Falling In Love

by Emma Easter

  “So that was why you wanted me to go with you,” Faizan said to Khalid.

  “You fell into the trap I set for you,” Khalid said.

  The man Khalid called Chad shook his head and said, “What a shame. He seems like such a smart man. We would have been able to use someone like him. He would definitely have been perfect for our next mission.”

  Khalid said, “Unfortunately, he turned out to be a traitor.” He looked down at Faizan and sneered. “Before the end of today, you will be shot.”

  Faizan remained silent, but his heart beat with dread. He felt no fear for himself. The pain and fear in his heart was because he knew his death would cause Zainah excruciating pain. More than that, their dreams of getting married would never materialize and he would never see her again. His sisters would mourn for a very long time for the brother they had just found and now was dead.

  He shut his eyes and allowed the pain to take over him. Images of Zainah, Trisha, Audrey, and Sienna filled his mind. His heart flooded with overwhelming grief and pain. They would never again see him and he would never again get to tell them how much he loved them. He opened his eyes, looked up at the ceiling, and asked God to let them know how much he loved them. He asked the Lord to grant them comfort when he died.

  He looked at Khalid again and found that he and the other man were staring curiously at him, probably wondering why he looked so much at peace when he’d just been told he would die before the end of the day. With a voice free from fear, he made his confession of faith. “I believe in the Lord Jesus who is and will always be the master and savior of my soul.”

  Khalid laughed harshly and said, “So, you are a Christian. Unfortunately for you, your Jesus will not be able to save you today.”

  The man beside him shook his head and said, “Like I said before, it’s such a shame!”

  Khalid and Chad walked to the door of the cell. Before they went out, Khalid turned around and said, “Such a waste. But that’s what you get for your betrayal.”

  Both men left the cell, leaving it in complete silence.

  Faizan sat watching the cell door as a guard locked it. Soon, he felt claustrophobic, and then he gradually descended into a pit of despair. He knelt on the cold floor and began to pray. He prayed and prayed, asking the Lord for peace, until at last he felt the peace of God descend on him. Within seconds, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

  *****

  Zainah quickly got up from the bed when she heard the front door open. She had moved into Audrey’s old house when Trisha and Frank had come back from their honeymoon in order to give the newlyweds their privacy. She had been pacing the whole house since morning, worrying about Faizan. She had finally exhausted herself half an hour ago and sat on the bed. She called Audrey, who was in town and at the police station, to know if she’d found out anything new about Faizan. He usually called her and his sisters several times a week, but she hadn’t heard from him in what seemed like forever. Their wedding was supposed to be in a week’s time, and yet she didn’t know where he was now.

  She went to the living room and saw it was Audrey who had come into the house. Walking up to Audrey, she asked, “Have you heard from him?”

  Audrey shook her head and slowly sat on the sofa. She looked away from Zainah, sighed audibly, and then looked down at the floor.

  Zainah’s eyes widened as fear gripped her. She had seen something in Audrey’s eyes before she’d looked down at the floor. Something that looked like terror. She stood staring for a full minute and then went to sit beside Audrey on the sofa. Putting her hand on Audrey’s shoulder, she said in a shaky voice, “Please tell me what you have heard about Faizan.”

  Audrey did not look up or say anything to Zainah. Instead, her shoulders began to shake and a sob escaped her lips.

  Zainah felt blood rushing up to her ears and she trembled. Without meaning to, she shook Audrey’s shoulder and yelled, “Please, just tell me that Faizan is okay!”

  Audrey looked up with tears flowing down her cheeks and said, “I just got a phone call from Ken before I came here. He said he got word that Faizan was kidnapped some days ago. Nobody has heard from him since.”

  Zainah felt like throwing up. “What do you mean, kidnapped?” she asked. “Who kidnapped him?”

  Audrey looked away for a brief moment and then looked back at her. “I don’t know if I should tell you this,” she said, “but, I think it’s probably time you knew.” She began to tell Zainah that Faizan worked for the government as a covert CIA agent.

