The Haunting by Iqra Khalid

Sweat trickled down her temple as her eyes darted across the room.She was  breathless with fright.Her teeth chattering with fear,Leslie looked up at a familiar figure,seated on an arm-chair;a frail,old man in his fifties,glaring down at her with looks that could cut steel.His very presence sent shivers down Leslie’s spine.Slowly,she murmered,”Father!”.As if hearing her voice was unbearable,the gentleman yelled in rage,
’’Father! Is that all you have to say to me after five years? You ungrateful child!” “But,Father,It wasn’t my fault.I was just…….”.Leslie tried to clarify.                                                                      But she was cut short by her father,who declared,                                                                       ’’Lies! All lies!Of course, it was your fault.Every single moment of pain and sorrow in my life has been brought upon by you,ever since the day you were born!”                                                                                                                                                                 “Believe me,Daddy,ever since that day,I curse myself a thousand times,for ever existing and I swear that I would have gone to any lengths to make sure that vile day never occurred in history.Please,Daddy,forgive me! Forgive me and free me of this pain!”                                        Tears oozed out of her eyes and fell onto her burgundy,cashmere-woven cardigan.Expecting clemency out of her father’s actions,she looked up and gazed pleadingly at him.But the old man’s anger knew no bounds,especially on this occasion,where he had no regard even for his own child.Rising up,he stomped towards his daughter and pointing a finger at her,screamed fiercely,                                                                                                                                          ”Don’t you dare try to hide your filthy lies in your crocodile tears!You would have never tried to prevent it.As a matter of fact,the world wouldn’t have been surprised if you had watched me dying and left my body to rot in its own way!”                                                                                         Those words hit Leslie like a ton of bricks as the memory of that fateful day came flooding back.Sunday Morning was boring as usual.In an attempt to pass yet another monotonous day,she decided to go down to the mall with her friends.They were happily passing the time away;strolling by the shops,scanning through the windows,looking for anthing that catched their eyes.But who knew that Leslie’s father,the one man so close to her,would meet such a terrible fate in a tragic accident.                                                                                                                                              She had seen it all with her own eyes;her father driving,the lorry approaching from the opposite direction,the speed and the brutal force of the impact,the pool of blood dripping from his mutilated body,his helpless screams and yet,she just stood there,bewildered,unable to move.Her eyes were lost in a daze,as she stared ahead, shocked and terrified at what had taken place right in front of her eyes.Tears of despair streamed down her face as she helplessly looked at her father’s body.If only she had walked over and gone for some help!
 The haunting memories of the past enveloped her like a dense fog of misery and sucked out the remains of her composure.Her panicky eyes flashed,encompassing the room with the fear of an unknown presence,lurking about in the dark of the night.She gulped in fear,becoming restless.The familiar face of her dead father flashed continuously in front of her eyes and his rasping voice filled her ears with terror and guilt beyond her imagination.The massive burden of the situation was over-whelming and was tearing her apart.In a desperate attempt to break free from this madness,Leslie’s hands crawled up to her tangled hair and tugging it,she shrieked with all her might,shattering the unbreakable glass of her imagination.She was dying to let the silent screams of her conscience be heard.
 Gasping for breath,she wiped the beads of perspiration from her face.She was drenched in tears and her cardigan was soaked in sweat.She rubbed her eyes and scanned the room for any sign of her father.None.It was just another figment of her imagination.She shook her head as she slowly rose from the couch.She gently walked towards the window and stood besides it,glancing out at the storm as the rain pattered on the window sill.She shuddered.Strangely enough,the silence of the night made her feel colder.But what worsened it was the fear that the repressed memories of her past may creep out of her mind and haunt her once again.

