The Return by Ana Matics

Author:Ana Matics [Matics, Ana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783955332365
Publisher: Ylva Publishing
Published: 2014-11-10T06:00:00+00:00

When sleep finally claimed her exhausted body, Liza dreamt of the mirror-calm lake once more. She didn’t dare move for fear she’d make a ripple and ruin the serenity of this place.

She was eleven and she wanted to die. She was twenty-eight and she finally had something she wanted to fight for. The dichotomy was not lost on her, even in sleep.

Liza opened her eyes in the dream and stared at the single deer that was tentatively standing at the water’s edge. Its eyes were wide and fearful even now, and Liza’s body went completely still. The water was a glassy sheet, reflecting the sky above and the fear in the deer’s eyes.

She didn’t see the hunter until it was too late. An arrow pierced through the animal’s side and Liza let out a shocked cry. A quiet ringing filled the silence of this beautiful place.

Liza, fumbling in her half-awake state, tried to find her phone. “Hello.” She was still half-asleep; her mind wasn’t fully processing.

“I need to talk to you; come let me in.” The request was curt and to the point, but Sofia sounded troubled.

Liza blinked sleepily at the clock on top of her bedside table and realized that it was eleven thirty on a Wednesday and that she had better things to do than sleep the day away. Her head felt like there was wooly cotton stuffed into her ears and every time she moved, her jaw and ears popped almost painfully.

She stumbled down the stairs and padded across the ice-cold floor in bare feet. She’d been right—once it’d gotten cold, it was going to be an absolute bitch to heat this place. She opened the door and came face-to-face with a rather distraught-looking Sofia. Liza sniffed loudly, her head feeling clogged and foggy. “Hi,” she said. Her voice sounded hoarse and disused, but she knew that she should sound better than this; she’d been sleeping for what felt like days.

“My mother is coming.” Sofia pushed past Liza into the apartment. Her face was a contorted mixture of fear and worry and the dark circles under her eyes that Liza remembered from what felt like days ago were now more pronounced than ever.

Liza stood in the doorway, her heart pounding in her chest as she desperately tried to will her brain to think and to think faster.

Sofia had crossed the room, her hands now resting on the countertop over the sink. Her shoulders were shaking and her breath was coming in short, fearful gasps.

Liza pushed the door closed, locked it and reached for her slippers. She tugged them on with hesitant hands and turned to face Sofia. “Why?”

“Why?” Sofia whirled to face Liza, her eyes flashing danger and fear all in one desperate push of emotion.

Liza took one step forward, but then faltered.

“She’s a senator, Liza. She took over my father’s seat when she married him in all but name, and now one of the best pieces of political capital that she’s stumbled upon in years has happened to her hometown.

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