text: Mahmood ul  Hassan The Letters 
   
   
   The Letters 
   "From Luke Palmer" 
   "Do we know any "Luke Palmer"? Lillia asked Ben while looking at the envelope. "No, I don't think so." Ben glanced at Lillia. "Who is he then.." Lillia said curiously. "Not a clue." Ben said while his fingers were tapping fast on a keypad of a laptop. Her blond hair were pulled back into pony-tail, revieling her hazel green eyes that were handsomely set deep into their sockets, and a thin smile at one end of her lips. Lillia was a gorgeous 25 years old countryside lady but Ben wasn't interested in countryside life, he always wanted to move to the city. Grey, shaggy hair, looked perfect on his wild face, with sparkling brown eyes and lips closed together like someone drew a straight line between them.  Lillia and Ben shifted in this house a month ago, right after they got married. They were from the same countryside, went to same college, of same age and almost had same habbits. They knew eachother quite well for a long time. "You look horrible, Ben. Want coffee?" Lillia asked as she looked at Ben. "Yeah, The horrible Ben wants coffee." Ben said. With a little chuckle, she tosed the envelope on the dinning table, right infront of Ben which he didn't care about, and moved towards kitchen. Almost the whole day passed but the envelope went un-noticed. 
   It was 8 o'clock at night when the door bell rang but the sound of a bell fadded within the roar of mighty thunder. A bolt of white lightening lit up the hallway as Lillia came downstairs. The door bell rang again. Lillia took a look through peephole. It was Janice, her old friend. Lillia opened te door. Before Lillia could say something, Janice said as she followed Lillia to the hallway: "I was getting back from work so I thought to visit you. Weather is pretty wild today."  "Yeah, clouds covered the sky within no time." Lillia said. "So.. How things are going at new place?" Janice asked with a smile. Infact, Janice told them about this house and helped them through a lot of stuff.  "Everything is going perfect. Best location, good neighbours. We have got not a single problem here." A wide smile appeard on her face. "And how about your, Man?" Janice said with funny expressions "He's is doing great, usually busy with his laptop or books. You know, brokers." Lillia said.  "Yup." "So whats for dinner?" Janice asked as she picked up the envelope from dinning table. "Nothing yet. We have to make dinner." Lillia said as she passed th rough Janice to the fridge. "For Ben?" Janice said as she waved the envelope infront of Lillia. "I don't know. I don't think so. Why would someone send us a letter. I think it was a mistake. I will return it to the post office." Lillia said. "Oh come on." Janice ripped it open. "Janice!!.." "oh God, you won't change." Lillia said. "Lillia, I think, its for you." Janice said as the strange expression appeard on her face. Lillia took the letter. The paper was rough and thicker than normal. Letter was hand written and ink was cold as ice. Lillia started reading. Dear Lillia   You don't have much time left. Run, run, run.  But we shall meet soon.  luke. 
   It was written in the middle of the page. "Well, that's creepy." Janice said. "This is some kind of sick joke. No one knows our address except our parents and you. How can someone knows my name and where I live?" Lillia said within a breath. Lillia sat down staring around with blank eyes. Janice picked up the envelop to see if there is anything else written on it, but there was nothing. Another strong bolt of the thunder struck. "Dinner's ready?" Ben said as he was coming downstairs. Lillia and Janice looked at him in a strange way mixed with the expression of being worried. "Hey Janice, when did you come?" Ben asked. "Few minutes ago." Janice said while taking a deep breath. "Is, everything alright?" Ben asked as he jugded their worried faces. Lillia handed him the letter. His cold eyes were staring at the letter as the sudden shift of expressions appeard on his face.  "Who the hell is Luke?" Ben asked. "Ben I asked you in the morning but you didn't gave a crap about it!." Lillia nearly shouted as she stood up.  "Hey, don't worry. I am right here with you. No one can harm you." Ben said as he held her closer feeling her heavy breaths on his chest.  "But why would someone do that?" Janice said.  "I don't know. We don't know any Luke Palmer. Never even heard of him. But I will call the post office tomorrow. Maybe we can know something from there." Ben said while putting the letter inside the envelop. "Hey, don't worry Lillia. Everything will be alright. Let me get something for dinner." Janice said while holding the hand of Lillia.  "I will order something for dinner." Ben said. "Janice, stay here tonight?" Lillia asked Janice. "Yeah, sure I will." Janice said. It almost stopped raining. But there were still few of the rain drops breaking the silence around. 
