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“Was that really necessary?”
Magda stood before Tallulah studying her, hands in her pockets, Heather nowhere to be seen.
“What will your partner think when she sees me here? She couldn’t wait to get me out of this place.”
Tallulah glanced around the living room from where she was sat, unable to move. Still she tried to test her bindings her eyes leaving the older woman for a second but glanced up when she saw the woman’s shoes by her feet. She tried to move away as Magda leaned closer to her, peering at her above her tinted glasses.
“The fuck do you want?”
Magda continued staring at Tallulah as she spoke before straightening her back, causing the younger woman to scoff and relax on the chair.
“What is it now?”
“You tried to kill Iris and Otis.”
The calmness of Magda’s voice caused Tallulah to furrow her brows before shaking her head.
“I didn’t and you can’t prove it anyway.”
“You’re right, I can’t potentially prove that it is what happened. How could I? I mean, for that you’d need to have a reason however justified.”
A ghost of a smile rose to Magda’s lips, and Tallulah could swear there was something dangerous to it, venomous.
“Is that payback for the tarot reading? I thought you thought it was just a guessing game.”
“Mhm, but we both know it wasn’t, was it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard that you took a keen interest in Graham, the layout of this town. Started asking questions that didn’t concern you.”
“Get to the point. I’m not sure you want one more death on your hands. Well, perhaps you haven’t changed, perhaps you wouldn’t mind one more.”
“Deflecting to try and change the subject as well as trying to bring back a past, although not forgotten, with which I made peace.”
“What about your sister”, asked Tallulah cocky.
“What about yours?”
Magda’s smile broadened when she saw the change in expression on Tallulah’s face, the anger creeping up beneath the surface.
“I don’t have a sister.”
“Oh but you did. Nabila was it? She was just a child when it happened, hm?”
Rope tightened around wood and flesh as Tallulah moved her arms trying to get up and get to Magda.
“Keep her name out of your mouth.”
“Why? I thought we’re talking about your dead sister? Is it only an acceptable subject when it is other’s? It hurts doesn’t it? No matter how long ago it was, it’s still there, raw, and the simplest things remind you of her.”
And she was speaking from experience. It happened less now, but she could remember thinking to herself that her sister would like this new dress she’d seen at the store, would have loved the view from where she was staying for this mission. Enjoyed trying out this new dish she’d just read about. Even, if she’d dared present them to each other, would have liked Heather.
“I know you took Graham’s files, it only became clear when I left to talk to him. He couldn’t describe you but we know there’s no need for that now.”
“Shut up, you don’t know shit.”
“Don’t I? That’d be a first.”
“You are as bad as she is.”
“Who?”
“Anika Van Cleef.”
“Ah, Stella. You’ll find that nothing she’s done could be worse than what I did.”
“They died because of her.”
“No, no, no. Your father and your sister died in a car accident, caused by your father,resulting in Stella’s husband’s death. She had no hand in that.”
“She is the reason they died, all of them! My-”
“Yes, yes, I know of your mother’s cancer.”
“How-”
“Right place, right time. Also, neither of you know how to keep your voice down.”
“You were spying on us? Old habits die hard, eh?”
“If they did you’d already be dead.”
“Yeah? So exactly what am I doing here?”
“Losing someone so young is hard, isn’t it? Being alone in the world, spat out, unloved. Obliged to grow up way ahead of time”, Magda stepped closer again and placed her hand on the back of the chair, holding onto it, “Your pain doesn’t give you the right to inflict it onto others. It doesn’t make you special, doesn’t make Stella the great villain you made her out to be actually true.”
“Her company caused-”
“I know what it did. And I know why, unlike you. I also know the original culprit. When it happened. Do you? Do you know that the one thing she’s been trying to do since she arrived has been bringing her own company down, reveal to the light of day what she discovered is actually going on? No, why would you know, or care? You’ve made this image inside of that precious little head of yours and won’t part with it.
“Precious, uh?”
“To an extent.”
A faint scoff left Tallulah’s lips and she let her head fall back, glancing at the ceiling.
“Iris and Otis are fine.”
“They didn’t find themselves close to that cliff’s edge by themselves did they?”
