Chapter 14

The woman was singing again, softly. Her voice was soothing to the ears and she felt her heart stir in affection.

She watched as the woman gently rocked the crib and smiled at the little sounds the baby made. It was obvious that the woman loved her child very much.
At certain intervals, the woman would bend over the crib and kiss the child’s forehead, whispering words Katya could not hear but they made her feel…safe.
She felt drawn to the woman, like a child to the mother’s embrace. It was odd that it would be for a woman she did not know, but she revelled in it.

The woman continued to sing and smile, her feet making little tapping sounds to rhyme with the song. Then Katya heard a door close in the distance.

The woman’s expression immediately went from joy to trepidation. It was as if a chill had settled over the room. The baby must have felt it too because it began to cry aloud.

“Hush, now. Go to sleep,” the woman cooed to the child. But her voice was no longer a loving whisper. In it, Katya could detect a trace of fear.

But the child refused to keep silent and its cries only grew louder and louder, till it seemed to fill the room. At the same time, Katya could hear that sound of approaching footsteps, loud on the floor.
Even though she did not know who it was, she knew that the intruder was the cause of the woman’s fear because the woman frantically tried to calm the baby down.

All of a sudden, she was looking up at the woman and the screams were coming from her. She could not stop her mouth from emitting the sounds but it was the tears that shook her to the core. The woman was crying, and it was heart wrenching.
Katya could feel her heart break- in pain. Why was the woman afraid? Who was the intruder that frightened her this much?

She wanted to leave the crib and protect the woman. Keep her safe from the footsteps that were now outside the door. Tell her that everything would be alright- that she did not have to cry anymore. But words failed her.

She could only watch as the door was forced open and a man entered. She could not see the man’s face but the sight of him was like relieving her worst nightmare. As he strode closer to where the woman sat whimpering, it felt as if all the air in the room and Katya could no longer breathe. She clawed at her throat- trying-







She jerked awake, gasping for breath, and almost falling off the bed.
*It is just a dream, it was just a dream, you had a silly nightmare.

She tried to calm her racing heart.

The dream wasn’t new but it was the most detailed it had been in years. And she had been having different versions of it for two week now. Each time, she saw a little bit more.

Even as she tried to calm herself down, she knew that it was more than just a nightmare. There had to be a meaning behind it. Dreaming about something like that as a kid could be easily dismissed but dreaming about the same thing all week?

There were endless possibilities- possibilities she did not want to consider.
*Was she thinking about her mother? Was she relieving childhood memories? Did she miss her mother so much that her mind saw it fit to conjure up scenarios?

She shook her head. There wasn’t much to dwell on. She had no answers and she knew that she would not get any. At least not from her father.
She closed her eyes and was momentarily sucked backed into the room with no air-



“Katya?”

Luyeva’s voice brought her back and for thr first time in months, she was grateful that her governess saw it fit to walk in and open the drapes every morning.

“You can come in, Alliluyeva.”

“You look pale,” Luyeva said when she walked into the room, “did you eat last night?”

“You know I did. We sat down at the same table and ate the same meal,” Katya reminded her.

Luyeva sat down on the bed and took Katya’s chin in her palm.
“Your eyes look tired and dull. Were you up all night?”

“No, Luyeva. I just had a bad dream, that’s all.”

“A dream? Have you been watching those scary movies again?”

Katya laughed. “Luyeva, I’m not a child. You forget that I turned twenty not too long ago. Horror movies don’t scare me anymore. It was just a silly dream. I’m sure my eyes will be better once I have my bath.”

But Luyeva wasn’t convinced.
“What did you dream of? Your eyes have lost their shine, Katya. You have been walking around like a ghost for the past week.”

*She noticed?

“It’s just a weird dream that has been recurring for days now. I’m in a room and there is this woman…”

Katya told her the details of the dream- gesticulating. She left out the part where she could not breathe or how much she wanted to protect the woman. When she was done, she expected Luyeva to dismiss it and still blame it on something else, but the older woman’s face had gone deathly pale.

“Luyeva?”

“Is that how you remember the dream?”

Katya nodded. “Yeah. I told you all the details.”

“And you have been having the same dream for a week?”

“Yes?”

Luyeva was silent for a couple of seconds. Then she sighed.
“You need to sleep better. I’ll make my mother’s special recipe for you tonight and you will sleep like a baby.”

“That’s it?” Why was she so pale a moment ago?

“Don’t doubt it until you try it. It relaxes your bones and it will chase your thoughts away. After a week, you should be sleeping just fine on your own.” Luyeva patted her cheek.

*What just happened?