Dylan's POV
Childhood
At first, I searched for Eliza before stepping into the school.
Where is she? Her parents said she was here.
I walked in. That's when I saw her bag—lying on the floor beside the gate, soaked from the rain.
What? Why is her bag here? Where's Eliza?
Then a crowd near equipment room caught my attention. In confusion, i headed there. I patted a boy's shoulder to tell him to move. He turned to look at me and backed away in shock. Everyone is scared of me here so i thought that's why he did so. But to my surprise everyone backed away, arranging way for me.
The crowd outside the equipment room was thicker than I expected.
I pushed through, brushing past people who stepped away the moment they saw me. I didn't care what they thought—I just needed to know what was going on.
Then I saw the open door.
And inside—
My heart nearly stopped.
"Eliza…"
She was lying on the cold floor. Unmoving.
The nurse was kneeling beside her, checking her pulse, speaking softly to the teachers standing nearby. Her face was pale. Her lips were slightly parted. She didn't even flinch when the light hit her face.
"Eliza!" I rushed forward, but a teacher held me back for a second.
"Dylan—wait. She's being taken care of—"
"No, let me through!" I snapped, and they let me pass.
I dropped beside her on my knees.
She looked... nothing like the Eliza I knew.
Blank. Empty. Still.
The nurse looked at me. "Are you family?"
"She's my sister," I said quickly, voice cracking.
She nodded. "She's alive—but unresponsive. Her pulse is low. She must've been in here all night. We're trying to keep her warm and conscious."
"Why didn't you search for her while she was here two nights?"she asked.
"Two nights?" My breathing stopped. "They are not at same home. I called Eliza's parents. They will reach soon" principal said.
"Why calling them? They didn't even notice she wasn't at home." I shouted out of control. I am gonna banish them. I punched the floor in anger.
My eyes darted to her face again. "Why isn't she waking up?"
"She's exhausted. Frightened. We're doing what we can."
I reached out, gently taking her hand. It was cold and stiff.
"Eliza," I whispered, "It's me. I'm here now. You're safe, okay?"
Nothing.
Not even a twitch.
And that silence… it was worse than any scream.
I looked at the nurse. "Why was she in here? Who did this?"
One of the teachers sighed. "We don't know yet. The door was shut from the outside. We found her this morning when these kids came in to take basketball. " Pointing at 3rd graders. "but by then she'd already passed out." She continued. I saw Claire hiding inside the crowd when i looked at him. Anger and suspicion set in.
I felt a storm rise inside me.
She was left in here. Alone. In the dark. Scared. While the rest of the world slept.
I looked around the room. The walls felt like they were closing in on me.
But more than anything, I looked at her. My little sister. Strong, stubborn, loud Eliza. Reduced to this.
I pressed her hand to my forehead. "Please wake up... please…"
She didn't move.
But I didn't leave.
I wouldn't.
Nurse tried to wake her up. She gave her a injection but still no use.
"I need to find what happened? I wanna see the CCTV visuals." I sneered in anger. Principal nodded.Just then i heard Eliza's cough. I looked at her with hope. Her lips parted.. her rosy and soft lips were pale and cracky. I immediately took my bottle and gave her some water.
"She need to be sent to a hospital as soon as possible." Nurse said. I immediately scooped her up in my arms and held her close. I rushed towards my dad's hospital in my car.
_______
I gathered her gently into my arms and shut the car door with urgency. Without wasting a second, I rushed into the emergency room and carefully placed her onto the hospital bed.
I waited outside the emergency room. Walking back and forth.. Then i sat down... I ran my hands through my hair.
I heard the footsteps before I saw him—Dad, rushing in like the world was on fire. His eyes darted around the emergency room, searching for something, or someone.
"Dylan?" he asked, breathless. "What happened? Who's hurt?"
I stood up slowly, my throat dry. I looked him straight in the eyes.
"It's Eliza," I said, my voice tight. "She was locked inside the equipment room… for two nights."
He froze. "What?"
I nodded, jaw clenched so hard it ached.
"No one noticed. No one looked for her. Not even the teachers. Not even her so called parents. She was left there in the dark—alone, terrified. By the time they found her this morning, she was unconscious."
Dad just stood there, trying to process it all, but I couldn't stop. The words were pouring out now.
"I—I saw her, Dad. She wasn't moving. Her lips were dry. Her hands were ice cold."
I swallowed hard. "She looked like… like she'd given up."
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to calm the storm building inside me.
"And the worst part?" I looked at him, voice sharp. "It wasn't an accident. Someone did this to her. On purpose."
His eyes widened in horror.
But I wasn't looking for sympathy. I was looking for justice.
Because someone locked my sister in the dark… and walked away.
And I wouldn't let that go.
He took deep breaths and went inside the emergency room. Her so called parents didn't reached here yet.... If i could take her with me, i would have took her from them. I took some breaths to calm down. After sometime the door of the emergency room opened and the nurses pulling stretcher which Eliza was laid on.
They headed ICU so, i followed them. She was still unconscious not saying anything. Not moving not smiling. I gulped repeatedly..
"Dylan" my dad patted my shoulder.
"She is fine.. but she still needs care." He comforted me.
"Dad, can't we take her with us?" I asked.. "No Dylan it's not possible yet. Wait for some more time" he said and i nodded.
Just then, they arrived. Not real parents. Just Uncle Derick and Aunt Elza are her real parents.Eliza's so-called guardians. No, not them… not these cold, heartless creatures.
They walked in and casually sat beside us. Not a flicker of guilt. No regret. Not even concern in their expressions. I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms as I stared at them in disgust.
Dad gently patted my hand, trying to keep me grounded. I didn't even look at him—I was too focused on them.
Then I heard it.
"Another stack of money wasted on this girl," her 'father' muttered under his breath.
Monsters.
"Why are we even taking care of her? We should just dump her somewhere and be done with it," her 'mother' hissed.
My jaw locked. I wanted to scream. Dad's face had gone red—he was barely keeping his rage in check.
"For the sake of pride," her father replied coldly. "We need her to get good grades. If she doesn't, we'll lose all respect in the family."
That was all she was to them. A tool. A number. A means to status.
Not a daughter.
Not a life.
Just a trophy they could polish—until it stop shining.
"Dylan, stay there" my dad said and pointed infront of his office. Then walked towards them. I teach Dad's office door and gave them a last stare before stepping in.
My phone beeped by the message from our principal. It was the CCTV visuals i asked for. I punched the wall.
I knew it. I knew it was Claire. He did it.. He did this to her... Brat.... I want to kill him....
Message
From: Principal
We dismissed him.
I want to see him. I already told him to stay away from her and he did this?...