Caged

by Onaiza Khan

  The actualization of his love for me was deluging my mind. I had a hard time concentrating on his words after that, but I figuratively kept slapping myself in the face to pay attention.

  “Our souls, even without any crazy or special superpower do have a magic you know,” he was lost in the story and in that moment, he looked beautiful. Like an angel delivering the message of God with dreaminess in his eyes.

  His voice was the most captivating sound in the world, in my world at least. With the evening sun still glittering in the sky, the yellow light from the window reflected from his skin magically. He glittered like gold, like the sun itself, “A power of its own, which is life. Our bodies might work like machines, but our spirit is what makes us special and what gives us life. It is our power.”

  “What is your power?” My voice now sounded like that of a person under the spell of someone’s beauty. I conceived in that instant that I had resumed worshipping him.

  “None. I can practice compulsion while wearing this necklace but otherwise I don’t have any special power myself.”

  “So he thinks I have some power and he wants to suck it out of me?” I was nearly talking to myself trying to keep the awe away from my voice. Shouldn’t be hard now. Practice you see.

  “Yeah, and he claims to know what it is. He thinks it’s a better version of his power. Sucking out spirit power without physical contact, by just looking at someone.”

  “I don’t have any such power. If there is any power I have its breaking locks which I don’t think is of any use to him.”

  “I tried to tell him that you don’t have what he wants. I know it. But he wouldn’t believe me.”

  And his phone rang. Daniel’s phone reminded me of the conversation I’d overheard that day. I figured it would be the man who wanted me. I had heard his name, his voice and I felt like I knew it. Right now I totally believed Daniel and every word he said; he was a god now. But still, something didn’t feel right. Daniel was rich, why would he do such a thing for someone? Not for money. And if he is finally revealing the truth why can’t he magically make me remember everything. He was still hiding something.

  He took the phone and went into the library trying to keep his conversation secret but now I wasn’t going to let him do whatever he wanted.

  She ran away. Listen, Yousuf, I don’t know where she is.

  I snatched the phone from his hand and held it to my ear. I heard that voice again. Only this time I recognized it.

  “Dad?”

  Chapter 14

  My world came tumbling down to my feet. Because this time it was the man I loved the most in the world who wanted to hurt me. Suck my life out of me. I was his Noor, his light. How could he put me through this? How could he not care for me? His lust for power was bigger than his love for his daughter.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I questioned Daniel tugging at his shirt insanely. Tears were all over my face, and I had a feeling I might just fall. I was getting a knack of passing out lately.

  “I didn’t want to hurt you, Noor, I’m sorry,” there were tears in his eyes too. But now I didn’t care what or how he felt about me. The whole love and worship thing was behind me now. It was over for me. My life, my strength was gone. I was finished.

  That first day when I heard my father’s name and voice on Daniel’s cell phone, I had felt closer to him. I knew that man was important to me. I belonged to him. But now I want to disown him if I can. I didn’t love him. His words were also just a deception. Keep your mind right, put your body into action; let your spirit guide you and trigger your power so that I can suck it out. He was the monster in my life.

  “Tell me everything Daniel; I need to know everything. How did you meet him? Why did you work for him?”

  “I met him in India; I was looking for my father. He claimed to know him but wanted a little favor in return. I thought if I didn’t do it, I might never find him and you’d be in worse hands. So I agreed.”

  “And what do you plan to do now? Ship me off to my father?”

  “No, now you’re going to France. I’ll make sure he never finds you. I know I’ve failed you Noor, but not anymore. I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  “And what about your father?”

  “I don’t think he’d be worth it. After...” he trailed off.

  Yeah, my father was defaming fathers in general.

  “Where’s Christian?” I jumped at the thought of him. He was with me at the mall. And then Daniel had brought me here.

  “Wait; did you hire those people who were looking for me?”

  “I didn’t hire anyone, what are you talking about?”

  “They were looking for a white guy and me; they had my picture.”

  “You and a white guy? Yousuf must have hired them, and they must be looking for us, you and me. I don’t think he knows anything about Christian.”

  “Doesn’t he know about this house?”

  “No, he knows which city and region we’re in but not this house. I have always been careful when it came to that.”

  “Why did you get Christian here?”

  “Realizing such a strong power isn’t easy. I wanted to know how it happened and what made his powers unlock. He wouldn’t tell me.”

  “Why didn’t you use compulsion on him?”

  “He wouldn’t look me in the eye. I tried many times. I feel like he knew about the whole compulsion thing.”

  A day before I was equally confused because of a lack of data and now when I have so much of it, I still can’t figure out what exactly is happening. My mind might be healthy and not twisted, but there was something still weird about it. Weird about me. I didn’t feel normal. And my situations weren’t helping either. With all the bombs Daniel had dropped today, I just wanted to curl up in my bed and cry. But my mind was tied up with questions. Daniel was ready to answer them all, but he didn’t have all the answers.

  If I run away to France will my father ever find me? If he did would he kill me trying to retrieve a power that I don’t have?

