Whoever Takes Mother From Me Dies

The Story

Ten-year-old Stella suffocates her sister, kills her parents, and burns their home to the ground. Her mother witnessed the abuse but struck Stella instead, prompting the girl to vow that anyone who takes her away will die. At the funeral, Mother Superior Magda offers the orphan comfort, and Stella claims this warmth as her exclusive right. When Magda locks her door, Stella takes her life. Sister Rosa follows, dying between Stella and Damien, a priest who committed patricide and receives the same dagger in the back. Lady Matilda, the castle matriarch who forced abortifacients, dies with a pierced throat after Stella accuses her of stealing her last mother. A blade rests at Isabella's throat until the girl reveals she is pregnant. The steel freezes mid-air. Stella reflects that her life was a sea of fire, yet her destination remains a single star.