“What does it matter? They are fine.”
“They could have died. You would have killed two children for the sins of their mother? How would that make you any different from her?”
“Because she deserves it.”
“Do her children deserve to die because of it?”
“She needs to hurt.”
“Because you’re hurting? You’re not as clever as I thought.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“I wouldn’t”.
Magda let go of the chair, she spun on her heels and took hold of her chair, placing it in front of Tallulah’s and sat down, legs crossed, hands resting on her thighs, eyes studying the brunette.
“What?”
“I was pondering on something important.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”
“How to best make you hurt.”
The words caught Tallulah off guard. Her eyes widened, and her back strained on the back of the chair. Silence bathed the living room and Magda broke the spell by leaning forward, tilting her head, studying Tallulah’s expression some more.
“Did that scare you? I haven’t even said how yet.”
“You’re insane.”
“Grief makes one mad. Whether it is madness or anger remains to be seen. You think you know everything, why we are here because you read some file Graham has in his possession.”
“I know enough.”
“Mhm, but not enough for what you’d want to do right now.”
“And what do I want to do?”
“You’re wondering how you’re going to get out of this situation. You think if you strike a blow low enough that I’ll crack. But one thing you seem to forget, I am now aware of how low you can strike. Only I can strike lower.”
“And how do you expect to achieve that?”
“Her name was Natasha.”
Magda swallowed thickly, she was going to hurt her in one way or another.
“You say you read my file. You mentioned someone very dear to me that I lost decades ago. Now that wasn’t very nice.”
“Like I care.”
“You said she died and I lost her in a horrible way, did you not? But you don’t actually know what happened, do you? I guess we should remedy to that right now.”
A door opened and Tallulah glanced in the direction of the noise while Magda kept staring at her, trying to keep her hands from shaking. Heather entered the living room a bottle in her hands, steely eyes directed at Tallulah tied to the chair.
“She isn’t worse for wear.”
“I haven’t actually touched her.”
“Maybe you should have.”
Tallulah’s eyes parted at Heather’s words and she alternated between both women and the bottle.
“What’s that?”
“Something that’s going to help my retelling. Pour her a glass Heather dear.”
The blonde went to fetch a glass and poured a generous amount of the amber liquid before sliding it in front of Tallulah. She looked at both warily and moved her arms, still bound to the chair.
“I can’t quite catch that, sorry”, she said with a faint smile.
“Not to worry”, Magda stood and took the glass in her hands, she held onto Tallulah’s head and caught onto the change in her expression, “Drink it.”
“Get away from me!”
“You will drink this if you know what’s good for you.”
“No way, get off me!”
“Do you know how Natasha died? She got lost one night when we went on a walk and a man found her. An officer. He kidnapped her and raped her. His friends joined in. She died alone, in a metal cage. She was fourteen. A child. And you tried to use that against me”, the words faltered slightly, Magda’s voice threatening to shatter if she went further, “You tried to kill Iris and Otis and made my partner blame herself for it.”
Tallulah’s eyes widened at the older woman’s words and glanced at the hardness of the blonde’s face before looking back at the woman holding the glass to her lips.
“You are going to drink, we are going to wait for the marvellous proprieties of this new brew Heather’s been making to kick in, and then I will tell you everything that happened to my sister. Because I was there. I saw everything, and I couldn’t do anything. And you are going to relive it.”
She brought the glass closer to Tallulah who reluctantly drankit, her throat burning slightly.
“Good girl.”
Magda went to sit back down and Heather stepped closer to the back of the chair, she placed a hand on Magda’s shoulder before glancing at Tallulah.
“By the way, no one’s tested this one, so I hope you don’t mind but I’ll be taking notes for future references. I made sure the dosage was much higher this time. Who knows when you might need to use something like that, hm?”
Tallulah shook her head, and Heather poured her another one before walking to her, determined.
“That is for Iris and Otis. Bottoms up.”
She made the younger woman’s drink the full glass, not stopping when she heard coughing and stepped away, standing behind the dinner table, hands resting on it, a notebook and pen in front of her. Tallulah’s vision warped slightly and she shook her head again, her eyes falling on Magda.
“I think we can begin.”