I'm holding the knife and shaking all over, staring wide-eyed at the carnage I've caused. I don't regret it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to live with myself, but I do not regret it. They had to die. They deserved to die.

Try telling that to the police!

I've got to get out of here. I can't stay. If I'm caught, I'll be arrested. But it's going to be so obvious! Parents' bodies found, daughter missing. There'll be a search, and eventually, someone will recognise me and turn me in. There's no one I can go to for help. But I'm going to have to run.

What have I done?

Wait. There is someone I can go to. Maria. She will help. She didn't like my mother and the Stepmonster. She will help me get rid of the bodies.

Still drenched in blood, I scuttle out the door and across the road, then knock on the door as loudly as I can with one hand, and ring the bell with the other. Please be home, please be home.

"Anna?" The door is flung open and Maria stands in the frame. It takes a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the street, but when she is finally able to focus on me, she gasps. "What happened?"

"I killed them," I whisper. "I killed them."

"Who did you kill?" When I don't answer, she grabs my shoulders. "Anna Korlov, who did you kill?!"

"They caught me as I was trying to escape. She hit me and kicked me, and then she told him to, to-" my voice breaks and tears begin to stream down my face. "I panicked! I didn't know what to do!" Maria covers her mouth with one hand.

"Oh, Anna..."

"Where do I go?" I sob. "I don't want to go to jail!" She hesitates for a moment, the her mouth sets into a firm line.

"You will go home. I'll come with you. Do you have any family?"

"I..." I think about it. Not in this country. I'm sure I don't. But wait... "Yes! I have some aunts. The nearest one is Anna." The one I was named after.

"Good. Now, listen to me very carefully. We're going to go back your house. You'll give me whatever you used to kill them. I'll splash some of their blood on me. Then you'll phone the police. Say I did it. I'll still be there. Pretend to be afraid of me. Say you were there when I murdered them, then you hid in your bedroom. Mention your aunt. She can adopt you."

"She's very old. Her mind isn't very... I mean, she's not exactly there."

"That's good. You don't have to stay with her. You can travel around, just like you were going to if you ran away. But remember, I killed Malvina and Elias." I stare at her.

"Why are you doing this for me?"

"Because you're twelve. Because they deserved what they got. Because my husband and children are dead. You are the closest thing I have to a daughter. I won't lose you." She really will do it, then. We both know that if we go through with this, there is no way she won't be found guilty. Maria is willing to give everything up for me?

"Thank you." What else is there to say?

"Don't thank me. I'm only behaving as your mother should have done."

"She was a witch."

"Yes, she was very cruel."

"No, no. That's not what I mean. She was a witch. She made spells and things. She spoke to the dead." Maria shakes her head.

"Tonight was hard for you. Your thoughts are all mixed up."

"No! I saw her do it! If you look under her bed, you'll find all these plants she used to cast curses on people."

"We're going back to your house now," she says firmly. "Don't mention this witch nonsense in front of the police."

"But it's true!" She reaches out with one hand, and for a moment, I see Malvina, hand raised to hit me, to knock me down. I flinch back and tighten my grip on the knife. Maria freezes. My mother vanishes. It's just Maria. She's my friend. She wants to help.

"Give me the knife," she says softly. I hand it over without a word.

Back in my house, I'm staring down at the bodies. Maria busies herself with splashing blood around, making herself look like the culprit. I remember my mother's words. You will not leave this house.

"Yes I will," I whisper to her still form. "I will leave this house. My house now. You're dead. My house." Without thinking, I bend down and dip my finger in the red liquid. Maria doesn't notice. I walk over to the wall and begin to finger paint two words. Just for a second, I see a flash of an old house. I'm older, maybe sixteen. My vision is tinged with black. Blood drips down my legs and runs off my arms. Black veins form intricate patterns on my hands. Around me lie four bodies, not ones I recognise. A family; parents and two children in old fashioned clothes, and I instinctively know that I am the cause of death. I'm still writing on the wall.

Then the vision is gone, and two wet, running scarlet words shine out at me. Not English, but a language I know. I doubt Maria and the police will be able to read them. But I can. The dead in this room would have been able to read them as well.

Anna taloni.

Anna's house.

"Really, that's all there is to tell," I say as Thomas pushes the key into the lock. I didn't give them the full details, missing out things like the blood graffiti and the strange vision. They don't need to know about that.

"And they were still alive when you killed them?" Cas asks.

"Yes. You think I'd be living alone with the dead?"

"I did until about five minutes ago," he shrugs.

"Oh. Well. You're dead too."

"Really? I'd never have noticed," he says sarcastically.

"Hey, I got you out of that place, so don't start being all-"

"Ugh!" Thomas complains. "You sound like a married couple!" Cas freezes and I feel myself blush.

"Speaking of couples, how's it going with Carmel?" I ask, trying to move the focus away from me and Cas. No, not me and Cas. There is no me and Cas. And I doubt there's a Thomas and Carmel, while we're on the subject.

To my surprise, he goes red. "Actually, uh, I'm seeing her later," he mutters, not looking at us as the door swings open.

"Really?" I ask curiously. I didn't think he'd be her type. "When?" We follow him into the house.

"Later," he repeats.

"Yes, but later when?"

"Uh... I might've told her I'd meet up with her today."

"Today?" I frown. "But you knew today was- oh!" He didn't. He better not have done. I concentrate hard on a mental image of strangling him. He flinches, but doesn't deny anything.

That little shit!

Thomas meets my eye for about half a second. "Since when do you swear?" I shoot him my fiercest glare and he drops his gaze.

"Since you thought it would be a great idea to involve a normal person!" Damn telepathic tagalong.

"Who's Carmel?" Cas asks me.

"The school queen bee. The kind of person who'd be very interested in seeing a real ghost!" I don't believe this. "Where did you say you'd meet her? Cas' house?" With any luck, she'll stay there.

"Actually... I texted her after we left, telling her where we were going. You were all worried about someone noticing what was wrong with the picture, so you probably didn't see." He points at Cas. "He did, though." Oh, no. He's not pinning the blame on him.

"And how would he have known what you were doing. He probably couldn't even see the screen. " I turn to Cas. "Could you see the screen?"

"Not really."

"He couldn't see the screen. So, Thomas, when will she be here?" He mumbles something unintelligible. "What was that?"

"In about... five minutes."

Oh. Wonderful.