits of his soul were finally coming to surface in full motion. And there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing. Helpless as he was, he didn't even have a control on his emotions anymore. A man who was never easily thwarted was being crashed by the plethora of feelings for the woman he hadn't even yet come face to face with.

A feather like touch on his shoulder flickered another hope in his shimmering eyes as he turned around in swift motion.

"Azlan Bachey, are you okay?" Shehryar gaped at him in concern.

"No, I'm not okay." He let out as tears started rolling down his cheeks. "What if she is not okay? What if something has happened to her? My mind doesn't stop brewing up all these horrific scenarios. It just doesn't let it rest. What if someone's got her? What if I never find her? What if when I do find her, she's..." His heart lodged in his throat firmly before he could even word out the horrifying thought.

"What if I lose her, dad?" He asked like a kid, as he slowly looked towards Shehryar, tears masking his face.

Since the moment the news of her missing had reached him, this was the first time he had finally let his emotions out, not only surprising Shehryar but himself as well. Was it really what he wanted? To not lose her?

Shehryar curved his lips into a warm smile as he cupped his face. "There's one thing that no one knows better than you about that woman. Safa Hayat is a strong woman. She knows how to take care of herself. She doesn't need you or anyone else to save her. She's her own savior." His statement vividly displayed that Sameena had told him everything.

"I can't afford to lose her, dad." His voice dropped a notch. A mere whisper, holding so much agony and fright.

"You won't." Shehryar's heart sank at the sight. "Love has a strange way of coming back to us."

The dread in his eyes was now replaced by shock as he trailed them towards his father, jaws tightened to his scarlet cheekbones.

"I don't love her." His Adam's apple jutted out as his words betrayed his heart. Feeling chilled to his bones, something inside of him crashed while he could hear his heart thudding in his ears.

"You see that's where you are wrong, son. Your eyes say it all."

Patting him on the head, Shehryar strolled towards the exit when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and craned his head towards a very much drained Azlan who, now, was lost in the chaos of his thoughts, his heart shallow in dull rhythm.

"I'm shocked an intelligent man like you still haven't figured it out already." He shot a graceful smile at him before leaving the premises, leaving an unsettling Azlan behind.

Very much unsettling.

******

A/N

AsSalamuAlaikum, ya'll! First of all, I have an amazing news. House of Ashes is ranking on number 1 in spiritual category, and I couldn't be more exhilarated. It also ranked on number 1 in Pakistan category last Friday. Thank you so much for all the love and support you guy have always shown towards this book. I'm so humbled. Without you guys, it never would've been possible.

Secondly, I'll be updating weekly on Fridays till my exams are over. Once I'm finally done with uni kachra, I'll try updating more often, IA. Hope you liked today's chapter.

Loads of love!!