***
{Inside The Projection}
One moment, Malik was staring at the ceiling, broken, bloodied, and dead.
The next, he was back on the bed, Sinbad in front of him, pinky raised with that same hopeful look in his eyes.
Malik froze.
His mind felt like it had been flipped upside down.
What the hell just happened? Was he dead? Dreaming? Had he finally lost his damn mind?
But his body didn’t wait for his brain to catch up.
It moved on its own, driven by some primal instinct.
He lunged forward, wrapped his arms around Sinbad, and pulled him close.
“Step out the window. Now.”
His voice trembled.
“Please… please just do it.”
Sinbad looked up at him, wide-eyed and confused, but the desperation in Malik’s tone left no room for questions.
Slowly, the boy nodded and turned toward the window.
The frame was already loose, so they easily pushed it open.
Sinbad carefully climbed onto the sill, clutching it with one hand as he balanced Huda on his back.
He was halfway out when—
‘Dammit.’
The door slammed open.
“I KNEW IT!”
Malik’s heart dropped.
“You’ve been hiding something, haven’t you, boy?”
The leader of the three men stood there, a cruel grin spreading across his face as his bloodshot eyes locked onto the two little ones.
“Thought you could keep them all to yourself?”
Malik didn’t give him time for another word.
He grabbed his stick—the same useless, withering thing—and stabbed it forward with everything he had.
The wood crushed the man’s throat, sending him stumbling back into his companions.
“RUN!”
Malik shouted, but he didn’t need to; Sinbad was already outside.
Smiling softly, he didn’t wait for the dazed men to recover and bolted through the doorway, shoving past them.
His bare feet pounded against the wooden floor as he raced down the hallway, making the building groan around him.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs, the receptionist at the desk glanced up, her face as blank as always.
“Help—”
Malik started, but he stopped himself.
She didn’t care. Of course, she didn’t care.
The woman didn’t even flinch as he rushed past her and shoulder-slammed the front door open with a loud crash, the brittle hinges giving way instantly.
“Sinbad!”
He screamed, spinning to face the first floor of the building where the boy stood.
Sinbad was hugging the wall with one hand while holding Huda to his back with the other, his feet barely balanced on the protruding limestone.
“Drop her! NOW!”
Sinbad hesitated for a moment before doing as he was told and letting go.
Huda’s limp body tumbled down, and Malik surged forward, catching her awkwardly in his arms as he fell backward onto the dusty ground.
Pain shot through him, but he didn’t care.
He clutched the girl close and scrambled to his feet.
“Sinbad! You’re next!”
But the boy froze.
His small hands gripped the wall even harder, his eyes darting between Malik and the window to his left.
“Come on! There’s no time!”
Malik yelled again, but Sinbad didn’t move… again.
His legs trembled every time he put any strength in them, halting his attempts before they could even start.
“The boy’s still up here!”
Just then, the thinnest of the three men kicked the window open and climbed up while the other two arrived outside.
“Get him!”
Malik glanced at the terrified Sinbad, who was now inching along the limestone in a panic, slipping with every other step.
That look—though short—felt like an eternity.
“…I-I’m sorry.”
Then, gritting his teeth, he forced himself to look away and ran.
There was no other choice.
***
{Outside The Projection}
The hall broke out in chaos.
“No. No way. NO WAY!”
Huda’s voice cracked, shrill like glass shattering.
“He LEFT him?! He ACTUALLY left him?!”
Her words hung in the air, and no one could respond fast enough.
No one except Azeem.
“Whew. That’s cold, even for the Sultan… guess now we know how you survived, my Lady.”
“Shut UP!”
Huda snapped, spinning to him with fire in her eyes.
“You think this is funny? That was my BROTHER! You saw the way he looked at Malik! He trusted him; he believed in him, and Malik just—just—”
Azeem raised an eyebrow.
“Ah? Don’t shoot the messenger now, would you? It’s against the law~.”
Ignoring him, Huda’s eyes returned to the momentarily frozen projection, her jaw clenched so tight it was a miracle she hadn’t cracked a tooth.
“I told you. I told all of you… I’m not wrong… I-Im not doing anything wrong…”
She couldn’t finish that sentence as tears began to spill.
It was a heartbreaking sight, and it melted many hearts within the crowd.
But one of them wasn’t buying it.
“Don’t… just don’t.”
Safira was the one.
Everyone turned to her, who had mostly been silent throughout.
Her usually kind expression was gone, replaced by obvious anger.
