7. Move and you die

“Oh fuck, is he coming? No way. Why didn’t you tell me that before? Would I have to send

someone after the party?” she asked when the man on the other side of the phone said

something.

“Fine, I’ll have all the arrangements done,” she said, smiling.

She hung up the call and swiftly began to analyze herself in the mirror. Sheharzaad’s eyes

moved and saw a man approaching the reception. He was wearing a mask. She couldn’t

quite make out his appearance as only his side profile was visible.

“Are you available?” he asked.

“We have an important guest coming, sir, but I’m available,” she said.

The next second, Sheharzaad’s eyes bulged out as she realized what was happening. The

receptionist was unbuttoning her shirt in front of the man while looking at him seductively.

She stood up from her chair and unbuttoned her front, giving the man a full view of her

chest.

Her grey eyes were wide open, witnessing the scene.

They widened more when she saw the man holding the edges of her shirt and ripping it

open, revealing her body to him.

A spark entered the woman’s eyes as she immediately held the lapels of his shirt.

“There’s a room, sir,” she pointed with her thumb towards the room behind the reception

counter, moving towards him and sitting on the table in front of him. The man began to

move his thumbs on her inner thighs, and soon they both were off to the room she pointed

at.

Sheharzaad’s face lost all color as she saw the obscene scene unfolding in front of her.

“What place is this?” she asked herself, still in shock, when a voice from behind startled her.

“Sheharzaad.”

It was Usman, the same person who referred her to this place.

She turned around and found him standing at the end of the corridor. She immediately

normalized her expression and looked at him.

“By chance, did you see anything?” he asked, moving towards her.

Ominous.

He sounded ominous, and she was about to step back when she stopped herself. She

wouldn’t show it to him.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked, sounding confident.

“I mean, anything unusual that you haven’t seen before,” he sounded like a maniac, and now

her heart began to beat rapidly. He was up to no good. She knew that he realized she had

seen that scene.

“Yes, I fucking did. Fuck you, bastard!” she spat and speedily ran away. He lunged at her, and

she didn’t know when he caught her.

“HELP!” she screamed, wanting to bite his thumb, but he slapped her. She fell to the floor.

“HELP!” she shouted again, but nobody came. She saw him taking out a gun from his pocket.

“That was too soon for you to know all this, Sheharzaad,” he said viciously, his eyes

sparkling with evil.

She instantly stood up, and the man almost lunged at her. Finding the opportunity, she

managed to throw his gun away and ran for the door.

“HELP! PLEASE HELP!” she screamed as she ran towards the main door. Her eyes widened

when she turned her head and saw the man rushing towards her. She dashed across the

corridor and stepped out onto the road. Luckily, the guard was not there.

As soon as she placed her foot on the road, he fired a shot that made her lose her footing,

causing her to fall. She looked down at her leg, and there was no blood, meaning he had

fired the shot in the air, not at her.

“Where will you go?” he asked, coming closer.

“Who are you? What have I done?” she asked desperately.

“Nothing. You just saw something you weren’t supposed to see.”

“What did I see? I know things like that happen in Pakistan, why kill me for this?” she

reasoned.

“And do you know what your job was?”

“No. Let me just go, please!”

“You were to be a prostitute here or maybe sold out to someone as their slave,"

"Wh...what?" Sheharzaad croaked out. She couldn't believe what her ears heard.

Human trafficking?

She was literally talking about human trafficking and that too so casually.

"Yes. Now would you prefer doing a job here?" There was this evil playfulness in his voice. A

pure mock.

"Yes, because I need money and I can do anything for money," she lied, trying to manipulate

him. "And what harm would I do to you or your organization? Nothing. I can't do anything.

Why are you targeting an innocent person like me? Don't you fear your God?"

"Shut up, woman. If you had witnessed that scene later after working here, it wouldn't have

been a problem. But not now. The timing is wrong. I know you will cause problems, and I

don't want any trouble."

"Please don't kill me," she cried as he pointed the gun at her, determination entering his

eyes.

"I'm sorry. You'll have to die," An evil smirked played on his lips, as if he was enjoying her

helplessness. Sheharzaad began to pray. Her shivering lips moved and recited prayers.

She was scared.

Death was close to her.

Very close.

Her heart rate accelerated when she saw his firm hold on the trigger. Her eyes widening to

the size of saucers. Tears welling up her eyes.

He was about to pull the trigger when suddenly a bullet came from the left side, penetrating

Usman's temple, and he fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

She stopped for a second. Sweat beads formed near her temples. Her body went cold, and

her eyes widened. Her brain was unable to process what just happened. A sharp ringing

sound began to bang at her ears. It felt as if time stopped, as did her heart.

Usman was dead. Someone had murdered him.

Slowly, she began to move her head to the left to see who had done it.

"Move and you die," a faint whisper said.