Women In Black

Chapter Twenty-Three

Katya woke up with a sore neck and back, laying on an extremely stiff mattress without any covers on it. The next thing she noticed was the smell, humidity, and a faint essence of bleach entering her nostrils. Her eyes quickly adapted to the little light coming from the almost closed blinds of the window next to her. Katya sat up, cracking her neck and looking around her, she felt like she has just gotten up from the longest, deepest nap. There were clothes and empty cans on the floor, probably some bugs hiding somewhere in them. She closed and rubbed her eyes before coming to the realization. She remembers. Everything.

The brightest smile ever appeared on her face as she clenched her fists and looked up in celebration, quickly noticing how bad her neck hurt. Her eyes shot down to her legs when she felt her fingertips run through her naked thighs, she was only wearing her underwear. She fell into total disgust when she realized she would have to use the dirty clothes on the floor, standing up and picking the one that seemed the cleanest. Her eyes brightened when she found her favorite shirt, a red simple shirt with the word "Pussy" in Russian in black bold letters, her mother would always scream at her for wearing it. Without a doubt, she slipped it on, doing a quick search on the floor and finding a pair of black sweatpants, which were incredibly soft.

"Yekaterina, I swear to god if I see that shirt again I will slap you!" Her mother said in a thick Russian accent.

"I did it myself, Mama!" Katya smiled. "Aren't you proud? Your daughter's a seamstress!"

"I- Kathinka come here! You маленький дьявол!" Her mother chased her as a teenage Katya laughed and fled the scene.

Katya smiled at the memory as she washed her face, getting reminded of other memories that weren't so good, funny, or enjoyable at all.

"Mom is sad Katya, please, could you-" Her sister said, in a begging tone.

"Could I what?! Forgive her? Get clean? Die?!" Katya said hysterically. "You cannot come into my home and touch my things!"

"This is for your own good Katya I just-"

"No! It doesn't work like that, you know nothing! Nothing!" Katya screamed at her sister as she gestured with her hands dramatically. "Taking away the one thing I love is not the way!"

"You know what Katya?" Her sister said after closing her eyes and inhaling deeply, standing up. "You're right, I know nothing, I don't know you anymore, who the fuck is this? When did you get so fucked up?"

Katya's arms fell to her sides, coming to the realization that she was being extremely violent with one of the few if not the only person who still believed in her. But again, her sister wanted to take away what made her happy, and she needed to protect that, she couldn't let her.

"I'm done with this." Her sister walked towards the door but stopped right before opening it.

Katya stood there, not wanting to do anything. If she let her sister go, she wouldn't be annoyed by her again. It favored her really, she could do drugs in peace, not having to worry about someone taking them away from her.

"You're really not gonna stop me? Not even an 'I'm sorry?" Her sister looked back with glassy eyes, Katya stared at her with a stone-cold face. "Fuck off." She opened the door and left.

Katya shook her head to get rid of the memories of the last time she saw her sister as she opened the pantry, surprisingly hungry. This place held so many emotions and memories that she hadn't been in contact with for so long. She forgot how she lived, how her house was a constant mess and she tried her best to keep people away from it. It was also a reflection of her mental state, and she knew that if anyone that cared about her saw it they would catch on. Katya grabbed some crackers before realizing that everything in the pantry was ten years old, laughing at herself, and closed the pantry. She turned around and left her hands hanging in her pockets, finding a hairband and wrapping her hair into a high teased, messy ponytail.