The Last Noor - chapter 2

Title: Return of Zahra

A year had passed since the night Zahra was sealed into the dark realm by Malik.

The air around Rayan was finally still. No more whispers. No creeping shadows. That night had changed him forever.

For the first time, Rayan understood what true love meant—

Not obsession.

Not possession.

But sacrifice. Mercy. Protection.

He reconnected with Aarfa, a childhood friend who once shared his bench in school. She knew his silences better than his words. Their bond grew—honest and slow. A year later, they married.

Soon after, they had a son: Ayaan.

Rayan raised him with care—shielding him not just from darkness, but from the ignorance that once made him vulnerable. He taught him the Qur'an, the power of prayer, the meaning of light. He often spoke of Allah's mercy… and Malik's sacrifice.

Years passed.

Ayaan grew into a wise, kind-hearted young man. He married Noor, a gentle, soft-spoken girl whose presence filled their home with peace.

Rayan, now in his fifties, finally felt his soul rest—a life rebuilt from ashes.

But even ashes can hold embers.

The seal that bound Zahra had weakened.

Thirty years had passed since her imprisonment. And on a moonless night, something stirred in the shadows.

A tear in the veil.

Zahra returned.

Not as a whisper—but a storm.

Twisted by rage, transformed by pain, she was no longer the jinnhiyah who once loved Rayan. She was destruction incarnate.

She came straight to Rayan's home, soul burning for revenge. But an ancient taweez buried beneath the house's foundation repelled her. Amulets hung on every door, every window, and every heart within.

She couldn't enter. She couldn't harm them.

So her fury twisted into madness.

"If I cannot destroy them… I will destroy the peace they live in."

The town suffered.

Animals began dying mysteriously. Children screamed from nightmares. Trees wilted. Shadows stretched unnaturally long.

The town's elderly Hindu president sensed the shift. A man of wisdom and spirituality, he understood—this was not nature.

Then came the letter—delivered to his doorstep, pulsing with dark energy. Written in black flames:

"Drive Rayan's family out of the town—or drown in darkness."

He responded with prayer—chanting the Hanuman Chalisa, sprinkling sacred ash, lighting incense. The shadows recoiled.

But light always comes with a cost.

The president fell ill with cancer. Even bedridden, he chanted. Eight months later, he passed away.

And with him… the shield fell.

Zahra returned.

And this time, she brought darkness without resistance.

One day, Noor unknowingly pulled off an old taweez from a corner of the house. It crumbled to dust. The door opened.

Zahra entered—not with fire, but whispers. She didn't need to kill. She only needed to corrupt their minds.

Outside, atheism was rising. People mocked belief, dismissed the unseen.

Zahra whispered into Ayaan's and Noor's hearts:

"There is no God. No jinn. It's all in your head."

Slowly, their faith cracked.

They removed their taweez.

Even Rayan, once so devout, forgot.

Zahra smiled.

No more shields. No more Malik.

Only her.

She stood atop the town, her crimson skin glowing under a moonless sky, hair of black smoke, eyes of magma.

"I will destroy everything," she hissed.

"And no one can stop me."

But someone was watching.

Far beyond darkness and light, Malik prayed. He had isolated himself in devotion, seeking strength—not revenge.

And Allah answered.

Malik had become more than jinn.

He was now an angel—born of divine Noor.

The time had come.

Zahra attacked.

Fire rained. Skies turned red. Homes burned. Screams echoed.

Rayan stood frozen.

Zahra descended, monstrous and terrifying.

"You can't run. You can't pray. No one will save you."

Rayan fell to his knees.

Trembling hands raised.

"Ya Allah… save us."

And then—light.

He appeared. Clothed in radiance. Wings of starlight. Eyes of peace.

Malik.

Zahra screamed, "YOU! You ruined me! You threw me into darkness!"

She lunged—but her attacks passed through him like air through light.

"You cannot harm those whom Allah protects," Malik said gently.

"I know your pain. I know your loss. But even now, Allah's mercy reaches for you."

Zahra's voice broke.

"You betrayed me! I loved you more than anyone!"

Rayan stepped forward.

"That wasn't love, Zahra. That was obsession."

Her rage erupted.

She turned to strike his family.

And Malik whispered,

"Enough."

A beam of divine light struck her from the heavens. Zahra screamed—a scream of centuries of pain—and vanished.

Silence returned.

Malik looked at Rayan one last time.

"Whenever the darkness rises… Noor will rise too. Always."

Then he vanished.

Ayaan and Noor wept. They remembered their faith. And Allah, always near, forgave them.

Nine months later, Noor gave birth to a daughter.

She had Zahra's face. Zahra's eyes.

But her soul was pure. Her laughter soft.

A new beginning.