   Lillia wasn't sure If she had slept at night or she was half awake. Her head was spinning, her breaths weren't even as she was trying to look at the clock it with her squinty eyes. It was almost 7:25 a.m, stumbling around, she managed to get downstairs. She could hear the voices of Ben and Janice, but her head wasn't clear enough to know what they were talking about.  "Lillia.." "There is another letter." Janice said. Listening this, brought her back to her senses within a split second. 
    Lillia, pretty much, snatched the envelope from Janice’s hand, her hands were trembling as she tried to opened it furiously. There was no letter inside this time, but few of her childhood pictures. 
   ” No way! Nooo way!!” “No one had my pictures, how this is even possible!!”. She said with a shaky voice as her whole past started looping around in her mind. She, intentionally, dropped those pictures on the table. “Lillia, no one can harm you. I am right here with you. okay?” Ben said. “One thing we know, is that, no one posted these envelopes.” Janice said. “What do you mean?” Ben asked as his brows drew together. “How do you know that?” Lillia asked before Janice could say something. “There is no postage stamp on both envelops. So whoever he is, he is doing it himself.” Janice said. “Yeah, you are right. I think we should call the police.” Ben said. “Yes, we should call them right now.” Lillia said and rushed towards phone. “Lillia wait.” Janice said as Lillia picked up the phone. “I don’t think so that’s a good idea.” Janice said. “Janice someone is threatening to kill me!! and you are saying calling the police is not a good idea??” Lillia said in a yelling tone. “If we call the police, the person who is sending these letters will get alert too. And what we have against that person? A letter and your pictures. Nothing else. We don’t have the slightest idea who that person is or can be. What are we gonna tell them?” Janice said. “I guess you are right. We have to figure out something else.” Ben added. Lillia looked at both of them, and placed the phone back on its place. “It’s almost 8 a.m, I gotta get to work. I will call you guys.” Janice said as she picked up her handbag and moved towards main door. “Take care.” Ben said. 
   A bright day it was, few of the clouds were still scattered on the blue sky but were unable to block the rays that sun was pouring. It was 12:50 a.m when the doorbell rang. Ben reached the door and opened it as if he knew who was on the other side. But he didn’t. “Hello sir, we got a call from this house.” He was a cop, a middle aged man with a good built. Ben looked back and Lillia was standing in a hallway. “Yeah, I called. Please come in officer.” Lillia said. 
   “So, what is it?” cop asked. Lillia brought the letters. “We got this letter yesterday, it was on our doorstep. And today, we got this one.” “Someone is threatening me.” Lillia said with a pause. Not a single expression appeared on his face as he was looking at the letters. After noticing every inch of paper he said: “Who do you think can do that? I mean someone who threatened you before, neighbors, friends or someone with unfinished business that you can suspect?” “There is no one. We have got no enemies. In fact no one knows where we live expect our parents and a friend who told us about this house. And we shifted in this house a month ago.” Lillia explained. “And who is that friend?” Cop asked. “Janice. She is my childhood friend, helps me a lot whenever I need her, she is like a sister to me.” Lillia said. “I need to talk to her.” Cop said. “Oh, no. I mean, she can’t do that. She can’t even think of doing that.” Lillia said. “You never know.” Cop said as he stood up. “Please give me her number and address.” Lillia looked at Ben who was standing against the wall with crossed arms on his chest, looking at her. “Install a camera on the front door, this is the first thing you should do.” Cop said while looking at Ben. “Yea, sure officer. We’ll do it today.” Ben said. “I will stay in touch. Call me right away as soon as you observe something suspicious.”. Cop said then he moved towards the main door, Lillia followed. “Sure, we will. Thank you so much officer” Lillia said. He looked back and nodded with a thin smile. Lillia closed the door and locked it as he was walking towards the car. “You didn’t need to do that.” Ben said as Lillia turned around. “I got panicked and I didn’t know what to do. I am stressed out Ben.” Lillia said. “Let me call someone to get the cam installed.” Ben said. 
