A crucible of Night
?Goodness wakes up disoriented in a smoke-filled, makeshift ritual chamber, finding herself abandoned after a failed human sacrifice attempt orchestrated by her friend, Samantha, and a local herbalist. Saved only by the small crucifix she wore, the ritual's end throws her attacker, Pascal, backward, causing him and the herbalist to flee in terror. Confused and aching, Goodness finds temporary refuge in the herbalist's small outbuilding. In the morning, the remorseful herbalist gives her a meager provision for transport, confirming that Samantha betrayed her and revealing the chilling truth: had she not worn the crucifix, she would have died. Goodness leaves the site of her near-death experience, traumatized but alive, carrying the burden of her friend's profound betrayal and newfound resilience.
The child they tried to wipe way his senses
The story centers on Sophia, a young girl raised as an unloved ward in the demanding Ken household by her cold and authoritative Aunty Belinda. Sophia is constantly reminded that she does not belong and is treated as a servant, living a life of perpetual scrubbing and silence. ?One afternoon, while cleaning the forbidden, locked storeroom, Sophia discovers a hidden, wooden box. Inside, she finds relics of a baby: a soft knitted blanket, a hospital wrist tag, and a face-down photograph. ?Before she can fully uncover the truth, Aunty Belinda bursts in, paralyzed by fear and rage. She violently slams the box shut, dragging Sophia out and issuing a chilling warning: "Some truths will destroy you." ?The confrontation shatters the household's façade of normalcy. Sophia realizes that the box contains a powerful and destructive secret that is intrinsically linked to her own mysterious identity, fueling her new, dangerous resolve to uncover the truth of who she really is.