The room darkens in an instant, bringing a chill.

"Fucking shit," Kirti swears from somewhere to my left.

I squeeze my eyelids shut, blinded by the overhead lights flickering back on, trying to calm my racing heart. With a groan, I slowly open my eyes again, refocusing on the wall in front of me looking for my sister who just told me that she will be coming back from the washroom but its been almost twenty minutes that she is nowwhere to be seen.

The girl felt the weight of the darkness pressing in around her as she struggled to rise from her bed. With cautious movements, she lifted her leg, only to be met with searing pain as she realized her bone was fractured. With determination, she managed to shift herself upright, gingerly placing her feet on the ground.

Using her support stick, meant for those with fractures, she attempted to navigate her way out of the room. However, her roommate intervened, "Listen, I need you to be really careful. I won't be bringing any food from the canteen for you this time. So, please, go carefully, okay?" With a mixture of frustration and gratitude, the girl heeded her roommate's advice, taking slow, deliberate steps towards the door, knowing that each movement was a painful reminder of her injury.

Lime carefully leaves her room. After stepping out, she notices a small light burning in the corner of the corridor, a stark reminder of the encroaching dawn. She moves forward slowly, her senses alert as she searches for her sister.

Approaching the washroom, she scans the area, but her eyes lock onto a disturbing sight, a boy, his back exposed was doing something there she saw his hand moving continuously around his waist area, she gasps when she kind of realized what he was doing and her heart races, a shiver running down her spine as panic sets in.

Suddenly, when the boy turns, his gaze meeting hers with a sinister smile. Frozen with fear, Lime attempts to run, but her injured leg betrays her, causing her to stumble backward. With a sharp cry, she collapses in the middle of the balcony, her scream echoing through the silent night.

Her hand slipped to her feet, stopping short as tears filled her eyes. Her hands started hurting from holding onto the pain in her feet so tightly. Her whole body was in pain, and she let out loud cries as tears poured down her cheeks.

She found herself staring at the sticks in the faint light, one broken from her previous hurry. The air sank and she felt even more hopeless. She collapsed into silence as her eyes locked on a terrifying scene playing out in front of her.

She stared straight ahead, her eyes welling with tears as the horrifying scene left her frozen in shock.

Lime sees a boy kneeling in front of her. She pulls her body from the ground with her hands, attempting to move towards him to see what's happening. As she tries to look at the scene while shifting to the left, she notices a large knife in the boy's hand, along with blood on his face and body. Panic overwhelms her, making it difficult to breathe.

As Lime contemplated fleeing the gruesome scene before her, her eyes fell upon the lifeless body of the girl who had been stabbed. Something about her felt strangely familiar, and as Lime's gaze lingered on the anklet adorning her right leg, a chilling realization dawned upon her—it was identical to her sister's.

Horror gripped Lime as she comprehended the tragic truth—this girl lying before her was her own sister. Without a moment's hesitation, she seized a nearby stick and hurled it at the boy responsible. With a thud, he fell to the ground, his weight shifting away from the girl's lifeless form.

Their gaze locked, and Lime felt a wave of terror and rage race over her. To her surprise, sadly, the boy sat paralyzed, like a flash of realization lifted his eyes. Lime's voice pierced the chilling silence as she mustered all her bravery. "What are you doing? With my sister, please," she yelled, her words reflecting her own fear and disbelief.

It was a moment unlike any other for her, witnessing her sister in a state of serene slumber. Yet, as she gazed upon her peaceful countenance, a disquieting notion crept into her mind. She appeared as if she were lost in some distant realm, a place beyond her reach, leaving her to navigate the world alone.

The knife slips from the boy's hand, causing him to recoil in fear and stumble backward. Panic overtakes him as he retreats further, his mind racing with dread. A sense of urgency fills the air as they quickly call the police, who swiftly arrive and apprehend the boy.

Meanwhile, lime watches in anguish as her sister is taken away, unable to intervene. Despite the efforts of the teachers to comfort her, she remains inconsolable. With each passing moment, she feels increasingly abandoned, left alone in the vast expanse of the orphanage, surrounded by desert sands.

As the others return to their rooms, lime is left to confront her overwhelming sense of isolation. Her body feels numb, drained of all emotion, as if every tear has been shed and every ounce of strength depleted. Alone in the silence, she grapples with the harsh reality of her existence, longing for solace amidst the desert's unforgiving embrace.

"Lime!" Kirti came running towards her friend and bend down on her knees to match her level and hold both of her shoulders to look carefully at her.

She shrugs off her shoulders to take her attention but it was not helping at all she saw her eyes sticking at one place as she same follows her gaze and looked behind her. A girl was standing more like hiding there is behind of the kitchen door, she was biting on her nails and was struggling to keep her eyes on lime.

Lime eyes went flickered to her nails which was now her nails were bruised, crooked, and filled with blood with her biting on it. She was pushing her body more in behind that door wanting her to consumed it by walk itself.

Lime wanting to take a revenge badly. Lime's heart pounded with determination as she struggled to rise to her feet. With gritted teeth, she glanced over at Kirti, her trusted friend, who offered a silent gesture of support. Drawing on every ounce of strength, Lime managed to climb onto Kirti's shoulder, using her as a makeshift platform to propel herself forward.

