There was hardly a pause between Anika’s final word and Tanja’s eruption toward her. The old witch’s hands were held high above her as she ran, clawed, the nails facing toward Anika like the spikes of a morning star. She came silently though, without the sounds of fury and frustration one would normally expect with such an attack, and this muted approach only added to the terror of it.
Anika stood her ground, her back against the metal side of the bottom container, her eyes like steel on Tanja as she approached, measuring every twitch of the old woman’s face, the angle of her limbs.
Tanja was coming fast, her robe flapping in the wind, and she seemed to show no intention of slowing despite her proximity, which was now only a few feet from Anika.
Anika waited until the last moment possible, and then moved a half-step to her left. Tanja whooshed by her missing her by an inch, maybe two, and Anika watched as the woman smashed into the side of the container, her face bearing the brunt of the collision. She reeled backwards, stumbling, dazed, and as she fought to regain her bearings, Anika gripped her robe and wrapped it tightly around the old witch’s neck.
Anika jabbed her mouth up to Tanja’s ear, touching it lightly with her lips. “You’re going to pay the price for what your daughter did to me. Did to us. For all the pain she inflicted on my family. And I want to thank you for being alive, and for being as awful and vindictive and evil as she was. It will make it so much easier for me when I tear out your heart.”
Anika released the robe and pushed Tanja away into the open corridor between two stacks of containers.
The old woman stumbled and then grabbed for her face, which was now bloody and bruised from the impact with the container. She moved her hands to her neck, massaging the place where the robe had constricted her, regaining her senses now and grunting in a show of frustration.
“I’m going to kill you,” she growled. “That is how it was meant to be. I know the secret that Marlene discovered, and I plan to follow through with it this time. You’re going to taste delicious in my next batch. And Gretel even tastier in the one after that.”
Anika froze, Tanja’s last sentence resonating at a place so deep in her gut that she felt nauseous with rage. “What did you say?”
“I know the secret. Your story has spread to even here.” Tanja smiled again, satisfactorily, as if realizing she had once again regained control of the moment. “And I know why Marlene wanted you. And Gretel. You’re kin to us. To me. You and your children. And I long to taste you all. I long to have your blood and bile flow through my veins like—”
Anika waited patiently for the final words to emerge, the final sentence to finish before she leapt upon the woman and sliced her throat. But the words never came. Instead, Tanja’s eyes grew wide, and the smug look of her unfounded feeling of victory morphed into one of surprise and hurt.
And then the blood began to flow.
Anika stood in shock, staring at the woman, confused at what had taken place. It was as if some creature inside her body, lying dormant for centuries perhaps, had suddenly awoken to destroy her.
And then the woman staggered forward toward Anika, the alarm still ringing in her eyes, and Anika stepped aside and watched her cling to the cold wall of one of the hundreds of containers on the deck, a large knife sticking out of her back.
Anika turned back in the direction of where Tanja had just come, and there stood Petr.
“Petr.”
“I didn’t come all this way for nothing,” he said.
Anika grinned and shook her head. “You’ve done far more than nothing.”
“I know you would have killed her, but those things she was saying, about you and Gretel, I...” Petr cut himself off and his face became a map of distress as he pointed behind Anika. “Watch out!”
Anika felt the attack an instant after Petr’s warning, and instead of turning, she leaned her body to the right, her legs remaining planted, and Tanja stumbled across her hip, her violent, jagged nails swinging forward and connecting with the air.
Anika grabbed Tanja by the top of her forehead, and with the ferocity and casualness of an eagle, she clutched all five fingers of her other hand on Tanja’s chest, digging her nails in until she could feel the beating of the organ in her hands. With a second motion, she pulled her arm forward, and ripped out Tanja’s heart.
Anika released Tanja from her hold and watched in satisfaction as she collapsed to the wooden deck of the ship, clutching her torso in agony and vain.
The woman sputtered on the ground, trying to catch the oxygen all around her, but her breathing capacity was gone. Anika looked at Petr, who wore a look of resolve. Whatever fear he may have had for Anika was now a memory. She was a hero.
“IT’S TIME TO GO, PETR. Go find the captain. If he’s alive, tell him I’m ready to honor my end of the deal. After that, go. Stay away from the harbor for a few days before you come back, and when you do, take a cruise liner.” Anika gave a weary smile. “I don’t know how you’ll pay for it, but—”
“Anika,” Petr interrupted. “I’ll be fine. Maybe I’ll stay in the Eastern Lands for a bit. Earn a little money to get home.” He stopped and lowered his eyes for a moment before looking up again. “I don’t want to tell the captain anything. I don’t want you to die.”