  My dreams were getting weirder these days. Was it just a coincidence or some sort of power of the spirit? The necklace. How did I find out about Daniel’s whole compulsion scheme? It didn’t feel like a dream. I saw him saying things to me instead of doing them. Bad things.

  Where was Christian? Who was he? Did he know about Daniel’s power? How? And why didn’t he tell me anything about it?

  “We have to find Christian,” I told Daniel sternly.

  “You realize that your life is in danger. Christian was just another conman. You don’t have to worry yourself with him.”

  “I need to see Christian. Right now it’s the most important thing in the world for me.”

  “Why? Do you love him?” Jealousy was wringing his features

  “Sort of.”

  He didn’t question me further as he was clearly upset. He was jealous like any other guy. It was the first normal thing in my life in the past few days.

  “I’ll try to find him,” he said and walked away.

  The necklace was still lying on the bed. I picked it up. What was the deal with this necklace? I had to find out finally. And now that I was alone, I could risk fainting and screaming crazily without being judged. I took it in my hands and looked into it. It felt like it was looking at me too. Eye to Eye. And this time I jumped into it knowingly.

  I was standing in the red stone like it was a huge spherical red room. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Had I entered a different dimension, a different world or is it in my mind?

  No, my mind is okay; I told myself and then I saw him. Rhon. In those same clothes, I had seen him jumping off the cliff. His long hair swaying just the same. Except for this time, it felt real not like a dream. And this time he wasn’t crying but smiling.

  “Welcome dear Noor,” he said.

  “You’re talking to me?” I was shocked how he saw me this time. He hadn’t seen me in the dream. Right, it’s not a dream Noor.

 
; “I know you’re shocked and confused as to what this is. I can understand that completely.”

  “No, it’s okay. Crazy is normal now,” I replied in a cool way.

  “Why are you here? I conveyed what you needed to know. About your husband. He loves you more than anything. This is what you always wanted. Didn’t you?”

  “How did you tell me this? I mean how did you…how did all this happen? Who are you?”

  “You and me we have nothing to do with each other Noor. I’m a man of a different era. I had a sad love story, so I was just trying to save yours. I wanted to give you a message. I wanted you to know that he’s not your enemy. That your love story has a chance,” and then we were suddenly walking on a trail in the mountains.

  The red walls were gone, and the place was green and brown like a beautiful mountain range spreading across the whole world it seemed. I found myself barefoot, but the ground didn’t hurt my feet. It was like walking on clouds, not that I have any experience of walking on clouds but that’s the closest idea I can relate it to.

  “This is where I was born 300 years ago,” he pointed to a small house made of straw. “I was poor, but I had a strange power. Whenever I told someone to do something they did. What you people call it is COMPULSION right? Nobody would say no to me ever. I became popular, and as I was also strong and sincere, I got a place in the King’s palace. I was a great warrior of my time.”

  We were still walking on the same road with him leading me. “The whole kingdom knew about me; respected me. But all I ever cared about was the Princess. She was a beauty. Black eyes just like yours but very tall and fair. She was god’s miracle. I’ve never seen anything like her in all my years. I loved her with all my heart, but unfortunately for me, she was in love with some stable boy.

  “A stable boy?”

  “Yes, she wanted to be with him, and I wanted her to be happy, so I asked the King very nicely to get them both married.”

  “You compelled the King of your time, oh my god that’s huge.” The whole awkwardness of being in a stone and then walking in the mountains with a stranger and the feeling like I was walking on clouds etc. started setting in, and I felt extremely comfortable. Like I had known Rhon for years and was having a nice friendly chat with him.

  “Yes, it was, everyone was shocked. No one could have convinced the King to marry his only daughter off to a stable boy. Everyone was happy; the whole kingdom celebrated, but I couldn’t be…” He trailed off and resumed again, “I didn’t want to live after that, I was tormented by the fact that I’ll never be with her.”

  “And you jumped off a cliff.”

  “How did you know that?” he eyed me curiously with a little shock and a little disbelief.

  “I saw you in a dream. You were crying and then you jumped off the cliff. This is it. This is exactly the place. Isn’t it?” We were standing there, where Rhon had jumped off in my dream.

  “You can’t know this,” he stated with tears forming in his eyes.

  “You don’t know about the dream? That wasn’t you? Was it?”

  “I can’t send you dream messages. That’s all I know.”

  “What happened after that? After you…”

  “My spirit slipped into her necklace. Even after dying I wanted to keep her safe and happy. My power also somehow stayed with me. And then she could compel people.”

  “What a beautiful love story, we should tell it to the world.”

  “I don’t know about that, but I want you to save yours.”

  “You heard what Daniel told me? About my father?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “What do you think I should do?”

  “I’m a knight. I’d say you fight.”

  “But how?”

  “I don’t know. You have to find that out.”

  I came back with a bang. Whatever he said was important, but I understood more than what he said. I understood something that nobody knew. Something that nobody could know. MY POWER. I know what my power is. Now I know it.

