AKSHARA WAS THROWN into the basement, and the door locked behind her. Five sleeping mats were neatly placed against a wall, but other than that the room was bare. Five silver haired children—three girls and two boys—surrounded her, grabbed at her hair, and sniffed her hand.
As they were children, she did not wish to harm them, and would do everything in her power not to.
“Please get away from me,” she begged them.
The children did not respond, only continued to accost her. They pulled at her clothes, and one little girl sank her teeth into Akshara’s leg, causing her to scream out in pain. But it still wasn’t enough for her to hurt the girl. Too many times she had been beaten as a child, and the memory seemed fresh even now.
One of the girls backed away from her. “I can smell it on her.
