"I was on a mission on my own for the first time and I hunted down the target. I tracked him to an abandoned building. What I found was not a bloodthirsty beast that had been murdering women, it was a woman and her child," Lana explained.
"No, you're lying," Kasia countered.
"If I'm lying, I'm flying," Lana said. "The orders were clear. That's when I realized the hunters were lying to us. A mother and her child were no threat to us. They were rogues, malnourished, on the brink of death."
Kasia shook her head, the pain in her heart too great to bear. "Nadia wouldn't have lied to us."
"And why wouldn't she, Kasia? We were grunts. We didn't need to think. We just needed to do what we were told," Lana said bitterly.
"She wouldn't have done that. You must have gotten it wrong, tracked the wrong one," Kasia argued. She refused to believe that Nadia would do something like that.
Nadia was the one to find Kasia and Lana struggling to survive. Nadia slowly morphed into.a mentor figure to Kasia and Lana, teaching them the skills they need to survive in their dangerous world.
"No, I'm sorry Kasia, I know this is hard to believe because what she means to us. But she came into my room and gave me the orders herself," Lana answered. "It was a test. She wanted me to prove myself, prove that I was loyal. Didn't you do the same?"
"Stop,"
"I know you went through with it. I know that must weigh heavy on your heart but you can't delude yourself just to wash away the guilt,"
"I don't want to hear anymore of your lies, Lana. It's clear where your loyalties lie."
"Lies?" Lana's voice trembled with frustration. "You're not even giving me a chance to explain myself!"
"Explain?" Kasia scoffed, her brown eyes ablaze with hurt and anger. "What is there to explain? You've chosen their side - the side of the monsters who took everything from us!"
"Kasia, why do you always shut down? Why don't you trust me? Why can't you see that I have always been on your side? Even when you tossed me away because I wasn't a good little hunter like you, I was still there for you!" Lana vented, her hands balling into fists at her sides. "You're not even giving me a chance. I'm still on your side; I'm still your sister!"
But Kasia couldn't bring herself to believe it. She felt the weight of betrayal press down upon her shoulders, suffocating her with its cruel presence. How could she trust Lana now, when she'd been harboring such a dark secret?
"Trust," Kasia said bitterly, "it's a two-way street. You didn't reveal to me when you were undercover. You didn't trust me with this newfound truth. So, who really doesn't trust who?"
"Come on, let's be for real. I know for a fact that you would have ratted me out as soon as you could because of how far up Nadia's ass you were. So, cut the bulls***," Lana snapped. "You don't know half the things that I do and if for once, you would shut the hell up maybe I could enlighten you."
"Just because I don't agree with your twisted beliefs doesn't mean you can treat me like some ignorant child!" Kasia retorted.
"Kasia, I never meant-" Lana began, but Kasia cut her off with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Save it, Lana!" she snarled, her body trembling with anger. "You think I don't understand? You think I can't see past the lies and deceit?"
"Kasia, just stop it and just listen" Lana pleaded. She could see Kasia building her mental wall. If the conversation continued the way it was, Kasia was going to double down and trying to get through would be pointless. "It's been three years. I don't want to argue with you." Lana reached out a hand, trying to bridge the gap between them, but Kasia recoiled as if it were a snake about to strike.
"Yes, it has been three years. Three damn years of me trying to find you, wondering if you were dead, only to find out that you're shacked up with monsters. Is that how you repay for what I've done for you?"
"Kasia, you can't keep throwing that up in my face. I know what you have gone through to keep me safe,"
"You have NO IDEA what I've been through, Lana! What I've seen, what I had to do to keep us safe before the hunters found us!" Kasia screamed, her voice cracking under the weight of her anguish. She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, drawing blood. "I shielded you from the horror of this world, the darkness of it. I shielded you from our parents' deaths. I made sure you didn't have to see their mangled bodies, torn apart."
As she spoke those words, the memory of that fateful night came flooding back - the blood-soaked ground, the gut-wrenching gurglinf echoing in her ears as she desperately tried to stop the bleeding, and above all, the overwhelming sense of loss that threatened to consume her. Kasia couldn't help but shudder at the vivid recollection, feeling as if she were reliving that nightmare all over again.
"Kasia..." Lana whispered, her voice choked with emotion. "I know you did, and I'm grateful, but-"
"Grateful?" Kasia spat, cutting her off once more. "You're siding with the very creatures that took them from us, and you have the audacity to say you're grateful?"
"Kasia, it's not that simple," Lana insisted, her voice wavering. "I have evidence. I can show you. I..."
"Enough!" Kasia roared, unable to bear any more of Lana's words. Her heart felt as if it were being ripped in two, torn between her love for her sister and her burning hatred for the creatures responsible for their parents' deaths.
"Leave me alone, Lana," Kasia whispered, her voice hoarse with the strain of holding back her tears. "Just... leave me alone."