Caged

by Onaiza Khan

  I was again foolishly hoping that these three months could be a dream and when I woke up it’ll be this perfect life with my perfect man when he broke his warm lips from mine and backed off. He then turned away and unlocked the door. Standing in the doorway, he called out to me again.

  “Noor, next time you fall in love with a stranger, do a little background check,” he chuckled but did not seem very happy about it. It hurt him to say those words.

  And the door locked. I could move now. Except, that I couldn’t. I was looking at the door as if he’s still there talking to me which he clearly wasn’t. I couldn’t understand if it was real or not. I was stuck in the moment. TRAPPED. But then my dad’s voice saved me again.

  Keep your mind right, put your body in action and let your spirit guide you.

  First thing, I threw the necklace in a drawer and shut it. I wanted to see no more of it.

  After brooding over his words for hours, I came to a conclusion that I will only trust myself and let my spirit guide me. I’m not trusting him. Not again. He can go to hell.

  I wanted Alba to quickly come with the breakfast and go so that I could check on Christian. See what I could do about his chains. I had hope, not hope, I was almost confident, that the chains would somehow open. It was fate that was guiding me to my freedom. I didn’t care if God used ghosts or whatever to save me. He should just save me. That’s all I wanted.

  Once Alba was gone, I sprinted towards the library door. Christian, Christian, Christian. That was the only thing on my mind. All of a sudden, I wondered if he got proper food to eat. I never even asked him about food. When did I get so mean and selfish? It must be Daniel’s company. I took my breakfast tray to him.

  I’d been on these stairs thrice already. Twice and a half actually. So the twisted turns, the horrific silence, and blackness didn’t bother me that much. Especially not in the daytime. When I reached downstairs, he was sleeping; it gave me some time to assess his chains. Those chains weren’t just huge they were heavy as hell. Poor guy.

  There was a giant iron lock in those crazily tangled chains at the bottom of his chair. Even touching it gave me goosebumps. What if I couldn’t break it? Or get someone to break it. It will all be for nothing, and I will lose the French trip offer too.

  “Dear Ghost or Ghosts or whatever or whoever you are, please help me, please open this lock, someone please open this lock. That’s the last favor I need from you. If you do this, I…ummm…I’ll always respect you. God, what do I say?” I wasn’t speaking loudly but still Christian somehow woke up.

  “Girl,” he mumbled.

  “Yes, Christian,” I whispered to match his volume.

  “Did you get it?” he sounded sleepy and relaxed. He was in no hurry of running away I believe.

  “Get what?”

  “The Key?”

  “No,” I sighed.

  “Oh that’s awful,” I couldn’t see his face, but I knew he was teasing me.

  “I got breakfast for you, though.”

  “What? Wow, that’s great. What’ve you got?”

  I envied the lightness in his tone and excitement at the name of breakfast. How could he be so cool with all this? But didn't the smell of French Toast make me lighter too?

  “It’s oatmeal,” I stated.

  “Thanks but no thanks,” he sang like a naughty kid.

  “What do they feed you?”

  “Food.”

  It wasn’t worth arguing. So, I just let him be and started walking towards the stairs when he called out.

  “How were you planning to get the key by the way?”

  “I wasn’t… I mean I had something else in mind.”

  “What? Breaking all this up with a sledgehammer?”

  I don’t even have a sledgehammer; I told myself. If I had told him I was planning to summon ghosts to open that lock for me, he would never ever take me seriously. Out of the question.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” I told him and came back.

  On my way back up all I could think about was Daniel’s warning. ‘Next time you fall in love with a stranger, do a little background check.’ No, I wasn’t falling in love with Christian, but I cared about him.

  Forget care; I was starting to trust him, without knowing anything about him. Daniel had tied him up in huge and deadly chains yet Christian claimed that he was just a normal person even though he was fireproof and injury-proof, if that’s even a word.

  And I was scheming to free him.

  I wanted to free us both from this prison and couldn’t stop thinking about it. But somewhere in the background, Daniel’s words were hanging loose creating an elusive fear in me. He could be right about not trusting a stranger. Christian could be dangerous. But he was my only way out. I did not have much power over the situation. I didn’t have a foolproof plan either. All I was actually doing was waiting for a miracle to happen. But still, I still felt in control of the decision.

  I had to decide what I wanted to do.

  Now, the same curiosity that I had about the hatch was wrapping me all around.

  I wanted to know if Christian was lying. Was he really dangerous?

  Chapter 8

  I was in and out of sleep all day and night after my meeting with Christian. He was all I could think about. I wanted to release him so badly and see for myself.

  Who is he or what is he? What is he capable of?

  Daniel hadn’t shown up after our last meeting. The whole France story and his kiss were also constantly tugging at me. I could feel that kiss all through my body. Tingling, burning, moving inside of me like liquid electricity and a sharp pang of disappointment that he didn’t love me like I wanted him to. That will be the biggest disappointment in my life. He didn’t love me, and now he didn’t even want me; not even as a toy. He was done with me, bored probably.

