Free Anger Mode by Stefan Tegenfalk Page A

whining behind the door became an intolerable noise in Malin’s ear. She hated the disgusting little hairball that just drooled and whined. Malin spat on Mrs Ekblom’s door and swore at the dog to shut the fuck up.
    At last, she was standing on the last step and reaching for the door handle, but she stopped herself when she suddenly started hearing vague voices inside her own head. Only faint whispers, but they spoke to her.
    What the fuck was going on?
    Suddenly, a pain started to grow deep inside her head. The whispers changed to distinct voices that talked over each other. She tried to fight it, but she was filled with an enormous rage. The angrier she became, the more the pain subsided.
    Sanna is a fucking loser and Mum is a bloody whore who should leave me the fuck alone.
    She tore open the flat door.
    IT WAS TEN past nine in the evening when Karin heard the sound of the front door opening. She jumped up from the sofa and went out to the hallway where she met Malin, who was muddied and limping, when she stepped through the door.
    Karin advanced with her hands firmly on her hips.
    “Where have you been?” she began in a shrill voice.
    Malin did not answer and ignored Karin’s glare. She slowly slinked towards her room, limping along the hallway wall. Her eyes were as black as coal.
    “Are we having difficulty finding an answer?” Karin shouted and grabbed Malin’s shoulder. She felt the rage spread to every muscle.
    “Get off me!” yelled Malin, trying to get free from Karin’s grip.
    “You’re going to tell me where you’ve been,” Karin repeated as she grabbed both of Malin’s shoulders with her hands. She wanted to throw the kid against the wall.
    Malin exploded and slapped Karin’s hands away. “Get off me, you fucking whore!” she screamed. “Leave me alone.”
    “I’m not going to. That’s over with now!” Karin screamed back and took fresh hold of Malin, who hit her hands away.
    “Don’t touch me,” Malin said and stared hard at Karin with her coal-black eyes.
    “Don’t you understand what I said, you fucking bitch? You’re nothing to do with me!”
    Karin shook with rage. Tears welled up as she grappled with her daughter’s arms.
    “Bloody brat. You’re not going to destroy anything anymore,” she yelled, as her rage mixed with despair and fear. Her tears blinded her.
    Suddenly, Karin received a hard blow to her chin and she staggered backwards. Malin turned around and limped back towards the front door. She had now hit her mother. Some part of her registered how sick this was, but she could not quite get her head round the thought. She had not had any choice. The bitch had tried to restrain her, to imprison her with her bloody nagging. She had to get out and away from the nagging bitch and her shitty life. If only she were dead. Malin tried to think, but the pain in her head cut like a knife. She stopped and pressed her hands against her forehead.
    “Can’t you just shut your mouth?” screamed Malin. “Leave me alone!”
    Malin threw open the front door and was just about to start descending the stairs when Karin grabbed her jacket.
    “You’re not going anywhere!” roared Karin, so that it echoed around the stairwell. She had to get the damned kid inside, to put an end to all of this now.
    The echo of Karin’s voice mingled with the barking from Mrs Ekblom’s chihuahua. She tried to drag Malin through the flat door, but Malin resisted. She had a grip on the handrail and held on with all the strength she could muster.
    Karin grabbed hold of Malin’s hair. She pulled so hard that a big hank of hair came loose. Malin screamed with the pain. She quickly spun around to break free from her mother’s hold on her jacket and briefly lost her grip on the handrail. In her determination to prevent Malin’s escape, Karin then hit Malin full in the face with the flat of her hand.
    The blow came as a complete surprise. Instinctively, Malin covered her face, and lost her balance,