Her grandmother was admitted for the debridement of a diabetic ulcer. I begged my seniors in the ward to let me handle her case-to debride and dress the wound every day. Even though I was practically doing a favor to them, they utilized this chance to make me do some of their work as a tradeoff. Since this was the only way to get Mily to think that I am ONLY around her to take care of her grandmother and NOT to stalk her, I couldn't say no to them.

I didn't know if Raghav really exists/existed in Mily's life. She already probably thinks I am weird after our first encounter (real encounter where I wasn't just dreaming). Now if I randomly just make her do a pop quiz on Raghav, who may not even exist, I am sure she will report me to the psychiatrist on duty.

Mily worked as a game designer in Bangalore. She was always busy drawing or lost in music. There was something captivating about the way she zoned out, as though she lived in an entirely different world. Yet, there were moments-fleeting, subtle-when I looked into her eyes and saw something deeper. A sadness, buried far beneath the surface. Her eyes seemed to carry a deep despair that keeps eating into her and she was very good at hiding it.I could never figure it out, but I wanted so badly to take it away from her, to be the person who understood.

But then again, most of the time, she was great at hiding it. Better than I could ever be at hiding my growing feelings for her.

I was terrified of letting anything slip. Scared of making her feel uncomfortable given the fact that I didn't know if she was queer. I am sure by now someone would have mentioned my amnesia to her. I didn't want to make things worse by giving her any reason to think I was a weird, gay stalker.

As I approached the hostel gates after losing track of time stalking mily, I immediately knew I had messed up. Big time. The first thing that caught my eye was Ms. Pierce, our warden, pacing back and forth with her cane, her lips pressed into a tight line. A shiver crept down my spine.

If there was one unbreakable axiom in this hellhole of a hostel, it was this: Never mess with Ms. Pierce.

From the very first day, it was made clear-Ms. Pierce wasn't just any warden. No, she could have easily been cast as the villain in a supernatural thriller. But alas, she'd found herself here, tormenting the poor souls unlucky enough to live under her rule. And she relished every moment of it.

Rumor had it that even the dean had a strange, almost reverent respect for the 60-year-old tyrant. And God only knows why, because she strutted around like she owned the place, dressed in a cloud of foundation and a shade of red lipstick that screamed 'intimidation.'

Her rules were ironclad.

Curfew at 8 p.m., no exceptions. No outsiders in the rooms, especially men. Damage a hostel property? Kiss your privileges goodbye.

If a bulb went out in your room, it was automatically your fault, and the punishment? A week of no electricity. There was no pleading with her, no sympathy.If you were caught in her web, you were stuck no escape whatsoever.

Hostel survival depended on one thing: avoiding Pierce. And if she came around on her random, witch-like rounds, mostly in midnights, the only salvation was a timely text in the group chat: Pierce raid incoming.

But even that didn't always save people. I remember one poor girl-a final-year student, stressed out of her mind ahead of her exams. When her room's electricity cut out, she made the fatal mistake of sneaking in an electrician. Pierce caught her red-handed and had her rusticated-just a week before her final exams. Five years of hard work, down the drain.

They say Pierce herself tampers with the fuses, just to frame the kids she didn't like at that particular day. I heard she tampers with the fuse wires to the room and make them suffer and outage for a week ,waiting for the person to sneak in an electrician so she could rusticate them . I wouldn't put it past her.

So here I was, standing in front of the hostel entrance at 7:59 p.m. Fifty-nine seconds until curfew, and there was Pierce, glaring at me like a hawk eyeing its prey.

I bolted up the stairs, two at a time, my heart thundering in my chest as I pushed through the entrance door. The click of the grandfather clock next to Pierce's office began its dreaded chime, marking 8 p.m. sharp.

Pierce's eyes snapped toward me, and she leveled her cane in my direction. Her gaze was piercing (pun intended), her lips curling into a menacing smile as she spoke without even looking directly at me.

"I have my eyes on you," she hissed, her voice low and threatening, "and when you slip up, don't think your memory problems will save you. The amnesia kid, huh? That won't mean a thing when I deal with you. And don't think you escaped today"

Then, with one swift motion, she slammed her cane against the door, locking it with a deafening clang. The sound echoed in the silence, and I stood there, frozen, watching as she walked away, her figure retreating into the shadows.

I entered my room and flipped the light switch. Nothing. The entire room was shrouded in darkness. My heart sank-there was no doubt in my mind that this was Pierce's doing. She was probably hoping I'd panic, call an electrician, and fall into her trap so she could catch me red-handed. That way, she could finally have me punished, her twisted way of savoring my suffering in a room without power.

