CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Demons.

From all the time she spent at the catholic school, Alina knew who to blame.

She began thinking her life through as she was sitting on a bench in what seemed to be an under-renovation amusement park. All decisions were usually made by others and hardly ever by her, despite it being her life, despite always encouraging her to take matters into her own hands, she never really had the chance or was given the chance.

She wondered for long if demons were the right ones to blame. Maybe she was the reason all this was happening to every single individual she cherished and cared about. Maybe, only maybe if she had fought more to take the weight of her future on her shoulders then her life wouldn't be so full of martyrdom.

Holding the paper were keywords from the poem her sister wrote for her to find her, she instantly lost track of time and every other measure related to her dimension. Even though life was beyond unbearable, she had to keep on going further.

The moment she stops, another dead body could be found, she acknowledged the fact that it was happening whether she stops or not, but with each tragic death added to the file, she felt the need to push even more otherwise every single one of them would be qualified as collateral damage and gone to waste for absolutely.

Unlike what people expected her to feel, she knew her emotions didn't matter and kept herself self-aware of them. Full of loneliness in what was meant to be a cheerful place, she wanted to hide in that garden full of unblooming roses and thorns. She still wanted to meet her friends one more time before she went on with her life, however, she was still ready to leave. Leaving was her best option without any carbon footprint, trace, or remorse.

She doubted she could ever look at the people who made her feel welcomed and as if it was her home the one she was coming back from school to; the amount of guilt was trapped in the center of her gaze as she stared aimlessly at the lonely moon hanging in the noon sky. Perhaps if she was as lonely as the moon and hadn't known the people she could now recognize from a mile away, then no soul would get crushed and no one would ever feel as if they were being ambushed, maybe destiny could've taken a different turn.

A good turn.

Somehow, she believed that the slightest alternation in events could eventually lead to massively different outcomes, still, she blamed herself as if everything has been her responsibility although she was aware of how little she could've done even with the right resources.

Alina kept wishing for a chance, a real encounter with the killer. Her killer. Maybe then she could find answers to her endless questions