  My sore body gave me signs that I had spent a lot of time in bed than normal. I looked at the clock, and it was twelve. Twelve in the afternoon and there was no trace of Daniel or breakfast. No breakfast meant no Alba. I looked out of the window. There was some snow, not much, though. It had snowed again last night, and she couldn’t come. Daniel too is stuck somewhere offering me a golden chance to escape.

  Escaping was still an afterthought. What I was looking forward to was Christian, and if there could be a way to release him…And see for myself if he really was the monster that Daniel thought he was.

  I didn’t waste any time. I jumped out of bed and went straight to the library door. By this time I didn’t even care that the door was being opened by a supernatural force. What’s done is done; right now it was another lock that was worrying me. On my way down I realized my clothes weren’t very appropriate, I was wearing shorts that were a little too short paired with a little lacy blouse.

  But it was so dark down there, what did it matter. I’ll only be a dark figure for him, like a shadow. He was shivering when I got there. I shuddered too.

  Obviously, there was no heating. Even after noticing me, he didn’t say a word. I felt a little pity again.

  God, I had to stop being Mother Teresa. I can make use of my values and kindness in some other situation, a safer one possibly. I took the lock in my hand; it was heavier than I thought and it almost gave me a nerve injury. I immediately dropped it on the floor and stretched out my hand. Christian, unlike himself, was silent all this while. Assured that my wrist was alright, I took it again this time using both hands and then guess what, it was open.

  I pinched myself, its real, its real, its real and yes it was. I had to put all my strength in untangling the chain and freeing Christian and soon it was done.

  He was free.

  “I can’t believe it,” he murmured. “I can’t believe YOU did it,” he repeated.

  I was waiting for him to do something, say something. All he managed to say was a hearty thank you. I could hear his voice choking on tears. I finally decided I had nothing to fear from him. I could trust him.

  How much time I had was
ted fearing what or who he was, all for nothing. He was just a normal guy who happened to have a superpower by chance. Probably like Kann Trichan.

  On to business then. “Alright, get up, we have to leave now,” he said, but he wasn’t even listening. He was so busy pampering himself.

  “Leave?”

  I’ll admit that shocked me a little. “Yes, we’re leaving, as in breaking out of here.”

  “But how are we supposed to do that? Break out of here?”

  “I told you that day. Don’t you remember? About the window?”

  “That? Jumping from the window thing. You were serious about it?”

  “You think I was joking?” My hands were already balled up in fists and anger was all over my face.

  “No, I thought you were dream walking.”

  “Dreamwalking; that’s not even a word Christian.” I was furious by now.

  “And you’re not my English Professor.”

  “You said you'd do it.”

  “Well, I say a lot of things.”

  “So what? Will you just bail on me now?” I could feel my anger ready to flood through my eyes.

  “No obviously not, we’ll figure something out.”

  Figure something out. Really? The risk of Daniel turning up anytime was already dangling over my head, and now Christian was going back on his promise. This was making me go insane.

  Keep your mind right.

  Keep your mind right.

  Keep your mind right.

  I told myself a million times.

  “Oh my hands, my beautiful, beautiful hands, you’re alive now.” He was talking to his hands. What a maniac.

  “I’ve been meaning to do so much with them. Can you close your eyes for a minute sweetie?”

  “Christian,” I growled, “you’re disgusting.”

  And then he tried to sober up and asked me to direct him upstairs.

  “This way; be careful, it’s pretty dark,” I said.

  “Oh come on, after spending weeks in this dungeon, I’ll have to be careful with light.”

  I was furious by now. His snide comments only made it worse. But I tried to keep my calm.

  When we finally reached upstairs he was in awe, “Fuck, this is where he kept you?” I nodded.

  “Son of a bitch, I want to sue this bloody kidnapper. He kept me in that cold, stinking hellhole just because I didn’t have boobs?”

  Yeah, Christian, go on, that’s the most urgent issue right now. Well, I didn’t say it out loud.

  He was shockingly irritating and irritatingly shocking at the same time. I wanted to bang my head on the wall and free myself of his company. Should’ve waited for a month and gone with Daniel. And look at him; he was suddenly all over my room and bed. Ugghhh.

  But actually, this was the first time I saw his face. He looked older than I thought he’d be. Had a wheatish complexion and the most perfect cheekbones I had ever seen. A little stubble looked good on him. Made him look like a man. Responsible and strong. But looks are deceiving, right? His voice and behavior were too childish for that face. He was well-built, quite tall and intimidating. And good lord; his hair was such a mess.

  “Someone’s looking hot,” he eyed me. Shit, I should’ve changed, but then he didn’t give me a hard time for that.

  “This TV doesn't work; Mr. Kidnapper can’t afford cable?”

  Does he ever shut up? I just rolled my eyes. Seriously, what else could I do? He was examining everything in my room like he’s on a picnic. Daniel’s room I mean.

  “Alright, do you have a sledgehammer?” he asked me in a very matter-of-fact voice.

  “Don’t you think you’d be dead by now if I did?” I was just frustrated and agitated and a lot of other things.

  He was already in the bathroom when I finished my sentence and in a moment came out with the toilet roll holder. He must have been really strong to take that thing out of the wall.

  “Spoons, butter knives, hairpins or anything in that line. Collect them and get them downstairs. I’ll be in the basement.”

