Need To Know Basis
Nathan sat down to a simple looking but aromatic smelling pasta dish in Dark Jessica’s kitchen.
“Wow, chicken and chorizo penne, pasta in a cream sauce? My favorite!” He said happily. He was expecting something outlandish to match her boasting, but he was comforted by the familiar dish.
“I remember about 5 years ago, when I was Lydia, I came to your home with your sister Dawn, and I remember having this and also remember you saying to your mother, it was your favorite. I suppose it won’t be the same as hers, but I think it’s not bad” She poured two glasses of white wine.
“You remember that?” Nathan couldn’t recall the event at all.
“I can remember so much, even at 17 you seemed interesting and so mannerly and dynamic. “I used to tease Dawn and say if you were older…” Dark Jessica grinned.
“I remember I liked Lydia quite a bit for obvious reasons, how could I think she was…a…well…you” Nathan hesitated.
“I got into her body when Chloe Stilwell was hit and killed by a stolen car in the centre of London just before 5 years ago, Lydia was already a friend of Dawn’s then in the same art class, I’m afraid Chloe’s death was also her death and I can’t help that. When I came to your house, Lydia was me, I was told by Dawn she was there before, so you saw two different Lydias in personality at least” Dark Jessica sipped the wine.
“I didn’t take notice, I just liked Lydia’s looks being honest” Nathan sipped his and admired the taste.
“So Chloe Stilwell is also dead one of your personas , why did she answer the door and the phonecall?” Nathan asked. Dark Jessica shrugged.
“Like humans, I like to play dress up I suppose and my unique skill to this place means I can actually,be those people” She smiled. “I wanted to show off my power then you’d believe what I am”
“Well I’m convinced, I’ve learnt so much about the world I’m not going to be able to view life the same way again , it’s been both a bizarre and tragic year” Nathan said sadly.
“If anything I feel I’ve made you stronger” Dark Jessica studied his face.
Nathan shrugged. “I don’t know what’s next, obviously I’ll try and get the object for you, but what happens then, my life is stopped dead in the water. Ive most my parents, my home isn’t my home anymore, my extended family have turned their backs on me. My friends…..” Nathan looked as if he was about to burst into tears.
“Your life has more purpose now than it’s ever had.. Yes I’m using you for your help, but I promise you this, you stay with me and your life will be far more elevated than anyone else’s you’ll ever know, I can teach you things beyond your imagination. I’ve always wanted a companion here, someone who’s suitable but, good men are hard to find, though I think you are a good man” Dark Jessica held his hand, Nathan looked up.
“How did Lydia die if you aren’t her now , I never heard Dawn ever mention anything happening to her, and who’s the real Dark Jessica?” He asked as he took a bite of pasta.
“Lydia didn’t die, she’s in Thailand, working in a beach bar in Phuket, at least that’s what her family think what happened to her. I visit them from time to time. I don’t want to see them sad, they are so nice. When Chloe Stilwell died in that accident she was a Jane Doe, this house is still in her name and some people think she’s still around as a medium and she is from time to time”
“Where did Jessica come from then” Nathan began to wish he’d never asked anything.
“The day Lydia went missing , she was abducted, raped and murdered by a man who the police never caught. A real nasty piece of work called Peter Garrett. He’s still out there and her body is hidden in a railway embankment. A passer by whose car was stuck and calling for the AA to mend her flat tire was a woman called Jessica. I entered her body when Peter’s strangling hold finally ended Lydia’s life. “I became her and played her life for awhile until I moved here back to my cottage and in the meantime because Lydia was at college I told her family I was moving to Thailand and we even had a going away party and all. For awhile I even flew to Thailand and rang them from there just to show them their Lydia was alive and well and kept in contact with her old friends from home. Same as I do with Jessica’s family. I couldn’t bare for Lydia’s family to know the truth of what happened to their much loved daughter. Even though she was dead the moment Chloe Stilwell was struck in London. I keep busy Nathan I’ve got much more empathy than I used to. There are good humans here as much as there is evil ones.
“Dawn never mentioned Lydia again because Dawn gave up college with her and cut her contacts there too . It was after a house party in London, and things went…well she partially blamed Lydia for what happened” Dark Jessica looked away.
“What did happen? I know something bad happened to my sister, but I never got to the bottom of it” Nathan said softly.
“It was a night out, Dawn and I were partying as we always did, we took drugs, as we always did, and foolishly went back to a house with three men. Lydia was safe because I passed out in a locked bathroom, but Dawn…she was gang raped by the three of them. She blamed me for it and never spoke to me again” Dark Jessica said looking far away into the past.
Nathan gulped and his appetite was diminished.
“I….knew that…” He started. “Summer my younger sister seemed to know it”
“Indeed she does, she would know, the object has given her that gift” Dark Jessica said finishing the wine.
“There’s something even I can’t explain, while I was in that house, the night Dawn was raped, I saw someone mocking me, someone from the past of Rockford House, she shouldn’t have been there but she was, it was eerie” Dark Jessica filled her glass again.
