Aparna Thakur Chapter 1 – Blood on the Hills The storm came down like a curse upon the hills, lightning tearing jagged lines across the charcoal sky as the wind screamed through the cedar trees of Dharamshala’s outskirts. Rain lashed against the windows of an old guesthouse nestled precariously on a rocky slope, its pale stone façade flickering in the electric light like something pulled from a fevered dream. Inside, the air smelled of damp wood, old secrets, and the faintest trace of blood. At the top of the narrow staircase, in Room 5, Dev Rana’s body lay sprawled across…