  As she talked, Zainah’s heart beat with fear. She had suspected Faizan worked for the government, but she had never known he was in this deep. Now, they had jeopardized his life. She felt angry and depressed. When Audrey finished, she pressed her lips together so she wouldn’t cry and then said, “So, you are telling me that all this time, he has been living with violent terrorists?”

  Audrey nodded and then shut her eyes as a look of agony twisted her pretty features.

  Zainah shook her head slowly. Her body turned to stone and for a few minutes, she could not move at all. For a long moment, she stared at the wall in front of her, and then terror unlike anything she had ever experienced flooded her mind, followed closely by an overwhelming sadness. Suddenly, she screamed and began to say, “No, no, no! Please, Lord, not my Faizan. Please!”

  She turned to Audrey who was weeping silently beside her and said, “Maybe he wasn’t kidnapped. Maybe he just went off the grid. I’m sure he’s safe. We don’t know that he was kidnapped, do we?”

  Audrey said in a broken voice, “Jake, his handler, was the one who told Ken about it. He’s pretty sure Faizan was kidnapped.”

  Zainah said desperately, “Okay, if he was kidnapped, we can find out who the kidnappers are so we can start the process of freeing him.”

  Audrey looked up into Zainah’s eyes and said, “Zainah, Ken told me that the people who kidnapped him, the terrorist group he has been living with, are very brutal. They are known to kill even their own members at the drop of a hat. Jake feels that he was found out. People who betray the group like that are always…” She didn’t finish her sentence. She covered her mouth and wept.

  Zainah stood up, not wanting to hear any more. She tried to walk away, but her feet could not carry her, and she sank to her knees. Spots danced in front of her eyes, and she felt nauseated. She shut her eyes and passed out.

  She opened her eyes after what seemed like a minute later. Audrey’s face floated over her head. She sat up, realizing that she had been carried and laid on the couch by Audrey.

  “Are you okay?” Audrey asked, placing a hand on her forehead. “You passed out all of a sudden.”

  Zainah shut her eyes, and then pain began to course through her as she remembered what Audrey had told her a minute ago about Faizan. She opened her eyes and began to shake her head again. All she could hear herself say continuously was, “No!”

  Audrey wrapped her arms around her and tried to comfort her. She said, “Maybe you’re right, Zainah. Maybe Jake and Ken are wrong. Maybe, like you said, he just went off the grid.”

  Zainah suddenly couldn’t hold back again and began to sob loudly. And then, just as suddenly, she stopped crying.

  Crying would not solve this problem. They had to pray for Faizan right now. If there was any chance that he was still alive, he needed their prayers right now. She turned to Audrey and said, “Let’s pray for him right now.”

  Audrey dabbed the tears on her cheeks and nodded.

  Zainah took her hands and shut her eyes. She said, “Lord, we are not sure where Faizan is right now, but we choose to trust that he still alive. We know he needs your protection and that is what we are praying for. Please, Lord, please protect him. Keep him safe from harm. Whatever he might be going through, please deliver him.”

  Zainah continued to pray, asking that the Lord would shield Faizan and that He would send His angels to watch over Faizan. She prayed that the Lord would send a miracle and deliver Faizan no mat
ter where he was and what he was going through.

  After she prayed, Audrey also prayed.

  After the prayer session, Zainah said, “Audrey, we have to trust the Lord. We have to trust that He will protect Faizan no matter where he is and deliver him from harm.”

  Audrey smiled sadly and said, “You’re right. We definitely need to trust the Lord at this time.”

  For the rest of the day, Zainah walked around the house like a zombie. She felt completely numb. She was trying hard to believe that Faizan was still alive and that God would protect him, while continuously fending off the doubts that assailed her.

  Before she went to bed, she prayed again, asking the Lord for a miracle for Faizan. “Bring him back to me, Lord,” she said, lying flat on her back on her bed, and looking at the ceiling. “I cannot live without him.”

  She tossed and turned throughout the night. The next morning, she got out of bed, and quickly went to find Audrey. Audrey was still in her room. Zainah knocked on Audrey’s room door and when she heard her say “Come in,” she opened the door and entered.

