Sarah Stubbs looked out of the window of her car to see a place that she had never been to before. She moved her eyes to the slip of paper that had rested in her lap ever since she had first started the car and confirmed that she had indeed arrived at the correct address. The woman she had come to meet was an enigma to her. She did not know whether to call the woman a friend or whether there was another label more appropriate. One thing she did know was that the woman would be waiting anxiously inside the house that she had stopped her car outside of, waiting for the doorbell to herald Sarah's arrival.
Sarah stepped out of the car and drunk in her modern surroundings. As much as one could expect from a housing development within the inner sanctum of the city of Toronto, the houses were far more contemporary than the suburban setting that she was used to. Angular, stylish and professional; cold to Sarah, but cutting edge to others. As she approached the doorstep of the house she had been told to come to, she did not feel welcome. The neighbourhood, if it could even be called that, seemed highly artificial to her, as if it were made to repel. Nevertheless, she was assured of the importance of her presence, and found herself on the frontiers of the house. As assigned, she eschewed the doorbell, and opted for three sharp knocks upon the plastic of the door.
Reacting almost instantly, a figure, silhouetted through the frosted window, rose within the house and appeared to glide towards the door. The handle twisted and the barrier was broken.
"Hey there, come on in" the woman who faced Sarah invited. It seemed as if she was trying to be as easy going as possible, however the strain in her voice betrayed her. Sarah remained silent as she entered the house. The outside of the house reflected it's inner sanctum. Every wall, every surface, every corner appeared bionic, seeming as if the inhabitants had not been involved with the decoration of this abode. The woman sat on the sofa at the front of the house, and Sarah sat on the armchair facing her.
"Thank you for coming, Sarah. It's not easy to ask this of you, but I must ask for your help with something" the woman sitting opposite Sarah began, attempting to gauge her reaction before informing her of what she actually needed doing.
"Miss Childs..." Sarah started, before she was promptly cut off.
"Beth, please" the woman sitting opposite Sarah, Beth, interrupted.
"Not even Elizabeth? Ooh. Uh, what was I saying? Oh, Beth, yeah, I don't wanna sound like I'm not willing to help, because I am, but what use can I be?" Beth allowed herself a small smirk as she looked briefly down at her knees, and then back up to Sarah.
"You, Sarah, are definitely the best person for this. The most suitable, given the circumstances. Look, some damn weird things have been going down here".
"Like what?" Sarah asked.
"Little things. You may not think much of them, but I have reason to believe that they are suspect. Some clothes have gone missing from my wardrobe, clothes that I rarely have need to wear".
"What kind of clothes?" Sarah pressed, acknowledging in her head that this was a peculiar circumstance.
"A whole outfit. A maroon dress, some tan tights and a pair of black high heels. Nothing other than that".
"I really don't know what could have happened to them" said Sarah, without knowing what else to say. The situation that Beth had described to her was unusual indeed, but incidences of robbery weren't unheard of in the city. Sarah definitely did not feel as secure here as she did in the security of suburbia.
"There are strange forces at work here, Sarah. Some of those I am aware of, others that lie within the shadows. One day, I might tell you what's going on. Right now, you'd think I'm crazy if I let any of the words escape me. What I need you to do will expose you to my situation so I might be able to easier tell you about it. Don't worry, you won't be in any danger, that I can promise you". Beth looked at Sarah who had a highly concerned look occupying her face, and held her gaze for a few seconds as an act of re-assurance. She truly meant all that she said and believed that Sarah was going to help her; she wasn't prepared to deceive her at this point, nor did she see any point in it. At this point, Sarah had been rendered speechless, so Beth continued.
"There is someone who I need you to keep an eye on for me. I have been doing it up until now, but my situation has been changing and I fear that it will continue to do so. As a result, I need to know that someone is there if I cannot be. You live in Scarborough, am I right?" Beth posed the question to Sarah, who was still looking overwhelmed.
"Yeah, I do" was all that Sarah could manage as she contemplated the task that Beth was giving her.
"Perfect" Beth said as she got up from her sofa. "I'll explain more to you, but you look like you could use a drink first. I'll put some coffee on".
"Thank you" Sarah told Beth out of a polite instinct. She didn't even like coffee that much, but given what she had just heard, this had seemingly failed to register.
"So, what are you thinking?" Beth asked Sarah as she returned from the coffee machine. At once, their conversation was given the backdrop of the rain-like drizzle of the coffee, making Sarah feel slightly more at ease.
"Well, I still don't really know anything about what it is that you want me to do. Who am I supposed to be watching over and what difference does it make if I'm watching over them?" Sarah responded to Beth's question with one of her own.
"To be quite honest, I don't know what difference it will make. I will just feel much easier knowing that she has someone to turn to when she needs it". Beth said, the initial strain returning to taint her voice.
"You still haven't told me who I'm meant to be looking out for" Sarah pointed out to Beth.
"Her name is Alison Hendrix. She's... something of a friend of mine. I would ask if you've met her before, but if you had then I think I would know by now". Beth said, her last statement puzzling Sarah.
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, suitably confused.
"Oh, it'll become clearer when you meet her. Either that or it will confuse you even further!" Beth said with a small chuckle. Upon seeing that this appeared to puzzle Sarah even further, she posed her another question, one arguably less challenging; "Coffee's ready. Cream and sugar?"
"Please" Sarah said as she exhaled a breath and sat back in the chair, trying to make sense of all that Beth had told her. Beth sugared and creamed Sarah's coffee and left her own unsweetened and black before bringing them over to their original sitting place.
"This seems like a good time to ask you if you have any more questions" Beth announced to Sarah, somewhat hesitantly.