The Haunting by Sonic

It wouldn’t stop raining. She had been waiting for hours.The phone lines were dead, her mobile phone’s battery had finished over twohours ago. She looked at her arms and couldn’t help but notice that they werestill swollen. It reminded her of what happened earlier today…
Everything had been going as planned. Jamal confirmed thathe was on his way. Alina stared at herself in the mirror. Her satin dresswrapped around her body, her beautiful tight curls tied in a bun and her honeymilk complexion glowed. If anyone were to look at her right now, they wouldnever have suspected where she was intending to go. As she waited, she staredat the suitcase next to her door. She was having second thoughts about her decision,and she knew it. She could not come to terms with herself, and what she haddone. If everyone were to find out what happened, would anyone understand? Wouldthey forgive her? No, she thought. No one will understand. They would judge heractions, and never look at her the same way again. She did not deserve what shegot , at least that’s what she thought. For the sake of her mother, she thoughtshe should reconsider this. She owed her that much. The guilt overcame her completely.It was dominating her mind now. It had taken over her emotions, and makingthese decisions for her. Alina thought she could not even forgive herself forwhat she had done, she was not strong enough to face the consequences. Hermobile rang and interrupted her thoughts. Jamal had arrived, he was waiting atthe end of the lane for her. She thought about it for a split second before shegrabbed her suitcase, but then the bruise on her leg caught her eye, and shestormed out.
The drive was tiresome. The roads were slippery because of therain. The cottage was just around the corner. Alina didn’t mind the long drive,Jamal was there. She had always been attracted to him. Whether it was hissophisticated behavior, his charm or the perfection of his features, she didn’tknow. But she was sure about one thing, at a time like this he was the only oneshe could count on. He never judged her actions. He always saw the good in her,and overlooked her flaws. Despite that, Alina had not honest with him. She toldhim it was self defense. She told him it was a mistake. She told him she neverintended for Yawar to die.
She was taking Jamal’s help in hiding the body. Someone wouldeventually notice his absence, and report it to the police. That was the least ofher concerns right now.  They finallyreached the cottage. He opened the trunk and pulled the body out, it waswrapped in a plastic bag. Jamal knew he was not in a position to question her.They decided to throw the body in a ditch. As she walked towards the backyardwith a shovel, she thought about the person she had become into. More like amonster. Stabbing a man to death and brutally, insensitively, inhumanely, getting rid of the body asif it were trash. Alina knew there was no justifications for her actions. Shehad had MPD  (multiple personality disorder)for almost  year now. People around hernoticed it, but even she was not aware of it. All she knew, was that she hadmurdered a man, her friend, Yawar. She did not know why. She saw his blood allover her body and the dagger plunged in his chest as she held it. The bloodoozed out of his chest like lava from a volcano. His face was already cold. Shesaw a wrench near the closet and she acted on the first thought that came t hermind. She injured herself with it, till it blood gushed out. She bruised herarms with it. She could say it was self defense if she ever got caught. Plus,she needed to show Jamal this. In order for him to help her.
She dressed in formal attire as she told her mom she wasgoing to her college reunion, which would be overnight so she was carrying asuitcase. Alina intended to run away. From this city, from her family, herfriends, her illness. Multiple Personality Disorder is not something that’s takenlightly, unfortunately she didn’t even know she had it.
The ditch had been dug, the body had been placed. All of asudden, she doesn’t  know what overcameher. She went towards Jamal, and pushed him off the cliff. His scream wasexcruciating, and a few seconds later he wasn’t even visible. The night justgot darker, the clouds covered the moon and obstructed the dim light. It was asif nature disapproved of what was happening. She was completely oblivious towhat had just happened. She had not even realized it yet. “Thank God I took thekeys out of his pocket, there’s no way in hell I was going to get a cab in themiddle of nowhere,” she said to herself. Her satin dress had ripped from thewaist while she assisted Jamal in dragging Yawar’s body towards the ditch. Therain started again, so she waited inside the cottage for it to stop. She wouldleave as soon as it stopped. She looked through the window whilst she dried herhair, and observed the mysterious night. She was planning her escape, and themost outrageous thought occurred to her. She unzipped her bag, took out herrevolver and thought of her father. He had given it to her for protection. Sheglanced at herself one last time, before she put the gun to her head and pulledthe trigger.

Now or Never - A Short Story

I looked at him, my heart aching with love and a million unknown things.
I wanted to give my heart, soul and body to him and share with him my whole universe.
A tear slipped down my cheek as the truth of impossibility covered my mind like a horrible prickly blanket.
This sin fest could not go on any linger. God only knew how far we'd go the next day, and the next.
I bent down and lightly brushed my lips against his- a last, parting, goodbye kiss I told myself as I drew back.
He knew my number. He would call, I did not doubt that.
But he was a boy and I was the girl.
I had to be stronger. More mature.
'I love you.' I whispered in his ear.
He mumbled something but his eyes did not open.
God.
He looked beautiful, stretched out on the recliner like that. All six foot two of him screamed ADORABLE. With his messed up curls to his blue wrinkled pjs.
Aaargh. THIS WAS SO HARD.
How could I just LEAVE?
Shaking my head I tried to clear out the thoughts of staying.
Picking up the stray Xbox games off the floor I remembered our hilarious matches the day before.
No, this would not do.
The rush of lovely memories would make me do something I’d only regret later.
Not that I wouldn’t regret leaving.
Bracing myself, I picked up his soft leather jacket And slid my arms through it. His scent still lingered on it, a sweet and spicy cologne and a sweet smoky smell mixed with a light minty flavor.
Shoving my feet through my boots I grabbed my bag.
It was now or never.
I couldn’t help kissing him one more time though.
Just for strength, I told myself. But this time, as I pulled away, he wrapped his arms around me in a loose embrace and whispered incoherent words in my ear. I froze, my heart thudding almost painfully. He would never let me go if he awakened.
Finally his breathing grew regular again and I gently unwrapped his arms from my neck and kissed his palms.
It was time to leave.
I closed the door softly on my way out and tried to unsuccessfully stop the steady flow of tears streaming down my face.
It was now or never.

------------------------------------

Adam awoke with a start. He had been dreaming about her leaving him and it hadn’t been pleasant.

'Sammy?' he called out into the darkness. He was however, met with a stony silence. What if... It hadn’t been a dream?

No. That possibility was too terrible to consider. They had agreed she would miss her flight and he'd send her home the next week. Maybe she was in the bathroom? He got up and switched on the light, blinking at its sudden harshness. His jacket was gone. So were her assorted belongings.

Cursing under his breath Adam picked up his phone. Her number was switched off, the answering machine informed him.

Two AM. She'd be almost there by now.

Adam sighed as he sank down in the recliner. They'd cuddled in it most of the day and it was all he could do to keep his fist from slamming into the wall.

How. Could. She. Leave. Him. Like. This?

A stray piece of paper caught his eye. It must have fallen off his chest when he stood up. He swiped it off the ground and read Sammy's almost-cursive writing with a deathly calm.

'I'm sorry. But I can’t live with myself knowing it’s going to be nothing. It’s wrong. And we need to stop. I love you.

Xx'

Adam was clenching the fragile piece of paper so hard it had turned into a crumpled mess.

He cursed his timing and hers.

All he could do now was wait.

