Avellino District I
The hygienic, clinical environment of the hospital room was defined by its cold, white walls and the harsh, unrelenting glare of fluorescent lights overhead. The pungent scent of iodophors and chlorine hung heavy in the air, reminding people that they were isolated from the rest of the world.
Amid this antiseptic setting, a young girl, not a day older than seven, stirred from her slumber. Her eyes, a shade of crimson not found in any ordinary child, remained a mysterious secret concealed from casual observers. Yet it was her unusually long nails that hinted at something extraordinary, something unnatural.
As she awoke, she sat up on the sterile hospital bed, her feet swinging idly in the air, a simple, innocent gesture typical of children her age.
'I am bored. What should I do?'