Lisa's POV
"Ow!" I yelped as the blade of the knife landed on my finger and not on the celery. I shook my fingers in the air as though trying to shake off the pain. Which only made me bleed even faster.
There was a tingling sensation. I took my finger in my mouth trying to quicken the clotting. From the kitchen, I strutted to the living room where my mother slept on the couch.
"Mother, Mother!" At first, shaking her gently.
This did nothing to wake the snoring woman. With one hand, while I periodically pulled my finger out of my mouth to shake it, I shook mother by the shoulders.
"Mum, mum I cut my finger." I moaned.
"Huh? Huh? Wha...?" Mother woke up. Her words slurred and her eyes were still droopy.
"Eva is still not back to cook dinner," Lisa complained.
That snapped my drowsy mother back to reality
"What?" She yelled. "The brat is still not back." She turned to the old pendulum clock beside the stairs. She rubbed the sleep off her eyes to focus on what it said.
I turned to it too but was quicker than my mother. "It's 10:36, mum."
Mother looked back at me and then her eyes went to my bleeding. "Your finger! What happened?" She took the hand and inspected it.
"When Eva didn't come quickly, I tried cooking myself." I pouted.
"My baby," she took my face in her hands. "You are a princess, cooking is the job for that ungrateful tramp."
"Maybe she lost the things you told her to buy."
The wind whistles and blows the candle out.
Mum looked out the window. "I didn't know it was raining that heavily, she better be running because if the bread gets ruined she is going to sleep without food."
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door.
I took the match beside the candle and lit it.
I got up to open the door when my mother pulled me back.
"Let's keep her there a bit longer." She whispered. Even though because of the rain the person behind the door would not be able to hear us. It wasn't like she could do anything even if she did.
"How do you know it's even her?" I played along, whispering.
"No one would come to knock on our door after ten in this pouring rain."
Now the person was knocking on the glass. It was Eva. "What about the bread?" I reminded.
"Oh, oh, I almost forgot." Mother gasped dramatically.
I didn't wait and proceeded to open the door. There stood Eva soaked to the skin and quivering. A bag was in her right hand. She stood in an odd position. I examined to see wounds on her face and knee. I felt a twinge of guilt seeing her like that but she deserved every bit of it.
"Took you long enough." I rolled my eyes at her. She didn't seem to notice or maybe she just ignored me.
She walked in limping with only her chattering teeth making noise. I turned to see my mum on her feet.
"Where have you been?" Her hands were on her hips. That was a stupid question even though I despised Eva.
"I... I... Theeee rain." She managed to say after putting the bag of groceries down.
"Well, couldn't you run?" She moved closer to Eva, her hand already in the air.
Eva tried to keep her voice stable as she backed away from my mum. "I... I... did, it... It was raining and I slipped." She explained.
Despite already being drenched I could tell that the redness of her eyes was from the tears she was holding back. She looked to have already cried a ton.
I watched as mum landed a hard slap on Eva's already soaked face and couldn't help but flinch. Why did I feel that?
"That's not an excuse, you were just not looking at where you were going." Mum went to the bag and checked its content and gasped. "You ruined everything," Mum said, taking out the groceries one by one and placing them on the floor.
"I didn't do anything." Angry tears fell from her swollen, widened eyes.
Mum wasn't looking at her but I was. Something had changed. She was holding herself back, her fists clenched by her sides. She wasn't shivering anymore, she was gritting her teeth. Like she was holding back her demons from doing something horrendous.
Mum stood and slapped her again. I could see her tears fly off as her face turned abruptly to the side by the force of the slap. "You were not looking where you were going." She spat derisively at Eva.
Eva's face turned back swiftly. Her face told of what she had inside. Naked anger. If looks could kill, I thought. I stood there unmoving. Was I scared? Why would I be? She had no right to be angry. She would normally sob quietly while mum did this. There was something about her now.
"You sent me out after nine to buy groceries I could have bought tomorrow. I didn't look for shelter when the rain started. I tried running here but slipped but is it my fault?" She was not even trembling anymore. It was as if the heat of her anger was keeping the cold away. It stopped her from shivering.
"Don't you dare talk back to me, you murderer!" Mum pointed an accusing finger at her. What was wrong with her tonight wasn't she afraid of the consequences anymore.
"Murderer? Me?" Eva pointed to herself and then let out an unsettling cackle.
"Yes, witch." I paused as she turned to me. Her face was smug. Which made me gulp involuntarily. "You are a murderer." I had my arms crossed over my chest trying to look calm. But I knew it was not working.
She turned back to my mother. "Cecilia, why don't you tell us who the real murderer is?" She raised an eyebrow and smiled.