-----

I awoke to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes and strawberries. Ronnie knew of exactly the right comfort food for me and I silently thanked God for such a wonderful best friend.

I was still wearing his jacket.

It still smelt of him.

I would probably never take it off. They could bury me in it if they liked. I was not taking it off.

'Sammy? You up? Come down for breakfast!'

'Coming!'

I struggled out of the nest of sheets and pillows and ran a hand through my unruly hair.

Peering in the mirror I starred at the face inside it. A slightly above average looking girl with wavy, crazy black hair and huge black circles around her eyes starred back at me. She wore a black jacket and pink pajamas.

I sighed. Time to get back to life.

As I walked into the kitchen, I rummaged about in the pockets trying to locate my phone. I was really out of it the night before, and couldn’t remember where id chucked it after switching it off.

My hands closed around something hard, lumpy and furry.

'Hey Sam. How’re you feeling now?'

I pulled out the foreign object and starred at it in wonder.

It was a little jewelry box. The type that contained earrings... or pendants or... rings.

'Sam? Wha- oh my God! WHAT’S IN THERE?'

I looked up at Ronnie. The excitement on her face was directly proportional to my confusion.

I slowly opened the box.

--------

Adam paced around his room, trying to calm himself down and told himself more than once to get. A. Grip.

He tried her number for what felt like the trillionth time... He’d lost count somewhere along the twenty third.

The answer machine once again tormented him with horrible thoughts of kidnappings, rape or plane crashes.

'Hey I'm not here right now so leave a message and I'll get back to you a.s.a.p!'

Sammy's musical voice sang out of his phone as he hit the redial button again.

The worst thing was, he had called the airlines and her flight should have landed ages ago. Her parent's also had no clue to where she might be.

Where could she be? Her best friend since high school, Ronnie Becket was in India herself, trying to empower the youth with her spoken verse poetry so she couldn’t have crashed there... unless... she'd come home early? He decided to give that theory a shot and dialed Ronnie's number with shaking fingers.

Please God... Let her be there. Let her be safe, he prayed as he pressed the phone almost painfully to his ear and torturously waited for someone to pick up.

---------------

The sharp ring of the phone made me jump and I almost dropped the delicate wonder I held in my hands.

'Sammy. It’s beautiful! Wow. So dude, what’s the plan now?'

Ronnie moved to the offending phone and received it while I continued to stare at the ring.

I was lost and completely confused. What did this mean?

Setting aside my confusion though, I took a minute to admire it.

It was a normal sized diamond set in an intricately carved, very thin, gold band. The carvings were very delicate and their simplistic yet complicated design of randomly organized shapes and swirls really enhanced the bold beauty of the sparkling gem stone. [http://esgeezee.tumblr.com/post/5106473392]

I slipped it on my finger in wonder. It was a perfect fit.

'Aah! Sammy this is TO DIE FOR! Who knew he could be so creative right? But man... What are you going to do now?'

I sighed and slid the ring off. 'Ronniie… I DONT KNOW OKAY! I'm so confused. I mean, how is it okay for him to marry me now? Did I miss something? Is this even for me? Why didn’t he talk to me about this before?!' I slumped back into the chair, suddenly feeling exhausted.

This was so unexpected and I was terrified.

Of hoping and falling.

I did not want to get excited or happy about this, because if it turned out to be some sort of an ugly mistake? I knew I would be completely overwhelmed by intense heartache for a long, long time.

'Oh Sammy. Look at me. Adam is a smart boy. I'm sure he figured out a way... and has a perfectly good explanation for this. Why don’t you call him up and TALK to him about this?'

I shook my head. I couldn’t call him today- not after leaving him with just a stupid note speaking of lame 'eternal goodbye' esq things. I’d call him tomorrow, after he had time to think about why I had acted the way I did.

In the meanwhile? I would not let myself hope.

I explained all this to Ronnie and was surprised when she accepted my explanation without question. Frankly, I’d expected a bit more arguing,

'Okay Sam. Have it your way. But dress up tonight okay? I want to take you out tonight and tell you all about India!'

'Ron. That would be amazing.' I smiled at my friend and felt a sudden rush of affection towards her. She truly knew how to cheer me up. Girly gossip and good food was perfect to take my mind off things that had to do with Adam.

Adam… Adam and his strong arms wrapping around me. Adam telling me how much he loved me. Adam hugging me close while I cried about the cruelty of high school jerks. Adam insisting that he'd let me win in all six scrabble games while I chased him around the room waving a frying pan, threatening to injure unless he admitted defeat. And he had, I remembered, with a stupid mushy smile. But not before grabbing me around the waist and pining my arms down while he kissed me soundlessly until I’d stopped struggling and had tossed the pan aside. 'Sammy. I admit it. You won Sunshine.' he'd whispered in my ear while I had grinned triumphantly against his lips.

'Sammy? Hello? Earth to Sam!'

I wrenched my mind away from its idle thoughts.

'Sorry Ron. What were you saying?'

'Oh Sam.’ Ron shook her head with a knowing look, which I chose to ignore. ‘I was saying, can you please go and pick Alex from the airport? His plane lands at eleven but I need to be at work today. Though I will be back by the time you guys get back.'

'Sure Ron. Shall I take your Merc?'
'Yeah, and I'll take the subway today.'

Biting into the warm pancake I enjoyed the semi sweet taste of the chocolate chips flooding in my mouth, while Ronnie went upstairs to change.

