Living a dystopian world, Ilah is brought up to fear the monsters hunting people in the night. The fears, the phobias, the remnants of the terrors before the victory of the Freedom Armies.
But when a new girl arrives at the city, she'll find that th...
Anette Gretten waited with increasing annoyance for the health research officer to arrive with her paperwork. The officer had sent a message apologizing for the delay and saying she would be late, but the sun was already sinking down in the horizon, and she still hadn't arrived.
Anette served herself another cup of wine and looked out the window of the living room in her mansion, pondering if she should make a hassle for her when she arrived. Perhaps she should. These kinds of inefficiencies shouldn't be tolerated.
The doorbell ran and she huffed, standing up with the wine glass on her hand.
"Finally," she muttered, walking towards the entrance hallway, where the officer had been received by one of the maids and was taking off her hat.
"Third level officer Anette, thank you for allowing me this time," she said towards her, bowing slightly.
Anette bowed too. "Something held you up, then?" she commented, leading her into the living room.
"Yes," said the officer, taking a seat and looking through the files she carried. "There was another attack early this morning. We're dating it for about two in the morning of today. The victim was a sixteen year old factory worker of the lower third district. I interrogated her dorm mate, but there weren't any leads again."
Anette gritted her teeth.
"If it happened this morning, there was still time to make an autopsy," she said, and took a sip of her wine.
"Her dorm mate threw away the body. And besides, she had already been found and strung up on the tree by civilians, and they always douse the bodies in disinfectant before hanging them."
Anette shook her head. "Unbelievable," she mused. "It's still happening."
"Corruption is still a problem. The people pay for the guards to look away, but it's only delaying our research," said the officer and handed her the papers with her bloodwork details. "It seems you have not recovered as well as expected from the latest study performed on you. Doctor Lorran says that he would like to meet with you tomorrow, to see how we can rectify this and improve your recovery."
Anette let her eyes skim through the numbers detailing her health, but she didn't need any numbers. She could feel her body struggling to recover from the pregnancy with clear symptoms of exhaustion and pain.
"At what time?" she asked, setting aside the papers.
She'd had questions, and she'd wanted details, but as she saw the papers yet again, she felt like she just didn't care anymore. After all, she couldn't recover the same on her seventh pregnancy as she did on her first. There wasn't anything more to ask of her body, much less at her age.
"Noon will be fine," said the officer. "Do you have any questions?"
"No. I'll be there," said Anette, and downed the rest of her wine.
She guided the officer back to the door, suddenly wanting her out of her house right away. A heaviness settled down on her limbs and she wanted so bad to just lay down and not have to think.
She closed the door and stepped up the curved staircase towards her room. At the top of the stairs she heard noises behind her and looked down.
There was nothing.
She sighed and rubbed at her eyes. As she closed her eyes, she could see in her mind, a flash of movement. A flash of death and blood.
She opened her eyes, and kept walking.
Behind her, she heard steps climbing up the white marble steps, and she looked back.
There was nothing there.
A smile pulled at the corners of her lips.
"Ah, again so fast?" she asked to the empty floor below.
The sounds of piano music drifted up through the silence of the mansion and she shook her head, still smiling.
She walked back down the steps and towards the piano room, following the soft music notes. She opened the double doors of the room and entered to see the black piano silent and alone.
Unmoving at the center of the room, it's black surface seemed to taunt her. As if it knew the things that happened inside her head. As if it knew all the things she refused to acknowledge.
She sat down at the piano and touched one of the keys, sending a louder sound than she remembered. It broke the silence into pieces, the sound pressing around her, as if demanding for her to talk.
"Seven...," she mused, and took a deep breath. "I never expected seven. The first, that one I didn't want. She had no name. The second, I kind of wanted, and I would have named her Sarah. Although a more modern name would be Sinah. The third..."
She heard noise behind her, on the other side of the great window to the side of the room.
She looked outside at the shadows projected by the lights inside against the darkness outside. Something moved outside. Something looked back.
"Ma'am?" asked one of the maids at the door, bowing at her. "The lead of the second set of guards called. They will be here in an hour."
"Hmm? More guards?" she asked while standing up and moving towards the window.
Her reflection looked back at her from the glass and she smiled again. Oh, there she was. There she was. She could see the fear in her own face now, and her lips moved into a predatory smirk.
"The party headquarters recommended them, after the attack from this morning," mentioned the maid.
"Hmmm, that's understandable. I'll receive them," said Anette. "More attacks are happening lately. It's...interesting."
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Anette is such a difficult character for me to portray. She has a dark mind that I recoil from instinctively. I prefer getting into Ilah's mind, which is more active and angrier, and in a way more innocent.
But I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! If you did, please consider leaving a vote or a comment, it would mean a lot to me.
Also, I would like to let you know that I have reactivated my insta! You can now find me as @alex_damien there.