  She saw Audrey sitting on her bed and said to her, “Have you heard anything about Faizan’s whereabouts?”

  Audrey looked up. Her eyes looked red. She had probably not slept a wink, just like Zainah. “I haven’t heard anything,” she answered.

  Zainah went and sat on the bed beside Audrey. She took her hand and said to her, “Let’s pray for him.”

  They began to pray with all their hearts, because that was all they knew to do. They prayed again that the Lord would come through for them, and that Faizan would return to them, safe and unhurt.

  Chapter Seven

  Faizan looked up as someone entered his tiny cell. Two burly men, Khalid’s men, grabbed him by the arms and hurled him up. He hadn’t eaten any real food for days and he felt weak. They dragged him out of the cell, down a narrow corridor, and outside to the bright sunlight.

  He squinted and shut his eyes briefly to shut out the glaring sunlight. The light from the sun hurt his eyes as he had not been outside for days. Apart from the fact that he felt weak from lack of food, he also felt sad and undefeated. He knew what was about to happen to him. He was about to be shot and he would never see Zainah or his sisters again.

  His heart filled with sorrow and he whispered a prayer to God, asking for help and asking that the Lord would comfort Zainah and his sisters when they heard the news of his death.

  The two men dragged him to the fence at the back of the expansive compound of the terrorist group. He took a deep breath as they left him standing there and asked that the Lord receive his soul when he died.

  Another man came out of the building facing the one they had brought him out of. He was holding a rifle. He came and stood beside the two burly men and pointed his gun at Faizan.

  Faizan lifted his eyes to the sky and began to pray. He was determined to die praying to the God who had saved him from a violent life.

  He continued to pray and soon his prayer turned to worship. At any minute now, he knew he would feel the searing pain of a bullet piercing his chest or forehead. He kept his eyes lifted to the sky while his heart clung to the Lord.

  The booming sounds of gunshots shattered the air and he squeezed his eyes closed.

  So, this is it, then, he thought in his heart. He would die here, far away from all his loved ones. They would never get to see his body. He sighed sadly. Well, at least his soul would be with the Lord. That was what mattered the most.

  He kept waiting to feel the pain from the gunshot, but he felt absolutely nothing. He opened his eyes and began to wonder if he had died already. He looked around and his mouth fell open in astonishment. The man called Chad was holding a gun and standing over the bodies of the man who had pointed the rifle at him just a few minutes ago and the two burly men who had dragged him out of his cell.

  Faizan looked past the man and saw three trucks parked behind him. Armed men wearing fatigues trooped out of the trucks and surrounded all the buildings in the compound. Some of them entered the buildings.

  More gunshots sounded. Chad put his gun in the holster around his waist and walked up to Faizan. The man said, “Sorry for whacking you on the head. I had to pretend I was on Khalid’s side to make sure my cover was not broken.” He put his hand on Faizan’s shoulder and asked, “Are you okay?”

  Faizan couldn’t speak. He just stared at the man.

  Chad smiled at him with his hand still on Faizan’s shoulder and said, “My real name is Chuck. I was sent by Jake to partly carry out another secret mission and partly to watch out for you. When Jake heard you were in trouble, he sent me to help you out. I’ve been working closely with Khalid for a while without him suspecting who I really am.”

  Faizan shook his head in astonishment, still unable to believe he had been rescued. He looked past Chuck again. The men in fatigues were dragging out Khalid’s men from all the buildings. Chuck left him and walked over to his men. He said something to them that Faizan didn’t hear.

  Faizan walked over to him and watched as Khalid’s men were bundled into the trucks. Minutes later, two men came out, dragging Khalid along with them.

  Khalid turned and glared at Faizan. He suddenly broke out in an evil laugh and then turned away again, still laughing. He was dragged away and shoved into one of the trucks. The captured men were driven away, and Faizan turned his attention to Chuck again. He opened his mouth and asked the major thing that had been on his mind since he’d left Rosefield and that he wanted more than anything in the world. “Can I go home now? I’m supposed to get married in a week.”

