A Deal with the Devil

Chapter 7

During a week after this special night, Mara had played her sister's favourite classical piece Mazeppa of Liszt each day. The frenzy of the dreary play reflected the state of the girl at that time: impatient and driven by a violent death urge. At the end of this week, which seemed too calm for the father, Mara left the room with the piano in the night. Taking small steps, she headed towards her parents' bedroom, as if she went into a trance. In the darkness of the room, the body of her father could be distinguished under the bedsheets. As she was thinking of a way to act, she remembered where her name came from. Her mother, fond of Nordic Mythology, named her Mara as a spirit of the Nordic folklore. "Despite the harmful side of this spirit, I love his name" she'd said. Indeed, Mara was the one who was provoking nightmares (1). "It's time to honour my name, and to test my power now", she thought. Grinning, she climbed onto her father body, in line with his breast, just as in the legend. Came on madness, she grabbed his hair, laughing hysterically. Her Father was suffocating, without waking up: here was the feeble form of her power. She tilted and put her hears against his heart: it wasn't beating anymore. Mara committed her first crime. Admiring her work, she hadn't noticed yet her mother awaken. Unfortunately for her, Mara turned her head in her direction and jumped onto her.

- Mara! What are you doing? Please darling, stop it!

At that time, Mara thought that the word "Darling" was more pleasant pronounced by the warm voice of the Devil. It was her last thought before covering her mother's neck with her two hands. She strangled her, looking the life leaving her body in the eyes. Even if the older woman wasn't moving anymore, she continued to choke her, proud of her. After some minutes, she loosened her seizure: this second murder was even more heady and joyous. The pleasure she had felt during these two assassinations couldn't be described. Only one thing obsessed her: to kill again.

(1) Mara, in the Nordic Mythology was a harmful spirit which troubled human's sleep. It sat on its victims' breast to cause nightmares, sometimes making the sleeping person suffocate.