The dinner hall was full of chatters. The recent death of a teacher had done nothing to dampen the mood of the residents of Calliope Academy. There were four long tables along with benches stretching from one end of the hall to the other. At the extreme left stood the unhappy staffs dressed in black uniforms behind another long table serving food to the students and teachers. The last table on the left was exclusive to the teachers.

Danielle was sitting between Rayana and Anuskha fiddling with the food on her plate. She looked at the end of her table and immediately spotted Arianna who was sitting beside Ryan. Danielle thought she would never see the day when Ryan left Xavier for someone else. They had the friendship people only dreamt of. She didn't know the intimate details of their friendship but whatever she saw was a testament to her theory. She hoped that someday she would find a friend like Ryan who would become her sibling over time.

Despite the strangeness of the scenery, Danielle felt relieved to know that someone was there for Arianna and that she wasn't isolating herself from everyone.

"Never thought I would see the day when Ryan chooses someone over Xavier," Anushka remarked munching on her fries.

"You make it sound like they were dating," Danielle mumbled, eyeing her untouched meal.

"Who knows?" Anushka shrugged. Picking up another fry from her plate and popping it in her mouth, she asked, "Why didn't Ryan take her to his table? Scared that Arianna will replace him?"

It was Rayana who answered. "Arianna and Xavier are each other's ex."

Anuskha's eyes widened. "Since when?"

"They dated for a month or so back in class 9," Danielle informed. She looked over at the table on the extreme right where Xavier and his friends usually sit. Joanna and Xavier were the only ones there today. Joanna threw worried glances towards Arianna then and now while whispering something to Xavier.

Danielle felt a sharp nudge in her ribs. With an 'oof' she turned to look at Rayana who was pointing at something behind them. She followed Rayana's finger to see her pointing at Sameera. Sameera looked different. Much like Vijay, there were bags under her eyes and her hair was put in a messy bun. Her face was ashen and her lips chapped. The white shirt and blue pants she was wearing was wearing were crumpled. She had piled her plate with extremely little food. But then again, Danielle was in no place to complain- her own plate full of food had been untouched by her. This was highly unlikely of Sameera. Sameera was always calm and composed; neat and clean. But the Sameera she was seeing right now looked like she had been hit with the greatest of greatest tragedies. Suddenly, Sameera stood up with her plate full of food. On her way out of the dining hall, she dumped her plate in the dustbin.

She swept her eyes over the table and as expected there was no Vijay. She sighed. Pushing away her plate of food, she stood up.

Rayana looked at her sceptically. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"You've been acting weirdly since you came back from Vijay's office," Anushka added. "Did something happen there?"

Danielle shook her head. "I am fine. You guys carry on." She grabbed her plate filled with untouched food and walked towards the exit. She dumped the plate in the dustbin before walking out.

The conversation with Vijay, Sameer looking like a wreck and Arianna's weird behaviour was becoming too much for her. She felt in her bones that something was off and the thing affecting Vijay and Sameera were the same. She just didn't know what it was.

She pulled out of her solemn reverie when someone yanked her left arm. Danielle turned back with a startled expression. Joanna Khaling was standing behind her.

"What do you want?" Danielle asked, curtly. Even though she had absolutely no reason to hate Joanna, she still hated her. And Danielle hated the fact that she hated Joanna. The reason was so stupid that she didn't like acknowledging it- she hated how close Joanna was to Xavier, she hated how she whispered things to Xavier or laughed along with Xavier. It was foolish of her to hate her based on these reasons. Xavier and Joanna were only friends, after all.

Joanna looked at her remorsefully. "I am sorry. But I just had to ask..." Joanna hesitated. "Is Arianna alright? Has she said anything about her uh... mood?"

Danielle shook her head. "No."

"I am just so worried for her." Joanna sighed. "She is always the happy, friendly person but now, she is acting so weird. She is closed off and cold towards everyone. She won't even tell me what's wrong."

Danielle knew even though the two sisters were different, they still loved each other. She found it very concerning that Arianna hadn't told her sister anything as well. "Well, I will let you know if she says anything."

Joanna nodded before heading back to the dining hall.

Heading back to Xavier, Danielle thought bitterly. Immediately, she scolded herself for her ludicrous thought. She headed back to the student quarters. The walk back was silent. The dinner hall was in another building right beside the school building. Stepping out of the building, Danielle felt the October breeze caress her skin. She shivered and as a response, she hugged herself tightly.

