Crazy Bitch (Bitches and Queens)

by Rachael James

  Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, Hannah began having the most troubling dream. She was a young child wearing a white ruffled dress and white leather shoes. She glanced up at the woman holding her hand. It was new mommy.

  “Remember what I said Hannah, don’t touch any of them,” new mommy warned with a gleam in her eyes.

  They walked in the yellow brick building together. The large reception area was filled with woman and children of various ages. Once new mommy began talking to another adult, little Hannah looked around cautiously. She saw a very pretty lady with long black hair sitting near the back corner. Hannah could tell by the way she was dressed she was one of them. New mommy liked to pretend that she cared about the poor—just like she liked to pretend she loved Hannah—but she didn’t.

  The pretty lady was holding a tiny baby that was bundled up in a pink blanket. She smiled at Hannah. New mommy’s hand had slipped away, so Hannah walked towards the pretty lady. She just wanted to look at the baby because she had never seen one so small.

  “Hello, what’s your name?” the pretty lady asked when Hannah approached.

  “Hello, my name is Hannah. Is that your baby?”

  “Yes, do you want to see her?” the pretty lady said and then moved the blanket back to reveal the baby’s face.

  “She’s so little.”

  “She is only two weeks old. Her name is Willow. Would you like to hold her?”

  “May I?”

  “Yes. Here, sit down beside me,” the pretty lady said and then placed Willow in her arms. She hovered close for a few moments, and then smiling she said, “You’re good at this. You will be a very good mommy one day.”

  “She should be,” new mommy said caustically.

  Hannah looked up in surprise, as she hadn’t even seen new mommy coming this way.

  New mommy’s smirk softened as she looked over at the other woman. With a warm smile, she softly added, “The only thing Hannah ever wants to do is play with her dolls. I swear, she plays with them for hours on end.”

  The scene shifted rapidly as it does in dreams. New mommy and Hannah were in the playroom back home. Hannah was cowering in the corner sobbing, but new mommy wouldn’t stop. She screamed and screamed, and tossed Hannah’s dolls one by one into a trash bag.

  Hannah knew not to fight back with new mommy when she was like this because it would only make her angrier, but when she ripped the last doll from her hands, she screamed, “NO! You’ll kill her!”

  The little doll squirmed to life. It was the tiny baby from the women’s shelter.

  “You can’t keep them! You’re a bad little girl,” new mommy screamed madly and then stuffed the infant in the plastic bag.

  Hannah woke with a start. The sounds of the crying infant echoed through her mind. So disoriented, for a moment she didn’t recognize her own bed. When she did realize where she was, Hannah looked over and saw Willow sleeping beside her with the blankets high around her face. Hannah peeled them back and watched Willow’s motionless figure. In the dark, she couldn’t see her breathing. After several moments, Willow moved gently, and Hannah lay back down beside her. It took her a long while to fall asleep again, and once she did, new mommy chased her through her dreams.

  Willow woke and stretched luxuriously. She hadn’t slept in this late since she had started her internship, but she had stayed up late the night before. And, oh my, what a night it had been. Given their chemistry, Willow knew that if it ever happened it would be good, but last night had blown away even her hottest fantasy. Hannah was mind-blowing, fantastic, and so perfectly made for her that Willow realized why she had never been entirely satisfied with either sex.

  She also realized that this would change her relationship with Zachary. How could it not? There were just some people you meet that change you, for better or worse, and Hannah was that person for her. Although she had no idea what Hannah envisioned for their future, Willow knew in good conscious that she could not marry someone, not when she shared something like this, with someone else. Zachary might be upset, but he would hardly be heartbroken, as they had never shared a conventional relationship. For all she knew, he may have had experienced something similar last night.

  Climbing out of bed as quietly as possible so not to disturb Hannah, Willow found her discarded nightshirt. After slipping it on, she walked over to the side table that was beside Hannah’s balcony. As they slept, one of the servants must have come in and left breakfast—juice, toast, bits of fresh fruits, and a warm plate filled with pancakes.