“Jesus Christ there’s so much to take in” Nathan sat back and drank his wine down.
“I know, but that’s the story, some of it anyway”
A vehicle stopped outside it was a large red van.
“Aha, that will be Trevor and Sam” Dark Jessica peered outside.
Nathan didn’t know whether he should remain hidden. He went to the front room and looked out the window as Dark Jessica went out the front door.
“A balding scruffy man approached from the van the other occupant remained inside. The man passed a key to Dark Jessica. He seemed to fumble with it, as he did.
“The locks are changed, that’s the key,…Sam did his best, he did” Trevor stammered. The fear was clearly in his eyes. “Tell Sam to get out the car and not to be so bloody rude” Dark Jessica gestured to Sam who remained in the van.
“He is…..er….he’s still getting the nightmares….as I am too….” Trevor seemed to flap his hands erratically at hers.
“Well, you both deserve them, all of it, but I’m not going into that now, come in and meet someone important” Dark Jessica’s gestured finally got Sam to open the door and the short bearded man trembled as he slowly followed Trevor into her cottage.
The two men acted like they were heading to their own execution. Nathan wondered what Dark Jessica must have done to them. Deep down he knew she probably acted on the same threats he gave him.
“This is Trevor Green and Sam Hunter” Dark Jessica said and she turned to the men. “This is Nathan Thornton, formally of Rockford House ”
Nathan just nodded at them curtly.
Trevor was about to speak but Dark Jessica done it for him. “Trevor is a landscaper by trade now the gardener, of Rockford House, Sam, is a failed teacher turned bee keeper, both failures in their marriages. Domestic violence, alcoholism, even predator like behavior and rape? Isn’t that right Trevor?” Dark Jessica patronizingly patted Trevor’s sweating forehead.
“I am disgrace, a pathetic disgrace…” He stammered.
“And you?” Dark Jessica jabbed Sam. He shook as he nodded. “Yes I’m pathetic, really pathetic”
“Yes you are” Dark Jessica agreed.
“You don’t need to shake their hands or anything Nathan they are here to serve us and help in our little job. I really didn’t need that key since I found one yesterday but it was only a matter of time before Myles wanted the locks changed. Trevor here as he explained is the gardener of Rockford House, he will assist you if you need it. Won’t you!” She said with aggressive filled contempt.
“I will, I won’t go into the house, I can’t…..I can’t” He broke into stuttering.
“No one is asking you to , just help Nathan if he needs it, remember once I get the object back I’ll take away the nightmares..both of you, you’ve my word” Dark Jessica spoke commandingly.
They just nodded and looked at her and Nathan pleadingly.
“How is my sister?” Nathan finally asked Trevor.
“I don’t know sir…..I don’t! Myles Knight runs the house I speak to him and Clemente, I’ll ask of her condition Sir, I will tomorrow” Trevor said humbly.
“I should call around, perhaps” Nathan said though it was deeply reluctant to do so . He really wanted to stick to his “never set foot in the house ever again” policy for the rest of his life. Plus he knew Myles had the terrifying power and Myles had verbally warned him to never set foot on the grounds of Rockford House again, even to see his sister. He didn’t state any of his feelings towards Dark Jessica, she had made it clear where he stood and the spell she had over the trembling, quivering men made him dread her wrath more than Myles.
Back at Rockford House. Dawn managed to open the safe in Myles’s study. She had an idea what his code would be and she was warmly flattered it was the date of when he had asked her to be his girlfriend. Inside she found some documents referring to the Rockford Trust Fund and a black book of business contacts that belonged to his late father, and £44,000 in cash labeled with the amount in biro . No explanation of why that money was there or what it was for or for whom. She held the money in her hand and smiled and then placed the object she held in her hand into the safe. It was the pistol belonging to Vanessa and she shut the door locking it.
She had moved a resistant Vanessa by dragging my her by her hair to another room and had locked the door, she was half expecting Vanessa to be hanging from the ceiling when she had returned to the room., but Vanessa was sitting defeated in the corner of the room wrapped in a towel. The woman had evidently taken a shower, and gazed up at Dawn when she approached carrying a carrier bag.
“ It will take more than that to get the dirt off you, the house is going to have you again and again make no mistake about that”
Dawn would have felt sorry for the woman, but had to keep reminding herself of the devious monster who played a major part of Myles’s grim passing.
“What…..are you going to do to me?” Vanessa asked. “Others will come for me if there is no communication” Vanessa knew I would be weeks until, that statement was true.
Dawn smiled sardonically at her.
“Let them come, do I look worried? And they won’t find you either living or dead that’s a a fact !”
“So you are going to kill me?” Vanessa asked Dawn.
“Maybe, it’s an option, but I don’t really fancy myself as a killer and have to pay a killer’s price , so soon after just regaining my freedom. I’ll just keep it in the back pocket I case I need to later. If you don’t top yourself first” She sneered
“For the meantime, I need staff, I need someone to keep the place clean, and keep away prying eyes and answer any questions about Myles, I need someone to lie, and that person is you after all who could be more qualified than you ” Dawn emptied the bag and out fell a white blouse, a black mid length skirt, an unopened packet of barely black tights and a gold plated name tag. There was also a black criss cross bow tie at the end of the bag.
