by Amy Cross
"Elizabeth," he says quietly, his lips moving beneath the bandages.
"Fuck you," I reply, turning and hurrying along the corridor. I don't know where I'm going, but I have to get out of here. I have to get as far from the Heights as possible. Five years ago, I was determined to leave Edward and Luke behind, but they were able to stop me and make me stay. This time, there's no way I'm going to let them trick me again. I won't let those bastards get their hands on me. They're welcome to each other. As I reach the reception and hurry to the door, I realize I'm going to have to run through the night, but I don't care.
"Fuck!" I shout, remembering that the main door is locked. There's a key in the office, but I don't have any time to waste; instead, I grab a nearby chair and carry it over to the window, ready to smash the glass. I don't care how I get out of here; I just need to keep running. If I stop, reality is going to wash over me and I'm going to have to face the truth about this whole mess. As I raise the chair above my head, ready to strike, I realize that -
"Where are you going?" Edward asks suddenly, grabbing the chair and pulling it from my hands.
Turning, I see to my horror that he's standing right behind me. The knife is no longer in his torso, but there's a large blood patch covering his shirt.
"Where are you going?" he asks again, looking hurt and confused. "I'm right here, Elizabeth".
I stare at him, unable to get any words out. I keep expecting to wake up from this nightmare, except I know it's all real. Edward Bannister has created his own twisted reality, and he's dragged me into its dark center.
"You can't run," he continues, throwing the chair to one side before stepping toward me. "This is your life. This is the world I've created for us. After everything that's happened, Elizabeth, don't you think we need to talk about the future?"
Elizabeth
Five years ago
"There's been a change of plan," Cole whispers as we hurry into the storeroom. "Don't worry, everything's in hand, but I've got a new idea. We're going to leave at midnight".
"Midnight?" I stare at him, desperately hoping that this is some kind of joke. Waiting until 10pm felt like it was bad enough, but an extra two hours are going to kill me. I need to get the hell away from this place, and I don't see why we can't just get going right now. It's as if we're still going to be sitting around in a week's time, working on a plan that'll never come to fruition.
"If we leave earlier," he continues, keeping his voice low, "there's a chance that someone'll notice. Edward always leaves his office late, and I don't want to be doing anything while there's still a chance he could spot us". He pauses for a moment. "It's just a couple of extra hours," he continues, glancing at his watch. "It's 10pm now, on the dot. Two more hours, Elizabeth, and you can be out of here".
I take a deep breath, trying to work out what to do. Although I trust Cole, I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should do this without any help. After all, Edward and Luke are smart and Cole is their employee; is it so ridiculous to consider the possibility that maybe they're all in on this together? I'm wary of becoming paranoid, but at the same time I figure Cole probably doesn't have much to offer besides moral support. Rather than turning this into some kind of pseudo spy game, maybe I should just keep it simple: maybe I should just turn and walk out of here. After all, it's not as if Edward and Luke are going to hurt me, is it? They're not evil.
"Sure," I say eventually, even though I know deep down that I won't be waiting for Cole's help. The last thing I want is an argument, and if this is the last time I ever see him, I want us to part on good terms.
"You'll be here at midnight?" he asks.
I nod.
"I swear," he continues, "you're better off away from these people".
"I know," I say. "It's just..." Pausing, I stare at him for a moment. "Earlier, it seemed as if you were going to say something to me. Something important. At the last second, you changed your mind. What was it?"
"It was nothing," he replies.
"Then tell me," I continue.
We stand in silence for a moment.
"Never mind," I say, realizing that he's clearly not going to come out with it. Cole and I are friends, and although there's a part of me that likes the idea of there being more between us, I also know that this would be a terrible time to enter into a new relationship. I'm a complete mess, and I need some time alone so I can work out what I really want with my life. Cole is part of the Heights, and that means I have to leave him behind. Maybe in another life, things could have worked out differently, but this isn't the right moment for daydreams.
"Don't be late," he says, turning and heading to the door, "and make sure no-one sees you". He stops and looks back at me. "And don't bolt early," he says after a moment. "I can see it in your eyes, Elizabeth. You're thinking about running without a plan. Please, you have to wait for me. Don't panic and leave without me. Whatever you do, stick to the plan. Don't just run".
"Of course not," I say, trying my best to sound sincere.
Once he's headed back into the bar, I go through to the reception area. A couple of guests are going about their business, but as usual the hotel is mostly empty It's strange to think that this time tomorrow, the place will still be ticking over, long after I'm gone; it's even stranger to think about the Heights in five or ten years. Despite everything that's happened, I have no ill feelings regarding Edward and Luke. Once I'm gone, I hope that they manage to resolve their differences and move forward. Coming here was a mistake, but it's a mistake I can fix, and I'm confident that the Bannister family will be perfectly fine once I'm gone. Besides, it's not my problem if they end up at each other's throats. I'll be long gone.
"A word?" asks a voice nearby.
Turning, I see to my surprise that Edward is standing in the doorway.
"I'm busy," I say, filled with panic. I've been trying to avoid him all day, but I guess I let my guard down. I should have known that he'd be on the prowl, determined to track me down. "Maybe later," I suggest. "Tomorrow?"
