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CHAPTER ONE

Ciara woke up from her afternoon slumber.
Headphones which were still inserted in her
ears were playing sweet music. She gazed at
the clock which stood on her study table and
it displayed 5.53 pm. She stretched her body
and closed her eyes again surrendering
herself to the music.

It is indeed uncommon for a girl of eighteen
years to spend her afternoon and early
evenings trapped in her room with no one to
accompany except her solitude and her
dreams. Ciara preferred no one's company
except her own. She was an imaginative girl,
she had formed a utopia around her to
escape from the harsh realities of life. It was
her belief that being alone is the only way to
get rid of all the problems in the world.

As she was sitting in the cafeteria of her
college drinking soda she gazed at the couple
sitting at the corner of the room holding
hands and kissing frequently. She smiled and
turned her head away but couldn't ignore
the longing in her heart for that special
someone with whom she'd happily share her
lonely existence. Even though she thought
that love was a momentary thing but still
somewhere in her heart she believed that the
existence of true love is possible.

She was deeply engrossed in her thoughts
when her phone rang and her happy
disposition turned into a sad one as she
looked at the screen which flashed "Mom".

"Hello," she said taking the call.

"Your dad and I are going out for the
weekend. The food is in the refrigerator.
Look after the home."

"I will," she said disappointingly, "and I'll
take care of myself too mom."


After having dinner Ciara sat down to watch
TV but was interrupted when her best friend
Marcy called her and asked her if she'd like
to come with her to Ryan's party. Ryan was
desired by almost every girl in the school but
Ciara never showed any interest in him. She
knew Ryan was nothing but a shallow guy
underneath his "cool" and sexy personal.

Switching the TV off she decided to surf the
net and stumbled upon a website where pen
friends from all over the world are
connected to each other. She smiled
wondering how it would be like to have a pen
pal of her own. It was her dream to travel
the world and explore different cultures and
befriending someone from another part of
the world would give her the opportunity to
know their way of living. She decided to give
it a try without thinking much and registered
herself on this website.

As soon as she got registered her computer
screen filled with so many profiles to choose
from. She viewed many profiles of people
from around the world but none of them
caught her interest.

Finally, she saw a profile which wasn't at all
attractive. It was mentioned on that person's
profile that he joined the community about
one year ago but astonishingly he did not
have a single friend. In the name of
description the owner of the profile had only
mentioned his country and a fake name
which caught Ciara's attention.
"Any_Dream_Will_Do", Ciara said the name
aloud and chuckled, "That's a sweet and
interesting name."

Somewhere in her heart an inkling aroused to
know this stranger. She decided to send this "Dreamer" a message which went like this:

"Hi Any_Dream_Will_Do

My name is Ciara and I am from Texas. I am
new on this site and you're the first person I
am sending message to. I don't know what to
say but I guess I should start by telling a
little about myself. I am in high school and
I'll be graduated next year, hopefully! I love
music and reading. Well that's about it. Hope
to hear from you soon "

Next day she got a friend request from him
with this message:

"Welcome!"

CHAPTER TWO

Ciara immediately accepted his friend request
wondering why he wrote one word mail back
to her instead of providing a little bit of
information about himself, for example his
name. Any_Dream_Will_Do was offline and he
remained offline for many days generating
curiosity in Ciara's mind.

Meanwhile Ciara was leading her monotonous
life. Her parents had now returned from their
vacation and the atmosphere at home
remained normal for few days. She once
again wished in vain that everything would be
back to normal. They still treated Ciara like
she doesn't exist in the house.

She logged in everyday to the pen pals
website she registered on to see if her new
friend sent her any message but everyday she
only met with disappointment. After almost
one month she got the message from her
new friend she never hoped for:

"Ciara...

...How are you? I had the weirdest dream last
night. I saw myself locked in the cellar. It
was empty and black and I could hear the
sound of my heartbeat beating tick tock, tick
tock, tick tock. My head was aching like
someone had hit it with a hammer for hours.
My body was numb, I couldn't move or shift
in my place but I could feel that my legs
were tied to the corners of the bed on which
I was lying. I tried to scream but it seemed
like my tongue was stuck in my mouth. There
was no window in the room to at least let a
ray of light enter in this black pit. I was
shivering with cold and my throat yearning
for water.

Then I heard the creaking of the door and
felt the presence of someone in the room. I
could clearly hear the sound of footsteps
approaching towards me and my heart began
to beat more rapidly. My survival instincts
provoked me to get up and run for my life
but I couldn't... I couldn't move a finger. I
gathered all the strength I had and tried to
get up but to no avail.

The person was now standing very close to
me but I couldn't see his face because of the
darkness persisting in the room. Even though
I couldn't see the person's face and was
unaware of his motive still it felt like I was
lying in front of a devil. He was my
destroyer, I was certain about it. As I was
lying motionlessly, I felt droplets of water
falling from the sky onto my face and with a
twinge in my heart I fell in the lap of sleep
once again.

When I woke up from my slumber in the
morning, to my utter astonishment, I found
the rope marks on both of my legs. It was a
dream, right? Then...

I don't want to go there again Ciara. I don't
want to get trapped in the darkness. I don't
want to see that dream again."

Ciara was dumbstruck reading this mail. The
possibility of him joking occurred to her.
How can anyone write such mail to a person
they haven't even talked to before? Is he
trying to play with her? It was certainly not a
dream but a nightmare. Is he a freak? She
shrugged off all his thoughts and decided
never to talk to him again.

Should I Continue Or Stop?

Continue bro. The story is interesting.

.

