Hate

Chapter 1

She stared in front of her as she walked along the long corridor. Everything seemed too unreal to her. She walked without knowing where she was going. The people spoke to her, but she was unable to hear their voices. Or maybe she couldn’t. Why did she follow them? Those people came to pick her up after class. They had briefly explained why she had to come with them. She didn’t believe a word of what they were saying. It was impossible. Her parents couldn’t have had a serious accident. It happened to other families. Not hers.

It was almost at this time moment her brain blocked everything. It locked herself in a sort of cocoon where she acted as an automat. She followed the two men in uniform into a huge cold and sterile room. The morgue… Her feet refused to go further. The air suddenly emptied her lungs. She was petrified on the spot before everything becomes black. When she came to herself, she was in some sort of an office. A man dressed as doctors in movies talked with the two officers. A woman stood on a chair beside her. The latter spoke to her without being able to understand a single word. Her head made her suffer terribly. What had happened? Had she entered the morgue? And why should she go? It was a car accident, right? Her brain still refused to give her full control of her body. She sat, looking from one person to another. Slowly, their lips just stopped moving and she could hear the conversation that took place in the office.

“She’s in shock,” the woman said, looking at the officers. “Give her a little time.”

“Do you think she’ll be able to do it?” one of the men in uniform asked. “To…”

“Identify them?” the young girl mouthed, barely looking at them.

They turned to her. The woman nodded slowly. Without another word, the young girl raised and waved to the officers that she was ready to follow them. The coroner nodded and walked towards the door. He led the procession to the identification room. Two bodies covered with a sheet laid on stretchers. The young girl approached the first. The doctor removed the cloth on its face. She had no reaction when she saw her father. She just had a simple nod that meant everything. The same gestures were repeated for the second body, the one of her mother. Again, it was a simple movement of the head. That was enough. The woman put a hand on her shoulder, but she hastened to repel it before headed for the exit. She collapsed in the hallway, cowering against the wall. She couldn’t breathe. She had lost both parents at the same time. How was it possible? She was still unable to believe it. However, she had no choice. She had them both identify at the morgue, something that wasn’t very easy to do. She closed her eyes to push back the panic rising in her. The woman made a new attempt to approach her, but she pushed her back with a sudden movement. She didn’t need her help.

“I’m really sorry, Anika…”

“Shut up, please.”

She regained some control. The presence of the unknown woman still fell a little on her nerves. What was she doing here? She wasn’t wearing a uniform. She didn’t seem to work with the medical examiner. So what was she doing? The young girl didn’t need her help. Nobody was able to bring back her parents, either.

“I…” the woman began, removing her glasses, “I just wanted to say that I’m here if ever…”

Anika glared at her.

“I asked you to be quiet! What don’t you understand in that? I want you to leave me alone!”

“I understand what you can feel…”

“Really? You can read my thoughts, perhaps?”

“This is not what I mean…”

“If you really can manage that, then you should understand that I don’t need anyone. Is that what you understand?”