Page 105 of Souls We Rip

“Ana…” I heard Tiberius’s voice crawling on my legs, my chest and my mind. “Do not cross the edge to the dark side, inimă. Remember yourself! Don’t let your power overthrow you.”

My father’s severed members stained the tiles, blood seeping through the cuts. I kicked one leg out of my way, ignoring my father’s howling.

The child within hungered for vengeance, eager to see my father consumed by oblivion.

But Tiberius was right…If I crossed the path to evil, I wouldn’t be able to love anymore. If I tortured my father the way my child self would want, I would not be Ana. I would be the Stag Woman.

“I thought I saved them from you…”

At the last moment, the scythe – my weapon, my friend – sank into his chest and freed the heart that had never known how to love.

The ninth swirl joined its siblings.

I should have let my man take my father with him.

But then, the Goat Man would not have been my future, Eugen would not have been saved. And I would not have found love.

Tiberius cleaned the kitchen while I went to talk with my sister and mother.

I fell at their feet, and through sobs, I told them how sorry I was for leaving them without any help. I gnawed at their aprons, my nails digging into the fabric.

“I’m so sorry I left you,” I cried, my breath coming in short breaks.

My damp hair was caressed by a warm hand, the smell of food familiar to me. My mum took my teary face in her hands, her thumbs wiping the pain away, just as she did when I was a child.

“Ana, you tried to do your best to save our family,” she whispered, her kind eyes and soul caressing mine. “I endured this life for you and Angelica, and I would endure a thousand more. Because you are my light that shines over all the sins. You and your sister are the air that I breathe.”

Angelica placed a hand over my head, a smile growing on her lips. “You’re back, and that is all that matters, Ana,” she hushed, her brown eyes crinkling at the edges.

I cried in their arms all night, missing the women they could have been and embracing the women they will become.

Without a shadow on their life.

The Goat Man

I watched enthralled all night as the three women found each other again. Despite all her suffering, Ana made it back to light and was able to enjoy her mother’s embrace and her sister’s smile. Slowly but surely, Ana would have her heart again.

Stained by my selfish desires, but she would have one nonetheless.

Leaving them be, I turned around and advanced slowly through the snow. Sending her skull back to our home with just a thought, my feet carried me away from the ninth soul.

I breathed the Undrea air; the scent of wood and firs clung to my coat and hair. The air’s sharp edge cut my skin, numbing it. For the first time, I felt the cold seeping through my body. It must be the contract, which slowly enabled me to have human reactions. Something I did not realise until then.

Perhaps due to this contract, I felt more than hatred and dislike towards humans. It could be that because of this piece of yellow paper, I acquired the undying feeling of love. It was a lost sentiment for many years.

I rushed to the lair to confirm my suspicions, dashing through the kitchen.

“Andrei,” I called, but the ghost did not appear. I took one of the ignited candles that he must have used that morning and touched the flame with my fingers. The burn was rejuvenating, my eyes widening at the red mark it left on my skin.

I threw the candle away, extinguishing it in the process. My feet ran to my chamber to tap my cracked Souls’ Mirror.

One tap.

Nothing.

Two taps.

Nothing.