Suicide

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Andrea found herself in her house. She was vaguely aware of how she got there.
Every single thing was arranged like nothing ever happened. That made it more horrible to look at.
She stared at the spot where everything happened. The memories were intense. They felt more real because she was at the actual venue.
Her hands started to shake. The tremors in her hands started again. They had stopped for a while but now they were unforgiving.
She was just about to completely lose her mind when she heard her name on repeat.
"Andrea."
"Andrea."
"Andrea?"
A woman in a black suit was squatting in front of her. That same woman who kept coming. It was her. She must've brought her here.
"Andrea, I'm sure you don't know me. I'm a long time friend of your dad."
She was right. Andrea didn't know her. Not even in the residual images of people her parents knew who seemed to know her.

Knew

"My name is Linda. I'm your dad's attorney."
"Attorney?"
"Yes. He never really got into legal trouble but it's good to have someone in case of anything, who won't charge you much," she smirked. "Yes, I know a lot of lawyers have fat egos but not all of us are inconsiderate."

Andrea just stared at her.

Linda sighed. "Okay, here's the thing. Your dad put me in charge of your care should anything happen to him. He went out of his way to make sure you don't end up in foster care or with your extended family. He went through a lot to get away from those people and he didn't want them getting their hands on you.
"Look, I know it's a lot to take in but I'm your legal guardian now. I'll be honest with you--It probably wasn't the best decision and I don't think I'm anywhere near a good role model."

"Then why are you here?" asked Andrea.

"Because I have a moral obligation," Linda replied. "Now, I can't take you to my house because I have a very, um, unforgiving husband. So I'll keep you here and make you a priority. I'd pay rent, take you out from time to time, bring gifts, give advice, be as available as a busy attorney can be, et cetera. Can you cook?"

She didn't answer.

"Well, you shouldn't be doing much in this state. I'd hire a maid. We just crossed over into a new year. I have a lot of cases even at this time but I'd give them to my colleagues and take you out. Wherever you want to go. It's on me."

Linda got up to leave. Before she left, she said, "You really should get some sleep, Andrea. You need it."

***

She was stuck in sleep.
It wasn't real.
Was it?
She tried everything to wake up but she was stuck.
He did it again. This was the second time.
The police hadn't caught them? How? And now they came back to torment her.
They all laughed.
Then they left.

She heard her mother's voice in the kitchen. She was alive? How? There was some commotion. What were they doing to her? It had to stop.
She didn't know how she got herself to stand up but she did. Her dad used to keep a gun in his room. He couldn't get to it and stop them the last time but she was going to.
She ran into her parents' room, did a frantic search and found it. Then she ran to the kitchen, found the man and pulled the trigger.

The gun wasn't loaded. Or the safety was on. She had never handled a gun before so she didn't know which was which.
The man said, "Whoa there, you don't know what you're doing."

She threw the gun at his head. It surprisingly hit its mark and stunned him. Then she grabbed a knife from the kitchen table and stabbed him.
Fear and shock showed on his eyes as he started bleeding out.
He struggled to talk but screamed in pain this time.

And his voice wasn't the voice of a man but a woman.

Andrea's vision cleared. She stared at her. Both of them were in shock. Looking around, she realised that whoever this woman was had been cleaning up the place.
Cleaning? Why?
Then she remembered what Linda said about hiring a maid.
The maid?

"Oh my God. What have I done?"