Virago

2

~1 day until the purge~

Anastasia woke up bright and early the next morning with the same nightmare. It's like the man had nothing better to do than haunt her.

She walked in her bathroom and stared at her reflection once again. Her lip started quivering as she began to sob. "Fuck." She cried. Anastasia leaned on the wall and slid down to the floor.

"Why can't you just leave me alone man, I want to sleep." She sighed. She pulled her phone off the counter and on the floor to where she was. She dialed her sister in law's number and listened as it ran. After a few rings she answered.

"Stacy?" Mary's voice filled the room.

"Hey, I'm sorry for waking you." She ran a hand through her hair.

"No, it's fine. I've been awake. I can't sleep." Mary sighed.

"Me too." She sighed. The sisters fell into a comfortable silence.

"I love you." Mary whispered after a few minutes of silence.

"I love you too." Anastasia whispered back.

"Work should be starting soon, Stace." Mary pointed out.

"You're right. I'll call you later, love you." Stacy looked at the time and saw that it was 7:30 am.

"Love you too." She smiled and then hung up the phone. Stacy stood up and walked over to her closet. She grabbed some light blue jeans and a AC/DC band t-shirt. She left her hair down and brushed it. Just as she was grabbing some socks she heard a knock at the door. She walked over with her white socks in hand.

"Morning." Leo said as she opened her door.

"Morning." Anastasia smiled before opening her door wider for him to come in. He walked in and set the bag of food on the table.

"I got you some pancakes and coffee from that diner you like." He grabbed her food out of the bag and handed her the cup of coffee.

"Oh my god, I love you so damn much Leo." She smiled brightly and happily took a sip of the coffee. She sat down at the table and he did the same. They both ate their breakfast in comfortable silence.

"What are you doing for the purge?" Leo broke the silence.

"Staying home, why?" She asked.

"You don't have a security system." He pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. I'll be fine though. Don't worry about me Leo. I can take care of myself." She made eye contact with him. He had a look of worry etched in his eyes. "What are you doing for the purge?"

"It doesn't matter." He looked away from her and shrugged his shoulders.

"You're purging." She said and ate her food.

"Maybe." He sighed.

"You know, I purged before." She told him. He looked up and made eye contact with her again. He looked shocked since he knew she was so against it.

"When?"

"Last year. He killed my brother so I emptied my clip in his face. Now, every single night I see him in my dreams." She pushed her food away, losing her appetite. "Every night, I shoot him in the face and then it heals and he says 'Do it again,' and he just laughs." She sighed.

"I'm sorry." He looked away from her.

"I'm not going to stop you from purging, I just wanted to share my experience. Because even though it haunts me, I don't regret it. I'm glad I did it." He nodded his head. "Alright, well, I have to get to work." She stood up from her table. She sat down at her desk and opened her laptop.

"I'll see you later." He cleaned up the mess and waved.

"Thanks for breakfast." She smiled lightly as he left.

~~~~~~~~~~

After work Anastasia walked to her safe. She grabbed her guns and cleaned them. She was not going to purge, she was just making sure that her stuff was ready in case she needed to defend herself.

Mary and the kids wanted her to come to their house, so that they could all go into lock down together. But Anastasia didn't want that. She wanted to be on her own. She didn't want to be with them again because of the memories. Her niece and nephew reminded her of James and she couldn't bring herself to be around them after last year's purge.

After cleaning her guns and doing a quick inventory Anastasia laid down and fell asleep.

~12 hours before the purge~

Anastasia woke up because of her nightmares once again and got in the shower. She scrubbed her skin, she got so lost in her thoughts and scrubbed her skin raw.

"Shit." she whispered and shook her head as she saw a little bit of blood trickle down her arm.

After her shower she got ready for the day. She didn't have work today because of the holiday. Everyone was getting ready for the purge. After getting ready she grabbed her shopping list and left the apartment.

She walked over to Leo's and knocked on his door. He quickly answered.

"Hey." Leo said.

"I know you're getting ready, so I'll make this quick. I'm going shopping, do you need anything?" She asked and grabbed her list and her pen to write anything down.

"No actually, I think I'm good." He said.

"Alright." She shrugged. "I'll get you some beef jerky and a monster." She waved.