“Can you just leave me alone?”
“Not until I tell you the truth. It wouldn’t be right.”
I almost laugh to hear this woman talking about right and wrong. Since when has she ever done the right thing by me? She’s treated me like an animal. Worse than an animal. I can hear the waterfall nearby. If I were courageous, I would run away from this woman and never look back.
“What truth?”
“Like I said. It’s a game. This has all been a game. We didn’t bring you here to weed the damn garden. I’ve been stuck, truly stuck, for years. I needed inspiration. I needed a muse.”
There’s that word, the word that Jesse used. He was trying to warn me.
“So all that shit you’ve put me through is just agame? You just pulled a gun on me.”
“That was my last move. I just had to confirm something about how you would react. And it's worked! But now, the game is over, and you have to leave. I see that you’ve fallen for Bradley. You need to know that he's just a boy with appetites who never left college.”
“You’re just saying that because he’s divorcing you,” I say spitefully. I feel the urge to make this woman suffer for what she’s done to me. “And he’s taking your money, too.”
“Impossible. If we get divorced, he gets nothing. When we got married, my family insisted on a prenup. It’s watertight, you know. Any divorce, any reason, and he gets nothing. My mother insisted. She wanted me to marry someone like my father, someone from the business world, someone practical. She wasn’t happy when I settled on Bradley.”
Watertight? That’s not what Bradley said. When was the last time Grace looked at the details? Bradley’s lawyer presumably knows more than Grace.
“I was just a kid back then,” she continues. “I was young. Not so strong. I was like you, I think. I know that sounds strange. You sometimes look at me like I’m an alien species, but all I’ve done is claim my place in the world. I decided to stop compromising all the time. I’m myself. Unique. You could be too.”
“I don’t want to be anything like you.”
“You might not have a choice. The world will shape you. But you’re missing the point. Bradley will never leave me.”
“You’re a liar!” I want to sound assertive, but my voice breaks. I was angry before, but now all I feel is fear. She’s trying to trick me, hurt me, every sentence another arrow from the parapet, and it’s working. “You locked me up. You used my face for target practice. You were even writing a book about it.”
“Do you want me to apologize? You’re fucking my husband under my nose. It’s not like you’re an innocent little girl.”
“What about Caroline? What did you do to her? Did you kill her?”
“How do you know about her? Ah, the basement. Of course. Well, Caroline is you, in a way. Five years ago. She helped me write my first novel. She still helps me, in her way.”
“Where is she? Why can’t I find any evidence she exists?”
“She changed her name, dummy. She’s perfectly fine. Perfectly alive. Look.” She reaches into the pocket of hercardigan and pulls out, of all things, a cellphone. Christ, even that was bullshit. She types for a second and holds up the screen. “Look. There she is. Caroline Marcus.”
“What did you do to her?”
“Just games, Brie. Serious games.” I feel a jolt of adrenaline, a clear signal from my body: Run. “Look, I’m not a stable person. I’m not normal. That’s partly why I live out here. I don’t medicate away my rough edges like everyone in the suburbs. Because why does everything need to be neutered? Why can’t we leave something dangerous in our safe, pathetic world?”
We emerge from the woods, and the world is bright again. The fires are close. We shouldn’t be here. Ahead, I can see the bridge overlooking the waterfall. My hands are shaking. I need to get away, but I can’t.
Bradley, please don’t be late.
“It’s all a play. None of this is real. I don’t hate you. I just wanted to see what happened, that’s all. I wanted to see how a real human would react.”
“But what about Bradley?”
“He plays along. It excites him. We’re not a normal couple. We’re not looking for a white picket fence and three kids. That’s death to us.”
“I don’t believe you! You’re a sociopath.”
“I’d never really hurt you. And I’ll make it worth your while. Like we did with Caroline. Come back with me. It’s all over now. We’ll let you drive away with a check.”
“No!”
