Aniela stood sunken eyed at her locker, spacing out looking inside for the past five minutes. Lately, she could feel the pressure of the world weighing more and more on her. But in the end, everything will be back to normal. Her and her mother. Like it should be.

Suddenly, something caught her diamonds. There was a little piece of paper sitting down in her locker. It was very unusual for her usual mess. She picked it up. It was folded in half and it had her name on it. She looked around. She was alone in the tiny hallway, everyone was sitting at their usual hang outs. While she opted for staring at her locker. She opened the note, and there she saw the ugly handwriting of her past friend.

Aniela

We haven't spoKen in a long time and I am still very angry at you

But ive learned something to tell you

Something important

Its about ur mother

Pls hear me out, come at our spot on friday night

Nadia

At first, Aniela wanted to throw the paper away, but then, it's about her mother. What possibly did she learn?

She needs to know. She needs to know everything about her mother.

Aniela walked through the old road and gotten to the cemetery. There she saw the black-haired girl, well the hair was starting to look more blonde as it wasn't dyed in a while. She smoked a cigarette and looked up at her.

"So you came. Course you did. Cause it's about your mother." She took her last drag and put out the cigarette on the wall.

"Listen, this is way too serious topic to talk about at the cemetery. And it's damn cold. My dad took his girlfriend out, let's stay at my house for a bit. Don't worry, I won't keep you long."

And she turned around, not looking if Aniela is following her.

They get to her estate, and Aniela followed Nadia to the last house. She didn't like the idea of going to her house, but it was about her mother. Nadia opened the door and moved out the way.

"Ladies first." She said emotionlessly.

Aniela walked in. The house was a mess. Shoes and clothes were thrown around. Her ex-friend walked in behind her.

"Go straight up, till you see a kitchen. Sit down there."

Aniela followed this order. She looked around the house. She saw Nadia's shoes sprawled, and her cigarette butts. Lost homework was chilling on the kitchen counter. Aniela sat down at the messy table, covered in old magazines. Nadia sat in front of her. She lit a new cigarette.

"So, we are here to talk about your mother. Cause that's the only reason you'd talk to me, cause I'm a waste of time." She took a drag.

"I've been experimenting lately, with substances and stuff. And I've talked to this one ginger guy. He told me of this one woman, who had a shitty narcissistic husband who abused her, which she had to stay with it cause then she'd lose her child. This woman, was your mother Aniela."

Aniela stared at her. "What? How would she lose me?"

"Cause she did drugs. Hard drugs. She was good fun to be around I suppose. Now, would you like to take a fucking guess how she died?" Nadia leaned in and looked her deep in her eyes.

"How?"

"She overdosed Aniela, she overdosed. Your pretty little angelic mother, overdosed."

"You're lying." Aniela snapped.

"I am not. And do you remember that pretty little ring you found at that shack? I've been researching what possibly could've happened at that fucking shack for years, and I accidentally found out now. Fucking hilarious."

"You're lying!"

"Let me finish!" Nadia growled at her.

"It was your mother's, exactly like you probably expected. But you tried to ignore it, didn't you? Did drugs since she was a teen. Married your father and did even more." Nadia started chuckling. "Or maybe she was acting like a victim. Like you always do. Your mother died 6 years ago, yet you only care about your bitch of a mother." Aniela grabbed her collar. "Never, EVER call her a bitch again. You are lying to me!”

"Am not, ask the ginger yourself."

"You are enjoying this, aren't you?"

Nadia chuckled unhappily, then pouted. "Aw? Are you sad? You deserve it! You dropped me as if I was nothing! All those years, and you chucked me away, like John, like my mom, like my dad. You really think I'm currently living with my stupid dad? Look around, I'm alone."

"You are lying."

"Look at you. Obsessed with just yourself. You live in your own world, not giving a shit about others. Do you know why you had no friends? Cause you are so egotistical."

Aniela let the girl go. She didn't know what to do. She was struggling. Struggling on the inside.

"Did reality finally hit you? Oh, and a little snippet about your mother."

Nadia put out her cigarette, stared at the flames being put out while she crushed it.

"She was a whore. Fucked every man on the block. Such an angelic woman." Nadia jeered at her.

And that's when Aniela broke. She crashed completely. She grabbed a knife at of the knife rack and slung it at Nadia. The girl jumped back in time, with just a gash on her cheek. Her smirk disappeared while she stared at Aniela.

"You, you are insane."

"You are lying!" Aniela went forward trying to get a stab at her. Aniela needed a sacrifice. A sacrifice to bring her mother back. She was perfect. Nadia dodged her knife and ran to the other side of the kitchen.

"Jesus Christ, a family full of psychopaths." She ran out of the kitchen. Aniela ran after her.

"You are lying! You are lying! You are lying! Your lying! Your lying! Yor lieing!

Yair loueay! Sjenwjshdhw! Sacrifice!

Sacrifice! Sacrifice! SACRIFICE!"

Aniela chanted while she ran after Nadia into the living room. Nadia grabbed her phone from the charge and dodged another slash at her life. She ran at the fireplace and grabbed a key of it. While Aniela watched her, staring at her like prey. "Sacrifice."

"You are insane." Nadia threw a candle at her. Then ran out to the hallway, barely brushing past flabbergasted Aniela. They ran together through a small hallway, which felt as if it was stretching out. Nadia opened a door and jumped in without turning the lights on. Aniela started pulling at the handle. "Sacrifice!"

