~Third Person's POV

Lots of buckets filled with water were continuously thrown on the building which looked like a completely disastrous scene from a horror movie. Men and women from the whole village had gathered near the school and were trying their best to control the situation and each one of them was determined to play his or her role effectively. This was enough for Shahveer to realise that how much respect and love for Hooriyah was present in the heart of these villagers which had been increasing throughout these years, due to her undying efforts.

Uptil now, there were no casualties but lots of children were badly injured and were immediately taken to the hospital. The fire was spreading and causing more destruction due to the forest, inside which the school was situated.

Along with the other men, Shahveer was continuously struggling to help the villagers by arranging and throwing buckets full of water to reduce the intensity of the fire, but it was of no use. The situation might have been taken under control quickly if there was a fire brigade, but due to the infrastructure and harsh landscape of the valley, it was hard to arrange anything like that.

Some of them were risking their lives by going inside to help the remaining children and bring them out.

Although she was asked to stay away from the location as she was not in a mentally stable condition, Hooriyah still decided to disobey the elders as watching the chaos and havoc was torturing her soul to the core. Despite of being stopped by many people, she still went towards the location to check whether her students were fine or not.

"Somebody stop her, she'll hurt herself if she goes in!"

Few men shouted from far away who had already seen her entering. People rushed towards her to stop her from going in.

"LEAVE ME ALONE, I WANT TO MEET MY CHILDREN!"

She shouted fiercely as few people grabbed her by her arms and tried to drag her away but she continued to resist like a mad woman until she caught Shahveer's attention who was busy in throwing water. He immediately left the bucket and joined them.

"What happened to her?" He asked worriedly.

"She's not in a stable condition. She needs to go to home!"

One of the men replied spontaneously.

"I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE BEFORE KNOWING THAT EACH AND EVERY STUDENT OF MINE IS FINE OR NOT!"

She yelled at the top of her lungs and cried simultaneously as Shahveer tried to get hold of her.

"Hooriyah calm down please, everyone's fine, the children have been taken to the hospital, everything is in control, please go back home!"

He cupped his hands around her tear stained face and removed the strands of hair from her face as she looked at him with helplessness.

"I want to meet them! And ....and where is.....where is Raniya? I haven't seen her anywhere!"

She sobbed like a child while her changing facial expressions showed that she had already sensed something wrong.

He remained quiet as he knew that she was nowhere to be seen.

"WHERE IS RANIYA, SHAHVEER?"

She yelled again, but this time even more ferociously.

"They are finding her, we all will find her soon. Please stop crying and go back! Pray for everyone, Allah doesn't burden a soul more than it's patience!''

He stared into her swollen and teary eyes which were looking even more beautiful than before.

"I HAD BEEN PRAYING FOR THIS INCIDENT TO NEVER HAPPEN SINCE FIVE YEARS, SHAHVEER!"

She cried and shouted madly as he continued to stare at her with his eyes which were widened with shock.

"All of the nightmares turned true! All of them!"

She tightly held her head in her hands and continued to shake her head with disappointment. He continued to watch her with confusion, not able to understand that what was she trying to say.

"You said that there is no connection of nightmares with the reality! All of them turned true, all of them!"

She laughed and cried and then laughed and cried again. He did not know how to handle this situation. His heart was bleeding with pain while looking at her in this condition. All he wanted to do was wipe all of the miseries from her past, present and future. All he knew was that wherever he stepped, he always brought terror to her life.

She continued to cry and worsen her condition while the others tried hard to rescue the remaining children inside the school. After some time, all of the children were rescued and immediately sent to the hospital, out of which, some were badly injured and some were badly traumatized.

But still, Raniya was nowhere to be found.

"I swear to God, if she dies, I will burn myself in this fire tonight!"

She continued to repeat those painful words again and again as Shahveer tried to calm her down.

"What the hell are you saying Hooriyah? No one's dying alright? No one is dying!"

He squeezed her hands affectionately, trying his best to make her feel better, but to no avail.

"I have been patient since years, I have been strong since years, but if this turns out to be true, I'm afraid I will lose each and every remaining bit of my patience and sanity. This was the day I was trying to avoid since ages!"

"You won't lose anyone, you won't lose anything. Do you understand?"

She wept and wiped her tears innocently while he tried his best to control his own from falling.

"Helppppppppp!"

Suddenly, a horrific scream came from inside the building making both of them jolt with shock as they looked at the building with their terrified eyes.

"The girl is inside! The girl is inside!"

Villagers continued to shout and run towards the building which was still burning ferociously.

"It's Raniya!" She murmured weakly.

Shahveer immediately ran towards the building while she followed his tracks.

"You stay here!" Shahveer instructed.

"I am coming with you!" Hooriyah insisted.

"Trust me on this! For one last time! Please trust me on this!"

He begged her and without giving her any chance to speak further and without giving a thought before risking his life, he jumped into the school while she watched him leaving, with helplessness and pain.

