Chapter 8: Never Forget This!
Anna entered her room and sat on her bed, trembling and terrified as if she were about to face her worst fears—and indeed she was—hoping desperately that the door to her room would never open again.
But unfortunately for her, the door opened just seconds later!
Her stepmother entered with an angry look on her face, closing the door behind her, then turned to face Anna, who was sitting on her bed shaking violently.
"What's wrong with you? Why do you put on that miserable expression every time we sit at the table? Are you trying to cause problems between me and your father, you wretched little troublemaker?" she cursed, spitting some saliva in her fury, then continued, "I will punish you so you never dare repeat it again!"
Upon hearing this, little Anna's trembling intensified. She began to plead and cry, begging for mercy: "Please, Mother… I won't do it again, I promise… sob sob… just don't punish me… I'm so scared of dark places… sob… please…"
Anna's pleas only fueled the flames of cruelty in her stepmother's heart. The woman remained unmoved by the pouring tears; instead, she slowly approached, bending down toward Anna until her angry breath scorched the little girl's face. Then she whispered in a voice strangely devoid of rage, in contrast to her expression:
"I'm not punishing you because I enjoy it. I'm punishing you because you didn't do as I told you before. Your father noticed your expression last time, and today I saw the same look on your face again. If I don't punish you once more, you'll keep wearing that gloomy expression every single time. Do you understand me?" She paused for a moment, then continued, "Now be quiet and don't scream, or I'll make the punishment last even longer."
With a swift yet eerily calm motion, the woman pulled Anna off the bed and dragged her toward the large wooden wardrobe standing in the corner of the room. The little girl tried to cling to the edge of the wooden desk near the bed, screaming and begging: "I swear I won't do it again! I won't make any expression on my face—I promise Father won't notice anything, I promise…"
"Shut up! Don't make me angrier than I already am!" the stepmother shouted at Anna, who was still trying to resist by holding onto the desk. The struggle caused the desk to shift slightly, making some noise before she finally let go. The stepmother's strength was far beyond the weak child's, and after all—she was only six years old.
The stepmother opened the wardrobe doors and shoved Anna inside among the hanging clothes and the suffocating smell of old wood. Before Anna could push the door back open, the woman slammed it shut and turned the key from the outside, leaving the child in pitch-black darkness that not a single ray of light could penetrate.
Anna pounded the door with her tiny fists, gasping and sobbing, while her stepmother stood outside coldly, adjusting her clothes and saying in a commanding tone:
"Not a single sound from you. If you make any noise, I'll tell your father you're rebellious and refuse to obey me. I'll let you out when you've thought about your actions. Is that clear?"
Then came the sound of the room door closing, and the footsteps of the woman faded away, leaving behind a terrifying silence broken only by Anna's rapid, shallow breathing in that cramped space. The little girl curled her body among the clothes, pulling her knees to her chest, trembling violently. She closed her eyes and cried:
"Please… Anna will be very good and very obedient… sob sob… just… just let me out of here… sob… I'm so, so scared…"
It felt as though the darkness was swallowing her. With every passing minute she remained there, her breathing grew tighter and tighter. Her breaths became louder and audible, and eventually, when not enough oxygen reached her body, she lost consciousness instantly.
She didn't remember what happened next until she found herself lying on her bed. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw her father holding her hands, sitting on a chair beside the bed. His eyes were filled with worry as he examined her. Behind him stood her stepmother, watching Anna with apparent concern—not out of care for her, but out of fear that her husband might suspect she was the cause, or that Anna might say something. Every time she thought of the possible consequences, her heart raced and her anxiety soared.
Yet in front of her husband, she displayed her "fear" as concern for Anna's health, then sighed with relief after the doctor confirmed that Anna was fine and only needed rest.
As soon as Anna regained consciousness, she felt a heavy head and extreme dryness in her throat. She tried to focus on the faces around her, and her eyes met her father's—overflowing with fear and tenderness. He tightened his grip on her small hand and said in a trembling voice:
"Anna… my darling, are you alright? You scared your father so much, my little one."
Anna couldn't answer right away. Her gaze involuntarily shifted toward her stepmother standing in the back. The woman watched her with sharp eyes that carried a hidden threat behind the fake mask of concern. She placed her hand on her chest and let out a sigh of relief:
"Thank God, she's finally awake! Poor Anna… we found you unconscious next to the wardrobe. It seems you were playing there and suddenly felt short of breath."
She spoke as if worried, but inside she thought: 'Luckily I got her out of the wardrobe before Fyodor noticed anything, or I would have been in serious trouble!'
"Is that what happened, my little one? Your father was so frightened!" her father said, then placed his hand on Anna's forehead again to check for fever or anything unusual. Finding nothing abnormal, he let out an exhausted sigh and asked:
"Tell me what happened, my darling. How did you suddenly faint?"
When Anna heard the question, her eyes involuntarily darted toward her stepmother, who frowned at that moment. Anna quickly looked away. She thought about what she should say, but she knew telling her father the truth was impossible. After all, she was still so small, and she believed that telling him would only make her stepmother's punishments harsher. She was terrified of being locked in the wardrobe again. She could no longer bear that tight, dark place. She felt that next time she really wouldn't survive.
In her thoughts, Anna shuddered slightly as she remembered the suffocating, pitch-black atmosphere inside the wardrobe. Then, in a weak and tired voice, she told her father:
"I was… just looking for a small glass ball that fell… and suddenly my breathing became weak… I don't remember what happened after that until I woke up here."
She spoke as if trying to recall the events, briefly raised her eyes to her stepmother, then quickly lowered them again.
Days passed, and her stepmother's harshness eased slightly, but Anna's fear only grew stronger with each passing day. At first, the "wardrobe monster" had been one of her stepmother's intimidation tactics, but it had gradually evolved into what it had now become. After the fainting incident, merely mentioning the wardrobe was enough to make Anna's body tremble violently—as if she were facing a deadly monster that would devour her the moment its name was spoken. She would then freeze completely, motionless. The days continued until an event turned her entire life upside down—monsters far worse than the wardrobe or her stepmother.
It was a moonlit, quiet night. Anna's family home was on the outskirts of the city, practically part of the forest, so there were very few neighboring families.
Past midnight, Anna was asleep when a loud noise and rising screams erupted outside the house. In this remote area, absolute silence was one of the defining features—but that night it turned the place into a grim stage filled with miserable howls and wails.
The screams from outside woke Anna, causing her to sit up in bed. Moments later, the door burst open and her father rushed toward her with a worried and sorrowful expression. He spoke quickly while hugging her tightly:
"Listen to me, my little one. No matter what happens, do not leave this room. No matter what sounds or screams you hear, do not come out. Hide under the bed and do not come out if anyone other than me enters. Stay hidden until I come back and tell you it's safe. And if I don't come back… run to the city after things calm down. Do you understand?!"
The words poured out of his mouth rapidly.
"I don't have time to explain the situation. Just know that your father loves you more than anything in this world, and that I will always be by your side. Never forget this."
When she heard those words, tears streamed from Anna's eyes without her realizing it. She seemed to want to say something, but her father kissed her forehead and gently pushed her away with an expression full of tenderness:
"Hide—quickly!"
He said this, then hurried out and closed the door behind him, leaving Anna in the midst of her tears, not understanding what was happening. But she obeyed her father's orders immediately, crawled under the bed, eyes brimming with tears.
Why is this happening?
What's going on?
Why do I have to hide like this?
Where are all these screams coming from?
What will happen to my father…?
All these thoughts and questions flooded her mind like an endless waterfall. She had no answers, and she couldn't go out to find out. She had to follow her father's instructions…