  Willow filled a small plate with toast and fruit. Balancing the plate, juice, and her phone in one hand, she opened the French door and sat down at a table on the balcony. Last night had really gotten her creative juices flowing, but this morning she wasn’t thinking about corsets or thongs. No, instead she was envisioned wedding dresses, but not her own, Kate’s.

  Checking the time on her phone, she discovered it was a decent hour to call. Kate picked up after the third ring.

  “Hi Kate, its Willow. I hope it isn’t too early to call.”

  “No, we just got out of the shower a few minutes ago. Happy belated birthday. I didn’t get a chance to say it last night. So, what’s up?”

  “Oh, thank you. Actually, I had a few ideas I wanted to run by you. Do you have any free time this afternoon?”

  “I’ll be working from home today if you want to stop by.”

  “Willow,” Hannah called out from inside the bedroom.

  “Sounds great. Say around two o’clock,” Willow said.

  “That works for me.”

  “All right, I’ll see you then,” Willow answered. She stood and walked back into the bedroom.

  “Why the fuck are you sitting on my balcony dressed like that?” Hannah questioned rudely.

  “Eating breakfast,” Willow said.

  “And it didn’t occur to you that I might have goddamn neighbors who could see you?”

  “Sorry,” Willow muttered. “I didn’t think about it.”

  “Just get back in the fucking bed.”

  Willow peeled off the nightshirt and then sauntered over slowly. At the end of the bed, she got on her hands and knees and crawled up. “Why do you want me back in bed?” she questioned cockily.

  “Come here, and I’ll tell you.”

  When she got close, Hannah flipped her over onto her back and settled between her thighs. Reaching for Willow’s hands, she held them down over her head. Leaning down, Hannah licked Willow’s lips, and Willow opened for her. Soft and sweet, Hannah took her time loving her mouth, and just as tenderly pushed her cock deep inside. None of her early irritation was evident in her touch.

  Pulling away from Willow’s mouth, Hannah rained kisses across her cheeks, her eyelids, her chin, her throat. Hannah’s gentleness was Willow’s undoing. When she climaxed, Willow decided that she could happily wake up every morning for the rest of her life just like this.

  Hannah pulled away before she had finished. As she lightly stoked Willow’s raven brow, she said, “Now get the fuck out of my house.”

  “What?” Willow questioned in disbelief.

  “You heard me,” Hannah gritted through her teeth. “I want you gone!”

  Chapter 12

  Long after she left, Hannah stayed in bed, lying on her side like a babe. The quiet stillness was suddenly erupted with a piercing scream, “NO!”

  She rolled on her stomach with her face stuffed into the pillows, trying to block out the sound of new mommy in her mind.

  You were a bad, bad girl, little Hannah. And you know what happens to bad girls.

  “No, I wasn’t. I didn’t do anything. I promise,” Hannah sobbed.

  You’re a fucking LIAR!

  “No, no, no,” Hannah cried, tortured.

  Crouched on her knees, she slowly tried to sit up, but then remembered last night and then again this morning…and her stomach convulsed. She staggered out of bed as quickly as possible, heaving as she went; the contents of her stomach sp
ewed across the bathroom floor.

  Horrified, she sank to her knees. As she looked at the mess she had made, her trembling hand covered her mouth. “Oh God, no.”

  “I TOLD YOU THE LAST TIME—I WOULD KILL YOU IF YOU DID THIS AGAIN!”

  “No mommy, it’s not like before, I swear,” Hannah pleaded.

  Through the horrific nightmare, Hannah heard a pounding on her bedroom door.

  “Miss Fairbanks, are you all right in there?” Consuela asked.

  Miss Fairbanks, she had said Miss Fairbanks. This wasn’t happening. It wasn’t real. New mommy was dead, but even if she wasn’t, the fucking bitch’s tongue had been cut out. Hannah had wanted it that way. She never wanted to hear the sound of her voice again.

