It was a small railway station and train stopped there for only five minutes. I was still standing in the dark corner and trying to identify Kamal Khan from among the few passengers who disembarked from the train and dispersed in a jiffy. There were couple of tea stalls but were closed at this time of the hour. The railway station got deserted in less than ten minutes. I was about to move when I heard a leaf crack behind me. I froze. It could be some animal or just wind blowing the leaves. I was still assessing the situation when somebody grabbed my neck from the back, his grip was stiff and his breathes heavy. It did not take me much time to assess that there was Kamal Khan behind me, intended to kill me. He had taken a large sum of money for the purpose and was obliged to fulfil his commitment. Rehman Baba had told me that Kamal Khan would return the money and spare my life but I was skeptical and I was correct. For the very reason, I was carrying a knife in case Kamal attack me and I was ready for him. When he grabbed me from behind, I pulled out the hidden knife and aimed for his heart without wasting a second. There was no other way to get rid of him. Once he breathed his last, I took out all his belongings from his pockets which could help identifying him. Then I started thinking how to dispose off his body before somebody spot it connecting the murder to me or Shahzadi. Then I remembered about a dry well nearby, as I knew the area around, dragged his body to the well and threw it inside. Kamal Khan had eventually met his fate.

It was midnight when I reached the Hakeem’s place. A small light in the mosque nearby was indicative of the fact that Zafar Khan was praying there. My Shahzadi was in his house. Instead of knocking on the door, I decided to go to the mosque. There I offered my prayers and started waiting for Zafar Khan to finish his prayer. He took a long time but I had nothing much to do instead of waiting. Once he finished, he did not show any warmness and looked worried. After formal greetings, I asked about Shahzadi.

“Let’s go to Hakeem’s house,” he said instead of replying to my question.

His answer made me worried and all my senses got heightened. There must be something wrong.

“Is she alright? Tell me about her,” I stopped him and asked again.

“And I am asking you to go to Hakeem’s house first,” he said in a repulsive manner, looking directly in my eyes.

This made me lose my temper but I had to control it. Without uttering a single word further, I started following Zafar Khan to Hakeem’s house.

Hakeem opened the door on the first knock and it seemed like he was waiting for me. He hugged me warmly and took me inside and asked Zafar Khan to go back to the mosque. Holding my hand, he took me to his room that was lit bright.

Looking apprehensively at my blood-stained dress, he asked,

“What happened to you?

“Hakeem, first tell me about Shahzadi,” I asked him impatiently about Shahzadi instead ignoring his question.

He sat down on the bed and I followed the suit.

“Shahzadi’s relatives including her fiancée came to our village last week and took her away. We resisted and did our best to stop them but they had come prepared with the support of police. We had no reason to hold Shahzadi. Police threatened to implicate us in her parents’ murder. We were helpless. I am sorry Yousaf, I could not take care of her,” Hakeem told me the whole story.

I was stunned and did not know what to say. My head started spinning. I just lied down and closed my eyes. I knew somebody was playing tricks on me. First, Saman disappeared and now Shahzadi was taken by her relatives. She had a fiancée too. But how did they find out about her whereabouts.

Only a month had passed when I departed from Bahawalpur and the whole month was so eventful. I met two beautiful girls and at one point of time, I had decided to make both of them my life partners. Then there had been a number of attempts on my life but I survived, lost my father soon after meeting him, killed Kamal Khan and then lost both the girls.

I was still a teenager and had been through some very tough challenges in my life. I did not want to lose anybody else. Hakeem was one such person. Right now I was more concerned about my mother. I must shift her to some safe place. But then I remembered that Ghulam Mustafa had told me that somebody would come to Hakeem’s place and handed over me his legacy.

“Should I wait for him or go to Bahawalpur?” I asked myself.

I woke up after sleeping for almost 12 hours, feeling very hungry. I could smell the aroma of freshly cooked food. “Hakeem must be in the kitchen,” I thought.

