1 CH#1 : The Guests are here

May 5th, 2019

Just one day before the beginning of Summer Vacations. It was a hot and sunny day in Shakkarpur. It is said to be the home of extremely sweet and kind people.(Shakkar is also called sugar, hence the name) But unfortunately, it is the literal opposite of its name. It is home to some really powerful thugs with connections all over Pakistan. Crimes & Corruption are common place here. Half of the city is under those gangsters so its a really bad place to have a home in but the other half is surpurisingly calm and quiet. Its a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is nowhere near any mountain areas or seashore so its a really hot place to live.

Roads were empty everywhere because the heat was enough to drive you crazy. The only ones roaming on these scorching roads were the homeless, drunk or people with food stalls. People opted to stay in the comfort of their homes. Sitting in the AC by yourself, enjoying your hobbies is one of the best things in Summer Vacations. I too am just laying in my bed for the past 2 hours doing nothing but playing games on my phone.

My name is Shaheen Ali, everyone calls me Shah for short. I am just an ordinary 17 year old kid with no particularly special qualities. But I have been told many times that my mind works a lot different than other kids, meaning that my problem solving skills are not straight forward & are often stupid to say the least.

I have black hair and brown eyes. I don't do any particular exercises. But I have been learning Taekwondo from Youtube, just in case if I ever need to fight. I practiced a lot on my own so I am fit for my age. I can punch a lot harder than a lot of people my age and even people bigger than me, if I say so myself. I have a short temper, which has got me into some pretty dumb situations.

I have one little brother, who is 13 and seriously respects me. He thinks I am very cool because I am a gamer with many tournament wins online. He gets swayed by words easily. He got this trait from my dad, who is also easily swayed. My dad is a respected man in our family, he is always accepting and never leaves someone in trouble no matter how dire the situation. His name is Mustafa Ali. He is a businessman, though I never found out what really is his business nor do I have any interest in doing so. My mother's name is Shamim Ali. She loves and takes of her family the best she can without fail. She is smart and noble and has a strong sense of justice so she always makes the right judgement. She is a Doctor for a private hospital near our house.

Our house is of an average size in our living area. Its a 2 floored building with 5 rooms on each floor. It gets a little stuffy in Summer but the AC is enough to deal with that. There are a total of 2 Bathrooms, one on each floor, acompanied by their respective Bedrooms. Finally, there is a Dining hall on the lower floor and a Living Room on on the upper floor. We live our life without any financial or residential problems. Now, enough about myself.

Summer Vacation is going to start tomorrow, so many families go on trips to different cities and places. But unfortunately, there are times when guests also arrive to meetup after a long time. Personally, I am not too fond of guests as they ruin your daily life & change plans. Sadly, I was told that we are not going anywhere this summer because my Aunt & her gang of a family are coming to stay over. She has 4 kids, who are all older than me. 3 boys and 1 girl, I don't even remember their names. But I do know that they are not as nice as they look. So before they arrive, I am just gonna go over to a friends house and stay until night so I don't have to greet my irritating guests.

I got out of bed, put on a White shirt and went out of my room.

"Mom! I am going out! I'll be back at night." I yelled as I ran down the stairs.

"Thats ok, but you really should meet your cousins first. They might be eager to meet you." Mom said standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"I don't like waiting for people who probably don't even like me." I said reaching her.

"Why do you think that? You have never even met them, your father told you some stories about them but that doesn't mean you know them yourself. You should meet them, who knows, they could become your favourite cousins?" She said as she patted my head.

"I'll just meet them later, they are gonna be staying over all Summer. I'll still be stuck with them everyday." I said with a smile as I received a light pat on my back.

"You really shouldn't talk about your relatives like that. Now, be on your way. I am gonna start preparing lunch for them." She said slightly annoyed with a visible smile on her face.

"I will try my best, but don't expect anything special from me!" I said at the same time dodging another smack from mom.

Mom went to the kitchen to prepare for the guests, as I tied my shoes. It took me an eternity.

"I really should buy some Sandals, tying these shoes is hard and takes time." I thought to myself. With my shoes tied, Hair and mood set, I opened the door to see the Destruction of my hopes.

There they were, my Aunt and her companions right in front of our house. I just stared at them as they pulled out all the luggage from their car. I hate to admit it but their car was the only redeeming thing about them. If I got that car from my Summer Vacations, I would wash it daily and love it more than my phone. I was willing to gift my room to that beauty of technology.

"Wait a minute, what the hell am I thinking? Insulting my trusty phone in front of a car? Don't worry Phone, you have my eternal gratitude... The things that we have watched together are our special memories. If these memories were ever leaked, we are both doomed. We are partners in crime." I thought to my self.

I am pretty sure my phone would be proud of me.

