Chapter 72: Price of Desire
The sun had long sunk behind the jagged school walls. Shadows stretched across the barren land like broken limbs. The wind rasped through brittle leaves, whispering secrets only the night could understand.
We stood before him—a thin boy, eyes darting like trapped fireflies. Riyan and Arin flanked him, silent sentinels. He looked up, his gaze trembling under the weight of fear.
"Who is he?" I asked.
He hesitated, eyes flickering, as if searching for courage among ghosts. "Subh...he was my friend," he whispered. "We met at a concert. He always talked about Suhina. Said she saw him...saw right through him."
I studied his face. In his eyes, I caught the glimmer of something fractured. He looked away, retreating back into his silence.
"What happened then?" Riyan's voice cut through the air, sharp and unforgiving.
The boy took a breath, brittle as the wind. "One day, he came to me...broken. Suhina had rejected him. He kept saying, 'I can't breathe without her.' They laughed at him...everyone did." His hands twisted nervously. "That's when he got the idea."
"Idea?" I leaned in, voice barely above a whisper.
The boy nodded, his eyes distant. "I'm from Assam...near my village, there's a place...Mayong."