🥇1st place award winner in the 2022 Riot Awards, the 2022 The Hearts Awards and the 2022 Gemini Awards for best Horror!
Allesandra Melano's soul was one of three chosen at birth and marked by the Heavens to save mankind from the fiery pits of Hell...
Allesandra stands in the doorway holding Katrina as they both wave goodbye to her sister. Once back inside, Katrina eagerly squirms out of her arms and races over to play with her toys. With adoring eyes, Allesandra stops and takes a moment to watch her as she plays. It's moments just like this that she is going to miss the most.
She decides it's time to surprise Katrina with her early birthday present and walks over and hurriedly opens a drawer to her desk. She pulls out 2 envelopes. One is marked "Katrina's birthday present" and the other is marked "For Katrina on her 18th Birthday." She smiles, as tears start to fill her eyes and puts the 18th birthday envelope back in the drawer for safe keeping, reaches inside the other one and pulls out 2 Disney World tickets. A huge grin spreads across her face when she looks down at them sitting there in her hands and at this moment, she feels more determined than ever to make this vacation a memorable one.
She can't wait to see the look on Katrina's face when she gives them to her. It is the perfect gift. She has been begging Allesandra non-stop for the past year to take her there. Every time she sees a commercial with her favorite characters, she dances around and begs her to dance with her like a princess. "You are beautiful just like Cinderella Mommy!" She would always say, and then she would do her best impression of Elsa, singing and dancing along to "Let it go." She would then prompt Allesandra to curtsy properly at the end of their dance together, making sure they held out the sides of their pretend dresses so they didn't trip over them.
It's memories like these, that Allesandra will cherish and carry with her through all eternity and she thinks to herself, He may take my soul, but he'll never take my precious memories like these away, they are safely tucked inside my heart and are mine and mine forever.
After a wonderful fun filled adventure with Katrina in Disney World, the days, once again, fly by very quickly. Once they are home and settled, she has no choice but to start counting the hours left instead of the days. She has less than 24 hours left with Katrina now and she wants to spend the last 23 with her before she has to say goodbye and leave her with Aunt Rachel, this time for good.
She has no idea how she's going to find the strength within her to do this. It is going to be the most heart breaking thing she will ever have to do.
That night, after tucking Katrina in, Allesandra has so much on her mind that she lies there crying until she finally cries herself to sleep. She is oblivious to a bad storm that is starting to move in.
All at once, the wind begins to howl and the windows begin to rattle intensly, as a loud clap of thunder jolts her awake. Lightning flashes over and over again, illuminating the room and casts ghostly images that seem to float along the walls towards her. In the distance, loud claps of thunder rumble and continue to shake her whole apartment. She quickly sits up in her bed, her body shaking and perspiring from fear from being awoken in such a terrifying manner. She quickly pulls the covers all the way up to her chin and shouts, "Alexa turn on my bedroom lamp!" When nothing happens, she shouts it again and still, nothing happens. She then frantically, reaches for her phone on her bedside table, knocking things over, as she scrambles to try to find it. When she finally locates it and turns it on as fast as she possibly can, she is suddenly startled by a loud crash that sounds like it came from the other room. She leaps out of bed and runs for the lightswitch. Panic stricken, she clicks it up and down and suddenly realizes the power is off. She drops her phone with a loud thump, scrambles to pick it up and quickly finds the flashlight button on it so she can see where she's going.
As she slowly turns the doorknob and steps out into the dark hallway, she hears Katrina start to call out to her, crying, "mommy! It's dark in here! Mommy! I'm scared!" She runs as fast as she can, tripping over her own feet several times as she makes her way to her room and runs to her side. "Katrina, it's ok baby. Mommy's right here. It's just a thunderstorm. Come here baby." She sweeps her up in her arms, holding her tightly and comforting her, as her heart races from being awoken so abruptly.
As she collects herself, she is finally able to calm herself and Katrina down a bit and she starts to sing a soft lullaby, as she searches through her drawers to find a flashlight.
"Shit! I can't find the damn flashlight anywhere!" She yells out in frustration. "Mommy! You said a bad word!" "Oh, I did, I'm so sorry baby. Mommy was just upset that I couldn't find the flashlight." "Mommy, you should tell God you're sorry so he doesn't get mad at you for saying bad words." "Katrina, where did you learn that from?" She looks up at her mom, sensing she's upset with her and explains, "From the old man at the hospital who took my cancer away." "Baby, what old man?" "Mommy, the old man with the long white hair who always came to see me while you were sleeping. He comes to see me in my room every night too. He tells me things and tucks me in. Then he goes away through the wall."
Allesandra sits there in complete and utter shock at what her daughter has just told her and at first, she's much too terrified to speak. Finally, she gets the nerve up to prod her a little more. "Katrina honey, tell me more about this old man with the long white hair. What sort of things does he tell you?"
She blinks her eyes several times and again, looks up at her mom and answers, "umm, he tells me all kinds of things, like, he ate up my cancer to save you from the bad man. He also tells me I'm special like you and I should say my prayers every night so the bad man stays away. Do you say your prayers every night mommy?"
Allesandra gulps and holds her breath, her eyes locked in on her daughter while she continues to process all of this and then slowly whispers back to her, "no honey, I really wish I had though."
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