"Hey, sweety! could you help getting this luggage in? Your cousins are still tired from the travel, you know?" My Aunt said with her silver tongue as always, I remembered the reason for not liking these pathetic excuse for relatives.

In every story my father told, her family was only benefiting off others. There had been many cases where she was suspected of blackmailing others. Of course, it was never proved. Out of all the family, she had the biggest inheritance even when she hasn't contacted my Grandparents. She was always traveling abroad, from country to country with no visible income. She avoided answering questions about it and just showed off her traveling photos and talked about her luxurious life. Her children were spoiled brats with too much cash to throw out. Her Family consists of

-Intro Start-

Fehmida Anjum : My Aunt a.k.a The Mastermind of her family. Clever, Vicious and generally unlikable by everyone. She really does love to show her wealth and everybody else's inferiority in front of who ever she can.

Ahmed Anjum : Her Husband, he's generally non-sociable so no one knows anything special anything about him.

Rehan Anjum (25 Years Old): Their Eldest son, he's a strong guy. I heard he's just a douche and only has his muscles going for him. He is a fitness freak, he also finds pleasure training people. But I don't think anyone has ever accepted to be trained by him.

Eman Anjum (23 Years Old) : The 2nd Eldest, she's the smartest in their family. She wants to be a Doctor, she's been known to be clever and a great deciever. She can easily profit off anyone's work. I think avoiding her is the best way to avoid trouble.

Sobhan Anjum (20 Years Old): He's the 3rd one, he is a gross and messed up kid. He gets off by showing he's the one in control. He picks up fights whenever he has a chance. He has bruises all over his body and face. I am guessing he isn't fond of new people.

Nabeel Anjum (18 Years Old): I don't know anything special about him personally. I did hear that he has a complex about being the youngest in his family. He just sits in his room all day, doing God know's what. He probably doesn't have any friends.

-Intro End-

"Of course! I would love to help my dear guests." I said cheerily by putting on a forced but believeable smile. I went near their car and grabbed a bag and suddenly..

"Hey shorty! You can't lift that, your twig arms might break!" said Rehan laughing leaned against his car.

"Damn, Surviving with this idiot all summer will take every ounce of patience in my body. Ok. chill, no need to talk rudely, just brush it off like nothing." I thought listening to his laughing.

"This is pretty heavy, but I think I can manage it. You sure are strong." I said to Rehan with exaggeration.

"Of Course! I am strong! I workout daily, a little baggage like this nothing to me, you on the other hand... will just fall over like a sack of potatoes. Hwahahah!!!" He said being full of himself.

"Yes, I might fall over and maybe break whatever it is in this bag. I wish you could show me how strong you are and how can I reach your level of awesomeness." I bragged with a plan in my mind.

"This guy loves flattery, so If I can just talk about how great he is, he might do my work for me. Just for insurance, I would show my own weakness" I thought to my self.

"Yeah, you seem pretty weak. Don't worry! I will train you so hard, that you could atleast look a bit strong. Get ready for your training, Shah! On the other hand, that bag looks like it might have something important in it, I can't have a weakling like you breaking it. Give it over here" He said in a serious tone as he grabbed the bag himself and went inside the house.

"He fell into my trap without any resistance, he really doesn't care about anything other than Exercising." I thought to my self with a smile.

"It seems that you are smart kid, Rehan didn't even realize what you just did. But I can see through you." A cold voice spoke from behind me.

I turned and saw that it was Eman staring at me with her sharp eyes.

"Uh oh, looks like she just saw the whole scene. She also saw through my trick. She is seriously perceptive. She might be serious trouble. Well, I did hear that she is extremely clever and is deceptive." My thoughts were racing.

" Dont worry, I think you and I will get along just fine." She said with a cold smile that I couldn't recognize if it was real or fake.

"Of course! It will be my pleasure. You can hand over your bags to me, I can help too."

"That won't be necassary, I only have one bag. It has my personal things so you don't need to worry. Unless you want to see inside it?" She said with a suggestive voice.

"Did I hear that correctly? Was she hinting to something nice down the line? Has my time finally come? Wait a minute, remain composed. Don't show your desperation, soldier! I can't fall prey to this girl's cheap tricks! Stop overthinking this, she's just trying to make fool of you. I should just try to brush this aside for now." My thoughts were going wild just because of her words.

I realized why she is called the smartest of them all. She can easily make anyone stop right in their steps with ease. A formidable foe. Well, I shouldn't get on her bad side. I'd better get away from her.

"Thats not the case, if you need my help just tell me. I don't wanna bother you." I quickly replied.

"As you wish, shah. See you later." She smirked as she went inside.

"Whew! That could have gone worse... Wait a minute, where are the two smaller brothers? They should be right here." I searched around the car looking for them as I heard someone call out,

"Hey dumbass! Where are you looking at?" in a crude voice.