  “Go away, Consuela,” Hannah said shakily as she stood and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She took several deep breathes, but none of them calmed her. This was Willow’s fault. Everything was Willow’s fault because she hadn’t played by the rules. Willow was a cheater, but she had picked the wrong bitch to cheat. Hannah would show her what happened to people who didn’t play by the rules.

  Willow made it to her afternoon appointment on time even though the last thing she wanted to do was talk about weddings. Her eyes were a bit puffy as she had spent most of the morning crying, but she thought she had done a decent enough job of concealing it. She was wrong.

  As soon as Kate opened the door, she said, “Hello…have you been crying?”

  “No, I just stayed up later than I should have,” Willow lied, looking anxiously around for Sam. He seemed polite enough, but Willow had a feeling he didn’t like her. She wasn’t sure what she had ever done to offend him, and he had never been outright rude, but it was the way he looked at her—as if she had no business being a part of his life.

  “He’s not here,” Kate said.

  “Oh, I didn’t know. He just seems to be so opinionated about the dress,” Willow said, trying to casual.

  “It probably has something to do with him being a transvestite,” Kate shrugged then smiled, “but Sam can be a real bitch when he wants to. Sorry if he has offended you.”

  “He hasn’t,” Willow denied quickly.

  “Give him time and a little makeup,” Kate chuckled. “He’s really very sweet once you get to know him. I blame Hannah, and speaking of, since it is just the two of us, why on earth are you with that witch?”

  “I’m not with her. I work for her,” Willow corrected drily.

  “All right then, why on earth are you working for that witch?”

  “She has a lot of connections in the industry. This internship can get my foot in the door.”

  “So would selling your soul to the devil, and honestly, I don’t think there is that much of a difference. You deserve better. I don’t even know you that well, but I know you deserve better than Hannah. Let’s face it, Satan himself would deserve better than her.”

  “She’s really not that…” Willow started to say bad but the word stuck in her throat because it wasn’t true. The very worst part about this morning, the part that ripped her heart in two, was that Willow realized everything everyone had said about Hannah Fairbanks was true. She was an awful, miserable, selfish, cruel bitch. It was all true, but Willow hadn’t wanted to believe. The thought that she had been prepared to walk away from the only person who truly loved her for Hannah made her shudder. “I only have four more months. You can do anything for four months.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Kate agreed, sounding less than convinced. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t work for her for four hours let alone four months. I guess you’re just a better person than me.”

  “Or maybe just more desperate,” Willow chuckled drily. Not wanting to think about Hannah a second longer, she quickly changed the subject. “So, how did you and Sam meet?”

  “I met Sam through my cousin, Jenner. She had been hanging out with him for a few weeks before she brought him over to our apartment.”

  “How long were you dating before his secret came out?”

  “I knew right away,” Kate said. “In fact, for the first six months, I only ever saw him in drag.”

  “Really?” Willow questioned. “And you weren’t curious what he looked like without the makeup?”

  “Well, we weren’t actually dating then. We were just friends, and I had some issues about men in general, so he stayed in costume. Once we started dating, we both just knew that this was the real thing.”

  “Ah, that’s sweet. How long have you been engaged?”

  Kate started giggling. “This is our second engagement. The first one only lasted for a day and a half.”

  “Oh,” Willow blinked in surprise.

  “We had a few issues, but that is all in the past now. That is why we are both so anxious to get married. We just want to get it done, over, and official. We have everything in place except for the dress.”

  “That is where I may be able to help you,” Willow said as she began to pull out some of the sketches she had drawn from her portfolio.

  After she left Hannah’s house, the last thing on her mind was wedding stuff, but she had already committed. Thankfully, she had been able to draw from some of her earlier energy. Otherwise, they might have resembled funeral shrouds.

  Kate was just starting to look at them when Willow’s phone started buzzing. Looking down, she saw it was Hannah. For a moment, she considered ignoring the call but decided against it as her future career still depending upon Hannah.

  “Hello,” Willow clipped coldly.

