Page 112 of Deadly Secrets

(Sienna)

My head throbbed so hard I thought my skull might just split open from the pressure, and my mouth was so dry that my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. Why did my head hurt so much?

Then I remembered.

The video.

The message to Ander.

Maggie.

The trophy.

MAGGIE…Maggie fucking hit me!

I tried screaming, but the only sounds I was able to make were unintelligible groans. No matter how hard I tried, my voice just wouldn’t cooperate. I was seated in a chair, tightly bound with my hands secured to the armrests and my feet firmly tied to the chair’s legs. I made an effort to free myself by wriggling and twisting, but the knots used to bind me were impressively sturdy and refused to budge.

“Well, well, well. Her Royal Highness is finally awake.”

I opened my eyes slightly until my sight adapted to the brightness of the room. It took some time for everything to come into focus, but the moment it happened, I saw her. Maggie. She stood in front of me, leaning on a kitchen counter with her arms and legs crossed and a sinister smile that would haunt me forever.

I quickly scanned the room, but I didn’t recognize the place. It looked like any other apartment; nothing special about it.

“Where am I?” I asked through quiet sobs. Maggie’s only response was a look of pure and utter confusion.

“Let me get this clear. You wake up tied up to a chair after your bestie hits you and drags you to the middle of fucking nowhere, and your first question is, where am I?” she exclaimed, pressing her fingers against her temples. “What they see in you, I cannot understand, but a hole is a hole, and apparently, you’re very good at letting them fill you up.”

She looked like my friend Maggie, but her tone and her words were those of a stranger. Who is this girl?

“Why are you doing this?”

“There you go. See? You are capable of asking smart questions, then.” She pushed herself away from the counter and slowly walked toward me with the confidence of a predator stalking their prey. She then crouched until her face was level with mine. “I guess it’s story time, so let me tell you one. Spoiler alert. It doesn’t have a happy ending, at least not for you.”

She stood and walked backward a couple of steps just to gain some distance.

“Once upon a time, there was a girl who lost her mother to cancer. Her dad, a great man with the kindest heart, worked in research, but his salary and insurance would not cover the cost of his wife’s treatment. The day she passed away, he not only received her ashes in a metallic urn but a medical bill he couldn’t afford to pay. His child was cold and hungry all the time, frequently eating at her dad’s office cafeteria or showering in their facilities because it was free. She sometimes would see a girl wandering around those offices who would usually complain about not getting the latest dress or ballerina shoes from Dior. She was an entitled bitch.”

My eyes closed just for a moment, but they were opened again the moment I felt the sting of a slap on my face.

“I AM NOT DONE TALKING!” Maggie screamed. She was enraged. “Where were we? Oh, yes…” She continued. “One day, his dad was fired from his job, and nobody would employ him, so he started drinking away his sorrows. He got so depressed that the only exit he saw was to commit suicide. The daughter received a small sum of money from the insurance, a goodbye letter from her dad, and a ticket to Horrorville. I’m sure you can recall the story I shared with you, can’t you? The one about the boogeyman who would lurk in the shadows and come into the girl’s room at night.”

Tears coated my cheeks.

“Yes, I remember,” I whimpered.

“Good. The girl wanted to escape her nightmares so badly that she considered following in her dad’s steps. But one day, she reunited with an old friend who became her knight in shining armor. You see…the knight had also lost everything he’d accomplished at the hands of the same evil man who had fired her dad. He helped her kill the boogeyman and gave her a purpose: seeking revenge. And here we are.”

Could it be true? Did William and Maggie plan my parents’ death together? I tried to recall every conversation, every meeting with him, every smile. They both had access to my drink on New Year’s Eve and Maggie to my apartment.

“Did you and William kill my parents?” My body and voice trembled, and a cold sweat covered my skin. I felt nauseous.

“You haven’t been paying attention, Sienna.”

The cabin door opened, and a tall figure entered the space.

“You.” My eyes widened, and my stomach dropped.

“Hello, Sienna. You’ve missed a few sessions at the lab, but I guess it doesn’t matter now…does it?”

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