"Now," he says firmly. "Please, Elizabeth. We can't ignore this".
I glance over at the door to the bar, and with a sigh I realize that I need to agree to this little meeting, if only to avoid raising Edward's suspicions. The last thing I need is to cause some kind of scene, or to attract attention. Glancing over at the reception desk, I can't help but notice that Polly already seems to have noticed that something's wrong.
"Where's Luke?" I ask.
"In the restaurant," he replies, "eating alone. Drinking alone, too. He doesn't know what happened, but I imagine he suspects that something's wrong. It looks like it's going to be another messy night for your husband. Perhaps you should go to him a little later, but first we need to speak about what happened earlier. If we don't, things could..." He pauses. "Please, Elizabeth. I'm not asking for much. Just come to my office. This isn't one of those situations that's going to get better if we ignore things. If you're going to make a go of things at the Heights, we need to talk. Let's just get everything out in the open, talk about events like rational adults, and find a way to move on without hurting anyone".
After a moment, I nod. I might as well at least hear him out, so that he doesn't suspect anything.
"This way," he continues, placing a hand on my elbow and gently guiding me across the room.
"I don't know if there's really that much to talk about," I tell him as we enter his office. I make my way over to his desk. "Maybe we should just forget it ever happened. If we can persuade your father to keep quiet, Luke doesn't ever have to know. After everything that happened recently between the pair of you, I don't think it'd be a good idea for Luke to find out". I pause, hoping that I should convincing. I need Edward to believe that I'm planning to stay. After waiting for a reply, I turn to him. "There's -"
I immediately stop speaking as I see that Rachel is also in the room, standing right next to Edward.
"What's she doing here?" I ask, trying not to panic. I can't believe Edward invite
d me here to talk privately, and then brought someone else along.
"Rachel's my assistant," Edward replies calmly. "She helps me with everything that needs doing. I can trust her implicitly, and so can you. She's completely loyal".
"That's... great," I reply, starting to feel a little creeped out. I'd been expecting Edward to be awkward and perhaps a little embarrassed, but instead he seems to have gone the other way and he seems almost blank and unemotional. Rachel has the same look in her eyes, as if she's copying her master. Damn it, Edward's clearly got under her skin, and I can only hope she's managed to hold a little of herself back.
"Everything's going to be okay," Edward continues, walking over to join me by the desk. "It took a while, but I finally worked out how to fix things. Arrangements are in place. The whole situation has been wrong, right from the start, from the moment you met Luke. If you'd met me first, things would have been different, but you feel bound to him now. He's your husband, and you're a good woman, Elizabeth. You can't hurt him. This whole mess has occurred purely because of an accident of circumstance. Fortunately, I think the situation can be fixed. Things can be put back on the right track. We just need another chance to meet for the first time".
Before I can reply, I feel a sharp sensation in my neck. I turn just in time to see Rachel stepping back, with an empty syringe in her hand.
"Help!" I shout, but my knees are already feeling weak and Edward catches me as I start to collapse. I open my mouth to call out again, but the room already seems to be swimming and although I'm desperate to get out of here, I can feel myself losing consciousness. I try to scream, but it's too late and everything goes black.
Laura
Today
"Why?" I ask, backing away from Edward. I need to keep him talking while I figure out a plan to get the hell out of here.
"Why what?" he replies blankly.
"Why did you do this to me?" I shout, barely able to suppress my rage. "Look at me! You turned me into a different person! You took my body and you changed it! You destroyed my mind and made me think..." I pause, unable to properly process everything. This whole situation is insane, and I can't even work out who I am. One moment I feel as if I'm Laura, and then I feel as if I'm Elizabeth. I don't know how to think, how to react... I don't even know how to be angry. "Why, Edward?" I continue eventually. "Why couldn't you have just let me leave all those years ago?"
"Because I loved you," he says. "I still love you. I've loved you from the first moment I saw you, and I'll love you until the day I die. Surely you must have realized that. I know you felt it too. I could see it in your eyes".
I glance over at the door to the bar. If I can get through to the storeroom, I might be able to use the exit at the rear. Turning back to Edward, I spot movement in the distance, and Luke slowly wheels into view.
"The first time we met," Edward continues, still clutching the wound in his side, "I knew you were the one for me, and I could tell that you felt the same way. I always knew the perfect woman would arrive in my life one day, someone who really understood me, but an unfortunate accident of fate meant that you met my brother first. You were too loyal to him, too good a person. You could never have broken your marriage vows and left him. I could tell immediately that you were a good person, and I realized that there was only one option. I had to reset everything. We needed another first meeting, another chance for love at first sight. I had to start things again, and there was only one way to do that".
"So you drugged me," I reply. "You drugged me and you kidnapped me".
"It was the only way".
"And they all knew?" I ask, glancing at Luke as he continues to wheel his way along the corridor.