-----------

It was 10.55am. And I was standing at the airport, waiting for Alex, Ron's boyfriend to land. He'd be coming from Italy this time. Lucky him.
Alex was a pilot, and a pretty good one at that. He had been promoted to a high pilot-y post early on in his career and was always bringing Ronnie quirky presents from far off places.

Once it was an ancient pendant from Egypt with mythical healing powers. Another time he’d gotten her an antique book on empowerment from the middle ages, written by some old British guy.

Ronnie was head over heels for him and they were adorable together.

Alex also made hilarious YouTube videos with Ronnie when they weren’t working, and had quite a large fan following. I joined them in this sometimes, and all of us always had a good laugh over it. Ronnie also recorded her spoken verse poems and put them online. They were a massive success as well.

I watched the arrivals' gate finally blink with the arrival of flight 602.
Soon, I could see the tall lean figure of Alex striding towards me. His friendly, open face was lit up in an adorable dimpled smile as he gave me a bear hug.
'How’s my favorite non-biological sister doing eh?'
'Haha, hi Alex! I'm well... I'll fill you in on my situation soon enough. How are YOU? How was Italy?'
We started off towards the car laughing and talking. Alex had gotten an ear pierced and couldn’t wait to show it off to Ronnie.
Once we were in the car however, he started fidgeting and seemed uneasy.
'Alex, what’s up man? Come on, you can tell me.'
'Well... Sammy, you know how Ron and I have been together for a long time now right?'
'Yeah... five years to be exact.' I replied, unsure where this was leading up to.
'Well. What do you think of this?'
And for the second time that day, I found myself faced with another little jewelry box.
'Oh My God Alex! That’s wonderful! I'm so happy for you!'
He opened the box with a shy smile and showed me the ring inside.

It was beautiful, with a simple silver band topped with three gorgeous diamonds. Two were blue and the one in the centre was the traditional silver-white.
'Its white-gold. Do you think she'll like it?!' I was so happy for Ronnie I felt my heart would burst.
With a broad smile I gushed 'Yes!' and asked Alex the details of the proposal, which he was only too happy and excited to share.

--------------

I swiped the mascara wand one last time over my eye lashes and zipped up my turquoise dress.
‘Hm.’ I looked critically at myself in the mirror.
'Well. This is as good as it’s gonna get.' I muttered to myself. My stupid hair was as unruly as ever, no matter how many times I’d tried to straighten it. How did the salon girls do it anyway?! Oh well, since my Taylor Swift/Lindsay Lohan messy-but-sexy hair look wasn’t working out, I just gave it one last brush and moved towards the suitcase to dig out my shoes.
I put on my black strappy heels and shrugged on Adam's leather jacket, to complete my look, and stared in the full length mirror one last time.
'Hm. Not bad.'
'Talking to yourself again?'
I swung around, my heart thudding in my chest. 'RON! You scarred me man!'
She gave a wicked laugh and plopped down on the bed. She looked so sexy, with her chin length hair in wonderful spiky layers and the red dress with the killer black ankle boots.
'You look hot.'
'OmiGod really? Thanks.’ She smiled. ‘So Sam, have you given the ring any thought?'
Not the ring again. I sighed and looked at its purple box on my dressing table.
'Ron, can we please talk about it later? Let’s go and enjoy right now!'
I pulled her up and we walked out off my room.
If I talked about the ring, I would obviously talk about Adam. And that would just fill the large jar of hope in my heart once more. A jar which was made of the most delicate, most breakable glass imaginable.

--------------

'Okay, here it is Adam! Good luck. We're at table 35. You still want Alex and I to be there right?!'
Adam gave a swift nod and took the box from Ron.

‘That’s what she’ll want.’ He said.

 He ached to put his arms around Sammy. Kiss away her sadness and make sweet love to her, finally after being in love with her for more than eight years. She was the smartest, wittiest girl he'd ever come to know in all his 26 years. Not many girls could boast of having six best selling books under their belt at twenty six. Nor could they claim to have opened their very own libraries in third world countries. But while he was studying hard to become the successful dentist he was today, Sammy had done exactly that.
He squared his chest and tried to ignore the heavy thumping of his heart.
With purposeful strides he entered the restaurant he'd chosen with Ronnie's help. It was one of Sam's favorites; one of the reasons being that it over looked a beautiful lake where there often were firework shows.  

He motioned to the manager of the eatery.

It was now or never.

------------

'Honored guests, please step out into the lawn for our scheduled firework display. It shall start in a couple of minutes so please do not delay!'

I stood up with Alex and Ron by my side and with the few dozen other guests there, we headed out to the rose garden outside. Tables and cushy chairs were set up in cozy clusters and we settled down in a group close to the lake. They would serve us our choice of dessert while we watched the fireworks.

Ah. This was heaven.

I had no doubt if stolen thoughts of Adam had not constantly been hovering in my mind, if he were here, I’d feel like the happiest girl in the world.
But looking over at my best friends, I knew I somewhat still was. It had been a wonderful evening full of laughs and exotic conversation about far off lands that I hoped to one day visit.
I dug in to my vanilla ice cream topped with strawberries and whipped cream.

 Mmmmmm. This was heaven.

'Ooh look Sam they're starting!' Ron said, and we leaned back to view the show.

