Chapter 22
Annika
In the chant of the black night, the stars were the choir, they were nights singing in an unusual pattern, singing a tone of death. Few minutes past ten, the once-cleared skies had transformed into a vast expanse of jet-black as the night laid down in a blanket of darkness.
Annika tilted her head skyward and she could see millions of stars beautifying the dark sky. The bright moon illuminates its light across the sky, down to earth. Annika wished she was a star, rather than a moon. She wished her life was so bright it would illuminate that of others.
A lone tear dropped from her eyes as she held onto the can of beer in her hand. She raised it to the sky as if giving the sky cheers.
“If people do truly become stars when they die, let me become the brightest one” She raised her palms, brought them together in a self-motivated prayer.
Annika smiled bitterly at her sad destiny. She wished things would’ve been different. She wished she hadn’t come back at the time she did. If she had stayed back a little bit, things would’ve been different. She picked up the last can of beer and gulped down the whole content without batting her eyes.
She thought if she changed her mind at the end, the alcohol would control it. She stood up from the edge of the bridge, held the railing tight as another bout of tears tore through her throat and she had to swallow hard to stop herself from wailing.
TWO HOURS AGO
Annika walked out of her last class for the day as the first person. She didn’t want to mingle with others because she was shy. Still, she was smiling widely like almost every other student. She was glad that the professor had not turned up for the class and she was ready to go home to meet her mother after she had been on a trip for months.
“Ann, don’t tell me you’re on your way home? We still have three hours to ourselves friend” Her best friend, Galina hugged her shoulder as they got closer to the halls.
“You know my mom will finally be around after three months. I can’t wait to see her” she grinned happily.
“Okay, mama’s girl. You should go see your lovely mom, I wouldn’t stop you,” Galina threw her hand up in total surrender.
“I’ll tell her you called her lovely”
“Maybe that’ll make her love me more, I guess. Since she doesn’t want to see me anywhere around you”
“She’s just being protective of me,” Annika defended her mom.
“If you say so, Ann. but, I hate to break it to you that you’ll be missing out a lot. I and Brad are going to the electrics today. The Electric boys would be performing and budet veselo i potryasayushche”
“Meeting my mother after such a long time is so much fun. I also have something important to tell her, ``she explained.
Galina knows all of Annika’s secrets, both dark and funny. She knew what Annika was hinting at and she has waited for so long for her to get justice.
“Call me as soon as possible, I want to see him locked behind bars. Okay, girl?” Annika nodded and the two girls hugged, ready to depart.
“I’ll record some videos for you especially that of VT, I know you love his face” Galina winked at her before rushing away.
Annika watched as her childhood best friend ran off to meet her boyfriend. She smiled thinking she was lucky to have a friend as amazing as Galina. She turned and began her journey towards home, towards the hurt that made her decide not to live anymore.
A wide smile made its way to Annika’s face as she saw her mom’s car parked right in front of their house. She hadn’t smiled that brightly in months and she was glad her support system and her confidant were back in her life.
She had tried so hard to tell her about it on the phone but she doesn’t want her mother to get worried, so she kept it to herself for months even though it happened more than twice. She endured, hoping her mother would get justice for her.
The front door was slightly opened and she frowned at the careless action. Before she could open her mouth to caution her mother as she walked into the house, the mention of her name made her stop in her tracks just a step away from the kitchen door.
“Annika might tell you about it when she gets back. I heard her telling her friend on the phone the other night” Annika’s stepfather informed her mother.
“If she had endured it for that long, I guess she would have enjoyed it. So, why wait for me to return before taking any actions?” her mother laughed and Annika’s heartbeat increased rapidly. Her fingers began shivering and she hoped she didn’t hear what she had just heard.
“I don’t know but what will you tell her once she informs you?”
“Don’t worry about that honey. I’ll sort her out before she can open her filthy mouth to the police”
“Talking of filthy, I kinda miss her mouth”
“That should stop already. I only gave you access to my daughter so that she can fill my position for the time being, not for you to own her completely”
Annika gasped as tears rolled down her eyes. She used her hand to cover her mouth so as not to let them notice the interruption.
She must have heard wrong! She kept on convincing herself.
“Annika,” the sudden call of her name made her raise her head from the floor, and with eyes widened, her mother looked at her.
“Annika, what are you doing back home so early? Why are your eyes….. Did you hear everything?”
“I heard everything you said, everything”
Before her mother could say anything else, Annika ran out of the house. The first thing she did was throw her phone away. She had always contemplated suicide for the past three months but she couldn’t because she always thought of her mother but now, nothing else matters, no one else matters.
TWO HOURS LATER
The broken girl held the railings and leaped to the other edge of the bridge, without a partition to the large body of water. At the other end, she saw a figure, it wasn’t clear but she could see it was a man, dressed in black. She tried getting a better look but she stopped herself and cautioned herself from getting distracted.
She felt something was watching her from behind and when she turned, she saw it was a black vulture, perching on the railings. She could see its white eyes and red eye rings, rolling repeatedly.
Annika swallowed hard as fear gripped her to her bones.
“Shoo,” She tried chasing the vulture away. The vulture flapped his feathers and flew away as she wanted.
As she heaved a deep sigh of relief, a dark memory came to her and for the last time, a lone tear dropped from her eye. She let go of the railings and jumped right into the water.
She wanted to be free! That was her only wish.
Translation
Budet veselo i potryasayushche - It’ll be fun and amazing.