  “Where the fuck is my flash drive?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about my fucking flash drive. I’ve looked everywhere in this office and it isn’t here. What did you do with it?”

  “I don’t know, Hannah. I haven’t seen it.”

  “Where the hell are you anyways? The last I checked you still work for me. It’s the middle of the afternoon, and you are nowhere to be seen,” Hannah screeched into the line.

  “I thought I might work from home today,” Willow answered with strained patience. She looked up and saw Kate watching her warily. No doubt, she could hear Hannah’s piercing screams.

  “Who the fuck said you could work from home? Get your ass to work!”

  “I’ll be there in a bit.”

  “You had better goddamn be!”

  “Sorry,” Willow said to Kate after she hung up the phone. “I’ve got to go. Keep those, and let me know what you think. If there is anything you don’t like, we could take it out, or anything that you want, we could add in.”

  “Willow, these are gorgeous, all of them,” Kate said quietly and then frowned. “Are you sure you should go to the office? She sounded insane.”

  “She’s Hannah,” Willow answered flippantly. What else was there to say?

  The front entry of the office suite was locked so Willow assumed Hannah must have already left. As she walked past the lobby, nothing looked out of place, but once she opened the door to her office she stopped dead in her tracks. The sight was incomprehensible. It looked like the news footage of the wreckage left behind after a tornado touchdown. Tiny pieces and scraps were all that was left of the last four months. All her designs, all her work, were nothing but piles of useless rubble.

  Willow’s initial thought was that some stranger had done this, but she quickly dismissed it. The attack was too personal. It was meant to send a message. This was Hannah’s work. Falling to her knees in the middle of the floor, Willow covered her mouth, trying to hold back the tears. After this morning, she didn’t think it was possible for Hannah to hurt her any more than she already had, but she was wrong.

  “You didn’t play by the rules,” Hannah whispered from the door.

  Shocked because she thought she was alone, Willow looked up. The sight of Hannah was almost as terrifying as the ruins she left behind. Her clothes were ripped and tattered. Twin black streaks of mascara ran down her cheeks from her crazed tears.

  “Wh
at rules?” Willow cried out.

  “You’re a fucking cheat!” Hannah screamed and rushed forward with a piece of paper in her hands. As she sank down to the floor in front of Willow, she shoved the paper in her face. “Read it!” Hannah demanded.

  With her eyes flooded with tears, Willow could barely make out what she was seeing, but a few bolded phrases screamed out from the cream-colored parchment.

  Grossly inappropriate…irresponsible…refused to comply with basic requests…

  “What is this?” Willow sobbed.

  Hannah reached out and stroked Willow’s hair. “This is what happens when you don’t play by the rules. This is what you made me do. This is what I have to send to the dean because you cheated.”

  “No,” Willow choked. “Hannah, you can’t do this to me.”

  “No?” Hannah questioned with a cruel smirk. “No, Willow, you’re wrong. I can and I will destroy you, unless…”

  “Unless what?” Willow questioned.

  “Unless you come back home with me and finish the game. This time you will play by the rules.”

  Chapter 13

  Twice in less than twenty-four hours, Willow was in the bathtub. Knowing what to expect hadn’t made it any easier. This time was worse, far worse, because there was no hope of reason. Hannah wasn’t just a cruel bitch—she was diabolically insane. Willow no longer wanted to know Hannah’s thoughts, her motivations. She only wanted it to be over.

  Four months…four months…four months, Willow silently chanted the mantra in her mind. In four months, her signed contract with Satan would be served—if she didn’t destroy her first.

  Once Hannah had tucked her in bed, Willow rolled to her side away from her. She wondered how long she had to stay before the game was finished. Would it ever be finished? She now knew and understood what Hannah was capable of doing—the lengths she would go to win. The time limit was arbitrary. Hannah wouldn’t let her go until she was done playing, or until she found a new toy. Only this morning, she had still been young and naïve, and didn’t realize all her hopes and dreams resided in the hands of a madwoman because she had put them there.