It was a quiet afternoon in the school library during free period. Ira was sitting in the far corner, sketchbook open, when she noticed the girl again — the same quiet one from the back row during lunch. Alina. She sat alone at a table near the window, staring blankly at an open book, eyes distant and sad.
Ira hesitated, then walked over and sat across from her.
"Hi… I'm Ira," she said softly, offering a small smile. "I've seen you in class. You're always so quiet."
Alina looked up slowly. Her eyes were red-rimmed, like she'd been crying recently.
"I… don't talk much," she whispered.
Ira nodded gently. "That's okay. I don't either, sometimes."
A long silence stretched between them. Then Ira asked, voice gentle:
"You looked really upset the other day… At the lunch time. When the girls were talking about the Krossvales. Did something happen?"
Alina's lower lip trembled. She looked down at her hands.
After a long pause, her voice broke.
"My elder sister… Lana. She was raped and killed by the Krossvales ."
Ira's breath caught.
Alina's eyes filled with tears.
"She was twenty-four. Beautiful. Kind. She loved singing… just like me. They took her one night when she was with her boyfriend. No doubt she was raped. I bet they made her boyfriend watch everything. Because they do horrible things like that. I know her boyfriend Ivan would have surely begged them… He loved my sister a lot. "
Alina took a deep breath.
"My sister was such a nice girl. An angel. But, those monsters destroyed her. Then they killed her boyfriend too. Even their bodies were never found. "
Tears rolled down Alina's cheek.
"She was my whole world… We were both raised in an orphanage. And now, without her, the world seems meaningless to me."
Ira's heart ached so deeply she couldn't speak.
Without a word, she pulled Alina into a warm, tight hug.
Alina stiffened for a second — then broke.
She buried her face in Ira's shoulder and sobbed quietly.
Ira held her close, stroking her long hair.
"Don't worry Alina . The world isn't meaningless. There are people who do care for you. I also do. And those monsters.....one day, they will surely pay for their sins ," Ira whispered fiercely. "I believe that. They will ."
Days turned into weeks.
They began sitting together at lunch—quiet corner table, no one else invited. They were soon bestfriends.
One quiet Thursday, they skipped the last two periods and slipped up to the rooftop .
The sky stretched wide in a soft, endless blue — the kind that whispered of new beginnings. A warm breeze drifted through, carrying the lingering scent of rain-kissed earth. Spring had already arrived.
Alina sat on the edge of the rooftop, legs swaying above open air, her school skirt lifting and settling in the tender hush of the afternoon breeze. Sunlight threaded through her short, shoulder-length hair, turning the dark strands into quiet ribbons of gold. Her eyes rested half-closed, lashes lowered like soft curtains, as she hummed a tune Lana once sang—low, distant, almost sacred.
A few feet away, Ira sat cross-legged on the warm concrete, sketchbook balanced against her knees. Her pencil moved as if it were breathing with her—light, reverent strokes shaping the curve of Alina's cheek, the gentle slope of her nose, the fragile shadows beneath her lashes. She did not merely draw the girl; she gathered the sunlight on her skin, the breeze in her skirt, the small, secret smile trembling at her lips—and pressed the quiet happiness of the moment into paper, as if afraid time might steal it away.
When Ira finished, she turned the page toward Alina.
Alina stared.
Her breath caught.
The drawing showed her—not just her face, but the feeling of her: soft, alive, carrying light even after so much dark.
Tears welled in Alina's eyes.
"This is the first time anyone has drawn me. "
She breathed.
"You… made me look so happy," she whispered.
Ira smiled, voice soft.
"You look so beautiful when you are smiling. And you are actually happy . Right now."
Alina reached out and touched the drawing with trembling fingers.
"Thank you," she said closed the distance and hugged her tightly. "You are the one who made me happy again."
Ira hugged back—warm.
In that moment, on the rooftop under a wide blue sky, two girls held each other close—an embrace filled with nothing but pure, unspoken friendship.
After 10 days.
The rooftop stairs were bathed in the soft orange glow of late afternoon, the sky streaked with pink and gold. A gentle breeze moved through the open landing, carrying the distant sound of the city below—horns, voices, life that felt far away.
Ira and Alina sat side by side on the top step, knees almost touching. Alina had been humming quietly, but she stopped when she noticed Ira staring at her own hands, charcoal smudged across her fingers, eyes far away.
" You said you will tell me something. "Alina asked softly.
"Yes."
Ira looked out at the horizon, voice low and unsteady.
"When we first came to Draxen… it was mid-night. The forest road was dark, the car broke down. I stepped out to breathe—just for a minute. I walked into the trees. And then I saw him."
Alina went very still.
"Vernon," Ira continued, barely above a whisper. "He was standing in a clearing. Moonlight on his face. Long dark hair tied back. Black coat open. He looked… beautiful. And terrifying. Like something carved out of the night itself."
She swallowed.
"There was a wounded man . Begging for his life. Vernon, he…he counted. From nine to zero. Each number felt like a nail in my chest. When he reached zero, he drove his hand into the man's stomach. With brass knuckles. I heard the rip. I saw the blood. I saw him pull out… part of him. The man screamed until he couldn't anymore."
Ira's voice cracked.
"I gasped. He looked right at me. Through the trees. Through the dark. Those eyes… they saw me. "
She pressed her palms to her eyes.
"Since that night, he's been in my head. In every drawing. Every shadow. Every time I close my eyes, I see his face. His hand. The blood. The way he looked at me—like he knew I'd never forget."
Silence fell between them.
Alina reached over and gently pulled Ira's hands away from her face.
Alina didn't speak at first. She simply wrapped both arms around Ira and held her—tight, steady, warm.
"You saw the monster," Alina whispered against her hair. " Maybe you are in a trauma ."
Ira clung to her, shaking.
"I don't know how to stop seeing him," she admitted.
"You don't have to stop," Alina said quietly. " Just be strong. Everything will be alright. The haunting memory will fade away. "
To be continued...