CHAPTER THREE

No matter how much effort she put into not
remembering the contents of his email, the
words still crawled back in her brain
diverting her attention from anything she was presently engaged in. Questions like, "Is he a
freak? Or he's just fooling me and playing
with me? Maybe he is a nutcase?" Hovered
her mind. But somewhere in her heart the
thought of him being not a liar also
persisted, even though she was refusing to
recognize it.

After much contemplating she decided to
write back to him ignoring every notions of
him being a psycho. She wrote this mail in
about 2 minutes -

"Listen, I don't know what you saw in your
dreams and how those rope marks
mysteriously appeared on your legs but let
me tell you something, I am not stupid.
Writing such mails won't give you the
satisfaction of trapping me. I am aware of
freaks and scammers like you surrounding
these social networking sites so back off
mister and don't you ever mail me again."

She sighed turning off her laptop. Noises of
yelling and screaming reached her ears
making her quickly run downstairs with hope
of not encountering things she usually do,
but her hopes went in vain. There they were,
her mom and dad, fighting and yelling their
throats off. Sometimes she pitied their vocal
cords and wondered how they were still able
to speak after years of screaming, arguing
and yelling.


"Hey Ciara," said Ryan when she was busy
placing books in her locker.

She was surprised to see that Ryan, the most
popular guy in the school was actually talking
to her. "Hey Ryan," she replied nervously.

"I am having this party at my house tonight.
I'd like you to come," he said smiling.

"Wow!" Exclaimed Ciara to herself and
murmured to Ryan, "Of course, I'll be there."

"See ya then," he winked and left leaving
Ciara stunned. Even though he never
witnessed any sign of her being intimidated
by him but still in her heart, like any other
girl, Ciara secretly enjoyed the attention Ryan
gave her.

Adorning her new lilac colored dress she
glanced herself for the last time in the
mirror before heading out for Ryan's party.
As soon as she stepped out of the room, her
computer screened beeped professing the
arrival of a new mail. She decided to read it
and much to her dismay it was from the
person with the nick name,
"Any_Dream_Will_Do," which read like this:

"I am not a freak, okay? Never call me that
again. I am not a scammer either. I actually
witnessed that dream and I still have those
rope marks on my legs. I shared this instance
with you because I thought we are friends
now but I think I was wrong. It's okay if you
don't want to talk to me again. I will not
bother you.
Take care."

All throughout Ryan's party Ciara couldn't
keep the thought of her net friend or his
email out her mind. She wondered if he was
actually honest about the dream incidence.
May be should give him another chance but
what if he is a liar?

Reaching back home she instantly logged in
to her account on the pen pal website and
was startled to find her one and only friend,
Any_Dream_Will_Do online. She thought of
logging out but then changed her mind.

"Why should I log out?" She thought to
herself, "But what if he tries to chat with
me?" As she was lost in her thoughts the chat
window appeared on the screen. It was him,
Any_Dream_Will _Do. He said, "Hi," to her.

She didn't reply. "Did you get my mail?" He
asked.

Reluctantly she replied, "Yes."

"Okay. What have you decided then?"

"Decided?"

"Are you going to delete me Ciara?" He asked
finally.

CHAPTER FOUR

"Are you going to delete me Ciara?" Echoed
in her ears once again. Should she delete
him? Why his name is causing so much chaos
in her mind? Why can't she just delete him
and get on with her life? Were the questions
that instantly struck her mind.

"No, no I am not deleting you," she finally
typed and pressed enter. "But let me make
one thing very clear to you - I don't want to
hear about your freaking 'dreams' once
again!" The last sentence was typed in caps.

"You don't want me to share my thoughts and
dreams with you? Isn't that what friends are
for?" He retorted.

"Friends don't creep friends!"

"I am not lying to you, Ciara. I did saw that
dream and I still have those rope marks on
my legs."

"Ok stop! Enough with your dreams. Let's
change the topic."

"As you say," he said surrendering.

"So," Ciara reluctantly replied, "What's your
name?"

"Isaiah," flashed on screen.

"At least his name is not weird," she thought
to herself.

"Are you a student?" He asked.

"Yes, I am in high school, last year. What do
you do?"

This time the message containing his reply
did not appear instantly. After 3 minutes he
finally replied, "Carpenter."

"Cool. I never met a carpenter before LOL."

"You think it's funny?" He replied dryly.

"Umm no. I was just... anyway, I have to
leave now," she was offended.

"So soon? Who knows when we will meet
next?"

"But I have to meet my friend so I can't
really stay."

"Please, stay," he urged and she obliged
instead of meeting her friend.

"Okay. I am staying."

"Thank you. What are your hobbies Ciara?"

"Well just the regular stuff. Singing, dancing,
reading, writing and photography. What
about you?"

"I have no hobbies."

"LOL, no hobbies? How can a person not
have a hobby?"

"I have no hobbies," he typed again.

"Isn't there anything that you like to do? I
mean like listening to music, dancing or
something?"

"I hum sometimes, if that's a hobby?" Asked
Isaiah.

"LOL, it sure is! It means you've an inner,
unrecognizable desire to sing," Ciara
asserted.

"I know I can't sing, and I never wished to!"
He said almost shrugging off the thought.

"That's what you think. You've made a firm
decision in your head that you don't want to
sing along with a notion that you can't sing
and therefore when your desire of singing
overtakes you, you submit to it by
humming."

"Well, I never thought of it this way."

"Okay, listen. I want you to try, and sing
your most favorite song and see if it gives
you any joy."

Next day she got a recording of his singing
voice in the e-mail which she most anxiously
and excitedly listened. She was correct, he
was meant to sing. He sounded "perfect"
according to her and she kept playing the
song again and again with a smile on her face
which seemed to grow each time she hit the
'play' button.

