VI

DELILAH

It is eleven o'clock at the night and I still can't sleep. I have been working tirelessly to sleep and I never thought I would need to put in a lot of effort to sleep. 

Sleeping was never a very difficult thing for a person like me. I am one of the most tired girls in this world at night. I can beat even Nobita in sleeping but not tonight.  

For a moment I thought that maybe I did not work hard enough today, while I ran for about one and a half hours and even after coming to Salazar's residence, I could not comfortably stay in one place in the house but started inspecting this house. 

I still have pain in my legs but my brain does not even have time to think of the pain. I am thinking only of my father. He said that he will come here soon but I am very scared. My father is a simple man and we have not even seen guns anywhere except in the hands of the police. In such a situation, how will we be able to face those goons? 

Police! Oh yes! We can take the help of the police. 

But they said that my father had betrayed them. Will my father tell all this truth in front of the police? Because I do not think that my father's deceit will be hidden as soon as the matter of those goons comes to the fore. 

If my father wanted to take the help of the police, he would also get punished. He will be sent to jail and I do not know for how many years. 

"Delilah!" I snap my head when I hear someone calling my name, followed by a loud sound that makes me scream suddenly. It was a terrible sound and it made my heart skip a beat. It was like…

"Delilah! Fucking open the door!" I flinched on my spot and ran to open the door, finding a very worried, exhausted, and scared Jawaria. 

"Fuck, Delilah! Are you deaf? Anyway, leave that shit!" She clutches my hand and then starts running downstairs while I am completely confused about what is happening around me. 

"What's happening —" and once again that heart-wrenching sound booms around. My whole body shudders and my ears hurt because of that. 

"You're questioning too much! Anyway, someone has attacked us and my brother said they're here for you. You have to leave the place and hide somewhere else!" She takes a deep breath to continue, "Dad isn't home and my brother will handle them!" 

"How? How can he fight against those—"

"We have guards, Delilah! And my brother is trained. You just have to be okay because you're our responsibility!" She stops when we reach a dark place. It is cold and because of pure darkness, I can't see anything clearly until I hear a clunking sound that gets my quick attention. 

I see that the sound was created by the opening of the door. That door is of iron and on the other side there is an empty street which is dark but the bulbs installed at a height provide dim brightness in that street. 

"I'm coming with you, don't worry!" She assures me when I start thinking that they are going to leave me. 

"Really? But your life will also be in danger because of me!" As much as I want someone with me, I can't be selfish enough to make Jawaria suffer with me. 

"You should think of yourself, Delilah. My brother and I can't give them anything. It doesn't matter to them whether we live or die, understand?" She almost yells at me but I do not feel bad about that. 

I nod slightly and then start following Jawaria. Her steps are full of caution and do not want to delay at all. She kept on looking after me moment by moment till we could cross this dark alley. I am following her while holding my breath. My legs are trembling but I care about my life more than anything else, even my legs. 

"This way ends four lanes ahead of my house," she says and I am listening. I can understand but I cannot reply to her back. As my heart can't stop running the marathon, my breathing gets faster with every step, my hands are sweating and my whole body would probably fall to the ground if I stopped for even a moment. 

"Look," she stops and I look in that direction. An empty, deserted road lies before my eyes. "You've to walk ahead, while I'll be following you," she adds and I see she is pulling out a gun from behind. It is when I notice she is wearing a leather holster, and I could notice it due to fear, distress, and worry. 

"Delilah, are you listening to me?" She pats my cheek, gaining my attention. I look at her, frowning. She caresses my face, mumbling, "You look pale, but don't worry, Delilah! You'll be fine!" 

"Tell me we'll be fine!" My wavering voice cannot afford to sound above a whisper. Nobody can understand how much I am shivering and the knots in my stomach are twisting ruthlessly. 

"Y-Yes, we'll be fine! Now, move quickly!" She pats my shoulder and I nod frantically before running ahead. She is following me as I hear the sound of her bootheels kicking against the solid ground. 

For a while, we did not find any problem but the very next moment the sound of a gunshot made my blood run cold. The longing to see Jawaria takes hold and I look back, finding her at some distance, firing at a specific person. She uses two bullets to make him fall. 

"Thank God, I did it!" She gleams, running back to me. "Run, Delilah, you can't look back!" She yells and I do as she says. Now I have realized that those people are completely behind us. 

"Go to your left!" I accelerate and I look to my left, finding another dark alley. I enter it and do not stop running. 

"Take stairs! Go up!" She yells and I look around for the stairs. Seeing the iron fire escape ladder on the brick walls on both sides, I am convinced that we are inside a society. I do not wonder how we both reached here in such a short delay. 

I reach for the ladder when I decide to check on Jawaria. She is at the end of the alley, firing at someone. Seeing her fighting for me brings tears to my eyes and along with moisture, many feelings for her gather in them. 

"Do it, Delilah!" She yells as she looks at me before she hides behind a wall and pulls something from the side of her leg. I think they are bullets. 

"Please, c-come with me, Jawaria!" I whimper, almost on the verge of breaking down. I am so scared. I can't risk other people's lives for me. I can't be this selfish and run away. 

