Anna's POV:
After reading the letter, I collapse against the wall behind me for support. My mind is blank, and I can hear my heart racing in my ears. I looked at Mark and he's standing in front of me with eyes full of rage and anger.
I take all my strength to speak to him and I stammer a bit when I am asking him because I am still in shock.
"Did… Did my stepbrother John do something bad to Ria?
He does not respond. Instead, he grabs me by my neck and forces me to stand up straight. I can barely breathe because he has a firm grip on my neck.
And he warns me, "I will ruin you and your family! You people will get punishment for what your brother has done to my sister."
Mark pushes me back against the wall and lets go of my neck. I immediately cough to clear my throat and inhale rapidly, trying to catch my breath.
At this point, I can't control my tears and my back touches the door that I've subconsciously inched towards. It takes all my strength but I ask Mark for permission to seek out my brother and ask for the truth.
Anna: "Can I go to my brother and ask him for the truth, please?"
Mark begins shouting at me...
Mark: "What will you ask him?? How they teased my little sister??"
Mark scoffs. "The autopsy report clearly states that a gang attacked Ria."
Anna: "Please give me one day to find out the truth. I promise I will return back to you definitely with the truth… please.."
Mark: "Don't try to escape. Get lost."
Mark throws me out of the room roughly and I rush to my house immediately.
As I walk into my house, I see John sitting on the couch in the hall. I run to him and grab his collar then slap him quick and hard.
Anna: "How dare you touch my friend, you bastard!"
I punch his nose and it begins bleeding. He defends himself by grabbing my hands from assaulting him further. He ties my hands behind my back with a towel and pushes me on the couch and he started laughing at me.
John: "Are you talking about your poor little friend?"
Anna: "Her name was Ria!"
John: "She is very beautiful" *John smirks*
Anna: "Did you touch her?!"
John: "Heh… yeah."
Anna: "How dare you!"
John: "My dear little sister. Do you think we only touched her?
I am shocked by his words. I can't move an inch and stay like a frozen statue by looking at him.
Anna: "Whaattt did youuu and your friends ddooo to Ria??"
I stammer a bit and John chuckled loudly at me.
John: "You know very well about me, my little sister! When someone asks me not to do something, I usually do the opposite. She asked me not to hurt her but I loved hurting her. I touched her, and I bullied her, and I enjoyed watching her while I did it. She's soft, bright, and clean. I can't stop dreaming of the scenes that played out that evening."
I couldn't hold in my rage, and I yelled at him.
Anna: "You pervert!"
John: "Would you like to know more?"
Anna: "Why would you do this to her??" I shriek.
John: "Because of you! I'm jealous of you, Anna. My dad takes better care of you than he ever has of me, and your mother only sees me as a creature."
Anna: "That's not true! Mom and dad love both of us equally. Are you saying that because I received an admission letter, you raped my friend??"
John: "Not exactly. First I tried to tear that acceptance letter into pieces, but your poor little friend scolded me so I slapped her. "Unfortunately, she falls on me, so it goes on…"
"This action caused her to stumble in my direction, and the rest is history," John laughed.
Anna: "You will pay for this!! I will tell the police and they will make you spend the rest of your life in prison!"
John: "You would need to be alive in order to tell on me, Anna…"
John grabs a knife that was left on the table and holds it to my neck while smirking at me.
From behind us, my mom walks in and she notices the scene unfolding before her, she yells and tries to grab the knife from John's hand.
While defending himself from my mom, the knife slips a little in John's hand and the blade accidentally glides against the tender skin on my neck and again above my left breast. I'm bleeding ever so slightly, and it stings.
John lets go of me to doge my mom. My mom loses her footing, falling past me and John. John takes advantage of my mom's helpless position and stabs her in the back.
I can't help my mom because of my hands are tied. At that moment, my stepfather comes into the house and hits John from behind, using a flower vase, rendering John unconscious.
I make sure by looking at John that he is unconscious and my stepfather unties my hands and tells me to escape and run away from the house.
I take a quick glance at my mom who looks like she isn't breathing anymore and my heart skips a beat. My stepfather pulls me to the front door and begs me to get as far away from the house as possible.
I run from the house as fast as I can and running through the streets. As I run, I recall the nightmare I had last night: Me, running in the dark streets.
The coincidence is eerie.