"Hello Ionel,
Can I still call you Ionel, like I used to?
I'm going to call you Ionel.
This letter is probably going to spook you, but don't fret. I don't want to hurt you. You were the closest thing I had to a friend among the Seekers of the Forgotten Truth. You never touched me, probably because you preferred boys, but I appreciated it nonetheless. You also talked to me like I was a genuine person.
Your heart was never really in it, was it? You didn't care about Heaven and blasphemy and escaping societal restrictions, insofar as it let you get pleasure. That's probably why it was so easy for you to run away when the cult was busted. That, and your funds.
You mentioned your house in Văleni was huge, but holy shit! This is a straight-up penthouse! You are RICH rich, no kidding!
I'm running out of space on the paper, so I'll end it here for now. I don't want to hurt you. Honestly, I just want someone to talk to. Someone who knows who I am and doesn't need so many explanations.
Yours,
Aurora"
"Hello Ionel,
I really spooked you, huh? I saw the police looking around your neighborhood and the new guard you hired. But they never saw me!
This next one is probably going to scare you even worse when you find it in your window. Ivy is sturdier to climb than you'd think.
I found a bigger piece of paper! I think it used to be from a school notebook. The lines do help my writing look neater.
Anyway, let me continue from last time. It took me a minute to find you. There's a lot of rich people with big houses in Văleni, and of course you gave us a fake surname. But then I saw you walk home one evening and all I had to do was follow. You seem to be doing well for yourself. Nobody knows, huh? If they looked at you, they'd never guess what a degenerate cultist you once were. Or maybe they know and stay quiet.
Are you trying to leave the cult behind? I know you never liked Gheorghe and, honestly, nobody did. We followed him out of obligation. It would have been what Olivia wanted, right? They were a package deal. And after I came back, his credibility soared.
Do I really look like Olivia? I saw photos of her and I don't see the resemblance at all. Or did Gheorghe just want me and made everyone agree I look like her? Her doppelganger or something. I never liked him either. At the time I thought I did, but no, I liked that he liked me. It feels good to be wanted, to be desired, to be loved, to be called important, to be called "a miracle", "special", "dearest".
The actual truth hurts, Ionel. It hurts so much it makes me want to vomit, to tear my skin off and scrub it with steel wool. It still hurts. I think that's why it took me so long to leave.
I was the one who reported the cult. You know that by now, right? You were there when it happened, right? Did anybody find it suspicious that I disappeared around the time they were cracked down on? Or were you too busy fucking?
Again, I don't want to hurt you. If you are truly reformed, then I congratulate you! I'm glad if you will never do that again. Did you tell anyone about what you've done? Did you confess your sins? Is the slate washed clean? What about the boys' slates, though? Is everything gone for them too?
I rambled too much. I am contacting you because I want to ask you to help me, Ionel. I don't know how you could help me, but maybe we'll figure something out. Two heads are better than one. Please help me. You are one of the only cult members I managed to find and that I am willing to talk to.
I am hiding in the old clothing factory by Sadoveanu Street. There's a hole in the gate you can squeeze through. I'll wait for you there. It's better to talk in person than through letters. Please come.
Yours,
Aurora"
"You disappoint me, Ionel.
I thought you would call the police to search the factory, so of course I didn't hide there. You think I'm stupid?
You are really scared, huh? You called the police twice and they found nothing. Do you think they'll answer the third time?
Don't worry, I'm no wolf. I don't want to hurt you. I really don't want to stain my hands if possible.
I am scared too. After the cult was busted, I didn't know what to do. I still don't. It still hurts. It hurts in a way you can't comprehend, in a way I hope nobody else has to go through. It hurts to be here. Aurora is dead. I am dead and I am here. And it hurts.
You did this to me. All of you. You made me like this, and now you hide in whichever burrow each of you got, pretending I was never there in the first place. I saw you drink your coffee and eat your smoked salmon cucumber salad, still in pyjamas at 11 am. Are you really at peace? Are you playing pretend? I kept waiting for you to shuffle out the room, or to ask someone to close the blinds, but you didn't. Did you really not notice me? Or were you pretending you couldn't see, like you did in the woods, staying quiet the way others did for you?
It hurts, Ionel. To be. To exist. To be torn from the void of noncorporeal nonexistence and be put here, to be made into this. But you never cared about me, did you? None of you cared. None of you gave a fuck about Aurora, the nobody's girl, the poor wretch, insofar as you could use her. You, all of you, made me for YOU. And I HATE IT.
Do you wish I stayed dead? So do I. I don't believe in your Christian God's afterlife. I never saw it. What I saw was blissful nothing, no body no feelings no thoughts beyond impersonally observing the world like a cloud pushed by the wind. I so desperately wish to go back to it. I don't know how to go back. I die but I don't I keep coming back I don't know how to stop it !
You will help me figure this out, you have to. If anybody knows how, it' s one of the people who did it please tell me you have any idea what happened
Yours,
Aurora"
"You can't ignore me forever.
You will help me, Ionel, whether you like it or not. I should just kill you all, but I won't. An afterlife of eternal suffering with pits of lava and hot pokers is too convenient to be true. It would be too easy as well. A moment of all-consuming pain, then you'd be free of me. No, no no no no no, you won't escape again so easily.
I could also call the police, tell them about the boy that sat across from you at the table eating salmon, but I won't. I already know you won't be locked up for long, if at all. I went to him and told him to leave. He was shaking like a leaf when he saw me, but he listened. The room where you keep them is quite cosy, I like it! I am taking it for myself. I am still here as you read this. Only now you are noticing how quiet the house is, aren't you?
You can not kill me. Trust me, I tried. And I know you will not do anything about me. You will hide me here, as you hide everything else about yourself. You will listen like a good boy to everything I say, as you did for Gheorghe and Olivia. You will also fire that guard. You are scared of me and you will stay scared. You made me like this.
