The police sirens had finally stopped, and Duke could finally try to fall asleep. It had been a really long night: right after he came back from the club, he had been informed that his neighbour, a really nice old lady who previously left her duplicate keys in his possession, had been last seen three days ago. Luckily, he asked his mother to go and check up on her. She found her with her throat slit, and him not being the one who discovered the body made him get another night worth of sleep.
Now, did he actually care for his neighbor? Maybe. But he was glad he was not on the prime suspects list. It's not like he killed her. But there are other things that could get him in real trouble, like...
A knock on Duke's window made his heart twist. Did they already come for him? "Ignore them," he told himself. They would eventually leave if he did.
"Duke!" The voice sounded like a whisper. "Duke!"
Putting both of his hands on the edges of the bed to raise himself, he realised how bad his wounded palms hurt. The sky had darkened into a nice shade of blue, and the few Easter decorations that were not taken off after the holiday were still visible due to the warm yellow lights that were lightly illuminating the road.
"Duke" the voice repeated once again, this time louder. Seems like someone was playing games.
"Yes!" He responded, driven insane.
"What do you want?" He wanted to continue. The words didn't come out. Only his lips moved. "What do you want?"
No. Impossible. What day was it? The 17th of July, 2000. It was already 3 am, so, actually, the 18th. The 7th day after Easter. He realised it far too late. Rusaliile. Ielele.
What seemed to be a laugh escaped his lungs in a psychotically painful way. He had forgotten about the ritual. He had forgotten to seal his house. They had finally taken it. They had finally taken his voice, and now, there was no way back.
