After I left the hospital, they sent me to an orphanage.
It took only a few days for me to notice something was terribly wrong there.
The other kids did not laugh. They did not play. They moved like shadows. Many had bruises on their arms or faces. Some cried quietly in corners at night. Some cried even during the day.
It took me a week to understand why.
That day was the birthday of a girl in the orphanage. Even on her birthday, she looked empty. She wore no nice dress. No smile. Not even a spark of excitement. Everyone knew it was her birthday, but nobody wished her. Nobody celebrated.
It felt wrong. Birthdays are supposed to be warm. So I wished her.
She looked startled. Then one by one, the other children gathered their courage and wished her too. Soon the mood shifted. They played. They laughed. The room brightened with smiles. For the first time since I arrived, it felt like a real home.
Then it ended.
Everything died the moment the owner of the orphanage stepped inside.
Everyone froze. Every smile vanished. Fear filled the room like cold smoke. Everyone went silent. Everyone… except the birthday girl. She was still smiling because she had not seen him yet.
He placed his hand on her shoulder.
She turned. Her face changed at once. It was like watching a candle get blown out. Her smile fell. Her eyes widened in terror. Her whole body trembled.
He asked if it was her birthday. She barely nodded.
He smiled at her and wished her. Then he said, very softly, 'Come to my room, sweetheart. I have a present for you.'
The moment he left the room, she collapsed into tears.
"I still remember that night with every detail of it," Indra whispered. His voice dropped lower, as if he were afraid the memories themselves might hear him and return. "I remember how some kids slipped silently back to their beds, pretending to sleep. I remember how others stayed behind, trying to console the crying girl even though they were close to tears themselves. I remember how children lay stiff and unmoving under their blankets, like they had turned into corpses. Some hid beneath their beds and sobbed until their throats hurt. Others gathered in small groups in corners, clinging to each other for warmth, as if their tiny bodies could form a shield against monsters.
And I remember the way they reacted when I asked them what happens in his room. Their faces changed completely. Some turned pale, others trembled, and a few simply stared into nothing, their eyes glassy with fear. None of them answered. They did not need to. Their silence was already an answer.
But the most disturbing thing I remember from that night was the sound."
Indra's eyes darkened.
"The smacking. The moaning of a beast. The whimpers. The beds creaking. I heard it all when I crept down the hall and tried to peek through the crack in his door. I was curious. I did not understand. And that curiosity is what cursed me.
Every sound I heard became a nightmare that chased me every night after that. At the time, I still thought nightmares disappeared when I opened my eyes. I did not know they were only the shadows of something far worse."
He paused. The air felt heavier for a moment.
"Some nights later, I went to bed very late because the nightmares would not leave me. I woke up again around midnight. It was still storming outside. The wind screamed against the windows. I felt thirsty, so I went downstairs to get some water.
One window was not shut properly. The wind kept slamming it against the frame. I climbed onto a stool to close it. I pulled with all my strength, but it would not move. Then suddenly it loosened, and the stool slipped. I fell hard onto the floor.
Because I had barely slept for days, the cold floor felt strangely peaceful. Without realizing it, I fell asleep there."
Indra swallowed, then continued.
"When I woke up, I was not on the floor anymore. I was lying on a bed. My hands were tied. My mouth was plastered. The owner stood beside me with a whip in his hand.
Before I could even understand what was happening, he brought the whip down on me."
His fingers tightened against Isha's hair for a brief moment, then relaxed.
"That one strike did not just wake me from sleep. It shattered the naive world in my mind. The world where adults protected children. The world where nightmares ended when you opened your eyes. The world where Mom and Dad still existed somewhere.
As I struggled and screamed behind the plaster, he laughed. A loud, horrible laugh. He whipped me again. And again. And again. He kept hitting me long after I thought I would die. No… long after I thought death would be kinder than living.
Finally, he stopped.
He untied my hands. He ripped the plaster off my mouth. But the pain covered every inch of my body. I had no strength left to move, no voice left to scream. I lay there like a corpse. Motionless. Breathless. Empty.
Seeing me still, he stepped back and began unbuttoning his pants.
Just before he lowered them, the lights in the room went out. The blackout made everything vanish into darkness. But I could hear him breathing. I could hear him stepping toward me. A flash of lightning from the storm lit the room for a moment, and in that flash, I saw him crawling towards me on the bed. Naked. His face twisted like a feral beast.
He flipped me over. He pulled at my pants. I felt his hands on me. Then… what happened next…"
Indra abruptly stopped talking. His body trembled.
At that moment, Isha stirred in her sleep. Indra instantly steadied himself, gently stroked her back into stillness, and waited until she settled into deep sleep again.
When she was quiet, he said softly, "It would not be nice for this little lady's ears, so I will skip that part."
Obero nodded silently, grateful.