She googled and found out that the song was
"Any Dream Will Do" and it took her no time
to come to conclusion that the song must be
Isaiah's favorite as it was his nick name too
on the profile.

In the night when they both sat in front of
their respective computer screens to talk to
each other again the "recording" seemed
naturally fair as their first topic of
discussion.

"See I told you," typed Ciara with utmost
pleasure, "You always wanted to sing and it's
apparent in your recording."

"I don't know... I just... started singing as I
thought about our conversation and it felt so
right. I recorded it for you and sent it to you
immediately. It's been long since I ever
sang."

"What? Really? Well, you should sing often.
You are a great singer."

"Thanks. Thank you for bringing back the
music into my life."

"I am glad," replied Ciara with a smile, "Tell
me one thing, do you play any musical
instruments too. Well, I always wanted to
learn guitar."

Ciara was eagerly waiting for Isaiah's reply
but he didn't reply. Not even after a minute,
5 minutes or an hour. Two days went by but
still he didn't reply.

CHAPTER FIVE

A week went by in waiting to hear from
Isaiah again, but Ciara only met with
disappointment. The cause of his
disappearance was creating certain
perplexities in her to her utter amazement.
She was resolved to bombard him with
millions of questions as soon as he decided
to appear online.

The very next day brought her the pleasure
of the same and she didn't spare a moment
in sending him this message:

"Hey there! Good to see you online after so
LONG. How have you been?"

To which she was immediately replied:

"I am sorry I was gone for so long. I am fine,
how have you been?"

After reading this message she immediately
invited him to the chat room and there she
performed the deed.
"Where were you?" Was her first question
and she couldn't wait for the answer to be
displayed on screen. Time passed, 1, 2, 5,
minutes gone and not a single word from
him.

"There?" She asked for the third time.

"I am on a call, please wait." He replied.

Ciara was irritated by this, but didn't let it
show and patiently waited for him to resume
their conversation.

"I am sorry, I was on a call," Isaiah finally
answered. "I went to my grandmom's, she is
sick."

"I am sorry to hear that," Ciara said
understanding his situation, "How is your
grandmother now?"

"She is better now," he wrote, "I just hope
she stays like this for she's everything to
me."

Ciara sensed, for the first time, his "humane"
side. "You love her so much, huh? What
about your parents? Do you stay with them
or what?"

"I don't stay with them anymore."

"Oh okay. I stay with my parents 'because I
am only in high school. I mean it's not like I
don't want to stay with them... it's just.
Anyway, how old are you?"

"I am 19."

"Aren't you supposed to be in college or
something?"

"I dropped out."

"Oh okay."

"You know what Ciara," he wrote, "All this
time I was away, I didn't stop singing and it
helped me a lot dealing with things."

She replied with a smile, "I believe music
gives you strength in hard times. I am glad
that you didn't stop singing. You know I've
been listening to that song, day and night
which you sent me in your voice. It's a lovely
song and now I know why you have this as
your profile name."

"My mom used to love this song and
eventually I fell in love with it too." He
revealed.

"Now I've fallen in love with it."

"I am sorry I was away for so long," he
apologized again, "I was really busy and there
was no internet connection there."

"I was wondering about your whereabouts. I
checked here every day for you and lately it
seemed that you won't ever come back again.
It was scary," she later regretted typing these
lines.

Suddenly there was a flow of emotions in his
heart reading this last message and with his
heart racing faster than usual he replied, "All
the while I was away from you, a questions
kept bothering me - 'Will Ciara think about
me?' Now I am glad to know that you did."
She took a deep breath contemplating what
to reply and then wrote, "You always
disappear like a Cinderella or something LOL.
It kind of freaks me out you know. That day
when we were talking you left in the middle
of the conversation without even informing."

"I know and I am sorry for that. But
sometimes certain situation arises which
demand my instant attention. I promise it
won't happen again."

"No problem. Anyway, tell me something
what kind of music do you listen to? I am
sure you have a great taste in music."

"I listen to anything which pleases the ears. I
have no favorites."

"Oh come on," she insisted, "You must have
some favorite artists?"

"Well, I like classical music and a little bit of
Jazz" He revealed.

"Sounds cool."

"What about you?" He asked.

"Well I listen to anything and everything
except heavy metal. That kind of makes me
deaf." She joked.

"Do you sing or play?"

"No, I don't. I would love to learn piano
though. What about you?"

"I used to play guitar but not anymore."

"And why is that?" She asked inquisitively.

"Well, I don't feel like playing anymore."

"You should. You're so lucky you know. I wish
I could play all the musical instruments."

"What else do you wish for?" He asked out of
the blue.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what do you wish for in life? What
are your desires? What do you want?"

"Ummm well there are so many things."

"I want to know them all. Let's start with
your ambition in life."

"My ambition in life," she said after
pondering for a while, "is to be a famous
designer someday. I want to go to Milan and
be famous."

"I am sure you will Ciara. I am sure you'll be
the best fashion designer this world has ever
seen. But don't you forget me, okay?"

"LOL don't worry I won't."

"Even if you try to, I won't let you." He said
firmly.

"What do you want to do Isaiah? What's your
ambition in life?"

"My ambition... I really don't have one. I just
want peace."

"A life without ambition is like body without
soul. What's left in life when you don't have
an aim which constantly propels you to work
harder? You should set up an aim for you."

"And what my aim should be?"

"One day your heart will desperately long for
something, and that my friend, will be your
ultimate aim," as she pressed enter she heard
the knock on the door and turned around to
find Jack, a man in his early 40s though he
looked younger. He was a tall man,
athletically built and had blue eyes that
attracted a lot of women including Ciara's
mother.

Ciara looked at him in disbelief and offended.
He grinned at her and entered the room,
"Hello there little girl! How have you been?"

