5

Muskan pov:

"I don't want to ruin your life, I am saying all this because I want to help you,think with a calm mind,' she said, tearfully,

"Sit here" she wipe my tears ,sat at couch

I hestitete then sat on couch beside her

Hearing Meera words I took deep breath "how will you help me?" I asked

Just then, another girl entered the room and said,

"Mira, you were only allowed to stay in this girl's room till here. Why are you still here? Come to your own room now."

Meera got up and left with that girl...

And I cried a lot.

I kept kept crying, heartbroken, saying:

"How do I get out? How do I escape this hell?god, what kind of test is this? One problem ends, another begins. God please save me from this place."

"P-please let me meet akaash again,oh god please save me... please"

I get up trembling,my heart racing,

I run to the window of the room and look down

But there..there are two guards standing rig below

Fear clutch me,I step back panicking

I run toward door try to open it but it's locked from outside

I shake the handle again again,but it won't budge

And then I just collapse right there On the floor, Tears fell endlessly

"What do I now?how do I escape?every way out is block..every path close"

I can't see the way to get out...

Oh god please..show some way

After some time,I get up slowly and lie back on the bed

It's morning... and that same aunty enters my room again.

I was sitting quietly on the bed.

She looks at me and says,

"You know how to sing, right? Tonight some guests are coming to our brothel. We need to make them happy. One of them just got out of jail he's into drugs. Don't worry, you're not going to him yet. Tonight, you just have to sing in the gathering."

I didn't respond. I just sat there... completely silent.

Suddenly, she yells,

"Are you deaf?! Mute?! Do you even know how to sing or not?!" she grab my hair

Tears filled my eyes. I lied,

"No... I don't know... I don't know how to sing..."

She stared at me and said,

"You better learn today. If you mess this up, I swear I'll put you on sale tonight!"

Then she slapped me and stormed out.

I... I just cried... cried so much.

That evening, Meera entered my room with clothes in her hands.

She gently placed them on the bed and said,

"Aunty said to wear this. You're performing tonight."

I looked at her with broken eyes and said,

"You promised to help me. Why did you disappear? Why didn't you come back for me?"

She lowered her head and said quietly,

"I'm sorry... I can't help you. If I help you, she'll kill me too. I'm sorry... I truly am..."

I couldn't believe it.

"How can you say that? You promised me... you promised you'd help me!" Crying hard, I begged her,

"Please... don't do this to me... please save me from this place!"

But she only repeated,

"I'm sorry..."

Then she left the room..

A other girl entered in room she hand me cloths

"Your still not ready?all the guests have arrived! Get ready quickly or else she get really angry at you" she said,hand me cloths then leave

I stare at the cloths tear slip from my eyes fell on the cloth I wipe my tears i changed cloths

I wear a black full-length frock with a dupata on my shoulder

Then the same girl took me outside my heart beating so fast, I didn't know where I was going,what was going to happen

"Sing a song" she said, my eyes widen,sing?in front of everyone?like this? But again I had no choice so I walked toward the mic,my hand shaking as I held the guitar,the crowd was staring,but I didn't see anyone cleary

And then I closeed my eyes, take a deep breath

"Jeeti this is me liye Marti thi uske Liye,jiske liye Marti thi ek aisa larka tha jis se main Pyaar Karti thi" I start singing

"Kitni muhobat hai mere dil main,main kaise dikhaun us se" I close my eyes as I singing

I sang that song...

And everyone clapped. They always say they love my voice.

But what's the point of a voice that only brings pain?

That day, some guests had come. One of them... a man named Jack, maybe around 30. He was a foreigner.

He kept staring at me.

And then... I heard him tell that woman the one who owns us like we're some objects-

"I want this girl. Tell me your price. I'll pay anything. Just give her to me."

My heart froze. He was talking about me.

Like I wasn't even human.

The woman replied so calmly,

"You can take her. But she's one of our most expensive girls. You'll have to bid for her tomorrow."

And that man... he agreed. Like it was nothing. Like I was nothing

Later that evening... they brought another girl back into the room.

She looked shattered. Broken.

I just stood by the door, silently watching her.

And I realized soon, that'll be me too

I couldn't move.

I couldn't breathe.

I just went to my bed and lay down quietly.

And then I cried.

I cried so hard... like my soul was tearing apart.

I wiped off my lipstick,ruined it with my hands

No!I don't Want to be ready like that!

I don't want a life where akaash doesn't exit

A life without akaash?.. never

"Oh god help me free me from this hell,god, please.. please save me"

Because of this continues..I die

I end my life

I can't take it anymore

I looked at the table,there was a glass piece on it

I grabbed it with trembling hands

"..n-no..I can't live like this'

"I only belong to akaash,I can never be anyone else"

Before they ever sell me again

I'll end it myself

I slit my wrist the blood poured fast on my hand

And then. I fell to the floor

AUTHOR POV:

Just a little while later, Meera walked into Muskan's room.

The moment she saw Muskan lying there lifeless, bloodied Meera screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Muskan!" she cried, shattering the silence of that cursed place.

The madam and a few other girls rushed in after hearing Meera's voice, and all of them stood frozen, shocked by the sight.

The madam's expression twisted with panic not because of guilt, but because she feared losing her most "valuable" girl.

"Call the ambulance!" she shouted. "She's precious. This shouldn't happen to her!"

The ambulance arrived quickly. Muskan was rushed to the hospital.

The doctors tried their best, but it took an entire month before Muskan could breathe without assistance.

She had lost so much blood.

Her hands were bandaged tightly, but her condition kept getting worse.

They had to use iron injections to stabilize her body.

Eventually, Muskan was declared out of danger.

The doctors insisted she needed to stay at the hospital for at least a week.

But the madam refused.

"No. We'll take her back tomorrow morning. Just make sure she can walk and talk by then. That's all we need."

The doctors were stunned speechless at her cruelty.

And the next morning, Muskan regained consciousness.

The very first thing she saw... was that same room.

That same hell.

Tears poured from her eyes.

"Why am I still alive? Why didn't I die?" she sobbed.

She should've died that day. That's what she believed.

Then, a girl approached Muskan with clothes in her hand.

"Get ready," she said coldly. "The madam said to put this on quickly."

Muskan looked at the clothes.

It was a lehenga with a revealing blouse,cheap, vulgar, humiliating.

Furious, Muskan snatched the dress and threw it aside.

With tears in her eyes, she screamed,

"How dare you? How could you bring me such a disgusting dress? I won't wear this! I'm not for sale!"

The girl warned her,

"You better stop this nonsense. Wear it, or they'll beat you again."

Muskan's voice cracked as she replied,

"Tell them to beat me. Tell them to kill me. But I will never wear this!"

The girl walked away in silence.

Muskan sat back on the bed

After a little while, that girl comes again,but this time, she brings the A simple bridal dress

She hands it to Muskan and says,

"This is the bridal dress. Now be happy and quickly get ready... without making a scene."

And then,she leaves.

Muskan just breaks down

She's so shattered, so lost.

She doesn't understand what to do, what to think

She cries,she cries so much

Eventually, Muskan does get ready

She wears the red bridal dress...

To be continued°