He tried his best to avoid burning himself by throwing buckets of water handed to him by the other helpers.

"Raniya!!!"

He shouted while checking the horribly destroyed classrooms and hostel.

"Help me!"

The terrified screams started to become clear as he climbed up the stairs towards the children's room.

"Raniya!" He shouted again.

"Please take me out!"

She moaned weakly with immense pain.

He turned back only to find her lying on the ground, struggling and breathing hard to get up.

"I'm here little angel, you are safe, you are safe! Everything's going to be okay alright?"

He came towards her and knelt down and kissed her hands to calm her down.

He continued to shake her shoulders and pat her cheeks but she slowly started to stop responding.

"Raniya!"

As soon as he turned her so that her back could face the ground, his soul sucked out of his body leaving him traumatized as he watched her half burnt body with helplessness. Small pieces of glasses which might have come out from the broken window, were pierced into her bare knees which were bleeding terribly. Tears cascaded down his face rapidly as he continued to pat her cheeks, trying to bring her back to consciousness, but she had already fainted.

He immediately scooped her up into his arms and tried to find his way out but he was horribly stuck.

"Raniya please open your eyes!"

He wept like a child as he patted her cheeks with his trembling hands again, but she did not respond.

Few more men brought some large buckets of water and joined him to help him find his way out. After fifteen minutes of dangerous struggle and taking risky moves, they finally succeeded by coming out of the building and ensured everyone that no one was in the school anymore.

"Shahveer!"

Hooriyah came running towards him as he saw Raniya resting like a lifeless puppy in his arms.

"What happened to her, Shahveer?"

She questioned as her eyes widened with fear.

"She needs to be taken to the hospital as soon as possible. She's badly burnt!"

He hurriedly carried Raniya towards the ambulance as Hooriyah looked at her disappearing little figure with pain which was glimmering tremendously in her red swollen eyes, forcing her to remember the night at which she had all three nightmares at the same time.

All three premonitions.

x-x-x-x-x

(1)

"Baba please! Don't go Baba!!! I will die Baba!!"

She cried as more layers of pain danced across her body.

(2)

"Shahveer don't leave me, don't do this, don't humiliate my character,I love you, I beg you! Don't make fun of my feelings!"

She hiccupped as she moved her head towards her left, stretching her neck as much as she could with helplessness while her eyes were still tightly shut.

The third nightmare tragically started to interrupt the first two.

(3)

"Raniyaa! Raniyaa don't go there, it's dangerous Raniya stop! Come back Raniya don't do this!"

She shouted again trying to stop a five year old girl who was walking towards a building set on an extremely disastrous fire.

x-x-x-x-x

She jolted, coming back to where she was, as the deafening sound of siren of the ambulance interrupted the flashback, which was ready to leave for the hospital.

x-x-x

-Shahveer

"She's in critical condition. We are trying our best!"

The Doctor's final statement echoed across the empty and silent halls of the hospital as both of us looked at him with our hopeless eyes.

"Please be patient, and pray!"

He patted on my shoulder, trying to console me, although the one who needed to be consoled the most was sitting on the bench, behind me, weeping like an innocent child. I looked at her with sympathy while tears continued to roll down my cheeks. How I wish I could ease her pain, and erase the tortures written in her destiny.

If only I could mend her soul !

I silently walked towards her ,sat by her side and watched her weeping painfully.

"Pease take this pain away from me, Veer!"

She whispered softly, without looking into my eyes.

"This pain is not going to last long, I promise!"

I quietly watched her eyelashes drown into the sea of salty tears.

"How I wish you were true!"

She smiled painfully.

I remained silent.

"How I wish you did not lie to me that night!"

She finally raised her gaze and stared at me with an expression which was about to tear my heart apart.

"What do you mean?" I asked gently.

"Do you remember the night when you knocked at my door, just to check up on me as I had been screaming with fear while sleeping?"

My eyes widened with shock.

"You said that nightmares don't affect our lives. But you were wrong!"

She cried.

"You came to calm me down and assure me that no such thing as nightmares exist, but still became one of the biggest nightmares of my life!"

She sighed with grief.

"What did you see that night?"

I asked nervously.

"Three different dreams! All of them turned true. I'm scared of myself now, Shahveer!"

She stared at the marble floor blankly as I remained silent.

"First one was about losing Baba. I lost him one week later."

She spoke like a robot as my eyes twinkled with tears.

"Second one was being humiliated and destroyed by the one who was so close to my heart!"

She smiled painfully as I held my head in my hands with disappointment.

"You saw that in your dreams, but still you confessed?"

I asked with embarassment.

"That's because you told me that nightmares have no connection with reality!"

She smiled to which I went speechless.

"How I wish you had not consoled me with your fake lies!"

"I'm sorry, Hooriyah. I never believed in nightmares until I started to have too, after losing you!"

She remained silent.

"What was the third dream about?"

I asked.