It was eerily silent outside. The chattering from the dining had long faded into nothing. The night sky was dark and resembled an abyss. Twinkling stars which usually speckled the sky were hidden behind the thick black array of clouds. A sliver of the silver moon was visible from behind the dark clouds. The trees around her which had turned dark, swayed in the breeze. The rustle of the leaves and the occasional hooting of an owl were her only companions in the silent night. She liked the quiet; she had always found comfort in the lap of darkness and silence but today, the silence and the darkness unsettled her. The breeze picked up speed. The cold wind made her wrap her hands around herself tightly.

She hurried inside the students' quarter. The security guard was now sitting straight, alert. She climbed up the stairs and opened the door to her shared room with Arianna with the duplicate key. Before entering, she looked at the teacher's quarter, all the rooms were dark except one- Vijay's. Danielle was about to turn around when she saw a silhouette of a woman sitting on the Vijay's windowsill. Danielle gasped. It was Sameera Rathore.

She was sitting with her back towards the outside. Her head was bowed low as she shook her head. Vijay came into view shortly after. He was standing in front of her. He rested a gentle hand on her shoulder and told her something. To which, Sameera shook her head again. Gently, he cupped her face in his hands and made her look at him. By the movements of his thumbs, Danielle figured that Vijay wiped her tears. Danielle wondered what had made Sameera cry. Sameera started shaking as a vague sound of sobbing drifted into Danielle's ears. Vijay wrapped his arms around Sameera, pulling her against him. She wrapped her arms around his torso, crying.

Danielle felt that the moment was too private for her to be observing. She turned around and entered the room. The room was dark. Flicking on the light switch, she climbed into her bed. Wrapping herself in a blanket, she curled up with The Pictures of Dorian Gray in her hand. Her mind kept flickering back to what she observed just now. One thing she was sure of- whatever was bothering Vijay, it was bothering Sameera too. A realisation like a thunderbolt struck her- maybe... maybe Sameera and Vijay were dating and they were having some trouble. Maybe that's why they both looked like hell, Danielle thought.

Still, she found it incredibly hard to believe that something as petty as relationship problems would make them look like they had just survived a zombie apocalypse. But then again, it wasn't like she knew tons about love and relationships. She decided to focus back on her book. Opening the last page which she was reading, she let the fictional world pull herself back in.

It had only been ten minutes when she saw it. An ominous message is etched on the top of a page. Written messily with black ink pen was one line- the quality of mercy is strained, so beware of darkness.

Danielle raised her eyebrows reading the line.

"That's one creative way of telling 'I am scared of dark'", she scoffed. Reading those lines again, she felt that there was a deeper meaning to it. Otherwise, why would someone quote Shakespeare's line wrong? If the person, about whom the writer was speaking, wasn't all that inclined to forgive, then, why was the writer asking people to stay cautious of the darkness?

Danielle had read thousands of lines like this scribbled in the library books- most were either dirty jokes or poor attempts at delivering sexual innuendos, but she had never read something so ominous.

She looked at the digital clock on her bedside table. 20:27 glowed in neon green. There were another thirteen minutes before the students and teachers started returning. Suddenly, the lights in her room went out. The windows of her room slammed shut with a loud, deafening thud. Danielle gasped. The book from her hand tumbled to the floor. Realising that it was about to rain, she calmed down. Rain wasn't a very rare occurrence in Cherrapunji, in fact, it was nearly a regular guest.

She extended her hands towards her bedside table, aiming for her torch but then, but decided against it. Getting off her bed, she opened the door and slid outside quietly. The corridor was pitch black and dead silent. She took a right turn and ventured down the pitch-black corridor. By the time she was at the dead-end, her eyes had gotten accustomed to the darkness. She saw the wooden door of the library. A humungous rusty lock hung. She pulled out a bobby pin from her hair and put it inside the keyhole. Within a few seconds, the lock fell from the latch. Before it could hit the ground, Danielle caught it. Placing it beside the door, she opened the door and slid inside the library.

SANNAYA!

i have my exam tomorrow (pre-boards) and i am writing *cries*. but tbh, it is such a good stress reliever. anyways, don't forget to vote and let me know your thoughts!!