  Chapter 15

  Rhon’s last words to me were ‘find that out.’ Isn’t it what I’ve been doing all this while, finding things out. Possible things. Impossible things. Natural things. Unnatural things. Everything that I’ve tried to find out in the last few days, I have found out.

  I was curious about the man in the basement and locks opened for me to reach him. The man in the hatch. I’d seen him too. I was curious about the necklace and what its story was. I had seen Rhon in a dream. Through dreams, flashbacks, or memories I could find out things I wanted to know. Finding out the truth is my power.

  I even found out my name when I broke Daniel’s compulsion which meant that my power was stronger than Rhon’s.

  Though I still don’t remember numbers and addresses, that is because I didn’t feel strongly about them. I mean, who is passionate about phone numbers after all?

  Curiosity is god’s greatest gift to man, but my gift is a little amplified. When I have questions, I don’t have to seek answers; the answers come looking for me.

  “Noor,” Christian’s voice was shaky, and he was at a loss of breath when he broke into my room.

  “Christian. I’ve been waiting for you. I knew you were coming, so I sent Daniel away,” I replied with a smile on my face.

  “You what? Alright, whatever, just grab your stuff, we have to leave.”

  “Leave?”

  “Leave as in run away. Break out of here. Before the monster comes back. Don’t play this game with me, Noor,” he frowned.

  “Sit down Christian. I’ll get you a glass of water.”

  “Oh man, what is wrong with you? Why are you so comfortable around here?” his frown turned into disappointment. “He must have used that monstrous COMPULSION thing on you,” he whispered almost to himself.

  “Noor, listen. You’re not safe with this man. You’re not safe with him. We have to leave now.” Daniel had said the same thing about Christian. They had strikingly similar views about each other.

  “Christian, I know what I’m doing. In fact, I know a lot more than that. For example, I know that you are working for my father.”

  He gasped, and I continued “But I also know that you care about me. You think that Daniel is a monster and my dad is a loving father who wants his daughter back. But believe me, Christian, this is not true. You’re wrong.”

  “He’s been feeding you lies, I can tell. He’s used his compulsion on you. You have no idea…”

  And I cut him off, “You were born in Newfoundland and your parents died in a car accident when you were thirteen. You were in the car too, but you made it out alive without a scratch. You were in shock for six months and didn’t say a word to anyone all that while.”

  “You were getting me a glass of water,” he uttered dumbfounded as he sat down on a chair.

  I told him everything about how I had seen him coming and how I was obsessed about his intentions and his whereabouts and of how I had found out everything there was to know about him. I also spilled about my father’s obsession with superpowers and what he wanted to do with me. Trusting him came naturally to me. Having had a peek into his soul, I knew he was nice and only wanted to help. He was shell-shocked hearing all this, but then I said, “You can’t be the only one to have a superpower, can you?”

  That softened his face a little, “Yeah, go on, mock me kitten. So, what are you planning to do, run away with Mr. Kidnapper?”

  “No, of course not. By the way, those men who were looking for us in the restaurant; what was the deal with them?”

  “Can’t find out with your superpower?”

  “I can, but I don’t want to waste my power on trivial things,” I chortled.

  “I hired them to scare you so that you’d just run away. Back home. But I believe your life is more messed up than that. What are you gonna do now?”

  “Daniel thinks we should run away to France. But a friend told me to fight Yousuf.”

  “You go with Daniel;
this friend sounds crazy.”

  “No, he isn’t. He’s seen more of the world than you and I have.”

  “May I ask where the hell did you find a friend in all this mess?”

  “It’s a long story; I’ll tell you someday.”

  “To hell with Daniel, and to hell with your friend. Just tell me what you’re planning to do.”

  “I think I’ll go to India.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll tell him that I don’t have what he needs and then I don’t know.”

  “So you are going to commit suicide?”

  “No Christian, I’ll figure something out, and I promise I’ll make it out alive. After some years, you and I we’ll be sitting in a restaurant, chatting and laughing over these days especially about what you did in the mall yesterday.”

  “You saw that too. Why did you have to see me getting thrown out of a mall?”

  I laughed, but he became really serious after that. “Can he not take my power and leave yours, leave you alone?”

  “Daniel says that he already has this kind of power. Must have sucked out of someone.”

  “Your dad’s a sucker girl. Okay, can I come with you to India? I might be able to help.”

  “No Christian, this is my fight, I’ll handle it,” I said squeezing his hand and he was angry again.

  “I can’t believe you’re this stupid.”

  “Now go before Daniel comes, I don’t think my husband is very fond of you.”

  “Your husband can lick…” And I cut him off again, “Christian, go.”

  And he hugged me so abruptly that I was shocked. He was huge, and I actually felt like a little kitten in his arms. There was nothing romantic about that hug. It felt like he was saying he cared about me without any words. And Daniel had to appear exactly then. He knocked on the door softly and stood off to the side. Christian backed off and started walking away. Their eyes met, and Christian spoke. “If any harm comes to her.”