“Sometimes they are, though. Like me. I can’t change who I am no matter what. I’m the daughter of the devil and that is my death sentence. That’s why I’m here.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve seen enough darkness too. My parents did the devil’s bidding, and the fires of hell came to get us,” she explains. In her eyes I see pain that mirrors my own.
“I’m sorry,” I sympathize.
“It’s okay. Life happens.”
“Candace… I don’t know where my father is. I would tell them if I knew. I would. I hate that this has happened to me and I hate what he’s done to people I love. He deserves everything he gets. I want to get out of here, but I want to leave everything. I want to…” My voice trails off as my head feels light.
Candace fades before me and comes back into focus.
She’s saying something but I don’t know what it is.
I stand up and then I’m falling.
I fall to the ground and it’s only then I can hear her. Just for a few seconds though then I lose awareness of everything.
* * *
“Moya lyubov',” Mama says and her eyes twinkle. She’s always called me her love.
We’re sitting at the table in the kitchen at home. Home in Russia the place where my mother was killed. But I’m aware I’m here.
She hands me a plate with cookies, and I smile at the sight of them, although I know it’s something to distract me. We haven’t seen my father in days.
“Spasibo Mama,” I thank her and start eating them.
She takes my hand and watches me.
Her lips part to say something more but the fog comes, and she fades away.
Thick fog engulfs my surroundings and when it clears, I’m on the staircase.
I’m aware of where I am and what’s going to happen if I’m here. My mother is going to die, and I don’t want to see that again. I can’t. It’s too much.
It’s a nightmare of a memory I don’t want because I can’t stop it.
I try to wake up, but I can’t.
I hear her scream. She screams and the sound pierces through me, compelling me to move.
I run down the stairs and I see my father plunging the knife into my mother over and over again.
Footsteps shuffle behind him and I look across the room to see a man standing in the corner.
He’s Italian with mid-length black hair and a crooked nose. His almost black eyes stare back at me with death brimming within them.
He looks straight at me and I have the urge to run away but I’m screaming so much now I can’t stop.
Arms wrap around me and carry me away. The fog comes back and then I’m with Eric.
This time the scenery doesn’t change. It just appears. He just appears before me.
I expect to see his death like I always do, but it’s just him.
“Eric?” I ask walking toward him.
He smiles at me and nods. “You have to get away from here. If you stay here there’ll be nothing left of you.”