Four Years Ago

XXIV : Reveal

Friday, 10th March 2023

"Why won't you just tell me who you are?"

   The woman from across the room looked at Christine with a look close to confusion on her face.

   "Who are you?" Christine asked.

   "I'm a little offended you haven't recognised me all this while." The woman bowed her head after saying this.

   "You keep claiming that I know you, yet you don't seem familiar. What do you plan to do with me anyway? You haven't tried to kill me, and you don't want a ransom. So, what's the plan?"

   "I plan on ending your life. Just not now. I'll do it when the time is right."

   A chill ran down Christine's spine at those words, and the hair on her neck stand on edge. Christine looked around the room as subtly as she could, searching for anything she could use as a weapon.

   "It's useless," the woman said. "I arranged this room myself. There's nothing here you can use as a weapon.

   Oh damn. It turned out Christine had not been as subtle as she had hoped. She turned back to her kidnapper, who was staring into space, her hair covering the side where her scar was, as usual.

   "How did you get the scar?" Christine asked, startling her.

   "The same way I lost everything else," the woman replied, before turning on Christine with a piercing stare. Christine moved back a little at the feral look in her eyes.

   Something akin to realisation flashed in the woman's eyes and she said, "You really don't remember."

   Christine felt frustrated as she said, "That's what I have been trying to tell you since the first day."

   "Do you remember the day you met Scott?"

   "Of course. How could I forget that day? It changed my life."

   The woman looked a little sad as she said, "It was my life that was supposed to be changed."

   "What do you -" Christine started to ask, then it dawned on her. Her eyes increased in size as she said, "You're the girl who was supposed to be Scott's date."

   The woman nodded.

   "But I don't understand. You stood him up. So why hold me hostage? I just happened to be there when you weren't. It's not like I took the guy away from you."

   All the remorse disappeared from her face and was replaced with rage. She stood up as she shouted, "I didn't stand him up! I was prevented from seeing him! By you! You and that reckless red haired friend of yours!"

   "What do you mean? Ruby doesn't even know about you. We didn't even know about your existence, so how did we prevent him from seeing you?"

   "Sam's Kitchen," the woman softly said. Christine frowned, and she continued, "Ruby would always bring fake prescriptions or give Sam those stupid excuses just so she could get you off work and you could hang out together. And Sam would always fall for it because he had a soft spot for you two. Just like you did on that day. The day my life would have changed for the better."

   Christine gasped as the pieces came together in her head. She looked at her kidnapper, and started to recognise her. She looked the same, minus the signs of aging and stress and the ugly scar on her face.

   "Naomi?" Christine asked.

   She scoffed. "Funny how one day can change your life, right?"

   "But, how?"