"What do you want?" She asked bluntly.

"Your mom won't be here, is she?" He asked
sitting down on her bed.

"She is out with her friends."

"Tell her I came," he said getting up, "I'll see
you later sweetheart," he smirked as he went
away.

Ciara sighed and lamented her misfortune of
seeing this man. Meanwhile she was
continuously getting messages from Isaiah,
"Are you there? Ciara?"

She looked at the screen and instantly
replied, "Yeah I am here."

"Where were you?" He asked inquisitively.

"Umm someone came so I was attending to
that person, sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. Who came?"

"A Jack-ass."

"What?" He asked startled.

"Nothing. Anyway where were we?" She asked
ignoring the topic.

"Is someone bothering you?"

She didn't realize why she felt good at
reading this question but thereby avoiding
this feeling she replied to him, "No, no one is
bothering me. Isaiah, can I ask you
something?"

"Please do."

"Why haven't you added any friends yet on
your profile?"

"Not many people send me friend requests
considering I haven't written anything on my
profile which would rouse curiosity in them
and neither have I uploaded any picture so.
And those who do, I don't add them."

"And why is that?"

"I don't know."

"Then why did you make a profile here if you
don't want to add people and get to know
them?"

"My grandma wanted it. She always
complains that I don't have many friends and
I don't socialize much. But I never listened to
her so one day she told me, "At least you can
register on those social networking sites
Isaiah... those Facebook thing and all. And
she kept bugging me until I got registered. I
just made an account without adding any
details so that people won't bother adding
me."

"LOL you're weird. You're worse than a loner,
actually. Okay tell me why did you add me
then?"

"I don't know," he replied without thinking
much.

"Okay!" She answered disappointingly.

CHAPTER SIX

Even though it was just a two-week
acquaintance, the bond between Ciara and
Isaiah grew so strong that it surpassed any
time limit. "I will tell this to Isaiah," she
would say to herself whenever she saw
something amusing, "What would Isaiah say
about it?" She asked herself whenever she
was in doubt.

One day when she was sitting in front of her
computer screen, restlessly waiting for Isaiah
to come online, the door burst open and her
mother slide in like a storm. Much to Ciara's
amazement, and turned her cheeks red by
continuously slapping her without giving any
reason. Ciara was too stunned to get hurt
and as she rose up to confront her mother,
tears inevitably escaped her eyes, "Mom!
What are you doing?"

"Insolent girl! How dare you? How dare you
talk to Jack like that?" She growled.

"Oh! So that Jackass has pumped you," cried
Ciara and instantly received another slap
from her mom.

"Is this how you talk to people? How dare
you bitch? Don't you ever call him with that
name again or I swear I'll kick you out," she
said turning away to walk out of the room
but something struck her and she turned
around to give Ciara a last warning, "One
more thing, if you ever crossed your fucking
limits again then this will be your last day on
earth."

Ciara burst into tears as soon as her mother
went out of the room. Even though her tears
helped cooling down her red-hot face but it
could not fade away the marks of her
mother's fingers. She cried not because her
mother slapped her but because she
punished her for someone else's fault.
Instead of talking with her daughter she
chose to believe a stranger.

As she was sobbing a message flashed on her
computer screen, "Hey Ciara," It was Isaiah.
She looked at the message but it gave her no
delightment this time, like it always does. She
ignored the message and kept weeping.

"Are you there?" Isaiah messaged again. Ciara
didn't even raise her head to look at the
screen this time. "Ciara this messenger is
showing you online, why aren't you replying?
Are you there?" He wrote anxiously but still
got no reply.

He was beginning to grow restless now. "Why
isn't she replying?" He thought to himself,
"May be she is busy somewhere. I should
wait for her." Ten minutes passed without
any word from Ciara. Isaiah couldn't take it
anymore. Impatience and anxiety took over
him. He sent her about 15 messages but still
got no reply.

Ciara who was meanwhile in the bathroom
unaware of Isaiah's misery, finally came out
after washing her face. Sitting down in front
of her computer, she was startled to see so
many messages from Isaiah asking about her
whereabouts and without wasting anytime she
begin to reply. "I am here," was the first
sentence she entered.

Isaiah sighed in relief as he read her
message. "Where were you?" He asked
annoyed, "I sent you so many messages but
you didn't reply."

"I am sorry. I was in the bathroom."

"Are you okay?" Asked he sensing something
unusual.

"Yeah, I am fine. I need to go Isaiah. I can't
talk right now," she said holding back her
tears.

"Why? What's wrong? You never refused to
talk to me before, what happened now?"

"I can't. We'll talk later."

"Is something wrong? You can tell me." He
tried to persuade her.

"Nothing is wrong. I can't talk right now."

"Just tell me what happened?" He insisted.

"Nothing happened okay. Just leave me
alone," she shouted as she typed in this
sentence.

He was taken aback as he read this. Burying
his face in his hands he controlled his urge
to punch the computer screen and break it.
Taking in another deep breath and calming
himself down, he wrote, "Ciara, tell me
what's wrong? Don't you trust me? Tell me
what happened?"

She burst into tears once again as she read
this message and helplessly logged out
because she wanted to be alone.

Next morning before going to school she
logged into her account again to see if Isaiah
has sent her any message and much to her
satisfaction there was one message he left for
her:

"I know you're hiding something. I can feel
it. We've been talking for the last two weeks
now and there's never been a moment when
you refused to talk to me without providing
any valid reason. I can sense that you're
upset but you won't tell me. If there's
anything... anything that's bothering you then
please let me know. I can't see you upset."

Even though it was a short message but its
impact on Ciara proved to be of a great deal.
She smiled and was content to see that
someone cared for her too.