"The third one was about a building on fire, towards which a little adorable girl was walking. I was stopping her but she didn't listen. Her name was Raniya!"

"You knew her before even meeting her?"

I stared at her with amazement and unexplainable emotions.

"Yeah. I had already known her without even meeting her! And the day when I met her, I realised that she must be needing some special attention and extra care."

She smiled to herself as I looked at her with amazement.

Who was she?

How is this possible?

She took out an adorable photograph and gave it to me, in which Raniya was kissing her cheeks while she was happily applying the cake's cream on her face.

"Haven't you ever wondered that why is she the most favourite one of mine out of all?"

She smiled adorably.

"I always wondered, but now I know!"

I smiled while caressing the photograph, after which there was a huge silence which finally ended as we immediately stood up when the Doctor came out.

"She needs to get operated, her condition is worsening. And for the operation, a very large amount will be required!"

He stated.

"How much?" Both of us asked unanimously.

"Ten Lacs!"

Her eyes widened with horror as she sat down on the bench again.

"Please start the operation, I'll arrange the money!"

I assured the doctor.

"No Shahveer! I can't take money from you!"

She intervened.

"Don't be crazy Hoor. I'm doing it for Raniya. If she is someone for you, then she is someone for me too! Doctor please start the operation!"

I signed the papers as the doctor left.

"What are you doing Shahveer? Why are you doing this?"

She asked angrily.

"I promised you I won't let anything happen to her."

"But she's my responsibility not yours!"

She argued.

"Where will you bring ten Lacs from then?" I questioned angrily.

"I will sell the____"

She paused as she recalled something from the past, and held her head in her hands while crying mercilessly.

"Just like you did in the past?" I asked angrily.

"Sold the land your father had named after you, to get the money for his operation, instead of reaching out to us and asking for our help? Why didn't you ask my father for help Hooriyah?"

I glared at her with anger.

"I called him, but he did not pick up the phone!"

She cried harder.

"You didn't even try to call me?"

I lowered my voice.

"Call you? So that you could insult me and my father for earning just twenty-five thousand rupees per month?"

She shouted at me.

"Is that how heartless do you think I am? Atleast that's not what I would have done while watching a man who was almost like my father, dying infront of my eyes! I would have picked up your call damn it, I would have come rushing to the hospital with the money. He wasn't just your father Hooriyah, he was my idol too, he was my mentor, my caretaker too. He was close to me more than my father and I regret the day I ashamed you for his salary because each and every single word which came out of my mouth that night, was said unintentionally, none of that was true. I was manipulated, drunk and high on drugs that night, you fool!"

I shouted back at her ferociously.

"What's the point of discussing it when he is no more between us?"

A tear trickled down her face very slowly as I went speechless.

"It's just that I wanted to tell you that it was not just your loss. It was mine too. I was broken when Iman told me everything about Jahangir Uncle's death. If I had known that he was the friend of Dad who died, the night at which I was leaving, I would have never left for Manchester."

I tried to give justifications she was not ready to listen to.

"Just don't let the history repeat itself Hooriyah! If it gets late, we will lose this little girl, just like we lost your father. Please let me prove myself worthy enough to be forgiven by the ONE Whom I have disobeyed the most!"

I joined my hands infront of her as I begged and finally left.

.

~Hooriyah

I opened my eyes, which were stinging with pain, and rubbed them with the back of my hands as I tried to focus on the surroundings.

It had been three hours since I was sleeping on the bench of the hospital, due to immense tiredness spreading throughout my body. I looked at my left and then right to see where he had gone, but he was nowhere to be seen.

I stood up and went towards the cafeteria and checked him there but there was still no sign. Then I came back to the same corridor and tried to search him.

Where had he disappeared all of a sudden?

I immediately stopped a nurse passing by, who was in charge of Raniya's case.

"Have you seen Mr. Shahveer anywhere?"

I asked worriedly.

"Yeah, he just went to the prayer room!"

She smiled.

"The prayer room? Are you sure?"

I asked with amazement.

She nodded and left.

I slowly dragged my steps towards the prayer room, certainty not expecting to see what was going to appear infront of my eyes in the next few seconds.

My eyes widened with shock while my heart almost skipped a beat as I stopped by the prayer area, only to see the most beautiful scene of my life.

Sleeves rolled up till his quarter arm, head bowed into a prostration between his beautiful manly hands, while soft whispers of few verses continued to echo throughout the room.

At first I thought I had a glance of a wrong person. But when he raised his head and revealed his face, my body stiffened with shock and ecstasy simultaneously.

Shahveer Ali Khan, the man who never knew how to perform ablution, was offering Salah?

The man who never touched the Quran was murmuring verses of the Holy Book in his soothing voice.

I failed to blink as the movement of my eyes was perfectly synchronised with his little actions while offering his prayer.

He slowly turned to his right and then looked at his left shoulder, and offered Salam and then raised his hands high to ask from Allah, everything that was hidden in his heart, and still unknown to me.

What had actually