  “What? What? What?” I asked.

  “Quick.”

  I did and when I went down there; he was trying to break a door. It was a little door in the basement that I had never noticed because of the darkness, but since he had nothing to do all this time but look around, he would’ve spotted it.

  “Do you have a pen?”

  “Yeah, there must be a pen in the library.”

  “Leave all this stuff here and get the pen.”

  I obeyed dumbfounded. He seemed to know what he was doing. When I came back with a pen, that door was open; he had opened a freaking door with a bloody toilet roll holder. He was already in the garage, and when I stepped inside he nodded towards a blue car parked there, “and this sweetheart is our ride.”

  “We don’t have a key,” I stated

  “That’s not your problem.”

  “You can? Without a key? Who are you? A thief?” I stumbled on my words.

  “No, I’m your knight in shining armor. Now, get your stuff girl, and thank me for this later. If it weren’t for me, we’d be bungee jumping.”

  “Do you even know what bungee jumping is?”

  “Do you think I care?”

  Rolled my eyes. AGAIN. If I had to roll my eyes this frequently, I bet my eyelids would break by nightfall.

  I had to get my stuff now. My stuff? I hadn’t thought of this too. I had some clothes, and well, no wallet or cash or ID or anything that would come under ‘my stuff.' I went back to my room, grabbed a bag and stuffed a few jeans and sweater and put on my overcoat when he almost scared me to death by appearing in the closet.

  “Does he keep some of his clothes here?” he meant Daniel. And true, Christian needed a change of clothes. Though Daniel was leaner than him, Christian could fit in some of his shirts and jackets. He had to stay in his own jeans, though.

  “Okay. Where’s the cash?” he asked all of a sudden.

  “What cash?”

  “There’s no cash or anything. How are we supposed to survive in that cruel, cruel world without cash?”

  “I don’t have any cash, and he doesn’t keep anything here.”

  “Jewelry?”

  Yes, I had a necklace that he had given me for our wedding. A diamond necklace, very expensive and when I took it out, his eyes were as wide as eggs.

  “Oh boy, that is something…but I mean we can’t sell that thing easily, you know unless we accidentally run into the diamond mafia.”

  “Wait, I have a gold chain too,” and I produced it like an idiot laying down all my prized possessions in front of a stranger.

  “That sweetheart can only take us to the nearest city.”

  “Let’s go now,” that was all I had after all.

  This time when we crossed the library, he lingered, appreciating the books on the shelves. I couldn’t have guessed he had any interest in literature and he spoke very dreamily, “this is the first edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, like the very first. Can I take it? Wait, why am I asking you? Obviously, I can,” and he grabbed it. That book was the heaviest part of our luggage.

  He opened the garage and was going to start the car with a refill of a pen. THIEF.

  “Wait, the necklace,” I realized I shouldn’t have said it out loud.

  “You have another necklace? Let’s go and get it,” he was out of the car in half a second. Of course, he had no idea that the other necklace was much more than just jewelry.

  “No, forget it; it’s past,” I didn’t want his necklace or his memories.

  Chapter 9

  “Come on, let’s go,” I sighed.

  “Close your eyes first.”

  “Seriously Christian, is that all you think about?”

  “Oh shut up, I’m just starting the car, be a good girl and close your eyes.”

  I gave him an exasperated look.

  “Ever heard the term ‘trade secrets?’”

  “Wait a minute; you think that if
I saw you hotwiring this car with your cutlery and stationery, I’ll learn it and go on a car stealing spree tomorrow?”

  “Actually, with girls, you can’t say.”

  Yeah, you guessed it right. I rolled my eyes again before closing them. And the engine stirred to life.

  I opened my eyes and saw that I was out in the open. Free. All the pain should disappear now. It should be like before. Like I was never there. Like I never met him. Him. Daniel. I’ll never see him again, unless he caught me on the road of course. But I wasn’t worried about that. I had to revel in my success. I was proud of myself.

  I stared at my hands; they looked different in the natural light. I couldn’t see the sun directly, but I felt its tinge in the never-ending vast expanse of the skies. Their blue was beautiful, closer to white and fascinatingly bright. Even the sky looked different altogether now that there was no window barring me. The air was magnificent, magical, so fresh and cold as a winter afternoon in New Delhi. Except there was no traffic on the road. The calm road flanked by snow-covered trees and mountains danced in front of me, celebrating my victory.

  The sound of the gentle wind was the most soothing music ever. I could keep listening to it forever with a smile on my face.

  “You gonna keep smiling like that?” remarked Christian making me realize I was visibly smiling and gazing at everything like an idiot.

  “Umm…I just feel good, that’s it,” I brushed off his comment like it meant nothing. I deserved this tiny little piece of smugness after all.

  “What was your name again?” He didn’t stop at that obviously.

  “I didn’t tell you my name,” I murmured recalling the dreadful incident that had changed my life, altered my desire for living and shattered my hopes, all at once.

  “Oh yeah, that night, you just freaked out. So, what’s your name?”

  “It’s Noor. Noor Qureshi,” I looked into his eyes confidently. I was proud of myself. Again.