•••

•••

S H A H R O Z

As he walked with his mates to the nearest pub, Shahroz ran a hand through his thick brown hair, sighing tiredly, his breath creating a puff of smoke in the air due to the low temperature in London.

Hasan slowed down his walk with the rest of them to catch up with Shahroz who was slacking behind. "You alright mate?" Hasan questioned.

"Yeah.. "

"Look if you're feeling a bit down, I'll let you know that the hottest girls in the city come here to get laid every Friday. I can set you up with one if you want," he winked.

"Nah I'm good," he gave a weak smile, one that didn't reach his eyes.

"Okay, your loss," he shrugged.

They reached their destination in about fifteen minutes - five in driving. Their cars had to be parked at a bit of a distance due to the occupied parking lots nearby. After a hard week at work, everyone surely needed a drink.

"Totally," he muttered to himself as their IDs were being checked.

Shahroz wasn't really sure if he even wanted to be here in the first place, but the thought of getting a break from the usual stress sounded very appealing.

Though the idea of that happening at a pub didn't.

The thought of having sticky bodies clinging to you, women ogling you up and down, and dealing with people who weren't in their proper conscious state sent his heart into overdrive.

Did he really make the right decision? He only sighed. It was too late now.

The four of them walked in the place believers called 'haram'. As the door opened, the odour of beer and cigarette smoke hit their nostrils like a breeze - a bad one to be exact.

He could see his twin brother go up to the bartender and of course, order three drinks instead of four. Everyone knew Shahroz ordered apple juice instead of the usual tequila his mates did.

Shahroz was always known as the 'halal freak' of the group, and though he was internally proud of that most of the times, he couldn't help but feel like a newbie in most things.

But he would always like to stick to being the person who would respect himself before anyone else, so those feelings should be disregarded, as he would always tell himself.

He saw Shaheer whisper something briefly in the bartender's ear before pulling away and handing Hasan and Logan their drinks, one in his hand for himself. Shahroz could've sworn he saw a weird glitch in Shaheer's eye when he looked at him, or maybe he was just imagining it.

And his mind had worked on its own again. Did he really make the right decision of coming here?

Shahroz could only wait for what's to come as he looked in his twin brother's eyes one more time, the sinister look in them not fading a notch.

Only Allah knows what goes on in his twin's head.

•••

-