After all, there is no one left...

I woke up again. Wow. And again in my old house, October twenty-sixth. I got out of bed and, without breakfast, got dressed and went to the police station. Having taken all the essentials and taken two packets of chips from the canteen, I put everything in the trunk and unfolded the map. There was a pencil in the glove compartment, and I marked my house and the one I lived in in the previous cycle. I decided to live in that city, but this time I would be more thorough in choosing a home. I needed a house within walking distance to the store. It would also be nice to go to the police station. I managed to find such a house. It was located almost in the city center. I started the car and drove off. Of course, I knew that you couldn’t eat or drink while driving, but my rumbling stomach made me reconsider this rule. Finally, I got there. The journey this time took an hour and a half instead of an hour. But that didn’t bother me much. What was important was a beautiful, cozy-looking house with several trees on the territory. I smiled lightly and went inside. It immediately became clear that the house belonged to some cultural family. I found one bedroom with a double bed, a living room, a large kitchen, a large bathroom and… a children’s room. As soon as I entered there, my charming Julia appeared before my eyes. This room was similar to ours, so I directly saw the girl sitting on the crib, drowned in a pillow, and slowly reading. I liked to sit with her at this time, listen to her soft voice, stroke her long, wheat-colored hair…\ I pushed the memory away. There were still things in the trunk, which meant I had to sort them out. I tried to focus on this. This house was full of things I didn’t need. But since I also found a storage room here, the problem of storing things was solved. There were several twisted jars of cucumbers and tomatoes, apparently left over from the summer. I moved them to the kitchen, and then filled the empty cabinets with my goods. It was time for lunch. My stomach began to ache again. I quickly fried some potatoes and ate them without even waiting for them to cool down. After washing the plate and drying the frying pan, I lay down on the sofa in the living room. I replayed “yesterday” in my head. My memory helpfully brought up my brother’s angry face when he beat me. In childhood, “yesterday”… As a child, his parents always scolded him. For a bad grade, for disgusting behavior… No, he was not a bully. His behavior was terrible only in the eyes of his parents, tired after work. Most often his mother scolded him. He will put you in a corner, and then he will not allow you to have dinner and will force you to go to bed. Andrey was very upset. And they never took it out on me. As a child, I was soft and pampered. But now everything has changed. After any punishment, especially severe ones, Andrei cried into his pillow. Not like a man, but you can understand him. Every time I lay down with him and calmed him down. He loved me. Often he took the blame on himself, not wanting me to be punished. I was so grateful to him! But over the years everything has changed. I was thirteen, I was thirteen. By that time we had already moved and had separate rooms. Andrey and I almost didn’t communicate. He studied and disappeared somewhere in the evenings, I had extra classes. One day, coming from English, I saw my mother crying in the kitchen and my father holding her by the shoulders. That day Andrei ran away from home. I saw him only once. He was brought to me for questioning. He got caught robbing a store. The seller managed to call the police, they tied him up and brought him to the police station. At first I didn’t even recognize him, because fourteen years had passed since then. His face was covered in blood, it was obvious he had been severely beaten. He didn’t recognize me at first either. But then he burst into tears and talked about these years. Things didn’t turn out as well as planned. Andrey was put into a tinted car without windows and driven in an unknown direction. The trip lasted many hours, and he had already regretted his escape a thousand times. He could only hope that he would be left alive. Finally, the door opened and he was taken out of the car. The gang settled him in a cold, abandoned house with a frightened fifteen-year-old blond, Yura. He was also drawn into the group, then transported to that city and left there. Andrei tried to escape, but he was caught, his legs were broken and he was carried into the apartment. Yura came out as best he could. At first, the first year, he was only forced to steal. At eighteen he committed his first murder. But he was not caught. Further — worse. He was forced to kidnap a girl and bring her to a certain place. Andrei at first wanted to refuse, but they threatened him, so he had to agree. Taking her to an abandoned house, he thought about her fate. I wanted to save her, to let her go, but my own life was more valuable. And then he was caught robbery. Fortunately, there were no casualties. But I had to give him a life sentence. It’s time for dinner. I made myself scrambled eggs, ate them and washed the dishes. Although the piece didn’t go down my throat. I turned on the TV. This time cartoons worked. Another nostalgia for childhood. I went to bed knowing there would be no monsters for the next eight days.