Lashirah_Hash

They called it blasphemy.
A sin against God.
A disgrace against blood.

The news headlines twisted her name like a curse.
Muslim Girl Marries Two Brothers in Secret Ceremony.
Father Disowns Daughter Over Immoral Union.
Religious Extremists and Feminists Clash in Street Protests.

But none of them knew the truth.

Not the journalists who stalked her outside the courthouse.
Not the clerics who spat fire from the pulpit.
Not the activists who used her face for posters, never asking if she even agreed with them.

They didn’t know about the long nights with one brother’s rage burning her skin—and the other’s cold touch wrapping around her heart like barbed wire.

They didn’t know how it started—not with love, but with survival.

They didn’t know that once, she believed in God more than anything.
And now?

Now, she stood in front of a grave with no name.
Black veil pulled tight.
A Qur’an in her hand.
Two wedding rings on her finger.

Behind her, they stood—her husbands.
One with blood on his hands.
The other with secrets behind his eyes.

She would never be the same girl again.
But she was still alive.
Still burning.

And if the world wanted a monster?

She would give them on

BETWEEN GOD AND THE MONSTERS

The light was too white. Sterile. Empty.

Aaliyah stirred, her head throbbing, limbs heavy as if she were underwater. The scent in the air was wrong—bleach, antiseptic, dust. Not the familiar warmth of their little hideaway. Not the smell of Lucien's cologne on the pillow. Not the burnt toast Silas always claimed he didn't burn.

She sat up slowly. Panic bloomed like smoke in her chest.

The room was bare. Clean white walls, a steel-framed bed, a chair bolted to the corner floor, and a window covered from the outside. A lock clicked. The door creaked open.

"Aaliyah," came a voice she hadn't heard in a year.

Her uncle stepped in. Behind him, two of her cousins. All dressed in long coats, eyes narrowed in cold silence. Her heart dropped.

"You're safe now," her uncle said. "We brought you back."

"To your faith. To your family. To your senses."

She tried to stand, but a wave of nausea pushed her back. "Where—where are Lucien and Silas?"

The uncle's lips curled in disgust. "Those men are not your family. They are your shame."

"You gave us no choice. Your father is sick with what you've done. Your mother cries every night. Do you know what you've become?"

Aaliyah's chest tightened. The words burned like acid.

"A woman lost in sin. A girl corrupted by wolves in the skin of men. We are here to purify that."

Tears blurred her vision. "You think God wants this?"

Her uncle stepped closer, eyes hard. "You left God the day you opened your legs to the enemies of our blood."

A beat of silence. Then he smiled. A cold, frightening smile.

"Let it all out, niece. Because tomorrow, we begin the cleansing."

Lucien stood by the broken mirror in the cabin, the shards still stained with blood from his trembling hand.

"She's not dead," Lucien said, voice hoarse. "But she will be if we're too late."

"Then we move. We tear this world apart if we have to. We get her back."

Just two men willing to die for the girl who had finally given them something to live for.

Aaliyah Awakens