I turned around and saw Sobhan, standing at the entrance of my house. Perhaps he already picked up his stuff and walked away while I was dealing with the other two. Well, it was true that this guy is seriously disgusting. His long hair looks like its filled with mud, he really doesn't like personal hygiene, does he?

"Oh! I was just looking for you and Nabeel, but it seems you already picked up your stuff." I said as polietly as I could.

He didn't even care to reply and went inside without any worries. How can someone even raise a piece of shit child every single time, four times in a row?! I can't tell if they hate me or just don't care about anything else.

*Mechanical Whirring*

As I turned back, I realized my deep love for their car. It had a lock system whenever their owners were not present. How much could a car like this could cost? I have never even heard of this car before. It seems to be connected to Aunt's unknown income. I shouldn't think too deeply about this right now. I went inside my house where my parents were greeting the guests. I just rushed past them and went straight upstairs to my room without anyone noticing. I hurried inside and threw myself on my bed as I closed my eyes.

*A Few Minutes Later*

Footsteps could be heard coming closer to my room, I got up quickly. The door opened with a creak as someone peaked from the side.

"You really should oil your door, you know?" It was Eman, speaking in her regular cold voice.

"I think of the creaking as my security system, without it everyone would just barge in just like ninjas. I don'y know why people don't knock nowadays." I said cheerfully with a smile.

"Oh sorry for that, I just wanted to chat with you. If thats ok with you?" She replied.

"Sure! Come inside my headquarters."

"Thanks." She said while entering the room.

"No worries." I said still sitting on my bed.

She looked around my room with interest and sat on my Computer chair. "By the looks of her face, she really likes this room. But what can she do? This is the room of the best of the best." I thought with pride. Suddenly her eyes turned towards me.

"What do you think about our family? She blurted out.

"What do you mean?" I was surprised to hear this type of question from her

"I mean, you must have heard the rumours about us... That we are some kind of blackmailing thieves. These rumours have been spreading in our family tree without any second thought."

"I have heard many but personally I don't believe all of them are true."

"Thats reassuring, I thought you would also look at us like we are the bad guys. Thanks for that." She said with a smile.

"Oh, Its nothing. Its wrong to blame people before even meeting them." I lied masterfully. I can't fully trust these people. They are shady and I know for a fact that those rumours were true. I should try to get more information out of her.

"You're so nice, I think we will have loads of fun together." She said in a chill tone.

"Of course! Wanna go eat downstairs?"

"Lets go, then."

We both got up and went outside and downstairs for Dinner.

I went to wash my hands first and saw that all their stuff was in the Ground floor bedroom. I went straight to the bathroom to wash. After that, I was about to leave the room when I saw a Registry on the floor. I thought to pick it up and as I picked it up I got the urge to open it. I knew its not nice to peek inside someone else's stuff but my curiousity was rising. All the guests were in the Dining Hall, no one could see me right now. So, with these thoughts in mind... I opened the Registry.

I realized that some things should are better left alone. My curiousity got the better of me at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It contained the records of her transactions from many different places. All of which, I had never even heard about. These were not normal banks, they were clearly black market deals. As I read more, it was becoming clear that my Aunt was into some shady stuff. Getting her inheritence, blackmailing relatives, traveling abroad, her income and not answering questions about it, all these dots were starting to connect together. She was a major shareholder of "Call to Arms". It is a legal arm producing organization which is famous all over the world for its high quality weapons. It just opened its Branch here in Chittonpur. Judging by her shares, my Aunt is a goddamn Millionaire.

"But what is she after in our family? She has all the money she could ever need." These thoughts began to pop up. "She can easily live her life without working, why is she going her causing everyone trouble?"

I decided to end my investigation there and leave before anyone comes looking for me. I would be in serious trouble if I am found out. My Aunt won't want this info getting out & I have no intention of getting in a fight with a woman this powerful.

Putting the registry back in place, I quietly went out of the room and up the stairs. I relaxed knowing that I wasn't caught in the room. This info might really come in handy someday. No one else needs to know about it right now. I reached the dining table where everyone was sitting except Rehan & Eman. But i didn't pay attention anyway and started eating.

-Eman's POV-

"Looks like we have ourselves a troublemaker." Eman sighed.

"Shame, I was starting to like him though." Rehan replied in a disappointing voice.

"Me too, but we can't let Mom's secrets roaming free. All of us should go on a drive tomorrow. Shah is coming too, whether he likes it or not."

"Consider it done, it's gonna be fun day."

-POV END-

Both brother and sister agreed and went upstairs to join everyone at the table. Shah was sitting between his parents and talking to his brother without a care in the world. Then Shah's parents started the Dinner prayer and everyone started to dig in.

Shah was a target for wicked eyes. He just enjoyed his dinner without knowing what his actions had brought upon him.

This is the story of his life.