She instantly replied to his message:

Hey Isaiah,
I am sorry for ignoring you last night. I was
upset about something but after reading your
message, I don't think I am anymore. I wish I
could write more but time doesn't permit me
as I have to reach school but I want to talk
to you. Same time. Please do come.



"Are you coming tonight to Jeff's birthday
party?" Asked Marcy to Ciara as they were
walking towards their next class together.

"No," answered Ciara remembering her prior
commitment, "I don't think I'll be able to
make it."

"Oh Come on C! Don't be such a bore. It's
Jeff's birthday party and he invited us.
Everyone will be there..."

"I can't Marcy," replied Ciara interrupting
her, "I just can't."

"And may I know the reason?" Her friend
asked her inquisitively.

"Well...umm..." She tried to make up a story,
"I...I have to help mom."

"Girl stop lying. I know there's something
else."

"There's nothing else. I really have something
important to do and I won't cancel it, no
matter what happens," explained Ciara as
they sat on their desks.

"You better tell me everything about this
"important thing" you're doing tonight," said
Marcy as the bell rang reminding teacher and
students to get ready for their class.



It was 11 pm when Ciara got out of the
bathroom in her night-clothes and walked
towards her bedroom door to lock it. Sitting
in front of her computer screen, she
excitedly logged in to her messenger and
much to her pleasure found Isaiah online.

"Hey there," he quickly messaged her.

"Hey. How are you?"

"I am good. Are you alright now?" He asked
with concern.

"I am alright Isaiah. I am fine now. Thanks
for asking."

"Thanks? Why are you being so formal to
me?"

She waited for few moments wondering what
to say in reply but was taken aback with his
other message, "Listen Ciara and listen very
carefully. You've got me and I've got you,
there's no one else that cares for us. We have
to care for each other and stay together. This
world is a really bad place. They'll do
anything to tear us apart but we have to be
strong and let nothing come between us."

Ciara gulped as she read this message. She
was quite confused about how to respond to
such a message. She had heard about freaks
on net that trap people in every possible way
and exploit them. She was alert now, "I have
my parents who take care of me. You don't
have to worry about me."

He frowned as he read this message and
quickly replied, "No, no. You're not
understanding me. Parents? Huh! They'd
come and go but this... this thing... this bond
between us, it's irreversible, it cannot be
changed. We've met for a reason, Ciara."

"Isaiah, my parents would never go away,
they would never leave me," she retorted.

"Really? Did they tell you that? They told you
they'd never leave you and you believed
them? You're not understanding me Ciara. I
am the only one that's going to be there for
you, always. No one else. It's just you and
me."

"Okay," asserted Ciara calming him down,
"You're telling me that you're my best friend,
that you're always going to be here for me
but the truth is, I don't even know who you
actually are. It's been two weeks since we
started talking and you haven't even told me
where you are actually from."

"I live in Port Jervis, NY."

"What? Really? It's like only 1 hour away
from my town."

"Where do you live? In Milford?" He asked
inquisitively.

Ciara wondered if she should tell him about
her exact location but then there are 1000
other people too living in Milford, "Yes," she
replied confirming her whereabouts.

Isaiah smiled and wrote, "And I used to think
what if you're living somewhere really far
away like in...Rome may be in Japan or
Ireland for that matter. Huh! We're closer
now. Have you ever been here in Port Jervis?"
"I've been to New York but not in your town
exactly. Have you been here?"

"No, but I'd love to," Isaiah stopped writing
and wondered if he should ask her to meet
him but shrugged the idea and continued, "It
must be a peaceful town."

"Yeah, it's a really small town and very
peaceful. I love it here."

"Will you tell me now?" He asked out of the
blue.

"Tell you what?" She replied with another
question.

"Tell me why you were upset last night?"

Ciara pondered on whether she should tell
him the truth or make up some story,
"Isaiah, it's a personal matter. I am afraid I
can't tell you."

Something broke inside Isaiah when he read
this reply of Ciara but getting himself
together, he asserted, "Okay. I understand.
Must be its something really personal,
otherwise you'd have told me," he waited for
a while and continued, "Ciara, I...I don't
think, I can talk anymore. We'll talk later
okay," he said logging out without seeing her
reply.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Ciara sensed the distress her last statement
caused to Isaiah and in hope of redemption
she quickly turned to her keyboard to send
him a reply but it was too late now. Isaiah
was gone. He had logged out!

As she sat through the classes trying to pay
attention to what her teachers were teaching,
the thought of Isaiah never ceased to enter
her mind. Reaching home she quickly rushed
upstairs to her room and switched on her
computer in hope of seeing a message from
him or if stars favored her then maybe gets
the opportunity to talk to him. But all her
hopes were gone in vain. He was not online
neither did he leave any message for her.

Ciara decided to stay online for a while
thinking he might log in but he didn’t. After
having lunch she rushed upstairs again in the
same hope of seeing him online but he didn’t
show up, contrary to her expectations.
Frustrated, she sat on the bed biting her
nails. It was an old habit of hers, biting her
nails whenever she was in doubt about
something or distressed. "Son of a bitch,"
she cursed him as she got up and moved
towards her computer to log out.



"Thanks for showing up tonight, Ma’am,"
remarked Marcy sarcastically. Ciara ignored
her and continued sipping her drink. "What’s
up with you C?" Continued Marcy, "You
rarely show me your face after school. You
don’t even come to this café anymore, not
even to the clubs and parties."

"You know it well, Marcy, I never liked going
to such places," retorted Ciara.

"I know you don’t. But still you used to come
to these places to divert your mind from all
the tension at home. What happened now?
You don’t socialize anymore. Everything is
going right suddenly?"

