Page 63 of Mistress A-0002

I hadn’t been able to catch my breath. Living through the aftermath of what I might have caused in their eyes, seeing the pain I brought Vivia’s mother, it was oddly too much. I wasn’t used to feeling this strongly. Knowing the depth of how agonizing the grief was, it was hard to compose myself, but anger won over.

“Take a deep breath, Pearl. This next part is very important. You’re standing in the doorway listening to your aunt Carmela yell out. Your father has run from the room, and your mother is now in there with her sister. Carmela is screaming. What is she saying?”

Pearl sobbed.

“Vivia is dead. He killed her. I knew he would. I told you he was no good for her. Vivia is dead. She’s…gone. Dead. Dead.”Her head shook as I subconsciously stepped back. Once. Twice.“She’s…nothing. More language I don’t know but…they say she’s...unrecognizable? Beaten? They’re getting further away. I can’t hear anything but the screams. The screams. They don’t end.”

“She said that? Carmela said unrecognizable? Beaten?”

“Yes. I think so. That’s what I hear, Main Master.”

I knew those facts. I’dlivedthe aftermath. But the world had stopped for me in that moment, and not necessarily because I knew the truth. It was more than that.Conversations hit hard. Key points stabbed into my brain.Realization sunk in and facts filtered through that my mind never let me acknowledge before.Melissa and these mind tricks.I was sick at the thought of what I feared was the truth. Floored that I hadn’t seen it from the beginning. Memories were returning but only in the formof warping colors. The more I worked on myself to break from Melissa, the more I could feel myself changing.

“Why are you so concerned with Vivia? Did you know her?”

“Know her? I think…no… I was the one who killed her. I…must have. I did. It’s the pattern. Her pattern. I killed Vivia. I really did.”

And I did. Each hour that past, each day, I accepted Vivia’s murder even more. I always had to a degree, but there’d been doubt in my mind that I could actually kill her. That doubt was a grain of sand in a beach of bloody certainty now. Especially as Pearl recalled the most damning thing of all.

“Red.”Pearl was breathing heavier as her doctor tried to calm her.“Red hair. Red.”

“What’s that, Ms. Mallory?”

She ignored the doctor, meeting my eyes. The terror she held had me stepping closer.

“Long hair. Red. Lots of hair. A woman…I think. I’ve seen a woman. Long hair. A…woman. The screams. Screaming. A woman.”

“What woman, Pearl? Do you know her name? What about this woman?”

“I-I don’t know. There’s…something. I’m scared. But I’ve talked to her. A woman…”

I lowered the bed’s rail, sitting on the side of her bed. Harder, my pulse hit, and I lowered my tone, trying not to shake through the adrenaline.

“Look into my eyes, Pearl Mallory. This long-haired woman. Did she ever tell you her name?”

“I don’t think so. But she came to me. Or…used to come? I think…I was with her? Lived with her? Or…saw her? I don’t know.”

“It’s okay.”I snapped next to her ear to calm her and put her back under my spell. “We’re going to go slow. I’m going to lift my hand, and I want you to follow my finger, okay?”

“She scares me. She…scares me.”

“Watch my finger, Pearl.”

Back and forth I moved my digit.

“How old were you when you saw this woman?”

“Thirteen…maybe? Young. No. Before that. I don't know. I can't remember the first time she came to me. I think I was sleeping. But…something. I….”

“Do you remember the first thing you heard her say?”

“She didn’t come to me the first time I heard her. I just heard her voice. It was like yours. It…pulled. She was speaking to my father.”

“Your father?What did she tell Quincy?”

“I…don’t…”Pain had her wince and cry out as she held to her head.“I don’t know. She…”Her lids squeezed shut and her voice shook as she forced the words free. “You’re going to do it because I told you to. We all have our roles, Quincy. You made a promise. You have obligations.”More, the pain in her head had her crying out repeatedly, but she kept trying to speak.

“Main Master, her heartrate is at dangerous levels. As her doctor?—”

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