Harleen took her dupatta on her head and with one last look towards the room she used to call hers.

Stroll

Running away from one's own home is an act of cowardice but she didn't have any other option left.

It was either running away tonight or getting married to that jallad that her super strict father and her grandfather chose for her.

Demon

Harleen's father, Balwant Arora wasn't the least happy 23 years ago when he found out he had a daughter, again. Belonging to a traditional family, for him the only way to continue his legacy was if he had a son. His first born being a daughter was a point of disappointment as is and to add to it he got a second daughter. Many years down the lane, he had to now look for an appropriate son-in-law who can continue his business as a jagirdar.

Landlord

Harleen and her elder sister Chahat barely received any love from their father. Poor girls were always ill-treated and they were often considered a bojh on their father.

Burden

They were nothing more than a liability for their father and grandfather. To further add to their misery, their chacha-chachi had two sons, both sharp, brilliant and smart. Both of them were capable enough to handle their father and uncle's business and to add to their success.

Uncle-aunt

Their village was a place similar to hell for girls. They were considered nothing more than a servant. They were not allowed proper education and were often traded away in the name of marriage for their fathers to receive profit in their business. With minimum education and training to just run a house successfully, the women in their village were leading a pretty miserable life compared to the general standards of living deserved by a human woman.

Chahat was unfortunate enough to have the same thing happen to herself. She was married off to a man who belonged to an influential family. Her goals in life were much more than being just a wife to a man, but alas, her father did not listen to her. Her pleas and requests were shut off with either slaps or physical torture on more than one occasion. Although the girls' mother tried to reason with them and have a talk with their father, her voice was similarly shut off.

The only saving grace that Chahat had was that the man that she got married to was not a complete copy of her father. He did treat her with respect and did give her all the love that she had never received, but that simply wasn't enough for Chahat and an ambitious person like her would always sit and think about whatever she couldn't have; a college degree, a job, a respectful life and what not.

Harleen was no different than her sister. She wanted to complete her education and to maybe get a job. She wanted to live a life full of respect where people around her wouldn't oppress her opinions, wouldn't question her choices, and where she would be free to make her own decisions.

Harleen would often complain to her mother about all the injustice that she faced in the house. The wife of her cousin would often mistreat her and take work from her as if she were a servant. She was made to do all of their chores, and if she happens to make the slightest of a mistake, she would be met with a slap or two.

The only solace she had in her life was her God and her mother. She would often sit next to her and read religious books and teach her the path of God.

Harleen would always wish for a better life and a happy family, but now she had given up the hope and all she was praying for was freedom. She just wanted to get out of this toxic house where she was so mistreated and never really loved.

The last sliver of happiness in her life was taken away from her when her mother died two months ago due to a chronic illness. To say she was devastated would be an understatement. Her sister was a support, no doubt but the fact that she lived miles away from her, always succeeded in putting an invisible curtain between the two.

The atrocities on her increased after her mother's demise, she was the only one to work in the whole Haveli. She had servants to help her no doubt, but if she was caught doing anything wrong or even late for that matter, the family members would curse her and insult her to no limit.

When two weeks ago, her father informed her of her marriage being fixed to this person in the city, she couldn't help but lose all her hope.

The man that her father and grandfather had chosen for him was nothing less than a Demon. He was an illiterate man who was famous for his atrocities on women. He was a characterless alcoholic, who had no hope of redemption.

She simply could not accept a man like him as her husband and life partner, so when she begged to her God for a solution, the only thing that crossed her mind while still in the middle of her prayer was to runaway. She took this as an answer from God and trusting Him, she decided to run away tonight.

She was dressed in a dark green attire and had covered her head with a dupatta for the passer by, if there were any, to fail in noticing who she was. As soon as the clock struck 2, she threw her bag out of the small window of her room, and with a prayer on her lips, she jumped out of the window.

She landed on her knees, which were now scraped a little bit, and there were also some scratches on her hand, but she couldn't care less about it. The only thing on her mind right now was to run far far away from her house. She took the road attached to the back of the house and ran like her life depended on it which ironically was true.

After running for what felt like hours, she stopped on an abandon street and took several deep breaths. She looked back for the first time since she ran from her house and took a breath of relief, since there was no one in sight. God knows what will happen to the poor girl, if anyone from her family or any friends of her father would notice her here at this time of the night.

Giving a hitch to the bag on her shoulder, she started walking ahead, but unfortunately, she spotted a friend of her father near a shop, smoking cigarette. Her eyes widened, and before the man could notice her, she took the ally to her immediate left.

She once again started running, and this time due to the added sense of fear of running into the man, she lost her sense of direction. She couldn't recognise what street currently was on, but she had no other option left, but to keep running, she couldn't risk getting caught at any cost.

She kept on running and running till she reached a crossroad. She didn't bother to stop considering it was so late in the night. While crossing the crossroad, she noticed sharp light from her left side and before she could process or even stop completely on her track, she was misfortunate enough to get hit by the car approaching her.