   Her mind was overwhelmed and there was nothing she could do to dislodge her thoughts. She closed her eyes , rested her head on the table but her thoughts were shinning bright enough to keep her awake. “There are just few people in my life and I know each and everyone of them quite well, no one can do that. There is no one who hates me, no one, that I know of. Who that person can be?”. She was trying to get out of the maze of her memories but the darkness prevailed her mind. An earsplitting sound woke her up. She looked around, but there was no one she could see, or hear. “Ben??” She called, but no one answered. Then suddenly creaking of wood from upstairs caught her attention. She again called Ben, as she started climbing the steps, but there was no other sound except, creaking, which got even more clearer as she reached up. But the next moment, her mind almost got blank as she saw Janice coming out of Ben’s study. 
   "Janice? When did you come?" Lillia asked. "Right after cop investigated me." Janice said. "Oh,I am sorry. He asked me for your information. I even told him that you are like a sister to me. But.. I don't know, I am sorry." Lillia said. "When I came, you were in a deep sleep, so I thought better not to wake you up, then I came here looking for Ben." Janice explained. "There is some.." "Lillia?" Before Janice could finish her sentence, they heard Ben. "Well he's here." Lillia said and started going downstairs, Janice wanted to say something but the second thought stopped her. Ben was looking a little rough, like he had a chase but Lillia usually liked him that way. "Here is the meal." Ben said while giving a plastic bag to Lillia. "And they are here to install the camera." Ben said as if he knew what Lillia is going to ask next. She took the plastic bag and went to kitchen. "Hey Janice, How you doing?" Ben asked with a smile. "Hey, I am good." Janice said. 
   It was getting late, sun was almost down, and shadows were faded away. But the street lights were bright enough to give an orange touch to almost everything that was around. Lillia was looking out of the window, with her blank eyes, which were visible in the relection of window's glass. Her thoughts still couldn't escape the words she read in first letter, until, a strong hand held her shoulder firmly. "hey, its just me. You alright?" Ben said in a gentle tone, as gentle as he could be, as he realized that he gave Lillia a mini heart attack. "Everything will be alright, cops are investigating, we have got the camera installed on a front door, whoever he is, I'm sure he will get caught." Ben said to make her feel better. "I hope he will." Lillia said. "What did Janice said? about the cop?" Ben asked. "She was a little mad at me but didn't really say something about it." Lillia said. "How about we go out tonight?" Ben said. "What if he is out there stalking us?" Lillia said. "I am with you Lillia. No one can do no harm to you, I promise." Ben said. Lillia wrapped her arms around Ben, the only secure place she could find. 
   "This is a good place, I am sure you will like it." Ben said as he parked the car in front of a restuarant. There were few cars parked around and the whole place was illuminated. Ben held her hand as they stepped in, a comforting smile appeard on the face of Lillia. "What if we order something that we did on our first date?" Ben said with his charming smile. "Ben, that was long long time ago." Lillia was still smiling. "But I still remember it." Ben said. Lillia didn't say anything but kept looking in his eyes but then she said: 
   "I'm so lucky to have you in my life, thanks a lot for everything Ben." Lillia said as the tear touched the bay of her eyes. "Okay, no more tears you lil girl." Ben knew how to make her feel good. "I'm a big girllll." Lillia said as her brows drew closer, but with a smiling face. It made her forget about past two days, she was living the moment. She missed this loving and caring side of Ben, but at that moment, it was right there, right infront of her. Soothing music and the environment didn't make her realize how the time passed. "Another best night of my life Ben, just because of you." Lillia said as she looked at him but he kept his eyes on the road. 
   It was almost past midnight, screams of silence were dominating every other sound. But then some sound woke her up. "Ben.." She unintensionally said, before she could even open up her eyes. The whole room was dark enough to see something, but there was some light of a street street passing through the window. But then her heart skipped a beat when she saw someone standing next to the door, she tried to turn on the lamp on, but it wasn't working. "Lillia.." His voice sounded a lil fimiliar but the accent wasn't. She was sure that she heard her name from this voice for the first time. "I told you we will meet, and here we are." Lillia wanted to scream, but she felt like something wasn't letting her. "I told you, you can't run, and you still can't." 