As Lime closed the distance, she could feel the girl's fear like a palpable force, emanating from her trembling form. The sight of her cowering only fueled Lime's resolve, but beneath the anger, a twinge of empathy tugged at her heart.

Pausing a few steps away, Lime hesitated, her breath hitching with conflicting emotions. She saw the raw terror etched on the girl's face, a mirror of the anguish she felt for her sister.

"Did you see...?" Lime's voice wavered, a fragile balance between fury and vulnerability. Despite the urge to unleash her wrath, she couldn't ignore the flicker of uncertainty in the girl's eyes, a reminder of their shared humanity amidst the chaos.

Lime's voice cut through the tension, laden with urgency and concern. "Did you see what happened to my sister just now?" she asked, her eyes probing the girl's trembling form.

The girl's fear was palpable, her lips quivering as she struggled to form a response. Lime sensed her hesitation, a silent plea for understanding amidst the turmoil. "Please," Lime implored, her tone softer now, tempered by empathy. "I need to know."

A shiver ran down the girl's spine as she cast a fleeting glance over her shoulder, as if expecting an unseen presence to materialize behind her. But there was nothing, only the oppressive weight of silence hanging in the air.

Turning back to Lime, the girl's gaze wavered, haunted by memories too painful to articulate. "I... I..." she stammered, her voice barely a whisper.

Lime's heart ached at the sight of the girl's anguish, a mirror of the pain she herself bore. "It's okay," she reassured gently, reaching out a hand in a gesture of solidarity. "You don't have to be afraid. Just tell me what you saw."

But the girl remained silent, her eyes downcast in resignation. In that moment, Lime understood the depth of her suffering, the weight of unspoken truths too heavy to bear alone.

It all started with her family's financial troubles, her father drowning in debt. But what truly haunted Lime was the absence of her mother, who passed away when Lime was just a baby.

Thrown into a harsh reality, Lime faced the cruelty of her stepmother, who made her life a living nightmare with constant fights and false accusations. At only nine years old, Lime was sent to an orphanage, torn away from everything she knew. But her sister, one year older, became her lifeline, their bond growing stronger with each passing day.

Together, they endured six years of hardships, leaning on each other for support. But just when they dared to hope for a better future, tragedy struck again, ripping Lime's sister away from her.

The image of her sister's lifeless body, bathed in blood, flickered relentlessly in Lime's memory, causing her to blink and fix her gaze on the girl before her. Gripping the stick tightly in her fingers and gritting her teeth, she longed to experience the pain— the same pain her sister endured when they were apart.

With a surge of force, Lime broke the stick, raising it to her feet. She began pushing the sharp end of the fractured piece onto her skin, causing searing pain to shoot through her. A scream tore from her throat as she struggled with the agony.

Kirti's horrified expression reflected Lime's own shock, as she attempted to wrest the stick from her hand. "Lime! What in the world are you doing!?"

Meanwhile, the girl standing nearby, her eyes wide with fear, began to slap her own head in a panicked frenzy, desperately seeking an escape from the unfolding chaos.

It was clear now that this girl was not like the others—she was sick, tormented by demons unseen to the naked eye.

As Kirti finally managed to wrest the stick from Lime's grasp, she hurled it away and enveloped her friend's broken body in a tight embrace, her own heart shattering within her fragile frame. Tears welled in her eyes as she felt Lime's sobs wrack her body, the weight of her anguish almost too much to bear.

With Lime sobbing against her shoulder and the girl beside them growing increasingly frantic, Kirti held her friend close, offering what comfort she could amidst the chaos. A single tear escaped Kirti's eye as she pressed a kiss to Lime's forehead, cradling her body close to her own on the floor.

"Hey, you know I'm here for you, right?" Kirti whispered softly into Lime's hair, her hand gently patting her back in reassurance. Lime's sobs intensified, the weight of her pain crashing over her like a tidal wave.

After a time, Kirti felt Lime's body grow limp and heavy against her own, her breath catching in her throat. Panic rising, Kirti called out for help, and soon a teacher came running at the sound of her cries.

As Kirti watched Lime being escorted out for treatment, her heart heavy with worry, her gaze fell upon the girl who had been trembling earlier, now lying unconscious on the floor. Tilting her head to the right, the world that day witnessed the smirk playing on the her lips, sending a chill through the air in the dimly lit surroundings.

Approaching the prone figure, Kirti reached into a nearby box with the back of her hand, retrieving a hidden knife. She examined the blade with a sense of cold detachment, then knelt beside the girl, a cruel sneer twisting her lips as she pressed the sharp edge against a prominent vein on the girl's neck.

With a swift motion, Kirti dragged the blade deep, crimson droplets splattering across her own face in a macabre shower. She sighed with twisted satisfaction, wiping the blood from her skin before dipping her forefinger into the pooling blood on the girl's neck, then sucking it greedily into her mouth.

"It's so sweet!" she exclaimed with a chilling laugh, relishing the taste of the girl's blood. "My dear Lime, what will you do now? This sweetness, it's irresistible!"

Like a malevolent force, Kirti turned her gaze towards the door through which Lime had been taken, a wicked grin spreading across her features. In that moment, she reveled in the knowledge that this would be her final night at the Hill orphanage of London.