Prologue
The maid
Anya furiously packed her bags tears streaming down her face she was quitting, Mr. Powers her employer violated her for the last time.. Her skin still crawled from his touch and no amount of showers took away that feeling . She ran to her dresser collecting the final bit of belongings she owns the mirror above her dresser caught her reflection and she looked up at her puffy red eyes and smeared mascara and sniffed, the necklace her mother gave her dangled along her thin neck her hand reached up touching the smooth metal of the cross that hung. She sighed, what a fucking mess.. In the corner of her mirror Mr. Powers wife was glaring at her from across the hall she never liked the woman, she always yelled at Anya and generally disliked the young Russian girl. Anya looked away suddenly intimidated by her stare, a blush creeping at her cheeks as the last of her items were tossed into her large suitcase she decided it was time to go. With her suitcase In hand she quickly stepped into the hall leaving behind a very clean bedroom, her home for the past 3 years. Mrs. Powers who has been observing Anya's actions from afar jumped up when she saw the suitcase in the young woman's hand. "Anya!" She yelled trying to get her attention Anya pretended she did not hear the venomous woman and moved faster down the long hall has it always been this wide? Mrs. Powers moved quicker with her heels clicking swiftly against the marble floors grasping Anya on the shoulder and tugging her back before she reached the first step on the sleek spiral staircase. Tears still flooded the Russian girls face when she turned towards the older woman.
"Where do you think you are going!? The laundry still needs folding and the dishes need to be washed you really think you can go on vacation now! I don't know what you and my husband have agreed upon but we are not paying you for that." Mrs. Powers spit out with such violence Anya had to wiggle out of her grasp.
"I..I.." Anya stuttered looking towards the ground away from her gaze.
"I..I..What!" Mrs. Powers mocked the girls thick accent "I know exactly what you and my husband have been doing fornicating in MY own bedroom I saw the vulgar act last night" she huffed "now the least you can do besides fucking my husband is do some damn housework." Anya's cheeks burned and her eyes stung the words sucked out of her mouth like a vacuum she was not fornicating with Mr. Powers the man was the reason she was leaving in the first place. Still afraid to face Mrs. Powers and feeling that it was not her problem that their marriage fell flat she tried again for the stairs, ignoring the woman's burning gaze. Furious by the lack of response from Anya she grabbed the younger woman by the shoulders shaking her violently causing Anya to drop the large suitcase as it fell to the edge of the first step with a thud. Mrs Powers abrupt physical contact made Anya terrified she grabbed the older woman's bony hands from her shoulders but was overpowered when Mrs. Powers pushed her hard against the railing now attempting to choke her. "You. Need. To. Not. Fuck. With. Me!" Mrs. Powers panted Anya's face turned blue but she found the inner strength and wrestled the other woman off her Mrs. Powers was pushed back by Anya's sudden strength falling over her suitcase and tumbling down the spiraled staircase with an "omph!" Anya watched horrified as her employer fell hard against the banister and was tumbling down the stairs hitting the wall as she fell, when she finally landed on the hardwood floor at the bottom of the staircase silence filled the room Anya stood hands shaking holding onto the banister with such force her knuckles turned white, she was frozen with fear, after a few solid minutes of complete and utter silence the young Russian girl descended the spiral staircase slowly, her flat shoes gently touching each step with a click. Her breathing was the only thing left in the room, when she finally got to the bottom she crawled on her hands and knees towards Mrs. Powers,
"M..m..Mrs. Powers?" Her breath suddenly hitched when she received no response,with her hands shaking she gently placed two fingers on Mrs. Powers' neck. When no pulse was felt Anya's large eyes widened in shock and fear, did she just commit a murder? What will she do? Will they deport her!? Panicked Anya stood up and backed away from the room quickly running towards the large bathroom that was directly across from the tea room. She shut the door and locked it with a sharp click even though she was unsure of who she was locking it from. Terrified of calling the police she leaned against the large white door and slid down collapsing into herself crying harder now, Mr. Powers will be returning home soon. She has to call the police. She stayed in the bathroom for an hour deciding between running away after she calls or staying put and facing whatever consequences she is handled. She knew Mrs. Powers was being violent and Anya was just defending herself but how will it look from the outside. A rich, older woman was killed Anya's room was Empty of her things and the husband was having an affair with the maid who only had her green card. She got off the floor,if she ran it will be worse, sighing and wiping away the remaining tears she stared back at her reflection in the mirror feeling a déjà Vu except Mrs. Powers wasn't staring at her menacingly this time. Opening the bathroom door she stepped out inching towards the phone that was hanging in the kitchen, in order to get to it she must cross the hall where Mrs. Powers lay dead. Holding her breath as though she was a teenage trying to sneak by her parents she gave a quick glance back into the spot where she last saw Mrs. Powers. But she was gone, Anya stood in the hall both from fear and shock. She's not there. Maybe she is alive! She was relieved when she heard a crash in the living room her relief disappeared moving to the sound cautiously afraid of the older woman who was now breaking things. Anya assumed because of the rage she felt towards herself.. When she reached the living room the older woman was staring out the window and groaning? She was hurt! Anya panicked and called out to Mrs. Powers only what she saw terrified her, her eyes were milky white her head leaned towards one side, her neck was , her once peach skin was now a sickly grey and she made a terrifying gurgle that Anya never heard before, once her soulless eyes set on Anya's flesh Mrs. Powers walked towards her quickly, although one foot was being dragged at the ankle, again eager like she was in the hallway just a few hours ago. Anya frozen in fear watched as this creature came closer she grabbed the nearest item, a golden lamp painted with multi colored horses and swung it violently towards the woman who now creeped next to her, hitting her directly in the head causing the lamp to shatter. She was unsure why she did it at first, anger? Instinct? All she knew now was that this was NOT Mrs. Powers, the creature did fall by the 1600 dollar lamp but still stood up aching to bite at Anya's neck. It isn't human! Anya screamed in her head as she grabbed at a piece of glass but in that moment she bent down Mrs. Powers' corpse grasped at Anya's long hair pulling her towards her, Anya was faster pushing Mrs. Powers' away with the need to live and running towards her with the glass she picked up stabbing her repeatedly in the face with one hand grasping the silk blouse she picked out for Mrs. Powers to wear this morning. Again silence filled the room the creatures gurgles stopped Anya's breathing now still as she collapsed onto her knees and pushed herself away from the creature, her body hit the wall of the living room, she sat there chin to her knees swinging back in forth glass tight in her hand her own blood now dripping onto the white carpeting. Her uniform covered in her former employers blood. She cried again for what felt like the millionth time today. It was official
Anya Cherlova was a murderer.
