It wasn't the hushed voices downstairs that woke Mariam, nor the heavy footfalls up the staircase. It was the bang of her door hitting the wall as it was thrown open.
A moment later they were on her, their faces obscured by their hoods, grabbing her wrists and legs and lashing them together with a thick, coarse rope. She barely had time to scream before one of the hooded men stuffed a rag in her mouth, gagging her. A second rag was tied over her eyes, blocking out the light of the full moon, now high in the sky as midnight approached.
Mariam shook as the two men pulled her roughly up off her bed and hauled her downstairs. She wished they had had the decency to cover her up, her naked ass exposed to the warm night air as they stepped out on the street.
It was deathly quiet outside as the
