Stepping into Pepper's room was like venturing into an abyss rather than the lair of a rich, mean girl. The darkness enveloped me with suffocating intensity, like a moonless night deep in the woods. A tangible sense of foreboding weighed down on the room, settling like an invisible shroud. An unpleasant, lingering odor clung to the air, adding to the unsettling atmosphere.
"Pepper," I called out with growing desperation, the echo of my voice magnified in the inky blackness. My outstretched hands fumbled in the dark, desperately seeking a glimmer of hope in the form of a light switch. "Pepper!" I called her name again, the urgency escalating with each repetition, but the silence that followed remained oppressive.
Amidst the disorienting darkness, a feeble, dim light beckoned me from a few