His real name was Bashir Ahmed but he was called as Hakeem due to his knowledge about medicines. I did not blame him for letting Shahzadi go with her relatives. Although she promised to spend her life with me but never told me about her fiancée. I knew the name of her village that was in the outskirts of Lahore and I had already planned to go there after I shift my mother from Bahawalpur.

Two days had passed and still there were no news of the person that my father told me about. Hakeem was also insisting on going with me. He had no future here in the village. He was about 50 years old and wanted to spend rest of his life researching about medicines. He asked me about the blood of vampire and I told him the whole story. He understood the sensitivity of the matter and did not ask me more. I assured him that he could take my blood for tests when I turn into a vampire and we both laughed over it.

It was my fourth night at Hakeem’s house when I finally decided to go to Bahawalpur and leave Hakeem behind. By that time I was sure of having taken care of the things at Bahawalpur. I had no intention of confronting Nawab Sadiq but if he came in between me and my mother then situation would turn ugly. Hakeem had arranged a bullock ride for me to a neighboring town from where I had to get a bus for Fazilka.

The night was still young and warm and we both had dragged our charpoys to the courtyard. Mosquitoes were having a fun time with us when we heard a knock on the door. It was very gentle knock yet we both heard it.

“Who is it?” Hakeem walked up to the door and asked in a discreet tone.

“I have come to meet Yousaf Shah,” the answer came from the other side in a faint voice.

Hakeem looked at me and opened the door. In the meantime, I had also gotten up from the charpoy and was ready for the worse.

I could not see the face of the person who walked in. He shook hands with us and I introduced myself.

“I know because you resemble the master a lot,” he replied while handing me over a bag. “I had to deliver this bag to you.”

I asked him to take some rest before leaving but he was in a hurry and wanted to leave immediately. He did not even stay for a glass of water. It seemed like he was in some kind of danger or someone was following him. I had to be careful so I went outside after he had left and looked around. It was dark outside and the street looked deserted. I came back inside and carried the bag in the room. Hakeem turned on the lantern and we opened the bag, full of gold and money. We took out everything from the bag and spread the entire fortune on the bed. According to Hakeem's estimate the gold’s value must be in lacs but he was not sure. Then we found a small dark blue pouch, about the size of a fist. Once we opened it, we were mesmerized with the brightness of exactly 30 diamonds of different shapes and sizes. Also, there was a lot of currency and some other metals which we could not recognise at that moment but later we found those to be very valuable.

All this fortune made me think that my father must have truly loved me and that was the only reason he never came to meet me or laid claim on me. He knew if he did so then he would endanger the lives of me and my mother. Now, I was feeling grateful to him. It was none of his fault if nature had turned him into a monster. I was to become one too. It was only a matter of time.

“We must take care of this wealth and should depart to Bahawalpur at first,” Hakeem said, holding my shoulders.

But then we were also fearful if it would be safe to carry it along. People had started migrating to Pakistan and there were reports of attacks on the migrating people resulting in massive loot and plunder and killings.

We sat down in the kitchen and started thinking about what to do.

“I think we should divide it into three portions. You should carry one portion, I will carry the second and bury the third portion here in this house,” Hakeem said, adding, “We both will travel together till Fazilka. From there, you go to Bahawalpur to meet your mother and I will go to Lahore. I have some relatives there. You bring your mother to Lahore. We will find some good place to stay and then leave your mother there. Then we can come back together to dig out the treasure. We will again divide it in two portions and travel to Lahore separately.”

I looked at him surprisingly. He had chalked out a very comprehensive plan and I trusted him. I knew he would not betray me but even if he would, I would have enough money to start a new life. So, I gave a nod to his plan.

We decided to move out without wasting further time. But first we had to divide the treasure in three halves.

I kept the diamonds with me as those were the most precious and Hakeem took the money. Then we started digging in the small compound of Hakeem’s house to bury the gold and other metals. We were trying not to make much noise. It was almost dawn now. And then we heard a loud knock on the door. We both stood still not knowing what to do next.