She woke up with a few drops of some liquid hitting the back of her neck. Her body hurt. She couldn't move her arms or legs. What was going on?
Eleanora searched her mind for what was the last thing she remembered. The previous day was a Friday. There were deadlines to projects approaching, she had an awful lunch with some business people who had way too much interest in what made it to the pages of her newspaper. Her brother called, but she could barely make out his words between the coughs. She had found out that her star reporter had made a few mistakes in her latest works, but was adviced to keep things as they were. And a man who once worked for her, a good man, was now dead.
A very stressful day, but at least it was Friday, as the youth said. Every Friday, after everyone left the office, Eleanora had a meeting with her star reporter, Geraldine Julienne, and a bottle or two of wine. They drank and talked about light topics, celebrated the sales of the newspaper, exchanged fashion tips and just chilled. All in Eleanora's room. Not very professional of them, some would say, but that was Eleanora's favorite part. The thrill of doing something improper, something forbidden, something that could ruin their careers if they were caught.
She thought of bringing up the subject of Geraldine's mistakes, but decided against it. It was not Geraldine's fault. She had always been honest about having a hard time remembering names and faces. Eleanora's brother suffered of the same condition, and could do his work just fine. Besides, while talking Geraldine placed her delicate hand on Eleanora's thigh, and any serious conversation that she could start was soon forgotten.
Eleanora felt her face heating as she remembered the moment. Unfortunately, what took place later was a blur. She had a faint memory of soft lips and gentle touches, but she couldn't tell how far they went that particular night. She was sure it was scandalous anyway!
She didn't remember arriving home, which made sense, as this was clearly not her home. Opening her eyes, she realized she was in a dark, dirty and damp room. A basement perhaps? And she was tied down to a wooden chair. How did she end up there?
She heard the characteristic footsteps of someone wearing heels, soon accompanied by a high-pitched laugh. Eleanora shivered. She knew that laugh. She had always disliked how it sounded, despite liking Geraldine. But it was not her dislike of the sound that made her shiver. It was the fact that all fit together and the journalist realized that one of her closest friends had tied her in a basement.
"Wait until the readers of The Daily Punctilio hear about this! Eleanora Poe mysteriously missing, new editor-in-chief starts activities! What a surprising turn of events!"
Geraldine kept laughing, as if the current situation was the funniest joke she had ever heard. Something about the poor lighting made her look really sinister, or maybe that was because Eleanora now could see who that woman really was.
"Let me go, Geraldine!" She shouted, struggling against the ties. Geraldine stopped laughing and gave her a mildly disgusted glance.
"Or what? You are not really in conditions of giving me orders now, are you, my dearest Eleanora?" She laughed a little more and approached Eleanora's chair, until she was close enough that the editor-in-chief could slap that pretty face of hers, if she wasn't tied up.
"You will never get away with this!" Eleanora spat. "No one will buy your story. I have powerful friends. You don't want to mess with them."
Geraldine laughed again.
"But everyone always buys my stories. Aren't they what have been selling our newspapers for the last few years, dearest?" She paused for a moment, letting the words sink in, before approaching her face to Eleanora's so she could speak in her ear. "And those 'friends' of yours? Don't tell anyone, but I have known them for much longer than you have."
She raised her left leg and placed her foot on Eleanora's lap. The leg of her pants raised just slightly, but it was enough for Eleanora to see on her ankle, through her stockings, a familiar symbol. Her shock was so much that she couldn't help but take a sharp intake of breath, which made Geraldine laugh more.
"You and everyone else always thought me stupid, didn't you?" She said, putting her foot back on the floor. "It's alright, I know you did. No one ever suspects a stupid person. You would know all about it, right?"
Eleanora swallowed back a smart answer to that. She had no idea of what Geraldine was capable of doing. This woman in front of her was nothing like the Geraldine she knew.
"You have always been so easy to fool, El." The reporter continued. "I just needed to get rid of the other eyes in the newspaper. The Winnipeg heiress left on her own when her mommy kicked the bucket." She raised one finger. "The youngest Snicket also destroyed himself on his own. Kept messing with the wrong people, saying the wrong things. People paid me to help get rid of him, can you believe it? I killed two birds with one stone! Of course, no one was happy with what he did after being fired. I wonder who gave him the keys?" She winked and raised a second finger. "He was insistent, though. I had to take some harsher measures to make sure he would stay away. But it wasn't too hard since you gave me a lot of power after firing him, right?"