Ciara smirked and reply, "Yes, everything is
going right suddenly."

Everyone was busy dancing and drinking but
all Ciara could think of was of Isaiah. She was
constantly checking her mails to see if he has
sent her any messages but only met with
disappointment. When she finally got home
she was too frustrated and exhausted to turn
on her computer but still she forced herself
to check one last time. Isaiah was offline!
Cursing him she retired to her bed.

Next morning when Ciara came downstairs
for breakfast, she was startled to see her
mother all bruised up. "Mom, are you
alright?" She asked in shock.

"I am fine," replied her mom turning her
face away from Ciara.

"What happened to you?" Asked Ciara moving
closer but her mother shrugged her off and
growled, "Why does it matter to you? Huh?
You both are same. You and your father. I
wish, I can get away from both of you."
Bursting into tears Ciara quickly ran away
from her house to the beach.

The beach was her "best place in the world."
Whenever she was upset about something or
just wanted to cut away from the world for a
while she’d run to the beach and stare at the
vast ocean for hours.

Gentle breezes stroked Ciara’s hair as she
looked at the waves dancing freely in the sea.
Closing her eyes she prayed to God about her
mom. "Let nothing hurt her," she murmured
as she opened her watery eyes. Suddenly her
phone rang and name of Marcy displayed on
the screen. "Hey there Mar," said Ciara
receiving the call.

"Where are you? First bell has already
ringed."

Ciara realized the flow of time as she looked
at her watch. "Damn Mar! I totally forgot
about the school."

"Good luck," said Marcy sarcastically as she
hung up.

Ciara sneaked inside the house trying not to
catch the attention of her parents and rushed
upstairs to her room, locking the door. She
sighed as she sat on the bed.

"Damn Ciara how can you forget about
school?" She asked herself grabbing the diary
from the side table and began to write in it.
But she was soon disturbed by some noises in
the other room. Climbing down her bed, she
moved closer to the door to hear what
seemed to be sound of people shouting.
Unlocking the door she walked outside her
room to hear more clearly and not much to
her surprise it was her mom and dad
fighting, again.

They were cursing at each other and saying
things which disgraced and disgusted Ciara.
She ran to her room and locked the door
again. Burying her face in her arms she
sobbed until she was disturbed by the sound
coming from her computer notifying her of a
new un-read message.

"Bleep!" Exclaimed Ciara, "not interested,"
said she throwing a pillow at her computer.
It beeped again, and again and again. Furious
Ciara climbed down her bed and sat in front
of her computer to see who was bothering
her. It was Isaiah.

She looked at the name and frowned, "No
way dude! I am not gonna reply to you. You
made me wait like hell yesterday," she said
ignoring his messages. It beeped again and
this time Ciara couldn’t resist.

"Hey how are you?" Was the first message
from him. "There?" The second, "Why aren’t
you replying?" Was the third one, "Ciara are
you there?" Was fourth and so on.

"Yeah, I am here," replied Ciara in anger.

"Where were you? Shouldn’t you be at
school?"

"Yes, I should but I am not. Is that a
problem?" She asked annoyed.

"Definitely not. At least for me. Did you read
your offline messages?"

"No."

"Then do me a favor and read them."

Ciara obliged and as she checked her offline
messages she was astounded to find almost
50 messages from Isaiah. All received
between 9.30-12. "He was online," she said
to herself in surprise and quickly replied to
Isaiah, "You were online last night?"

"Where else would I be?" He questioned
back.

"But I checked for you like thousand times
and you were offline."

"Our chatting time is between 9-12, right? I
was busy with something so I couldn’t come
around 9. But as soon as I was free, I logged
in. It was 9.30 when I came. Ciara, you
couldn’t even wait for me for 30 minutes."

Ciara felt bad as she read his last message, "I
am sorry. I waited the whole day for you to
come online but you didn’t show up. I was
really mad. When I came back home around
9, I still checked for you but you weren’t
here so I went to sleep."

"I didn’t come online in the afternoon
because I was upset with you. I was upset
because you still have reservations in your
mind when it comes to me. You are still not
comfortable in sharing things with me."

"Isaiah, I am sorry but I…I don’t know what
to say. We don’t know each other that well. I
mean you’re so secretive and never tell me
anything."

"Yeah, I guess you’re right. I am sorry, I
shouldn’t have crossed the line."

"It’s not that," she retorted.

"Forget it. Tell me why aren’t you at school?
Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am fine. I just...well I forgot to go to
school."

"What? You forgot?"

"LOL yeah!"

"Didn’t your parents remind you?" He asked
inquisitively.

"Well," replied Ciara smirking, "They think I
am at school."

"What if they find you at home?"

"I am screwed then," she said slyly.

"You’re crazy," he said smiling, "How can you
forget going to school?"

"Well I was at the beach and I guess I lost the
track of time."

"You’re a sea person, huh?"

"Yeah, I love water, the big ocean. I wonder
sometimes you know, what if I drown in the
ocean and wake up to a whole new world, a
world which is completely different from this
one."

"A world where people smile to you politely,"
he said interrupting her, "Where everyone is
kind to each other and where there is no
darkness. No growling of wolves. A world
where no one rip each other apart."

"A world where there is love."

"Love?"

"Yeah."

"You think a place like this exists?" Asked
Isaiah.

"I think it does. And I think people there are
waiting for us."

"When will we go there?"

"When the right time comes."

There was banging on the door and Ciara
came out of trance. "BRB" she wrote to
Isaiah and rushed towards the door to open
it. It was her parents who were banging at
the door. They looked really annoyed and
furious as Ciara opened the door. "You didn’t
go to school today?" Asked her mother.

