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Georgia
As I came to, my head was pounding, slightly blurring my vision. It didn’t take long to realize that I was in my living room, and I struggled to remember how I got there. The last thing I remembered was I was standing in my kitchen, with a gun pointed at me. That thought had me looking around, trying to spot the stranger I had let into my home.
“Hello, Sleeping Beauty.”
I heard his voice before I saw him sitting in the corner of the room in my grandmother’s antique chair. Seeing him sitting on it repulsed me.
“Who are you?” I asked, trying to hide the shakiness of my voice.
“That’s not important. What’s important is what I’m going to do if you don’t cooperate.” He stood up and walked towards me.
I tried to move but quickly realized that I was tied to a chair. The feeling of panic rushed throughout my body. “I’m telling you, whoever you think I am, you have it wrong. I don’t have anything that belongs to anyone else. I don’t associate with anyone. I just go to work and come home. That’s it!”
He sighed. “I was hoping you would choose the easy route. But I guess you want to keep up this bullshit charade of being the innocent woman.” He walked into my kitchen and I heard him rummaging through a drawer. I used that time to try and wiggle out of the ropes, but they were tied too tight. “You won’t get out,” he said without looking at me. I guess I hadn’t been quiet.
Seconds later he walked back over to me with my cooking knife set and a roll of paper towels. He grabbed a stool from the kitchen bar counter and sat next to me.
“Now, we are going to play a little game. It’s called truth or cut. I am going to ask you a question, and if you lie I’ll cut you.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Have you ever played truth or dare?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth I wanted to take them back. My attitude was making an unscheduled appearance and now was not the time for it. But I was pissed. This man, who I had only been trying to help, was holding me hostage. He also threatened me over something I was sure I didn’t even have.
He took one of the smaller knives and sliced the skin on my upper arm. It wasn’t deep but it was enough to sting. I couldn’t help but let out a whimper.
“That was just a warm-up. If you keep giving me attitude, things will get far worse for you.” He wiped off my blood on the blade with a paper towel. “Now let’s start the game.”
He looked into my eyes, but I averted my gaze, hating the coldness I saw within the depth of his eyes. “Look at me,” he demanded. I reluctantly turned my head and met his gaze. I was sure I’d see pure evil, but I didn’t. While cold and heartless, he was also simply a lost man. However, I had to remind myself he wasn’t a patient that needed help. He was a monster set on hurting me. “Now, let me ask you something that might help your memory. How do you know Donovan Zoria?”
“He was my fiance,” I answered quickly. I had already decided to play his stupid game. I figured that if I gave him honest answers, he’d see he had the wrong person and would leave.
“Ah. Makes sense. You are a disgruntled ex who can’t let go. I’ve seen your type before.” He chuckled. “Sweetheart, blackmailing his family and him won’t help you get him back.”
“I am not his disgruntled ex! I was his fiance until he was killed.” Hearing myself say the words brought back the pain of Donovan’s death. I thought,fuck this man for making me feel the pain of grief all over again. I was starting to heal until he came into my home and reminded me of my devastating loss.
“I think you’re confused. Why don’t you try and answer that again? The truth this time. Not some bullshit about being some grieving lover.” He grabbed a larger knife from the set and pointed the tip at me.
“I’m not lying! Look!” I motioned my head to the shelf behind me. I watched him look in the direction I had indicated and his eyes went wide. “See, I’m not lying.”
****
Hank
When I look at the shelf behind her as she requested, I wasn’t expecting to see pictures of her and Donovan looking very much in love in multiple scenarios. The smile on his face was foreign to me. I had only met Donovan a few times, but he was never friendly. I never would have thought he could smile.
A feeling of mistrust overcame me at that moment as I scanned the photos. I couldn’t tell who was deceiving me. I wondered if Donovan had lied and he sent me to hurt an innocent woman. Or was she obsessed with Donovan and was holding onto something they no longer had?
What I saw next answered my question. We had both been deceived. I walked over to a picture frame and inspected its contents. It was a pamphlet for a celebration of life, a funeral, for Donovan Zoria. It was dated almost a year ago. I wondered if he had been playing dead all this time. Also inside the frame was a note on lined paper. It was her declaration to always love him, even though he was now an angel in heaven. I put the frame down and turned to her, studying her face.
“See? I’m not lying. My fiance is dead.”
I saw the anguish in her eyes as she spoke. It was at that moment that I believed her, and I felt like the scum of the earth. Sure, I’d killed people before, but they had all deserved it. Everything I had discovered about them proved that. But Georgia? She had proven not to be a liar. She was just a woman who fell in love with one and was left to grieve him under false pretenses.
My thoughts were broken when my phone rang in my pocket. Pulling it out, I recognized the number as belonging to Donovan’s father, Roberto. I answered right away. “Yes, Sir.”
“Has she been taken care of?”
It wasn’t Donovan’s father as expected. It was Donovan himself. The iciness of his tone confirmed my suspicions. He had lied to me. And he had to Georgia, whom he didn’t deserve.
“Are you sure this is the right woman?” I said, more for her benefit. I knew he had sent me to her on purpose.