------------

Adam stood behind a rose entwined pillar feeling like a huge creep, ogling at Sammy like that. But he couldn’t help himself. She looked so delicious with her eyes closed and that pretty smile on her face, enjoying her dessert. She'd dressed up scrumptiously too. Her hair was just the right amount of messy, falling often into her darkly lined eyes. Her lips had a hint of reddish pink, darker then her natural color by only a few percent, but still incredible sexy.
Her long shapely legs were covered by black leggings ending a little above her delicate ankles, and she wore the silver owl pendant he'd given her for her 19th birthday.
She looked good enough to eat. And completely and utterly perfect.
Boy had he got it bad.
He shook his head and looked at his watch willing for the show to start.
And then suddenly, without warning, it did.
First the basic fireworks erupted spinning blues, flashy yellows and greens and fiery reds.
Sammy was looking at them in delight and whispering to Ron about something, pointing some out to her.
The manager nodded to Adam from across the garden.
This was his cue. He stepped out from behind the shadow of the pillar and strode towards Sammy.

It was show time.

-------------------

'Oooh look how pretty that one is!'
I pointed at a swirly pink ball of light and watched fascinated how they seemed to burst and vanish into nothing after bestowing upon us such utter awesomeness!
I followed a pretty purple streak, watched it go higher and higher into the air. Suddenly it burst out in a word: 'Will'
Confused I looked at Ron. 'Will? What’s that?'
'Sam just look!' She pointed above and I looked.
'You' -another word had appeared, the 'will' long gone.
As I looked two more words came and went: 'marry me'.
And then the third word made me gasp aloud: 'Sammy?' in pretty cursive and a lot of purple light.

‘Will you marry me Sammy? Well, what do you say?'
I almost jumped out of my seat.
Adam was kneeling by my chair, looking like a freakin' male model in a sharp tux and that signature messy hair of his.
He held the ring I had been so sure to leave at home, in his hands, and was looking at me with determination, and just a hint of nervousness.
'Oh my God! Wha- how? You were supposed believe I was back in Pakistan!'
I whipped my head towards Ron's grinning face and suddenly it all made sense.
The sneaky little witch had all planned this!

Her random disappearances throughout dinner, which I’d pegged down to an upset tummy all made sense now.

Adam was speaking and I turned to him, my eyes locking with his.
'Sammy. I love you. I would do anything and fight anyone to be with you forever and always.' he looked straight at me and added, 'besides Hon you're killing me here, make up your mind!'

I noticed a hush had fallen over the garden. We were the focal point of all the random people here!
'Adam? I...'
It was like everyone took a collective breath.
Hah. It was fun torturing him.
'I... Think that would be a wonderful idea. YES!' I screamed the last word and sank to my knees giving him a bear hug and a huge kiss.
The applause that followed was peppered with hooting and laughter.

It was the perfect proposal.
Ronnie was laughing and so was I as Adam slipped the lovely ring onto my finger.
Giggling like a 13 year old I let Adam pull me up to my feet.

 He brushed my bangs out of my eyes and leaned down to kiss me slowly and thoroughly.
'Get a room!' someone- Alex shouted his voice full of laughter. As we broke apart, before things could get intense, I could not erase the huge grin off my face.
Adam started pulling me towards the exit as I screamed to Ron I’d call her later. Drunk on happiness I gave our audience a bow as Adam rolled his eyes.
I WAS ENGAGED!
To a wonderful, strong, funny, kind man.
To the love of my life.
And I did not care who knew the intensity of my complete happiness.

-------------

Adam.

My heart was still beating pretty fast as I half dragged Sammy away from the restaurant. The moments before she'd said yes? I was convinced she was about to reject me for trying to convince her for the past so many years that our marriage was not a practical, or possible notion.
But I had realized, [and thank God for that]no matter what I had  told myself and her, life without Sammy was like living with a piece of me missing.

This time, I would take her to the alter and make her mine forever.

No matter what.
--------------
5 months later.
--------------
Sammy

I looked at Adam and saw the hunger in his eyes. He moved towards me and a delicious shiver ran down my back as I backed into the wall behind.
'Um Adam. Don’t you think we should, um, discuss things? And talk about the wedding? Like, haha do you remember how Aunty Miriam tried to introduce you to her daughters-'
But I was silenced with a kiss that reached down to the very tips of my toes and to the- as cheesy as it sounds- core of my being.
'Today,' whispered Adam, moving his lips to my ear 'We're going to finish what I always try to start honey.' The tiny hairs on my body arose with goose bumps as he reached behind to the zip of my wedding dress. He gently turned me around and unpinned my hair, letting it cascade around my shoulders in soft waves. 'Mmm you smell so good. Like strawberries and flowers.'

His face was by my shoulder now, close to my hair and he pushed it to the side, sliding his lips deliciously on my necking and kissing me there slowly.
A soft sound escaped my throat as I felt wonderful sensations flood my body. My hands reached behind and held his soft curls, my body pushing backwards into his.
Adam pulled back and slowly slid the zipper of my dress down, until the poufy and lacy garment fell around my ankles. I turned around and smiled as my husband's lips curved into a sweet smile. 'Sammy. You're beautiful.'
I flushed and tried to hide how happy that one comment always made me feel when it came from him.
It wasnt even that I was naked.
Nope. I was still wearing a lacy camisole and underwear.
Oh well. I decided. If this was finally gonna happen, I guess I’d better make sure I had the upper hand.
So with purpose, I gave Adam one of my best 'sexy' smiles and moved closer to him. I slowly licked my lips and watched how his eyes narrowed in lust and love. Pressing my body into his, I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on tip toe to meet his wonderful sensuous lips with my slightly wet ones.
As we kissed, slowly, Adam's hands slipped inside my cami and travelled up to the once forbidden territory. I squirmed against him, feeling a number of wondrous sensations wrack my body as I slowly sucked on his lower lip, lightly biting it and enjoying him squirm for once, pushing me closer to his chest.
With a flick of his hand, he'd torn of the thin garment that covered my chest and tummy, revealing the lacey bra I was wearing underneath.
His lips started moving down, and where ever his hot mouth touched my warm skin, I felt that point of my body erupt into liquid fire.
I ran my hand under his shirt, feeling the light sprinkling of hair and the hard muscle of his chest.