I'm waiting in the room. Come whenever you are ready.
Yours,
Aurora"
"Good morning, sunshine!
I told you that you can not kill me, then you freaked the fuck out when I rose back up. My neck is not crooked anymore, I fixed it in less than a 1 minute.
You can't hide in this bathroom forever!
You got water, sure, but you're way too much of a fatass to go without food for long.
I don't need either food or water. I can stay as looong as needed on the other side of this door."
"Laur help me! I am being held hostage in my house, call my uncle or somebody anybody!!"
"Wow. You're really dumb."
"How many times are you going to hide in the bathroom? I should tear this door off. I looked for tools while you were asleep, but of course you don't have any.
The food I left you started to stink. I'm honest when I say I didn't poison it. I told you I don't want you to die before I get my answers. If you don't believe me, at least flush it down the toilet before it goes bad, for fuck's sake.
I found your phone, by the way. How does Rick Astley for 10 hours straight sound?"
Dana the Man-a
2 missed calls
Hey man, is everything ok?
Ioan, you good?
Hello!
Yes, sorry! I can't talk
I got some sort of flu, my voice is gone
and I am coughing nonstop
Oh damn, sorry about that
You scared me, man. Nobody
heard anything from you for days
I know, I'm sorry! I quarantined myself
I heard the phone ringing but I felt
so sick I could barely open my eyes
Jesus, have you been to the doctor?
Yes, and he gave me some antibiotics.
I feel slightly better, but I'm still in the trenches
If you need anything, let me know, okay?
I'll tell Vali drop it off at your door
Thank you!
Dana the Man-a
13:08
How you feeling, bud?
Better!
My cough eases up and I think it's over,
then it comes back with a vengeance.
It comes in waves
But it's much better than before
Glad to hear!
How is Mr Florin?
Who?
The bodyguard I recommended you
Oh sorry, I'm still out of it
No worries, lol
I let him go, actually
Really? Why?
I don't really need him anymore
That stalker went away?
Yeah, it was so weird. It all
just suddenly stopped
Getting a guard must have scared
them away
Probably, lol
Dana the Man-a
17:40
Ioan, are you ok?
Yes, why?
Idk, you've been acting weird
Distant
You don't message as much as you used to either
Are you mad at me?
No! Of course not!
Sorry, I'm still sick
I don't really want people to see me like this
I'd rather not give everybody my flu, you know
Lol
When I'm back in the country,
we're throwing a party
Hell yeah
Dana the Man-a
11:15
Dude, what's up with you?
What?
Why were you so mean to Laur out of
nowhere? He called me crying
Where the hell did that come from?
I'm sorry
I lost my temper
I still feel like crap and it kind of pissed
me off he kept trying to call. I already
told him it hurts to talk
I get that
But come on, man. That's basically
your brother. All that was unnecessary
I know, I'm sorry
I'll apologise in a minute
Dana the Man-a
01:27
Ioan, you up?
Yeah
You ok?
Yeh yeah
Can't sleep because I got a
question I can't get out of my head
Do you remember the name of the
club we were in in uni? The algebra club?
Oh damn
Sorry, no
You don't remember the name of
the club you were president of?
It's been a long time, man
Ok
Good night!
Good night
Uncle Costel
7 missed calls
Uncle andwe rge phone
What happened?
I'm in a meeting.
Ioan is fead
Dead
Ioam Dehelean
I wnent to his house and heMs
dead, somebody kept hkm trapped here
He's skjn and bones
Somebdoy took his pheone and
pretended to be him dor weeks while eh was dead
He wa sdead the whole time I texted him
I'm coming over with police.
Don't touch anything
1 missed call
I'm on my way, we'll talk there
Uncle, Ioan did soemthing really bad
Don't say it over text, I'm on my way
It's about Demian
Our Demian
"Gabi is fuckin' jail!"
Mirabela almost dropped her bowl of breakfast blood soup, Victor's hands shooting out to catch it. "Wha- our Gabi?"
"The dumbass boy went to Văleni and broke into the police station!" Marius said, pacing around Mirabela's dining room as he ranted. "Guler's been blowin' up my phone all night! They caught him runnin' out with Aurora's file, from when she killed that pedophile!"
"Whaaah?"
"God FUCKIN' damn it!" Marius was almost stomping. "I told Guler he can trust Gabriel with the case, now look what that God-damned idiot went and did! Dumbass grown boy, thinkin' he's Batman! Now Bălașa is gonna be on our asses again!"
"Man..." Mirabela pouted, twisting her mouth to the side. "I didn't think he had it in him, to be honest."
"Me fuckin' neither!"
"This is kind of exciting, hehe!"
Marius looked at her like he wanted to smack her. "Can you be serious for one second in your life?"
"Relax! We'll get him out of there in no time. Where did they take him?"
"The prison in Lăutari."
"Perfect! We'll make it a roadtrip!"
Marius groaned, leaning his head backwards.
"I'll deal with Bălașa too, don't you worry." Mirabela continued dismissively. "Pshhh, as if she'll do anything."
"I'm sorry, but ain't this blatant trespassin'?" He said, hands on his hips. "Didn't we beat up her goons for less?"
"Yeah, but her town's dirty laundry is involved this time." She said, then giggled darkly. "One of mine had the guts to go and expose Mr Dehelean's shit. Oh, I know she's seething."
"I can't stand you two."
"Shush! How many times did I bail you out when you were younger, huh? This is Gabi's only first time."
"A pretty major first time, if you ask me!"
"Judge Stoica hasn't retired yet, right?"
"I don't know."
"Eh, whoever it is, I'm sure we'll get along!"