"I can't, Delilah!" She yells, making me wince back. "I've told you that you are in danger, not us! Now leave! Hurry up!" 

"But —"

"If you don't care about yourself, then just take care of my efforts!" 

Okay! After the thing enters my weak mind, I do not spend much time and start climbing the ladder. I started climbing the ladder very quickly but I still cared about Jawaria. When I looked back, I could not find Jawaria at the end of the street. 

When I went a little higher and looked down, I saw Jawaria fighting alone with men dressed in black clothes standing on one side of the road. Seeing her fighting against so many men increased my fear. I wanted to go back to her but I remembered what she had said. 

She is fighting for me and I do not want to waste her efforts by getting caught in the hands of those men. 

So I run ahead until I reach the rooftop of the society and then cross one after the other since all of them are joined together. 

I can still hear the sound of gunfire behind me, which keeps my heart pounding. I reach the end of the building and crouch down to make a small jump when a sound behind me stops me. 

"Ms. Seth!" Someone calls me in a sing-song manner. I look behind and my eyes widen when I see a large silhouette of a man standing straight in a distance. 

I gulp hard, unconsciously taking a step back. 

"Stop right there!" He yells and I shake my head, denying his command. There is no way I am going to stop for him. Jawaria and Waqas did a lot for me. I just can't let them down by getting caught by these criminals! 

I do not wait for a second to pass and start using the ladder. At that moment I forget my fear of heights and start descending the ladder very quickly. 

I can hear the man screaming because he wants to stop me but because I do not stop, he also starts descending straight after me. 

I look up, eyes widening at his speed. Oh no, he is faster! 

I do not care about the last three steps and jump on the metal floor. I do feel pain because of not having shoes on my feet, but the sound of this man coming down the ladder too quickly keeps me from worrying.

I look around and find the back of an air conditioner next to me. I notice it is not turned on, for now, so I decide to take its help. It can be dangerous if my foot slips but I at least want to try. 

Taking a deep breath, I extend my leg, reaching the surface of the air conditioner and putting a foot on it. 

"Fuck! Don't do it!" He yells behind me but he is late. I jump to another set of iron stairs which is more convenient than those ladders. I rush down, and the floor of metal beneath my feet vibrates and releases a clunking sound. 

It does not take much time and I am on the ground, eventually hissing due to pain, and sucking deep breaths. 

Glancing at the man who is still two floors ahead of me, I move to run away. I run to reach the end of the alley, and without taking care of my breath, I move forward but suddenly my ankle gets twisted due to which I fall and the next moment the sound of firing freezes me. 

"Fuck," he curses as I hear him. My head snaps back and I find the man almost reaching the end of the stair. Realization struck me when I looked at the gun in his hand. He tried to shoot me but my ankle saved me. Oh my —

No, I do not have time. 

I get up and start running though my ankle hurts as hell and tears form in my eyes. This is the first time this has happened to me that I am running even with an injury and really, this sprain hurts terribly! 

As I reach the end of the alley, I find a road that leads to a local market of city. There will definitely be a lot of activity there. If I went there, I would have been saved, although the humans must have lived here as well — in this society, no one would have dared to come out because of the firing. 

A weak smile spreads on my lips and I stagger ahead when a loud horn startles me. I turn around only to freeze when I see blinding flashlights of the car entering my eyes, giving me a quick headache. I cannot even make a move and stumble back on my butt when the car stops right in front of me, only a foot away. 

So close that I can feel the heat radiating from it. 

Thank god, I was just about to die! 

While I try to get up, the door of the car opens and someone gets out of it. He crouches down before I stand up and gently holds my arm to support me. 

"Thank you," my voice is barely audible but he gives me a nod, indicating that he heard me. He helps me to get up. A small whimper escapes my lips when I feel a painful twinge in my ankle. I keep looking down until I hear footsteps nearing me. 

My head snaps up and I see the same man who tried to chase me, while the one who helped me is standing on my right. 

I unconsciously try to move back, mumbling, "Please, let me go." 

At this time, I expected him to pounce on me but he shakes his head and then looks to my right, uttering, "Should I leave, boss?" 

My eyes widen when I hear him. Boss? My head slowly lowers as I see the man's arms holding me carefully and then I follow up to look at his face just to receive a shock. 

Am I dreaming? No, he can't be —

"Hi, darling," he says in his deep voice and the word 'darling' with which he addressed me, sends such a vibrating chill down my spine that my body shivers visibly in his arms. His signature smirk adds to that terror and I can't help but whimper slowly. 

"Nicholas, how?" I almost whisper, even afraid of speaking, and suddenly, I feel a sting on my neck that makes me hiss and lean against his solid chest. 

"Nicholas was a lie, baby," he tsks, shaking his head. My eyelids start getting heavier and I feel everything inside me becoming slow or I say relax. My heart beats, my breathing, and even my blood pressure. I feel like life leaving my limbs and my neck becoming numb enough to ignore the stinging pain. It does not hurt anymore while my head falls against his chest. 

"It's Nathaniel," I hear him say before my eyelids shut and darkness engulfs me.