The Originals

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Orchid Gray

She bolted through the backdoors, breathless. She stepped outside, seeing Silverleaf's greenery. Fareeda's dead, Fareeda's dead. "Stoll, hurry!" Orchid shouted as they ran towards the glass greenhouse under his instructions. She never knew there was a greenhouse, it was hidden behind a few trees.

The door was ajar, unlocked. She pushed it open, hearing a loud creak. Please, let Saira be okay, she prayed silently. Orchid rushed inside, finding bright flowers all around her. "Saira?" And then heard quiet sobs. The heavy scent of florals hit her right in the face as dirt squished under her feet.

"Saira?" She walked around rows of veggies being grown, seeing a crying Saira hunched over something. No, not something, but someone. It was Fareeda's corpse in Saira's arms. "Oh my gosh, Saira—" She felt as if she was going to vomit.

Saira's head snapped around as tears streaked her cheeks like two rivers. "S-She's gone," she wept, cradling Fareeda's body. "It's all my fault, I-I should have warned her about the gothic literature club..." The girl's frizzy black hair was coated with dried blood and her skin seemed flayed. She could see Fareeda's skin tissue and her veins, it was awful to see someone without their skin. Orchid felt as if she was going to throw up.

"I called Gil and the rest of the cops roaming around Silverleaf," Stoll said, phone in hand, coming over, but stopping once seeing Fareeda. "Is that...?" He looked pale-faced and quite frankly, ill. "Oh God."

"Fareeda Patel? Yes." Orchid crouched down, guiding Saira's arm. Saira looked utterly terrified, still in shock from everything. "Come," she said softly, trying to coax her. "We need to step away, the police are arriving here shortly. They need to help Fareeda—"

Saira struggled, a strangled noise dying at the back of her throat. "No, no," she cried, "I can't leave her!" She grasped Fareeda's hand, squeezing it. "I-I found her bed abandoned and it's almost 4: 30 AM so I figured something was w-wrong. I went to the greenhouse because she told me so last night—" She covered her mouth, muffling a whimper. "I found her dead."

Stoll joined them on the floor. "Oh, Levine..." He shook his head. "That's horrible." Saira bawled and Orchid's heart ached in remorse. Fareeda's dead, she realized. That means there's one more name left on the hit list. Bailey Preston. But she was being taken away, right? Would she be safe?

"I let my guard down de-despite knowing her name was on that goddamned diary page," Saira lamented, her breath ragged. She clutched Fareeda's lifeless hand as Orchid rubbed her back. Saira tossed a pained glance at Fareeda. "All I keep seeing is the bloodied dirt under her black-painted fingernails." She released another sob. "I-I can't let her go like this."

"Saira," Orchid said, tears welling in her eyes and she tried her best not to cry. What could she say? It seemed Saira had a close connection to Fareeda all of a sudden. "You're going to be okay."

"I'm never going to be okay ever again!" she hollered, trembling. She shook so violently, quivering. Orchid wrapped her arms around her in an attempt to warm the girl up.

Stoll whispered, "What Gray meant is that things will be okay. And even if you're not fine, we'll always be there for you." Finally, Saira let go of Fareeda's hand, shuddering. She curled up in a ball, latching into Orchid and Stoll.

"Please, don't leave me," she sobbed. Orchid blinked, feeling guilty that Saira was so vulnerable. If I go to the cops with our findings of the gothic literature club and Stanley Crawford, she thought. Then I risk all of this—Stoll's and Saira's lives in ruins.

Suddenly, footsteps approached them. Orchid glanced over her shoulder to see a navy-haired woman standing over them with another officer. She heard the names Detective Erin Hollison and Officer Roger North being tossed around the gossip midst of Silverleaf Academy.