We continued our caresses and explored each other’s body more thoroughly than we ever had.
The teasing and sweet torture went on late into the night when finally Adam whispered once again into my ear.
'Its now or never Sammy. '

I nodded my consent and we sank into wondrous heated passion in each other’s arms, feeling like the two happiest, most loved people on earth.

The Haunting by Farah Idrees

Samina stared on the falling orange-red leaves falling downthe trees. The crest-fallen sunset; dried leaves all over the ground; and thetime for her husband’s return was as depressing as the thought of dying but toher the thought of dying soon was more soothing than this. She stood up fromthe grey dead bench of her dried garden; cursing her fate she made her way toher luxurious kitchen that was beyond her dreams but now gave her no smiles.The meal was ready and she lurched to a wall. Her body was aching due to theharsh thrashing by Zia, her husband. Samina’s parents had accepted the proposalfrom the family of Zia just because Zia was rich and they thought that theirdaughter will be happy with all the luxuries of this world but little did theyknow how terrible Samina’s life will be. Zia had a horrendous childhood withher step-mother who used to beat him on every mistake he commenced. Suchtreatment turned him into a ruthless man. Samina had always thought of immenseopulence and richness but now she just wanted a shoulder to cry on; a calm andcaring hand; a pleasant and happy life. Now she understood how wealth is noteverything? How wealth cannot buy her smiles?
“Tringgggg ….” Went the door bell and her heart sank. Shebarged towards the door in no time to avoid the fury of Zia. She hauled thedoor and managed to greet Zia properly. Her heart was in her mouth. Everythingwas ready for Zia. The dinner was ready on the dining table; the towel was inthe bathroom with her clean ironed clothes. Samina waited at the bathroom doorwith a jug of water and a glass. She started pouring water into the glass assoon as Zia came out of the bathroom while visualizing what mistake will makehim enraged….Ooopps…the glass had overflowed… Zia slapped Samina and the glassbroke to pieces that scattered over the beautiful floor. Samina started sobbingand Zia screamed at the top of his voice and a stab of fear fit Samina hard. Hestood still as a stone for a minute; his clenched fist; his diamond hard glareat Samina making her pulse rate faster.
She moved back until the walls of the room became prisoncage that was impossible to escape. She wailed in despaired and Zia startedwhipping her.  She screamed, shouted butnobody came to help…Then  Zia, as usualsat in the corner of the room in sheer confusion laughing and crying. He shriekedloudly petrifying Samina. He felt on the wrong side of the law but somewhere inhis heart he felt satisfied. This was this revenge..
He thought of his dreadful childhood that filled his with panic.He was muddled  and grasped in horror.How his step-mother used to beat him on every minute mistake and then howdreary he went and called it a day by killing her. How he went so pitiless…heyelled at the peak of his voice…”…noooo don’t beat me nooo!!!...”  he felt blameworthy about doing the samething that have encountered him and sobbed his heart out…and he fell unconscious..

The Haunting by Daredevil

As the good days of summer had started, school had come to an end. Young Aaron was out with his mother for grocery shopping and a walk n play at the park. Eager to take a leak (pee), Aaron constantly annoyed his mother and pulled on to her tracks while she was busy taking her walk.

“Scoot away Aaron, let me get done with my round and I’ll take you home!” was the mother’s response. 

“But mommy, I want to go! I’ll leak in my pants otherwise.”

Extremely frustrated, not taking any steps further, hesitant, Aaron’s mothers only response was, “just go and leak under the tree, and let me do my rounds now!”

After doing his “business” Aaron continued playing with his friends, until he was called by his mom, as it was time to go home.

At reaching home, Aaron ran to his dad and told him that he leaked under a tree as if it was his greatest achievement.

Poor Aaron had no idea as to what troubles were coming his way.

It was past mid night when Aaron’s mother demanded him to sleep that minute. Gazing at the look in his mothers eyes, Aaron with his head down, obediently walked to his room, and tucked himself in bed.

Aaron hadn’t slept long, all of a sudden he ran out of the room, banging on his parents room door so that they could take him in. The eerie look on his face had said it all. He was bombarded with a number of questions, “WHAT? WHERE? WHO?” but he was aphonic.

Even after constantly being jerked, there was no difference in his mesmerized state.

The petrified parents did all that they could to get Aaron to speak. After a number of trials all he said was “It’s there, I can see it. I want to sleep with you.”

With annoyed expression on her face Aaron’s mother lets him sleep in her room for the rest of the holidays, under the condition that he will stop watching violent movies that scares him in the night and which is why he wishes to sleep with his parents.

Aaron nearly dozed off when... from the floor where he lay, he saw the door slightly opened and there was a black shadow which flashed right to left.

The petrified feeling got the child to the urge that he leaked in his pants, and remained soundless. Not a word was uttered by him, nor did he tell his parents he leaked. 

