Transformed - 9. Leaving

One week passed since mom and dad had come to pick me. My parents had decided to leave for Mangalore in two days. Mom had gone shopping in Goa. Geez! Did she ever think of anything else besides shopping and marriage? I had refused to go with her. I hated shopping. And with mom it was pure torture. I had convinced her to leave me behind by promising to take care of Aqsa, while Amna accompanied her.

Rehan entered my room. "Hey." I said, sitting up straighter. He gave me a pained smile and sat down on the bed next to me and Aqsa, who was sleeping. He looked at me and thought, "I've got something to tell you."
"Shoot." I muttered.
His mind went completely blank. For a second, I became confused. Then my eyes widened in shock as he showed me what would happen when I would reach home in Mangalore. I almost screamed.

Rehan looked at me painfully. "You know why you ran away from home, sweetheart. And now you're going to go back there?" I stared at him. He had told the truth, but I was too proud to admit it to him.
I tossed my hair and glared at him. "The future can change." He sighed. Everyone had become gloomy since I had refused to marry Rehan. But Rehan had turned into something else. He had become an empty shell, simply living but with no purpose. It was horribly painful watching him.

Maybe I was developing feelings for him. I shook my head. Sure, I had a crush on him ever since I saw him, but it was only a crush, wasn't it? Then why did I always stare at him whenever he was around? Why did my hand always itch to move the lock of hair that always fell over his eyes?
Suddenly, he grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me. "Why" he thought, "don't you love me? Is it because of what I drink? If that's the problem, then I'll stop drinking animal blood for you. I'll do anything to make you mine, Rumana, just say what it is." he stopped shaking me.
"Why do you love me? I mean, you don't even know me properly. We have just met like three weeks ago." I asked him.

He took my hands in his. "You know something? When I first woke up as a vampire, the first thing I saw in my future was your face. I saw you live under abuse by your parents. I saw you become lonely as you were separated from everything you liked. I saw your mother forbid you from reading books, going out with friends and watching TV. I saw her blaming you for things that you had nothing to do with. The more I saw you handle everything, the more I fell in love with you. I kept watching you eat, sleep and even saw you bathing."

"What?!" I snarled, smacking him on the shoulder. He chuckled.
"I'd say the view was rather good."
"PERVERT! You kept watching my every move!" I yelled.
"You became like a drug to me. Even when I hadn't met you I knew everything about you. You liked listening to Taylor Swift and Ke$ha. You hated watching anything related to love. I kept watching you day and night. And then that day, I saw you boarding that train. I came near the railway tracks hoping to catch a glimpse of you, instead I saw you leave the train and come to me."
I stared at him. I had seen my old, ugly face swimming in his mind. And the way I had screamed when he bit me.
"Why don't you love me, Rumana? What's wrong with me? Is there anything that I have done which upset you?"

"Please don't say that. There is nothing wrong with you. I like you just the way you are. It's just that I don't think I'm good enough for you."
"You're not good enough for me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's one of the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."

I sighed and turned away from him. If I kept staring at him for one second longer, I swear I would go crazy. I remembered the way we had kissed a week ago. I would do anything for it to happen again.

My phone beeped. It was mom, asking whether Aqsa had woken up or not. I assured her everything was fine and hung up. Turning around, I found Rehan staring at my cell. "I'm going to miss that thing." he thought dejectedly. I smiled at him. "You're the first person who liked my cell."
"It was because of it we had our moment." he was obviously referring to the kiss. Embarrassed, I looked away.
Rehan gave me a small smile, "I will always be there for you, sweetheart." He hugged me and left the room.
Which made me feel as if he took a part of me with him.

It was two in the afternoon. The sun was extremely hot that day, making people sweat a lot. The railway station was crowded. We were finally leaving for Mangalore. I was in a veil again. Everyone except Rehan had come to see us off. I felt a bit hurt about this.
The train hadn't arrived yet. Dad was talking to Salim. I was simply sitting in the bench, still hurt by Rehan's absence. Aaliya and Mehreen came and sat by me. Aaliya handed me a bag. "What's this?" I asked her.
"A few lenses and a bottle of blood."
"For what?"
"What if your contacts get destroyed? And what if you can't control your thirst? This is for any emergency that arises, idiot."
"I think I can control myself now."
"You 'think' you can. Don't take any chances. You might regret it."
"Thanks." I said accepting the bag from her.

A whistle sounded in the distance, announcing the arrival of the train. I got up from the bench. Amna approached me, followed by Salim. She squeezed my hand. "Take care, honey." When she removed her hand I was surprised to see a brand new Nokia E90 mobile phone.
"Call us if you need anything. We will be happy to help." Salim answered my question even before I had asked it.
"I'm going to miss all of you so much. Thank you for everything."
Mehreen and Aaliya hugged me. "If you don't call twice a day, I will kill you." Mehreen growled softly in my ear. I giggled.

Aaliya was trying to hand a crying Aqsa to mom, who only cried harder. She wanted Aaliya to come with us. Aaliya looked as if she also didn't want to leave her. I took her in my arms and entered the train. Looking out of the window, I waved at the people I had come to love as my family. Rehan wasn't there. Rehan hadn't come. I didn't even get to say goodbye to him. My eyes prickled and filled with tears but not a drop spilled over. I couldn't even cry properly now.

The train started to move on. I sat back in my seat. Mom was already talking on her mobile to my Aunt. I clearly heard the words 'marriage' and 'proposals' from her mouth. I ignored her. No one will be ready to marry an infertile freak like me. Amna had told my mom, amidst hearty sniggers that I could not become pregnant now. In our town, life had only one meaning: marry and pop out as many kids as you can.
Whatever that happened when I reached home was not what I expected.
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