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"Fuck off bitch! I'm calling the Gardaí." She locked the door. Aniela frustrated banged on the door and even tried to stab at it, which didn't work out in her favour. She stood and panted. Panted and stared at the door. She could've stood there for hours, but then she heard. "Help, I'm being chased by a psychopath in my own home."

No. No she can't go to jail. She needed to finish her duty. But then it dawned at her. The perfect sacrifice. The person who truly deserved death. She put the knife in her jacket and walked to her bike.

Aniela was trotting towards her father's morgue with the bag in her back. She could hear the spirits cheering her on. She heard her, cheering her on. She walked to the morgues entrance. The door was locked. She knocked on the door.

Three slow knocks. She heard cursing and sluggish walking to the door.

"How can I help you... Aniela? What are you doing here?"

"Let me in. We must talk."

"Aniela I'm in the middle of something-

"Let. Me. In. We must talk."

He silently moved out of the way, looking warily at her eyes. At her pale face, filled with an emotion he didn't recognise.

"Sit." She pointed at the chair at Amanda's office.

"Why?"

"Sit."

"Aniela-"

"Sit!"

He sat.

"We need to talk about my mother."

“Do you suddenly care about her after 6 years?"

"Shut up! I always cared about her!" Aniela yelled, but quickly composed herself.

"I've been informed, that my mother did drugs. Were you aware of this?"

"What are you on about?" Yet he didn't look at her. He didn't dare. The monster.

"I think you knew well. And you didn't help, did you? Ambroży Ostrowski, you weren't a good husband, were you?"

"How dare you talk to me like that, young lady?!" He snapped back at her.

"You ignore me all the time, and now you come and ridicule me? What right do you think you have? I'm older than you. You won't understand."

"Enough! Enough of lying! She was just a pretty little toy, wasn't she? You could just throw her around like you wanted. When you got mad, you would just do everything to irritate her. And you never gave a shit about what she wanted. And I ignored you huh? Are you forgetting the fact that when I was ten you told me to leave you alone!”

"What are you talking about? I actually loved her, until she had you." He glared at her.

"What? What does that change?"

"Well, she started caring more about you than me."

Aniela couldn't believe her ears. "You must be joking."

"You took her away from me, Aniela. All she cared about is you. Just you. Her fucking child." He greeted his teeth at the last sentence.

"And you know what Aniela? She'd be disappointed with you. Very disappointed. She quit her job for you, and this is how you came out. Have you ever considered that she took drugs because she was sick of dealing with you?"

And there it was again. The inner struggle. The mess of emotions. Like knotted string. Knotted for years. She had enough. She had enough of this struggle. Her mother would help.

"I see you have finally shut up. Good. Now go home and stop messing up people's lives." He got up from his chair and started walking away. This is her chance. His back was turned to her. She took out her knife. This was too easy. She slashed at his neck, she had to reach but it was enough.

"AH!" Her father shrieked and tried to turn around, but Aniela was quicker. She took out her knife and slashed his neck again. He started spluttering. Spitting blood out. He fell to his knees, holding on to his neck. And she stood over him and lifted her knife. And she stabbed. Over, and over. Until all that was left was a pool of blood. She lost her count, and the man was already dead.

Yet she kept on stabbing.

After ten minutes she stopped. It's time. She took off her bag and placed it to the ground. She took out a brush and dipped it in her father's blood. Savouring it. Then she drew circles on the morgue's white tiles flour. She went over them a couple times. Then she painted the symbols inside of them. And in the centre, she drew a seven-pointed star. The number of the gods. Of manifestation, as people were gods. Her spirits praised her on.

"You are so close Aniela." Uttered a sweet voice. She placed candles at each of the star's points. She took out the ashes from the urns and sprinkled them over each circle. Then she spilled them in the middle. She placed her mother's bones gently on the middle circle. She scooped up her father's blood with her bare hands, admiring its pigment, and poured it over everything. It's ready. She lit the candles, and chanted:

Let the stones rise, And feathers drown,

Let the stars fall from the skies.

This life, we end, To let, another thrive.

Dulcis sanguis com spiritu misce, Surge!

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she was expecting something.

Even the voices stopped talking. Her mother stopped talking. She tried again. And again. And again. But nothing happened. She felt hopeless. She felt, sad.

Sad. An emotion she hadn't felt in a long time. She started crying. Crying angry tears. They flooded the circles. She put her head in her hands, smothering her face in her dad's blood.

"No! It was meant to work. It has to work."

She kept on trying. But deep down she knew that it wasn't possible. She was wrong. The whole time. She cried and cried. She cried over her own existence.

"Dulce lacrimae, the first tears cried." Said a familiar voice. She felt a finger swipe at her cheek, getting rid the trails of sadness.

"Come." Said Albert Federov.

They walked together, hand in hand through the endless fields. No one said a thing, yet much was exchanged.

Aniela forgot about all the emotions she once felt. Sadness, anger, despair, disappointment. Yet there's something new. Something deep and dark. She wanted to get rid of it. But she didn't know how. They walked to the trees and down they looked into the river. Together they walked into the water.

Federov let Aniela go, and watched her go through the water, he watched her go deeper and deeper. He watched her last moments.