"Only Luke," Edward continues. "I needed her help to get you away from the hotel. I thought she was strong, but she turned out to be disappointingly weak. She was able to do everything I asked of her, but the guilt began to eat away at her. She became cynical and twisted, and by the end it was as if she was haunted by her choices. I wasn't surprised when she took the easy way out. Some people just don't have the mental fortitude to see things through to their logical conclusion. I put her to a test, and she failed. Once the cracks started to show in his eyes, I knew I could never promote her. Some people just don't have what it takes".
"You mean some people aren't insane," I reply. "They're still human. They don't play with other people's lives and other people's bodies!"
"On the contrary," he replies, "my only mistake here was that I was too human. I was too kind. I decided to tell you the truth. I thought you'd understand, but perhaps I should have just let you carry on being Laura Kingston forever. You'd have been happy. We were already becoming closer, and you were falling in love with me again. You just hadn't realized it yet. We can still be together, though. You just need to overcome your initial reaction and recognize that all of this, everything I've done, has been for you, in the name of love".
"You think I love you?" I ask. "Edward, I don't love you at all. I didn't love you before, and I don't love you now".
"That's not true".
"I despise you," I continue, starting to fill up with anger. "You're not a man. You're a monster. You're some kind of freak".
"I understand why you're saying that," he replies, "but -"
"It's true!" I shout. "I've been two completely different women, Edward, and neither of them loved you! You got your second chance, and it still didn't work! What are you going to do now? Kidnap me again? Change my body again and hope for more chances? Wipe my mind and give me another name again?" I wait for him to answer. "Are you just going to keep on doing it over and over until eventually I fall in love with you?" I pause. "It's not going to happen, Edward. I'm not in love with you, and I'll never be in love with you".
"You're just angry," he replies calmly.
"I hate you," I continue, "and I pity you. I look at you and I see a cold, emotionless monster. I see a manipulative, cruel bastard who thinks other people are just playthings. The problem isn't that you're incapable of love, Edward. You're incapable of being loved. No-one could ever love you".
"You want to hurt me," he says, stepping closer. "That's good. That's real".
"I want to kill you," I say, backing toward the door that leads into the bar. "I want to get away from you, and I want you to die". Glancing over at Luke, I see that he's finally reached the end of the corridor and now he's just a few meters away, staring at us.
"You'll change your mind," Edward says, remaining calm despite a tell-tale flicker of emotion in his eyes. "My love for you, Elizabeth, is strong enough for both of us".
"Why me?" I shout, close to tears. "I'm just a normal woman! There's nothing special about me!" I stare at him, and finally I realize the truth. "You're just desperate to love someone, Edward. It doesn't matter who. That's why you were so willing to change my appearance and my personality. You didn't love Elizabeth Bannister because of who she was. You loved her because she was here. She was available. She was the only woman who came to this place, and you took all your repressed feelings and dumped them on top of her".
Slowly, Luke wheels himself past Edward, past me, and into the bar. I watch as he goes, and suddenly I'm struck by a terrible moment of realization.
"He never went to Afghanistan, did he?" I turn back to Edward. "I knew there was something strange about all of that. Everything happened so quickly, so conveniently. That wasn't real life, was it? He never even left the hotel".
"I needed him out of the way," Edward replies. "It was easy to manipulate him into joining the army. Well, he thought he was joining the army. Instead, I kept him in the basement for a few weeks. We've always been rather combative, but this time I was able to really..." He pauses, as if the thought of beating and torturing his brother is almost too pleasurable. "I won," he says eventually. "I caused him a thousand times more pain than he ever caused me".
"That's not winning," I reply.
"And now he gets to see that we're together," he continues, stepping clos
er. "Think about how that must feel. He knows that I finally won. I took the only person he ever cared about, and I stole her heart". He smiles. "The pain must be killing him. I've beaten him physically and emotionally".
"If you come near me," I say firmly, moving over toward the doors that lead into the bar, "I'll kill you. I swear to God. It'll be self-defense. I'll go to the police and I'll tell them everything".
"You don't need to be scared of me," he replies. "Surely you must realize that there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. Just name it. Tell me what you want and you can have it. Anything".
"Anything?" I ask, staring at him.
"Anything".
I pause. "Kill yourself".
"Elizabeth -"
"That's not my name!" I shout, as tears pour down my face.
"Would you prefer to be called Laura?"
"That's not my name either!" I try to stay calm, but it's impossible. I'm just a body, filled with the memories of two people, and neither of them feel real. It's not as if I can choose one over the other. They're both me, but at the same time they each invalidate the other. Elizabeth Bannister died when Edward started changing her body, and Laura Kingston died when she found out her entire life was an invention. Now they're screaming inside me, but I can't help them? So who am I? If they're both gone, what's left?
"Let's talk somewhere more private," Edward says. "Once you've calmed down, I can explain things a little more clearly. You'll understand once you've had time to listen to me properly".
"No," I reply. "We've talked enough".
Turning, I run through into the bar, determined to get the hell out of here. There's no point talking to Edward. He's already gone so far beyond the point of sanity, it's hard to believe he'll ever understand why or how I hate him so much. I just need to get away from him, get away from the Heights, and find somewhere I can be safe. As I reach the door that leads through to the kitchen, I barely have time to register that something's wrong before I hurry through and find Luke sitting next to the hobs, with the room smelling strongly of gas.