“My old waitress’s uniform” Dawn said as Vanessa made a face at the items.
“You can wear it while you work here, keep it clean and tidy, I might have another one but I must root around and find it. While you are pretending to be Clemente for the purpose of keeping away prying eyes and questions, You can wear what Clemente wore, but behind the scenes you’ll wear this and this only and you’ll do as your told. Do I make myself clear?” Dawn asked firmly.
“And if I refuse…..” Vanessa started.
“I’ll find more things to torture you with” Dawn said eerily casual.
“Starting by heating some water and scalding that nice skin of yours. Do you want that petty face disfigured? Obey, and you might get out of here unscathed. I said I didn’t want to be a killer, but I won’t really be killing you though….” Dawn smiled wickedly.
Vanessa nodded seeing a pathway to a faint light of final victory.
“Ok Dawn I’ll do it, I’ll do it” She hated Dawns powerful and intimidating gaze.
“We’ve tried violence, now we can try humiliation” Dawn picked up the name tag and passed it to Vanessa. Vanessa looked at it shocked at the name. It said Vanessa.
“How did….?” She started. Dawn cut her off. “I bet you’re just dying to know, but enough of that. This is your new room, your first task is clearing out anything of yours out of my new bedroom and then moving my stuff from my room up to it. A lady needs a balcony to gaze out of, and I am having it. After that you can scrub all the toilets and the showers. Then you’ll move the painting of that woman away from the hallway to the cellar, I don’t want to see it. Then you’ll call to me and I’ll inspect the work. If it’s a good job, you can relax in your room if it’s not a good job…..” Dawn didn’t finish.
Vanessa looked to the floor.
“If the house decides to have sexy time with you during your jobs, that’s not my problem. Just lay back and moan like the whore you are. You’ll leave your phones and computer in my room they aren’t your concern anymore, and you’ll never see your gun again. Try and escape and I’ll remove your badly done eyebrows skin and all, Now get to it!” Dawn roared the last part and sniggered evilly as she left to Vanessa shakily remove the towel and begin to dress in Dawn’s old workplace attire.
Summer sat in her room. She texted Logan telling him she would be coming back to Ascot the next day and did he want to stay the night. She didn’t respect him that much but felt she wasn’t going to ask him to pick her up all the way from Dorset. She made arrangements for taxis and trains, begrudgingly as her “ driver” Jaime was now out of the picture and could be for some time or forever depending on how he handled the grim task of Myles’s disposal.
She wondered how things would play out with Dawn and Vanessa. She would let Dawn have her moment of power, it would only be matter of time before her older sister would self destruct.
“Never interrupt your enemy while they are making a mistake” Summer said to herself as she lightly cleaned her large model Spitfire with a damp cloth.
As the strong imposing notes of music from Richard Wagner surrounded her, as she done her chore with such delicateness and gentle care. Summer smiled to herself as she peered at the reflection of her face through the large glass pane that bordered her room from the dark winter night.
Jaime had managed the task of disposing Myles’s body. He had chosen a small wooded area up a quiet secluded lane way not far from the town of Basingstoke.
He was able to get the car to the end of the lane and making sure no one was in the area, drag Myles’s body away up a track surrounded by bare birch wood trees and down a dead leaf laden embankment. There and the, using a spade hed taken from the shed at Rockford House he managed to dig a grave and covered it with foliage, and pulled fallen branches around. Stopping suddenly every time he thought he heard a car in the distance or the possibility of someone approaching he froze. Dirty and sweating He returned to his car and threw the spade in the boot and drove away from the scene and back into Ascot, only stopping at another lay by to change his clothes, and dispose of them and the spade in a river.
That evening after facing questions from his family, notably his younger sister Iris who had lost all respect for her older brother, with the knowledge he was wrapped up with her old school rival Summer Thornton and yet she could tell he was so unhappy.
“So you just went away with Summer, just like that?” She asked him noticing how dirty his nails were. “It’s not your business” He replied as if off a script.
“My brother is my business, and the way you are heading, don’t be surprised if Dad doesn’t hold an intervention with you soon” She said seriously. Jaime’s decline was commonly the table talk of the day in the Marriott household.
Jaime just shrugged her off as he did before and before that and stood under the shower as if it could take away the fact he was a murderer, rapist and all under a mind spell. It couldn’t of course and he fought back the urge of just roaring in vain to a text on his phone via WhatsApp. He didn’t know the number. He opened it and then fell back sitting on his bed. His mouth covered by a shaking hand.
It was a picture of him in the woodland holding the spade over his his shoulder , the picture looked as if it was taken from behind him.
There was words with the message.
“What were you doing Jaime, you are Myles away from home”
Jaime with trembling hands messaged back asking who it was, but the owner of the number had blocked him before he could. He collapsed into his bed uncontrollably rattled.
He had been seen, and more worrying than that, the person had his number and mentioned Myles.