A series of events, such as noises, shadows being seen, hearing things breaking continued for three months. Aaron did not go to his parents about any of this, assuming he’ll be made fun off, and will be prohibited from watching all sorts of movies. It was not until…

Summer holidays came to an end. Aaron, early to rise, woke his mother up so she could dress him up for school. As normal as he looked, he was extremely excited to go to school so that he could get a break from the past events. Spending couple of hours away from home and being around with his friends, Aaron’s mother was hoping that Aaron would have overcome his fear by now. But, according to Aaron he hadn’t.

After completing his homework and dinner, Aaron’s mother demanded him to sleep. The slow walk towards his room, after a couple of minutes was a mysterious rush back out.

He runs to his mother in the kitchen, and before he could utter a word, his mum screamed at him “what the hell is your problem Aaron? Are you a baby?”

Terrified, trembling, shaking and sweating, he mumbled. Finally having the courage to say he was seeing things, objects and people. The mother solidified for a minute or two, and then called the father. The only decision that came to their mind at that point was to get in the car and leave, and so they did.

The father had a few of his contacts who dealt with such incidents. He called one of them, and took him to the house and stayed there for a couple of days. It had only been a night that Aaron started sleeping normally, and the following morning, the father’s friend left without informing anyone.

On calling the friend and asking as to why he left so early, his reply was, “there are Jinn’s in your house, and they told me you interfered with them therefore they will spare no one, and will kill you, your wife and your son. I shall come tomorrow and solve this matter for you.” With a “thank you” in reply the father ended the call. 

The following day, the father’s friend revisited, and did a few readings and recitations. He asks for a black string, captured the jinn’s in the string, tied a knot, put it on the stove and left it to burn.

Eager to know, the friend questioned Aaron’s parents as to what had happened to why Aaron had such a response to sleep.  On remembering the mother told him that Aaron and her were at a park, she was busy doing her rounds and Aaron kept on irritating her as he wanted to make a leak. She told him to go and do it under a tree.

With a strange look on his face, leaving the mother startled, the father’s friend continued, “Your son leaked on the jinn’s, and that is why they came behind him furiously in revenge. They wanted to play with his mind, until he lost his senses and died of a mental disease.”

On hearing this, the mother broke down into tears. The guilt inside her arose. She couldn’t believe how harsh she was to her son when he tried approaching her for comfort.   

The mother went up to Aaron, her eyes bleeding with tears, the guilt tearing her apart, with an apologetic look on her face, held him tight, squeezing him, hoping she is forgiven…

The Haunting by Wajiha Ashraf

Night had fallen; the sky was velvety, as black as my heart at the moment. Cars drove past, flashing lights everywhere, and pedestrians walking swiftly to their destinations. I felt cold and numb despite the weather being temperate. This was the busiest road of Karachi. Me and my three children, two sons and a daughter, stood on the roadside, as helpless as birds in a cage.

“Maa, why are we here? Please let’s go home?” said the eldest of the three.

I had no answer to his question. I couldn’t tell them anything. Our house, the last thing we had, was now taken over by its proprietor. They pushed us out because we hadn’t paid the rent since my husband died five months ago. My husband had left us almost empty-handed; the little that was left had been already spent on feeding our stomachs during the past five months. I had even sold out all my possessions. My kids were too young for me to leave them alone and go looking for work. Yet I had stood on traffic signals and begged people. The little I got from there wasn’t at all enough for even one meal a day for the four of us. All relatives went cold-hearted. I went to my only brother and begged him to let me and my children live at his place until I found a shelter for my kids, but he himself being jobless could not afford to do so, however, he could keep only me for a few days, which meant that I had to leave my children elsewhere. I had no choice left. We had already spent two nights sleeping on roads; my children had not eaten anything since then. My youngest son, less than three years old, had started crying out of hunger. His face looked anemic, and eyes lifeless. I grabbed him and hugged him tightly, crying uncontrollably, for this was maybe the last time I ever saw him. I had already made my decision. I could no longer feed my kids. And I could just not see them dying like this.

I circled them around me. “Listen to me carefully now all three of you, I have to go on some really important duty now, and I can’t take you all there with me, you guys have to wait here, and if anyone comes to you and tells you to go with them then…just go, okay?”

“But maa, you always told us not to go anywhere with any strangers!”

“Sara, just do what you are told to.”

“Maa, why can’t we come with you? Why are you leaving us like this?”

“No Ahmed, I will be back dear, just take care of your sister and brother, you are the eldest and I’m leaving them on your responsibility, do not let Sara or Ali go anywhere without you, you get that?” Ahmed nodded uncertainly. “Here, keep this money safely in your pockets and use it only when you really need it.” I put a 10 rupee bill in their pockets each, clutched the three pieces of my heart one last time, and started walking away from them, hoping someone would take them and feed them for the rest of their lives. I could hear all three of them calling me with wavering voices. I kept walking rapidly, until the horns of the cars drowned their voices…

The next thing I knew was guilt and terror. I couldn’t sleep at nights. I would wake up in the middle of the night with horrible dreams of my little Ali crying for me hysterically, of Sara hungry, of Ahmed’s bloodstained face. I screamed and screamed, the remorse of throwing away my own kids eating me from the inside, my heart aching for them, my lips endlessly praying for their safety. The room would suddenly become claustrophobic, as if the air was being sucked out of my body and then everything would go black… I would then again wake up sweating and shivering from head to toe, yell for them, and try to shut down all the terrifying images that haunted me every single second of my life. I went back to where I had left them countless times, but they were never there. I yearned to die but the guilt wouldn’t let me. How was I supposed to face Allah? What would I say to my husband? He would never forgive me for being callous to my children. He loved them more than me!