  Chuck chuckled and nodded. “Yes. Yes, you can go home now.”

  Faizan finally couldn’t hold down the relief that flooded his heart and mind. He sank to his knees, choked back a sob, and gave God praise for saving his life. He stood up and said to Chuck, “I’m ready to go now.”

  Chuck drove him to a small house where he could bathe. He had not bathed for days. He entered a small room with only a bed and an ensuite bathroom and shed his clothes. He went into the bathroom, and just before he got into the shower, he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked a little gaunt, had a long beard, and was wearing dirty clothes, but that didn’t matter. His heart was full of joy. He was alive and he could finally marry Zainah. That was all that mattered.

  “Thank you, Lord,” he said for the umpteenth time since he’d been rescued.

  After he finished bathing, he changed into a white t-shirt and jeans that Chuck had laid out for him on the bed. He quickly combed his hair and then went out of the house.

  Chuck was waiting for him outside, beside a black SUV. Faizan entered the car and sat in the back seat beside Chuck. The driver drove them to a private airstrip, and then walking briskly, Chuck led him to a small plane.

  Just before Faizan entered the plane, Chuck said to him, “You are lucky you get to go home now. I can’t do that until I complete my mission.” He pounded Faizan’s back and then pointed at the plane. “Home awaits,” he said. “Goodbye… until we meet again.”

  Faizan smiled, but he hoped that would not be any time soon. He shook Chuck’s hand, thanked him again for rescuing him, and entered the small plane. He was the only passenger in the plane but his mind was not on that. All that was on his mind was the fact that he could not wait to see Zainah. She would be sick with worry, having not heard from him for so long. His sisters would also be worried about him. He hoped the hours would fly by quickly, so he could get home to Zainah and his sisters.

  As the plane took off, his heart also soared. He whispered a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord again, then settled down in his seat and excitedly counted the hours before he would be reunited with his loved ones in Rosefield.

  *****

  Zainah was distraught.

  There was still no news of Faizan. Audrey had been calling Ken for hours, trying to find out if there was any new information about Faizan’s whereabouts. Ken had only bleak news for them.

&nbs
p; Zainah paced Audrey’s living room while Audrey sat on the sofa, her eyes planted on her phone on the coffee table. Trisha and Frank sat together on the loveseat. Frank held Trisha tightly while she wept softly. Unfortunately, they had come back from their honeymoon days ago to the sad news that Faizan had been kidnapped and was probably dead.

  Zainah refused to believe any of the reports she heard that Faizan would not still be alive because the terrorist group that was holding him was known to be swift to execute justice on people who they perceived had betrayed the group.

  Audrey’s phone rang and Zainah turned sharply to her. Maybe it was Faizan calling, or at least Ken with news about the man she loved. She looked expectantly at Audrey and then sighed in disappointment when Audrey whispered that it was Sienna on the phone.

  Zainah listened for a while to Audrey’s phone call with Sienna. She was trying to calm Sienna down as she was heavily pregnant. Her due date was almost here and Audrey reminded her about that. “Calm down, Sienna,” Audrey said. “When we hear any more news about Faizan, we will let you know. You need to stop freaking out and think about your baby.”

  Zainah tuned out the conversation and started to silently pray. She had been praying nonstop since she heard that Faizan had been kidnapped. She would never let go of the hope that God would perform a miracle and deliver him, no matter what anyone said.

  She finally grew tired of pacing the floor and sat down on the sofa facing Audrey. She shut her eyes and gradually fell asleep. Her dreams were filled with violence. She dreamt that Faizan had been killed and his body left to rot under the sun. She awoke trembling in fear, tears streaming down her face.

  She looked at the time and saw that hours had passed since she’d fallen asleep. Looking round the living room, she found that Trisha and Frank had fallen asleep and were wrapped up in each other’s arms on the loveseat, while Audrey lay asleep on her back on the couch.

  Zainah stretched out on the couch, her heart growing heavier and heavier as the hours flew by. What if he doesn’t come back? she asked herself. What if he’s dead?