“Don’t pity yourself, and please don’t pretend you’re any better. Especially you, Huda… You’ve received something none of us have.”
Her eyes dropped, her smile sad, almost painful.
“You don’t know what it’s like to be…”
She trailed off, shaking her head, but then her gaze went back to Huda, anger returning.
“None of us know what he was thinking, what he was feeling in that moment. And I’m sure, if we were in his shoes, most of us—if not all—would’ve done the same, or worse. Much worse. So don’t you dare judge him like you’re saints.”
“Safira—”
“No.”
She raised her voice.
“You think you know him? You don’t. None of us do. Azeem is right, and I’m sure everyone here has realized this by now. So stop acting like you’ve got all the answers.”
Safira’s gaze returned to the projection, and it resumed, almost as if it had decided their reactions were over.
“Just watch.”
***
{Inside The Projection}
Malik’s legs were barely holding him up as they were, and every step felt like a punch to his knees.
Carrying Huda in his arms didn’t help—she was light, sure, but right now, she might as well have been a boulder strapped to his chest.
His pace was more of a desperate shuffle than an actual run, but he pushed forward.
Yet it was all for naught.
In front of him, the only path out of here, stood a man.
Malik didn’t need to be told.
That man was with them.
He was the “backup;” he wouldn’t have been here at this time otherwise.
Thud-thud-thud!
Behind Malik, the sound of heavy boots slamming against the ground grew louder.
They had almost caught up.
Malik was trapped.
He looked at Huda, somehow still sleeping in his arms, then at the platform extended over the abyss to his right.
It didn’t take him long to make a decision.
‘Better dead than a slave.’
Malik shot forth, running faster than he ever did as the wooden floor creaked under his weight, every step threatening to send him plummeting into the darkness below.
He stopped just a step or two before the cliff, where the wood dangled down, about to fall.
“Wait!”
The leader of the men shouted.
“Kid, don’t be stupid! You don’t wanna die, do you?!”
Malik inched further back.
“I don’t, but what choice do I have?!”
The man continued, his tone turning desperate:
“Better a slave than dead kid!”
“No!”
“Listen, just listen, yeah? We leave the boy alone; just give us the girl! We can share the profits! I might even think about not tasting her—”
Malik took a whole step back, reaching the edge, his golden eyes blazing with rage.
“SHUT UP! IF YOU DON’T, I SWEAR I’LL DROP HER RIGHT NOW!”
It was a look that brought shivers down the man’s spine.
“O-Okay! Just calm down! I’ll stay quiet, alright?”
The men slowly and quietly tried to get closer to Malik, moving like crabs a few meters ahead of him.
Their eyes constantly darted into the void, unable to resist its terrifying pull.
Malik didn’t react, not feeling the least bit threatened by them.
It was a scene that mirrored their first interaction, only now that instead of Malik being the threat, it was the platform beneath him, its edges splintering with each second that passed.
“Sinbad!”
Malik called out, his voice echoing across the chasm.
The boy was still on the protruding limestone, though on the left side of the building instead of the right, just above the devouring abyss.
It seemed that he and his pursuer had managed to do a full lap around the building.
“Do you trust me?!”
Malik had left him for dead seconds ago; one wouldn’t expect anything but a “n-n-no,” as a reply.
“Y-Y-Yes!”
But it was Sinbad; though they had just met, he grew to love his big brother quite a lot.
Enough that forgiveness came easy—Hell, this didn’t even feel like a betrayal to him.
His big brother’s actions had been to save Huda, his sister, and Sinbad couldn’t hold that against him.
If anything, it made him respect the guy even more.
“You agreed when I said you’d do whatever I told you, right?!”
Sinbad nodded furiously, tears streaming down his face.
“Then jump!”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
For a moment, there was only silence.
Malik leaned back, his body teetering over the abyss.
He stared at Sinbad, his eyes filled with something the boy couldn’t quite place.
And then he fell.
The darkness swallowed him whole.
“NO!”
Sinbad screamed, his hand shooting out like he could pull him back.
But, a moment later, he quietened.
Though the sight of them falling gave him incredible shock, it also quelled any hesitation left within him—like a switch had been flipped.
He was no longer afraid.
He trusted Malik.
He always would.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he took a deep breath and pushed himself off the wall.
“You idiots!”
“Fucking dumbasses!”
“NOOOOO! MY GODDAMN MONEY!”
The last thing they heard was the men’s furious curses fading into the distance as they plummeted into Al-Fawra, the maw of the devil.