Mama, my name...

Wild eyes, lips pulled back to bare white teeth.

Shut up! Shut up, brat!

Mama, my name is...

Your name is Sana! Sana! Don't say it's anything else!

Harsh breathing. Mother moved around the room, stumbling a little against the wall.

My name is Raenef, Mama.

That's a lie, you little brat!

It is! I know it is! I just know!

Don't say that name where people can hear! Do you want them to know what a freak you are? They'll know! They whisper about it behind your back. Can't you hear them?

I don't care!

They'll know... they'll know it was HIM...

Low, muddled laughter. Mother comes close to him. She's holding a bottle again. She breathes and it stinks.

You look like him. You look like him. Pretty, pretty child...

She's looking down on him. Her eyes are mostly white. She pets his hair but it pulls and hurts.

He was pretty too, that monster... you're just like him, Sana...



Don't say that name!

She screams. She's angry. She grabs his shoulders and shakes him hard.

Freak! You little freak! You're a monster just like him, brat! A demon monster!

Ma-mama, stop it...

Weeping. She doesn't care. She seizes him and lifts him from the ground.

You can't be mine, you can't be! You should never have been born!

A swing and the wall hits him, hard. He cries out but she doesn't care. Her teeth are white. Her eyes are.

Never, never, never been born. Never mine. Never mine. I'll put it right now! I'll kill you, demon!

The wall again. It makes his eyes go dark. He cries and struggles and she drops him to the ground.

Leave me alone! Don't hurt me!

She has the bottle and it comes down on him. It hits and he shudders.

Kill you! I should have killed you long ago, demon!

He looks up. It's hard to see. Mother looming over him with her hair hanging down over her shoulders. She's dark. Only her eyes are white.

When you're gone, I'll have my baby again, my sweet, sweet Sana. Won't you come back to me? We can be happy together, can't we?

The bottle swings and swings. He screams. He tries to crawl away and it misses him. It hits the ground and breaks, into many, many pieces.

Sana, you'll be my baby Sana again.

His head hurts. It's dark. Dark is crawling in his eyes and his gut.

My name...

She screams, just noise. The bottle is broken but she still has it. Now she is on her knees next to him. She puts her hand on his throat and holds.

Shut up, you freak! Don't say anything! Sana, my sweet baby Sana...

The bottle is coming. The dark makes him reach up and take it away. She stares.

My name.

She screams.



Mother's hand is on his throat. The dark makes him put his own hand on Mother's. She tries to take it away but the dark won't let her. She screams and screams.

My name is Raenef.




He looked over at Erutis. She sat beside him on the low stone wall, legs crossed, supporting her arms behind her. They were looking at the stars, the moon having set not long ago. A soft breeze moved the curtains in the archway.

She turned to meet his gaze. His eyes were wide and clear.

I don't remember my mother at all.