"I…" replied Ciara reluctantly, "I have a
headache."

"Headache?" Asked her dad moving closer,
"Such severe headache that you couldn’t
even tell us that you’re at home?"

"We wouldn’t have even known that she is at
home if hadn’t received a call from her
school," added her mother.

"I was going to tell…"

"Shut up," Said her father in loud voice,
"Don’t you lie. I know you had planned to
spend the whole day in your room and
fooling us."

"But dad…" and before Ciara could complete
her sentence she received a tight slap from
her father.

"Don’t you ever try to fool me again!" He
warned her and left. Her mother looked at
her with pity but left too without saying a
word.

Ciara locked the door and quietly sat on the
chair. Turning to her keyboard she left this
message for Isaiah, "Guess what? My parents
got a call from school. They were here in my
room and pretty angry at me."

"What did you tell them?" He asked.

"I lied that I had a headache which they
obviously didn’t believe."

"What did they say then?"

"They didn’t say anything. Forget it," she said
wiping her tear.

"Are you okay?" He asked sensing something
wrong.

"I just got rewarded for lying and missing
school of course I am fine."

"Did they do anything to you? Did they hurt
you?" Asked Isaiah who was by now boiling
with anger.

Ciara couldn’t reply and burst into tears.
Isaiah sensed her pain and agony and thus
wrote, "Tell me what they did to you? Please
tell me Ciara."

"Forget it," she said wiping her tears, "It’s
nothing new."

"Tell me what did they do to you?"

"Dad slapped me."

Isaiah threw the glass kept on the table on
the floor in enormous anger. He covered his
face in his hands trying to calm himself down
and then wrote, "Report it to the police.
Send him behind the bars. How dare he?"

"Let’s not talk about this," replied Ciara
calming him down.

"Not talk about this? Are you mad? How dare
he touch you? Does he do this often? Listen
to me carefully if he ever tries to hurt you
again then immediately call the police. Send
this jerk behind the bars."

"Isaiah, please."

"I swear, I would have killed him if I were
there. I won’t let anyone hurt you."

"You promise?"

"I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I’ll
take away all your sorrows."

A smile spread across Ciara’s face as she read
this. It had been so long since she felt that
someone actually cared for her, loved her!

"Will you do something for me Isaiah?"

"Of course," replied he with tears soaked
eyes.

"I want to hear your voice."

CHAPTER EIGHT

They both leaned back in their chairs and
sighed. Ciara wanted to kill herself for asking
such a thing from Isaiah. "Why on earth do I
want to hear his voice? Or should I say why
on earth did I have to ask him that?" Ciara
asked herself closing her eyes as she did not
intend to look at the screen.

The computer beeped indicating a reply from
Isaiah. Reluctantly she raised her head to
look at the screen but before she could read
it, the request for voice chat flashed on it
and she quickly accepted it. As she wore the
headphones her heart began to beat rapidly.
"Hey," echoed in her ears. It was Isaiah. She
could hear him. A smile spread across her
face as he spoke again, "Ciara, can you hear
me?"

"Yes," she mumbled.

"Say my name," he whispered softly into her
ears.

"Isaiah," as she obliged shivers went down
his spine. He held the headphone tightly,
"Say it again." She fulfilled his request giving
him an unusual ecstasy he had never
experienced before. "I never liked hearing
my name before," he confessed, "Huh! We're
finally talking."

"Yeah. Thanks for agreeing to talk to me."

"Trust me, pleasure is all mine. But tell me,"

he said getting serious, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I am," she lied, "I am fine."

"I am always here for you, remember that.
You don't have to hide anything from me."

"I know," answered Ciara, "It's just same old
family drama. Don't worry about it."

"Families are only good at one thing, creating
dramas. They are not worth living with," he
scrunched his eyebrows in disgrace as he said
this.

"Well, things happen in a family but that
doesn't destroy the bond and love that you
have for each other," asserted Ciara.

Isaiah sneered at hearing this and replied,
"Yeah, because the bond and love dies on its
own."

"Tell me, don't you have a family?" Asked
she.

Hearing this question enraged him but he
kept his cool and answered, "I don't need
anyone."

"Well, that's not true. Everyone needs..."

"Stop it," he said interrupting her, "I don't
want to talk about this family shit okay.
Enough now," said he yelling at her.

Ciara was startled at his behavior but she
chose not to stretch the matter any further,
"Okay," she replied dryly.

"I didn't mean to be rude. But I don't need
anyone, any family. I just don't care."

Ciara didn't know what to say in reply so she
changed the topic and asked him, "Have you
started playing guitar again?"

"I do play now. In fact I wrote a song for
you," he said excitedly.

"Really? Would you play it for me?" She
humbly requested.

"Wait. Don't go anywhere, okay? Let me get
my guitar," Isaiah looked around but his
guitar was nowhere to be seen so he rushed
out of his room to find it. Panting he came
back and was about to begin when someone
started knocking on his door.

Ciara could hear the loud noises suddenly
emerging from Isaiah's side. First she heard
the banging on the door and it being opened
with a thumping sound. The sounds were very
low but she could hear them clearly. "Isaiah,
are you there?" She asked him but got no
reply.

"No... no," she heard him screaming.

"Isaiah, are you okay? Are you there? Can
you hear me? What's going on?" And he went
offline.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed nervously,
"What should I do?" Ciara was panicking
now. She walked up and down the room for
four hours in terrible nervousness but Isaiah
didn't appear online. She was very worried
and couldn't even sleep all night. Next
morning on waking up, she quickly rushed to
her computer to check if he has left her any
message but again, there was no sign of him.

