Chapter 10 : The Wind That Preceded Redemption
1164 Words
Inside Mustafa’s room, moments of silence had barely settled when they were shattered by a muffled scream and the thunder of furious footsteps. The door exploded inward under a violent kick.
Mohamed stood there like judgment itself.
His face burned with rage, eyes blazing beneath a storm-dark brow. On one hand, he held Omar by the neck as if dragging a child to trial. Omar’s feet barely touched the ground, hands clawing helplessly at Mohamed’s wrist.
Mohamed (roaring):
“You think I’m blind?! I sleep for one hour and you turn this house into a brothel?!”
Sarah gasped, jerking upright from the bed. She snatched the sheet and wrapped it around herself, trembling with fury and humiliation.
Mustafa stumbled backward, grabbing a pillow to cover himself, pale as death.
Mustafa (shaking):
“Brother… listen to me… it’s not what you think…”
Sarah (through gritted teeth):
“Mohamed! What do you think you’re doing, you vile bastard?!”
Mohamed did not answer.
Instead, he calmly raised his pistol and fired into the floor between Mustafa’s feet.
The gunshot exploded like thunder.
Dust rose. Metal rang. Everyone froze.
Mohamed (coldly):
“Take one more step… and the next bullet goes through your chest.”
Omar raised both hands instantly, nearly crying.
Omar:
“I have nothing to do with this! I swear! I came looking for… for my sword!”
Mohamed slowly turned his head toward him.
Mohamed (mocking):
“And your sword just happened to be lost in my brother’s bed?”
Sarah stepped forward despite the pain in her side.
Sarah (furious):
“If you touch a single hair on his head… I swear I’ll kill you myself.”
Mohamed stared at her for one long second.
Then, without warning, he hurled Omar at her.
Both crashed into the wall with brutal force. Sarah groaned and collapsed, Omar sprawled across her, wheezing.
Mustafa (shouting):
“Mohamed! Enough!”
Mohamed (without looking at him):
“You have five minutes. Wash yourselves. Dress yourselves. Stand outside.”
He took one step closer.
“Or I burn this room with all of you inside it.”
Sarah coughed, trying to rise.
Sarah (weak but defiant):
“You think you’re a man? You’re only a twisted shadow hiding behind religion. Even Islam gives people freedom.”
Mohamed’s expression did not move.
Mohamed:
“Freedom exists.”
He chambered another round.
“So do consequences.”
Omar crawled backward toward the door.
Omar:
“If Father were here… he’d have killed them already. I’m actually helping.”
Mohamed glanced at him once.
Mohamed:
“Five minutes.”
Then he slammed the door behind him.
The room fell into a suffocating silence.
Mustafa crawled to Sarah, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. His hands shook as he checked her ribs.
Mustafa (softly):
“Are you hurt?”
She lifted her head, pain in her face but fire in her eyes.
Sarah:
“I’ll survive.”
Then she gripped his wrist.
“But if he touches you again… I won’t stay silent.”
Mustafa said nothing. He simply looked at her with gratitude and shame.
Slowly, he began dressing.
Every button he fastened seemed to restore some fragment of dignity stripped away moments earlier.
Sarah dressed beside him in silence, watching the door like it might explode open again.
When they were ready, she stepped close, cupped his face, and whispered:
Sarah:
“Don’t be afraid. I won’t let him kill you.”
Mustafa gave a tired smile.
Then lightly smacked her hip.
Mustafa:
“I know.”
He sighed.
“And because of you… he probably will.”
She laughed despite herself.
Then kissed him long, slow, defiant.
A kiss for war.
A kiss for tomorrow.
A kiss for those who may never see dawn.
Mustafa (against her lips):
“If we leave… we may not come back.”
Sarah (steady):
“Then we leave together.”
Outside in the hallway, Mohamed stood in the center like a carved statue of iron.
His breathing was calm.
His eyes never blinked.
People gathered at a distance, whispering anxiously.
One man finally spoke.
Resident:
“Mohamed… we heard gunfire. Is everything alright?”
Without turning, Mohamed answered:
Mohamed:
“Prepare to leave.”
Another voice rose.
“But why? What’s happening?”
Mohamed paused.
Then answered with surgical coldness.
Mohamed:
“What happens next is none of your concern.”
Silence followed instantly.
People backed away and hurried to gather supplies.
No one asked again.
Authority needed no explanation when spoken by a man like him.
Moments later, Mustafa’s door opened.
He emerged beside Sarah.
Shoulder to shoulder.
Faces bruised, eyes tired, heads high.
Every eye in the hall turned toward them.
Mohamed slowly faced them.
No anger.
No pity.
Only the look of a man who already knew the price of what must come next.
Then the unexpected happened.
From behind the ruined wall near the entrance…
They emerged.
Figures in black robes from head to toe.
Faces hidden.
Only eyes visible glowing faintly like embers beneath ash.
They moved without sound.
One by one.
Then all around them.
The Last Silence had arrived.
Weapons were drawn.
Breaths halted.
Even fear seemed afraid to move.
One of the robed figures stepped forward.
Its voice was barely more than wind through bones.
Figure:
“One of you must be surrendered…”
A pause.
“Or all of you die.”
No one moved.
All eyes turned to Mohamed.
He inhaled deeply.
Then stepped forward.
Mohamed:
“Fine.”
He looked at no one.
“Take me.”
Gasps erupted.
Mustafa:
“No!”
Sarah (grabbing his arm):
“You don’t decide for us!”
But Mohamed never looked back.
Mohamed:
“Me… in exchange for their safe passage.”
The masked figure lowered its head.
Figure:
“Deal accepted.”
A chorus of horror filled the hall.
But Mohamed raised his hand.
For the first time, something softer entered his voice.
Something final.
Mohamed:
“I have already begun to feel the breeze of Paradise.”
His eyes lifted slightly.
“Yes… I hear it coming.”
He turned last toward Mustafa and Sarah.
Memorizing them.
Mohamed:
“Forgive me… for everything.”
He smiled faintly.
“My death may give some of you a beginning.”
Sarah’s tears fell silently.
Sarah (broken):
“No… Mohamed… don’t leave us…”
Mustafa dropped to his knees.
Crushed beneath grief too old to carry.
Mustafa (whispering):
“You were harsh…”
His voice shattered.
“But you were my last shield against madness.”
Mohamed nodded once.
Then walked forward.
The ranks of the Last Silence parted for him like doors to a tomb.
He entered.
They closed behind him.
And all that remained…
Was silence.
Then darkness.
Then a wind as if passing over a grave not yet dug.
- Writer