But I wasn't going to give her that satisfaction.

"I don't care," I muttered to myself defiantly. "I'll study with flashlights if I have to."

"What will you do if it's too hot without a fan?"

"I'll sleep naked," I replied smugly, then froze.

Wait. WTF? Who was that?

Frantically, I fumbled for my phone to turn on its flashlight, but I couldn't find it. My hand moved blindly across the bed, searching-and then it landed on something. Something warm. Skin.

A thigh. Someone was sitting on my bed.

Before I could scream, a hand clamped over my mouth, pulling me toward the bed. My pulse skyrocketed. I shoved back, pushing us both onto the bed with all my weight, the tension rising as we tangled in the sheets, limbs pressing against each other.

"Shh... it's me, Mily," a familiar voice whispered. Her hands slowly released my mouth.

I gasped, my heart racing as I processed what was happening. "Mily? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I... I came to see you."

Her answer caught me off guard. I could feel my breath catching, half from the surprise and half from the fact that she had been sitting there, waiting. In the dark. Mily was waiting for me. She wanted to see me. Mily misses me. Mily loves me. My heart did a summersault with the excitement of these thoughts.

"What?" I tried to hide my excitement. "Okay, um, I'm sorry about the lack of electricity..."

"No problem," she replied smoothly. "It was still on when I got here-went out just a couple of minutes ago. Don't worry, though. I called an electrician. He should be here soon."

I bolted upright. "You did WHAT?".

"Relax! He's just someone from campus-he's the son of a patient. I thought he'd help, and since you're a doctor, maybe he'll charge you less."

"No! He can't come here-if Pierce finds out...". Okay now Pierce is gonna get exactly what she wants. "Call him and tell him not to come."

She frowned. "Why are you so scared? You're acting weird. He must be close to the gates by now"

"I'm not scared!" I whispered fiercely. "Just... if he's coming, tell him to climb through the window, okay? The front door's latched."

"The window?" She hesitated, then smiled mischievously. "Alright, if that's what you want..."

I had no idea what I was doing . I had a feeling that this was not gonna end well but I don't want Mily to think that I am a coward. A coward I am, running away from my forgotten past and all but I was not gonna be a coward in front of Mily.

I heard someone tapping the window. Must be the electrician. I opened the window for him. He came in.

He was so confused on why I made him come through the window and so was Mily. I explained them both the incredulous and stupid rules of Ms. Pierce.

"Then you could've just told me this Aira. I would've understood. I don't want you to get into any trouble. Especially because of me". Mily said, her voice laced with guilt. "But, this is gonna be fine , lemme see if I teach this Pierce a lesson" She smirked her voice full of mischief. I was sure that if the lights had been on, I could've seen her eyes twinkling.

That really boosted my confidence.

I nodded, adrenaline buzzing through me, and cracked the door open, glancing around. Empty. I led the electrician to the fuse box in the hallway, my heart hammering in my chest. Every second felt like an eternity.

You got this, Aira. Relax. Nothing can go wrong.

He was almost done.

The electrician was almost done when Mily suddenly rushed out of my room, holding my phone. Her face was pale, eyes wide with concern. "Aira, you've got a text... It says PIERCE RAID ALERT."

I felt the ground beneath my feet disappear. I felt the cold bite of panic freezing my insides.

I immediately pulled the electrician with one hand and Mily with the other.

Wait, I'm not finished-" the electrician said .

"No time!" I hissed, shoving him inside.

And then, I saw her.

Pierce.

Emerging from the shadows like a vengeful ghost, her long black hair draped over her shoulders, eyes burning with fury. She had changed into her blood-red satin gown, a grim reminder of her nightly rounds. The smudged kajal around her eyes only intensified her cruel gaze. She saw us. She saw me and Mily.

I could feel my body locking up in terror.

I dragged Mily inside, slamming the door shut behind us, my heart pounding so loudly I could barely hear myself think. My hands were trembling uncontrollably, and the air was too thick-I couldn't breathe. I started wheezing.

THUMP. THUMP.

Pierce's cane slammed into the door. The entire room seemed to shake under the force of her blows.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" she shrieked, her voice reverberating through the walls like a curse.

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A/N:

Dear reader thank you so much for reading. I hope you liked this part. Disclaimer: the characters here are completely fictional nothing is meant to hurt anyone's feelings. All the images are generated by meta ai .Kindly tell me if u find anything wrong with the story , any criticism is welcome.Don't forget to vote if you liked this story . Okay see you on Thursday with the next part have a great week ahead. Lots of love .