On returning home from school she quickly
rushed upstairs in hope of hearing from him
again but all her hopes went in vain. Four
days passed away but there was no sign of
Isaiah. Ciara couldn't take it anymore. Each
day seemed more miserable than the last one.
She sent him several messages but didn't
receive any reply. She spent all her time in
her room crying and worrying for Isaiah. His
screaming still echoed in her ears.

Day seventh arrived with pleasant news for
her. Isaiah sent her a message. He wrote:

"Hey Ciara, how are you? I am fine here. I
am really missing you. Waiting to hear from
you again."

With tears in her eyes and happiness in heart
on hearing from him again, she began to
write him a reply:

"Where the Bleep were you? It's been seven
days now. Why do you always disappear like
this? I won't talk to you again, ever."

At exactly 9 pm she sat in front of her
computer, waiting for Isaiah. Each second
passed like an eternity until he finally
appeared.

"Where were you?" She quickly sent him the
message.

"How have you been?" He replied with
another question.

Irritated on reading his reply she sent the
request for voice chat which was duly
accepted, "Where the Bleep have you been?"
She asked aggressively.

"I... I was busy with work," he said in a faint
voice.

"Busy with work?" Asked Ciara inquisitively,
"What sort of work?"

"Carpentry, that's what I do."

"Oh! So you were so busy in carpentry that
you couldn't even come online for once?
Were you in a jungle or something, cutting
trees? You think I believe you?"

He sighed, "I was busy."

"Don't you dare lie to me, Isaiah? Tell me
what's going on? I heard everything that
night. Those noises. You were screaming. Tell
me what happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"What's up with you? You're not sounding
yourself. Are you okay?" She asked with
concern.

"I am fine."

"I know something is wrong with you but you
won't tell me. Are you okay, Isaiah? Please
tell me the truth."

"I am..." Before he could complete the
sentence, Ciara burst into tears, "Ciara? Are
you crying?" He asked startled.

"I was so worried about you," she said
breaking down, "You were gone for so many
days and you didn't even send me a message.
I was so worried, Isaiah. You... you
disappeared into thin air. I heard everything
that night. The banging on the door, you
were screaming. It was so scary. I was so
worried about you. I... I haven't slept
properly since then. Your screams echo in
my ears whenever I am alone. All these
negative thoughts of you being hurt, being in
some kind of trouble frightens me to death. I
can't lose you," she wept.

Isaiah was awestruck to see that Ciara cared
for him to this extent but was also agonized
to hear her cry. His eyes were too filled with
tears as he finally realized how it feels when
someone cares for you. Never in his life
anyone really paid attention to his well-being.
Wiping his tears he replied, "I am sorry... I
am so sorry Ciara. I never wanted to go... I
never wanted to leave you. All the while I was
away; the only thing that kept me alive was
the thought, a mere hope, of returning to
you. I don't like being away, Ciara."

"Then why didn't you send me a message?
You could have at least sent me a message. I
know you were somewhere else otherwise
you'd have contacted me."

"Don't cry. I don't like it."

"Then don't ever leave me, okay? Don't you
dare disappear again, Isaiah, I am warning
you. You don't know how lonely I get. I know
we only talk for few hours but... at least..."
Ciara took her headphone off and put it
away. "What the hell am I saying to him?"
She asked herself, "No... I shouldn't feel this
way. He's just a net friend."

"Ciara? Are you there?" He asked as he could
faintly hear her.

She put on the headphones again and
answered, "Isaiah, I am..."

"I promise you. I won't ever leave you
again," said he cutting her off, "I don't like
being away from you. I am so much happy
here, talking to you."

"Where were you, Isaiah?" Asked Ciara
agitatedly.

"Some things are best untold," said he
closing the topic.

"But..."

"Please, let's not talk about it. I don't want
to remember it again. I am here now, with
you. We are happy. Let's not spoil it."

"Okay," said Ciara giving up as she didn't
want to force Isaiah and increase his misery.

"So tell me, are you okay?"

"Yes, I am fine."

"How have you been?"

"I've been... sort of okay," she lied.

"Did they try to hurt you again?" He said with
rage in his eyes.

"No. They haven't been around much."

"Well, that's a good thing. Stay as far away
from them as possible."

"Well, yeah. Anyway, umm... do you
remember what you were supposed to do
before disappearing again like a Cinderella?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, "I was supposed to sing
the song I wrote for you."

"Yes, go for it now," she said excitedly.

"Let me get my guitar," he took the guitar
from his bedside and thus began:

"It's this world where I felt, my own stars
will never shine
Coz without you!
All my life, everything gave me the saddest
smile
My nights were blue
And so were days
Masochistic was I
Addicted to pain

My world was dark
But then you came
You made me smile
Coming all the way

Yeah, it's this world, where I feel
I can breathe and can't be weak
You touched my heart
being far!
Let me take you there
Where we wouldn't have to care
Am I too loud?
Coz, I see you scared
Just feel my soul
With you, I am only here

Yeah, it's this world where I feel
All my stars are shinning bright
because you are here,
I hope you will always be here
and about everything I am unaware."

"Ciara was awestruck hearing him sing. The
lyrics of the songs touched the chords of her
heart. Being overwhelmed about the fact that
Isaiah wrote this song especially for, her
cheeks flushed red.

"Did you like it?" He finally asked her when
he didn't get any response.

"I love it. It's just amazing," said she
blushing.

Isaiah was very happy to hear that. He
incorporated all his emotions in this song for
Ciara. "Thanks Ciara, for bringing the music
back into my life. I don't feel dull anymore,"
said he overwhelmed.

"Me too," she replied softly.

Update pls

Crowny1: Update pls

really?

Samanther post=/post/26829058:


really?

.
Yep. Loving dis story

Following. Strange love indeed.