Anika smiled. “What I said to Tanja is true, Petr, I’m already dead. There’s nothing more for me to do. Go now, Petr. Find the captain. It’s time.”
Chapter 34
PETR STOOD AT THE TOP of the hill, looking down on the crashing waves of the bay. The gallows had been erected quickly beside the waters, in two or three days, and Anika’s trial had been even shorter. The captain had testified as promised, mentioning only Anika’s role in the murders. Petr’s name never came up.
Anika walked the steps and stood alone on the platform, staring out at the crowd of hundreds who had come to watch the rare punishment play out. The executioner followed, his head bare, unmasked, unlike the custom of hiding the killer’s identity when such hangings took place in the New Country years ago.
The crowd was quiet, solemn, seemingly empathetic of the death that was about to occur. Petr didn’t know if it was a respect for life generally that caused the forlornness, or for Anika specifically, but he took solace in the mood.
Petr had made his pleas to the captain of the cargo ship, described to him the events that led to the killings, but to no avail. Anika was to be tried for the murders of his crew, he told Petr, and if the punishment was to be death, which it almost certainly was to be, then that is what would stand.
But the captain did offer Petr safe passage back to the New Country. It wouldn’t be as a passenger on the ESC Mongkut, which was to be grounded for several weeks, but rather on a passenger liner, using the captain’s credentials to sail for no charge. It was a generous offer but also fair, since it was Petr who had ended the hostage situation inside the wharf master’s cabin. Petr had simply opened the door and walked to the desk, and then had taken the gun from the teenager’s hand. The captain had looked at Petr with awe during the ten seconds or so during which the rescue unfolded, and ultimately offered him the free sail home as a reward. But there was to be no relenting on his promise to testify against Anika.
The executioner placed the noose around Anika’s neck and tightened it with a jerk, and Petr, even from his distance upon the hill, could see her flinch in pain. But her body seemed relaxed, resigned to its fate.
The executioner uttered something in Anika’s direction, which Petr was too far away to hear; but the ensuing shaking of her head suggested it was to do with last words. She had none. To whom would she be speaking?
The stillness in the air seemed to last for minutes, as if the world had stopped spinning and the moment was frozen in time.
And then the floor opened.
Anika dropped like a brick beneath the base, and then bounced back, the rope above her tightening its death hold around her neck. Petr looked away, not wanting to watch the struggle or
aftermath, not wanting the last vision of Anika’s life to be one of helplessness and ignominy.
When the murmur of the crowd subsided, Petr looked back to see Anika hanging limp. It looked as if gravity were putting forth an extra effort to pull the body to the terrain, tugging at the arms and head, not understanding why the dead above hadn’t yet reached the ground below where it belonged.
Petr stared at her for hours, waiting until the last of the crowd had left and night fell, shrouding the corpse in its grasp. She would hang for a full day, per the custom; at the exact time of her death tomorrow, she would be removed and buried at sea. The captain of the ESC Mongkut had seen to this final arrangement also, bearing the costs himself, sparing Anika the shame of an unmarked grave.
“I’m sorry, Anika. And I’ll keep your secrets from Gretel and Hansel. From everyone. I promise.”
Petr finally looked away from the gallows, seeing nothing in that direction but the reflection of the moonlight off the waves of the bay. And then he walked toward the direction of the docks and his ship that, come first light, would be sailing for home.
Chapter 35
DARKNESS. AGAIN. THIS time tightening around her like a cocoon, encasing her in a cape of black. It was as if she’d been taken to the emptiness of space and released, where no air or sound could reach her.
But there was sound. Some. The muffled crashing of waves behind her. And earlier, the sound of voices.
Anika opened her eyes and saw her feet below, dangling, the moon illuminating the tops of her shoes. She felt the rope around her neck and she tightened her muscles there, and then lifted her head straight. Her arms followed.
She spread the fingers of her right hand wide and then released her razor-sharp nails from the scabbard of her fingers, and with one swipe, cut the rope above her.
She walked down the gallows stairs and turned back to see the flaccid rope, shredded. Who would care? she thought. She was unknown here, and it would be assumed the body was robbed.
Anika turned toward the dark hills in front of her and walked, knowing the Eastern Lands would be her home for a while. But not forever. She was alive again. For a reason. And all she could do now was wait for the voice to direct her again.
DEAR READER,
I hope you enjoyed reading Anika Rising.
But the story does not end here. It will continue with book five, which I am planning on releasing soon.
In the meantime, if you haven’t read They Came with the Snow or The Sighting, check them out.
And please leave a review for Anika Rising. It doesn’t have to be long. A simple, “I liked it!”is enough. That is, if you enjoyed Anika Rising, which I hope you did!
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Anika Rising (Gretel Book 4) Page 25