   He said as he took steps towards her. Lillia was thinking of ways to get out of the room but then, a sharp blade of dagger, reflecting some light, caught her eyes. That man was standing right in front of the window, light was revealing his appearance but his face was still in the dark. He was in a British army mess uniform, from 1800s. A waist length, open-fronted, red, short jacket with blue trousers. Lillia reached for the lamp, grabbed it tightly and tried to get off of the bed but before she could take the second step, a loud slap as a clap stung her face which pretty much threw her back to bed. It made her unconscious for few seconds but then she caught her senses when she realized that her nose was bleeding. "Don't even think about it Lillia.." He said and went closer to her face. She forgot to breath when she saw his face, but couldn't utter a word because his hand clutched her neck hard enough to leave a mark. She tried to struggle but his hand was stronger than she could imagine, she tried to do whatever she could but it wasn't of any help so she finally gave up struggling , her mind was diving into the darkness as she started closing her eyes. But before could pass out, she felt his hand losing its grip. He fell on the other side of the bed with his hand on his head. Janice was standing right behind him with an iron rod, her arms were shaking. "Run!!!" Janice almost screamed. Janice moved towards the door. Tears were rolling down from Lillia's cheeks, she stumbled while reaching the door but before she could, he grabbed her hand and placed the dagger on her neck and a smile appeared on a thin line between his lips as he looked at Janice. "Take one more step, and i will slit her throat in a split-second" He said. "Why are you doing this??" Lillia almost cried. "Because you deserve this." He said. "Luke, do you think Lt. Hugh told you the truth?" Janice said. "Luke??" Lillia said while looking at Janice. "Why would he lie to me and who are you?" He asked. "I'm his wife, I know him more than anyone. I know what kind of person he is. He is interested in Lillia, so he wants you to divorce her. That is why he lied to you." Janice said. "But he showed me a letter that was written by her, by Lillia. I know how she writes." He said while tightening his grip. "He knows that too. Because he was the one to give you her letters. So he knows how she writes. He wrote the letter and made you think that she is cheating on you. So that he can make you do whatever he wants. He lied to you. You know how much Lillia loves you, she can't do that to you. She always talks to me about you, about how much you both love each other, she can't even think about cheating on you. Lt. Hugh isn't your friend Luke." He was unintentionally losing his grip as he was listening to Janice. Lillia knew that this is her only chance so she struck him with a hard elbow right below his chest, pushed him back and ran towards Janice. In the process, Janice threw the iron rod towards him, which hit him on the leg and knocked him down. They ran out of the room and closed the door, while the sirens of police cars dominated the environment. And finally they came out of the house. Lillia had no idea why Ben did that, she was trying to stop her tears, but wasn't successful. "He is still up there." Janice said, as she saw cops. "I will explain you everything." Janice realized that Lillia had a lot of questions. 
   Sun was shinning at its fullest, and the sky was clearer than ever before. Everything was new to Lillia, her whole world went upside down last night. She was staring at the road with her blank eyes as the car 
   was cutting through air. "That day when I came out of Ben's study, I wanted to tell you but Ben came. I was just looking around when there was an open book on the desk, my eyes caught this name "Luke Palmer". So I read it, everything was just like the way we read in letter. For a moment I thought Ben is just playing some kind of sick joke but still I read to know what happens next, so in next few pages, Lt. Luke Palmer kills his wife. Which was exactly what Ben tried to do. I thought if its real, he will kill you. So when you came back that night, I was in your house, to know what is he gonna do. Then around midnight, I saw him coming out of the study in the dress which was used was Bristish army, that was when I called 911. Lillia He has Dissociative identity disorder. He wasn't him when it happened. He was obsessed with the character of Lt. Luke Palmer. So, please don't blame him for anything. Go, meet him." Janice said as she parked the car in front of an asylum. He was on the bed, with his eyes closed. Lillia wiped the tear, that was on her cheek, with a finger and went into the room. His eyes were still closed until Lillia held his hand, it was warmer than before. He tried to open his eyes. "Hey, how you feeling now?" Lillia asked and tried to smile. "What happened? My head hurts." Ben pretty much whispered. "Nothing love, you just had an accident, you will be alright." Lillia said and hugged him, as he tried to get up, the pillow slid a little away, and there was a book under it. 
     
   
   
   Publication Date: October 8th 2019 https://www.bookrix.com/-if06932495f5995