"I... uh, I just..." Sarah attempted to formulate a comprehensible sentence before giving up and taking a long gulp of her coffee. She was about to pose a question to the enigmatic woman before her before the ring of a phone interrupted her.
"Oh, sorry, I've gotta get this" Beth said to Sarah almost immediately, before withdrawing the ringing phone from her pocket. Curiously, it was an older model of phone wrapped with a pink phone case. Beth withdrew to an adjoining room to answer the phone, however Sarah could still hear what she was saying clearly enough;
"Hello Katja, what is it? … Your flight? … Tomorrow night? And that's German time, am I right? … Alright then, and when do you land? … Fine, I'll be ready for you then. Just check into a hotel and we can talk there … Which hotel? … I don't know, just Google one and stay wherever, it's honestly not important … oh, nowhere too conspicuous please … Okay, thank you. Goodbye".
Sarah heard the beep of an ended phone conversation and Beth stepped back into the room.
"Apologies, it was just an urgent call. I... I just have a friend visiting from Europe. Now, did you have any questions for me?" Beth asked, returning to their original subject and disregarding the phone call that Sarah had overheard.
"Nope, no questions" Sarah said. She was sure that there were many more things that she needed know, however her mind just could not bring them to her attention at this point.
"Okay, well there are few things that I need to tell you anyway, so hopefully that'll cover any of the questions that you probably should be asking right now". Sarah merely nodded so Beth continued. "Just to let you know, Alison is auditioning for a musical right now called 'Blood Ties'. I have secured you an audition for the same musical which will grant you time with Alison at least once a week". As Beth informed her of this, Sarah found her voice.
"What?! Surely I can't do that?" Sarah protested.
"Sarah, I'm not going to lie, I have looked into your past a little bit. In high school, you were the lead in the performance of Macbeth. I heard that you made a, quite frankly, terrifying Lady Macbeth. I'm sure you can do this".
"What is the musical even about, anyway?" Sarah inquired.
"Uh... that, I do not know. One thing I can tell you, it's not Cats".
"That's not very helpful, Beth".
"It's nothing that you are incapable of doing". Beth stared at Sarah until she exhaled, defeated in her protests.
"Fine. Is there anything else that I should know about this?" Sarah wanted to know.
"Oh Sarah, many many things. But for know, I think I have told you all that you need to know. For now, anyway. Once you start your task, there will be more questions that will arise, and I promise you that they will be answered. For the time being, you're just going to have to trust me and know that I need you to do this" Beth said with as much sincerity as she could muster. In reality, she was completely dependant upon Sarah to do this for her, even if she couldn't communicate that.
"You're asking me to commit to an enormous leap of faith here".
"I understand that I'm asking a lot, but just see it as making a new friend".
"What do I have to do? Report to you about her? Am I going to be a spy?"
"No. Not at all, I just need to know that she has someone to turn to. Someone who can show her kindness and friendship. Quite simply, someone who is there for her. That is all I'm asking of you". Sarah contemplated this, and noted that Beth's explanation made it seem like a far less momentous task. One that she could easily complete within her suburban life.
"Alright Beth, I'll do it. One question? How do I know who Alison is?" This question made Beth pause for a moment, for she had no idea how she could possibly explain that to Sarah without her own sanity being brought into question.
"When you see Alison, you'll know that it's her. There will be no question in your mind" Beth stated puzzlingly. Sarah was about to ask her to clarify, but she heard the door click and open, and a man stepped in. He was looking at Beth with an incredulous look on his face and immediately she stood up to greet him.
"Paul? You're back from work early, uh... Sarah this is Paul, he's my boyfriend" Beth told Sarah, whilst looking very uneasy.
"Hi, I'm Sarah, nice to meet you..." Sarah said as she held out a hand to the man standing before her. He did not reciprocate the gesture.
"Paul" the man said with glacial coldness and Sarah's hand dropped back by her side.
"Y'know, I'll leave you guys to it..." Sarah said as she begun to get up, and no one interrupted her. She detected that there were many more things that Beth wanted to say, however she seemed to be bound by silence. Sarah made her way to the door, before Beth said one last thing to her.
"Glendale Community Theatre. Eleven in the morning. Saturday". Beth told her.
"Okay, I'll be there" Sarah responded. "See you later" she added as she glided out of the door, leaving Beth on her own with Paul. Once the door was firmly shut, Paul turned to look at his girlfriend.
"What was that all about" he asked with a curious look contorting his face.
"Oh, she just has an audition at the theatre that she needs to make. I was just reminding her so she didn't forget" Beth said, trying to explain what she had said.
"Where did you meet her? I've never seen her before" Paul stated. Although it wasn't a question, his words seemed like a harsh interrogation to her.
"Look, Paul, lay off. I can't remember. I must have … I must have been on the meds at that time and I can't really remember. I think she's one of Angie's friends" Beth lied to cover her tracks. She decided that it was best to play on her fragile state, as she knew that she wouldn't be able to come up with a scenario that covered her bases as meticulously as a detective would wish for. Paul said nothing, and put his bag on the kitchen table, an action that Beth had commonly associated with 'conversation over'.
"Did you bring something home for dinner?" Beth asked him.
"Like you would have if I hadn't?" Paul responded. Beth simply took this to mean 'yes' and this was confirmed when Paul took out an instant microwave meal from his bag for them to eat.
"Okay, I'll just get this on now" Beth said quietly, to which Paul did not reply, simply retreating into their shared bedroom to change into some more casual clothes. Beth put the meal into the microwave and simply listened to the hum of the kitchen appliance as she waited, something that Beth Childs had become more than accustomed to.