But I knew it was over, the hope in me soon faded, left with only the chirpy memories. I could do nothing. I had lost them.

The Haunting by Shameen Irfan

 “It’s inevitable now,” I told myself as I stepped out of the military bus. I was delighted by the crunching sound my feet made when I took each step on the snow covered ground of my home country, though, I was still afraid. This time I was not here to spend quality time with my family or friends but I was here to protect them and the rest of my countrymen. The straight postured men standing by my side; neatly dressed in their khaki uniform and holding tightly onto their AK-47s,had the same objective.

   Even though, I was mentally and physically prepared, I was unaware of what could happen. I wondered whether I would survive to see my countrymen celebrate victory against the Russians.

My thought process was interrupted by a loud, horrifying sound which was perhaps, a sign of Russian attack that had, indeed, triggered the war. I was surprised at how, over the centuries, technology has developed to such an extent that from sticks and stones: bows and arrows, weapons have taken the shape of handguns, bombs and missiles, etc. but I could not waste time being a coward. I got into my position as I saw panic-stricken soldiers do the same.

   Smoke filled up around me as everything darkened making it seem like the sun was non-existent. The only thing I could see clearly was the snow under my feet which was gradually turning as red as saffron. Besides that, the only thing I could hear was the patterned clicking of guns and the footsteps of soldiers struggling to protect themselves from being crushed under the large military tanks of the Russians. I could see the city being destroyed as easily as a toddler would tear apart the pages of a book. Black clouds travelled across the sky; glowing fires consumed everything with no remorse; death and destruction came from above. In the blink of an eye, the tall, magnificently constructed skyscrapers collapsed and I took as much pain as possible, to protect my fellow soldiers, along with capturing some of the Russians. I shot whoever came in my way and then dragged them, through corpses, towards the place where the rest of the prisoners were held captive. In my struggle to do so, I suddenly saw a familiar face. He looked deep into my eyes as if he had found someone he had been looking for, since a long time. I took advantage of his condition and shot his foot with my gun after which I did what I was supposed to.

 The chaos and panic did not give me a chance to think about who he was and where I had seen him before since we had strict orders to ensure that the prisoners do not escape and were given the authority to treat them as we felt like. Terror and grief was slowly taking over me as I was traumatized by everything I had witnessed, from the corpses laying all around me to the buildings tumbling down in front of me. I started to realize I would not be able to bare it for too long now and the man constantly gazing at me, added to my agitation. I loaded my pistol and was all set to shoot him until it occurred to me.

  Flashbacks of the two years I spent with this man came to me. As I placed my finger on the trigger, a dull picture of him holding me in his arms, was created in my mind. I looked at his wrist and then mine, noticing he wore the same black bracelet that I did. Memories ran back and forth through my head which began to hurt to an extent that it had become unbearable just like my actions had become uncontrollable. I knew, for a fact, that everyone had a breaking point; weak or strong; courageous or cowardly-war frightened everyone witless and I could strongly feel that my 'breaking point' had come as I slowly pulled the trigger. His shrill cries of pain hurt my ears just like the howling of a wolf does. Within this landscape of horror, he collapsed.

  I fell to the bloody ground as I realized what I had done and remembered my mother's words,"He was taken away by Russian officials and I do not know when he will be returned to us." She had waited for my father for too long, quite unaware of what had happened to him and whether he was still alive or not. After having to deal with so much, my mother passed away leaving behind just a few photographs of my father. My mother was the only connection between us but I had killed the man who had, perhaps, been looking for me for years. I killed the man who was supposed to answer the numerous questions that were in my mind. I killed my father.

  A surge of severe guilt and pain rushed through me. I knew I would not be able to see the clear, blue skies anymore as the light became too bright for my eyes and the air, too rough for my burnt skin. It seemed like the world was falling apart as I slowly closed my eyes, lying next to my dead father. I was alive, yet, mentally dead. I could feel that I was being dragged away but had no clue, of where I was being taken and had no energy to open my eyes.

  The next time I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital bed with one of my soldier friends sitting next to me. I had lost the ability to speak. The only thing I last remembered, was killing my father. It was hard to resist the urge to somehow kill myself, either by stabbing my wrist or shooting myself because I trully, deeply and madly wanted to be where my parents were, now. I wanted to apologize to my father for what I had done and all I needed was once chance. I questioned myself as to why I had ever even wanted to be a soldier. I did want to protect my country but not in a manner as uncivilised as this. I supposed, war had ceased, though, I was, unaware of the outcome.

  People came to visit me and from what I heard, I had suffered 'psychological trauma'. Clearly, they were unaware of the fact that I had killed my own father. It made my head jump to think about it. The next few days, I suffered from uncontrollable diarrhea to unrelenting anxiety as I was left wondering how much longer I would survive. Stomach cramps seized me and everytime I closed my eyes, terrifying nightmares about slaughtering not only my father but also, many others, destroyed my sleep. Often, I cracked up and found myself unable to eat, deliriously re-living my experiences of combat.

  Even though, I was sure I could not handle the strain of warfare and no longer wished to return to a battlefield, a small part of me was proud of himself for being courageous enough to step out onto the field and fight the efficient, well-equipped Russians. I wanted to forget those haunted nights and dreams that dripped with murder of my father. I was guilty and glad as my body began to sink into the crisp, white sheets of the bed with my mind and body, finally, succumbing to the inevitability of death.