Eleanora felt her blood boiling at the thought of being manipulated like that for so long. Geraldine merely laughed a little more.
"The oldest Snicket was the only one that gave me a hard time. He was cautious. I guess he couldn't afford to lose the job, being the only one they had left with us. But he too had many enemies. You can't imagine how much of a pleasure it was to write the reports after he fell." She raised the third finger.
Now Eleanora felt like throwing up. The mood in the office had always been good, friendly. To plan for a colleague to be fired was one thing, but to feel pleasure at their murder? How did she spend so long near a woman like that without even realizing?
"Don't be so shocked, dearest. You also knew they had to go. Your 'friends' wanted so, right?"
"You have no idea of what you are talking about," Eleanora mumbled.
"Oh, I do. I know much more than you imagine, El. I know about your non-official meetings. I know who you meet and what they ask of you. I also know what they really intend with that. Damn it, Eleanora!" She raised her voice. "I also know about your brother, and the money, and the wills. I know you both are only puppets to VFD. But you didn't even know it existed before you started leading the newspaper, and I have been born into it. Don't you get it? I am one of them."
Eleanora snapped.
"So what? You are part of a weird cult. Why should I care?"
Geraldine smiled.
"You should care because you are tied, and I can do whatever I wish to you."
Eleanora sighed.
"What do you want? Money?"
"Oh no, I wouldn't want to touch some dirty, blood-stained money. I have seen what happens to people who take it."
Eleanora frowned. Geraldine started pacing in front of her, not really looking at her.
"I have received an unusual education. The most important thing they taught me is that there is one thing that is more important than money. Do you know what it is?"
"Justice?"
"Information!" Geraldine dramatically rolled her eyes. "The one who controls the information controls everything. They can build empires and destroy lives. I had a taste of it working for you. With you out of the way, I can have all the power of the most important newspaper in the area in my hands!"
"You can't seriously believe that you can publish anything you want-"
"But I can. In fact, I already do. Just as you already cut off anything as you please. Or, better said, as your 'friends' 'suggest'." She used her fingers to make the air quotes, a gesture that Eleanora had never liked. "But as you said, I can't get away with this, right?"
Geraldine walked to the right side of the room. Eleanora followed her with her eyes, and was surprised to see the reporter start operating a telegraph machine.
"We should let your brother know what is going on." She said, turning to Eleanora for a moment, before focusing again on the machine.
"He won't believe anything you say. He won't even read it."
"That's right. We alerted him of the dangers of receiving telegrams in a bank." Despite saying that, Geraldine kept sending whatever her message was.
Once she was done, she walked back to Eleanora, and sat on her lap. They were as close as they could be, with Geraldine holding one arm around Eleanora's shoulder, pressing her chest against hers, and moving her legs just enough that Eleanora could not ignore their presence there.
"My dearest Eleanora." She said, caressing the other woman's face with one of her slim fingers. "Let me tell you a little story. There is this woman I know. She is rich, powerful, fashionable… and very, very easy to please. A bit like you. Some flattery here, some kisses there…" She placed a kiss on Eleanora's jaw, and softly bit her ear. "She believes I would do anything for her. She believes she has me in her pretty hands, but it's me who has her in my hands. You see, unlike you, she is not afraid of doing whatever it takes to get what she wants. But she has one fatal flaw. She doesn't plan for failure. She is so, so certain she will win, that she has no plan for the case her crimes get exposed. Which they will be, sooner or later."
Geraldine stood up. Against her best wishes, Eleanora's body soon missed her warmth.
"I am not like this, El. I know it is very likely you will be found, and once you are, you will tell the authorities all about me. So, I have a plan for when - if - you are found. It relies on the fact that you will tell them it was me who locked you here. You will not reveal anything about the organization, because your 'friends' already warned you about it, and you don't want to mess with them." She giggled. "And you can't use my work against me, since you have let me publish all of that. In the end, how will you prove to anyone that I am smart enough to plan such a conspiracy on my own? You won't. And when they investigate it, they will find a distressed message from you to your brother telling him you know I am being manipulated by the woman I just told you about. This case will be on her bill, not mine. And her bill is already very large."
"This won't work. You still are committing a crime."
"I may be," Geraldine said, caressing her hair. "But I am as much of a victim as you are, El. Because I am stupid. No one can blame me for it."
She started walking back to the door from which she entered. She turned one last time to Eleanora.
"Of course, that's for when and if you get out of here. Until then, I have some plans for what to do with your name."
She started laughing again as she left.