Chapter 04

Azrael turned around, eyes widened. Hayat came out of the room, closing the door behind. “I thought you left, are you okay?” She asked. Azrael gulped as he eased himself. “Uh yeah… I was.. I was looking for you” a clear lie.

Hayat stared at him for a moment then smiled. “I was just checking up on my dad, he was just.. acting up a bit. Shall we go downstairs and have some tea?”

“Your dad?” He was surprised.

“Yeah, my father is paralyzed so..” she looked down.

Azrael remembered the man in the bed. So she has someone close, he thought. After a moment of silence, Azrael spoke. “Oh I should be leaving now, I have some work to do”.

He left her house and ran towards his. Keeping his hands in pockets where he hid her hair. He unlocked his house and ran towards the basement.

He needs to start his work as soon as possible. He wanted her all for himself and he couldn't bear anyone else around her. Not even her father.

•••

After dinner Hayat grabbed the bowl of pudding that Azrael gave her. It looked yummy. She sat in the living area, turned on the tv and took a scoop of pudding. Hayat loved its taste, so she ate more while watching a show.

Something about the pudding is different. It tasted sweet yet addictive. The ingredients weren't really clear to Hayat. Still she enjoyed it and wanted to have it more, as if she became an addict.

As she finished the bowl, she immediately felt sleepy. She yawned and couldn't even get up to go to her bed, so she lay down on the couch there and drove off to sleep.

“Ms. Hayat?? Ms. Hayatt??” Aunt Jemila shook Hayat’s shoulder. She was panicking. “What is it, aunt?” Hayat said in a sleepy voice. “Y-your dad… he is dead..”

Hayat gave her a bewildered look as she ran towards her father’s room and Aunt Jemila followed her. As they opened the door, the sight made Hayat scream.

Her dad was stabbed on chest, blood was pouring out like a fountain, his eyes had black hollows, they were taken out and his mouth was opened as if he was trying to scream.

“BABA!!” Hayat screamed as she woke up, finding herself in the same place. She hurriedly ran towards her father and checked him. He was sound asleep, no wound or blood. It was a nightmare.

Hayat breathed a sigh of relief as she saw him all fit and fine. She went to her room and lied in her bed. “Yallah please protect me and my father from any evils” She prayed silently as the light struck from the window.

It was a thunderstorm. The clouds growled and the rain splashed on dark empty roads. Hayat got up and closed her curtains. She sat on her bed and checked her phone. It was 2am.

She started to scroll as it was hard for her to sleep. She opened her email and there was a list of her students. Their identities with their pictures. She opened a file named “Azrael” , the first student as his name started with “A”.

There was his picture, he was looking straight at the camera, his eyes were big, black and doe. He looked innocent but his eyes had no emotions. Empty. Like he didn't have a soul to connect with this world.

She zoomed on his picture, stared at his eyes. She finally saw his eyes because he barely looked her in the eyes. He was shy, she thought. Or maybe he just doesn't want to look at me. She was confused by his behaviour.

She smiled looking at his picture. It was the first time she liked someone. The feeling was different, he attracted her. She could often find herself thinking about him, which was rare, very rare for her.

Hayat spent most of her time with her dad or learning about her religion. She wasn't an extremist but she knew her morals. She knew her boundaries. But she's just looking at his picture.

And the sight of him was serene. Nothing bold, hard or bad. Just serenity. And it's fine to like someone, it is permissible to like a person in Islam. So she didn't mind anything, she just looked at his picture and smiled.

•••

“We will start in 5 minutes, some students are still coming,” Hayat said to her students. It was a regular day in their class and today they will have recitation of Surah Jinn (Quran verse Jinn; 72:1).

Some students entered the class and greeted Ms. Hayat. “Assalamualaikum, sorry I am late” Azrael entered as he took off his shoes and placed them on the rack.

“It's okay we didn't start yet” Hayat smiled as Azrael nodded, looking down and he went to the corner  where he used to sit. “Okay, we shall start. Muhammad please come here and recite” Hayat said as one of the students Muhammad got up and started the recitation.

As he started, Azrael listened to the verses. He started to get anxious and looked around. Every student was holding their Qurans in their hands, slowly reciting the verses.

Azrael’s eyes turned red, tears started to flow. He wanted to hide his  expressions but couldn't. He wanted to leave this place, he didn't want that feeling. The feeling of getting ripped apart when he heard the Qur'an. He didn't believe in Allah (God), he worshipped Satan. He can't do this.

Azrael looked at his Quran and its pages were empty. He couldn't see the words and he knew why. He has been performing black magic since he was 13 and now he is 19. He couldn't see the Holy things ever since but he never told anyone. He always avoided listening to the Quran but now. He was dying.

“AAHH STOP” Azrael screamed, his voice echoed in the classroom as the recitation stopped and all the eyes fell on him. He was covering his ears and he jumped back, away from the wall. He has to lie now.

“What happened, Azrael?” One of the students asked him. “Uh..l-lizard.. there's a lizard” He lied.

Everyone burst out in laughter. “You're scared of a lizard?” They made fun of him. Hayat chuckled but as she noticed his expressions, she knew something was wrong. Azrael took his Quran and ran away from the class, leaving behind his shoes.

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