Recollection- (noun) the ability to remember something.
Chapter Two
Ellen strides into the kitchen, scanning the refrigerator for something to eat. She ends up snagging a gluten-free bagel and a small container of cream cheese. Duncan watches her every move as she applies the topping with a butter knife.
"Don't try anything," he threatens.
"You don't have to worry," she mutters, dropping it into the sink. She smiles at him. "Done."
Duncan's face lights up. For Ellen to smile at him is a wonderful but seldom felicity. He suddenly feels heat rise into his cheeks. He covers it by coughing into his sleeve.
Brian hobbles down the stairs next, dressed in only his underwear. "Hey, have any of you seen my robe- oh." He looks at Duncan, who shrugs modestly.
"I was cold."
"I'm sure you were," Brian scoffs, taking a seat next to Sandrine at the dining table. He notices that she's entering his name into the google search bar.
"If you need to know something, feel free to ask me."
"There are a lot of things that you're not going to admit," she replies, taking her laptop into the other room. Brian sighs and heads into the bathroom.
Ellen leans against the kitchen counter and takes a bite of her bagel. Somehow, her eyes land on Duncan. In her husband's robe. She realizes that the soft blue color looks flattering on him. It really brings out his... Stop it.
She absolutely needs to stop. For the past five days, this strange man has tortured her family to the bone, and she still finds him attractive? Well, she guesses that without knowing him personally, any sensible woman has the right to consider him handsome. But I know him! What the hell is wrong with me?
You know what? It's not even me who's the problem. It's all of the feebleminded men of this day and age. Foolish. Targeting my family and I? That was foolish. That's on him. I'll never do what he's asking me to. Who exactly does he think I am?
Then she remembers.
A killer. He thinks I'm a killer.
She remembers him calling her that a few days ago. When he forced her to bury Angela. She remembers.
"No one can hear you scream out here."
Just thinking about it makes her convulse with fear.
"You don't have to do this. You bury me, then you can't kill the president, and you need me..."
"There's always a backup plan."
She shivers.
"I-I'm sorry but we... Morgan and Jake, o-our kids! I don't deserve this, we told them to run!"
She feels a single tear fall down her cheek. She remembers when he spoke of the rapist she'd failed to save.
"You chose to let him die. After what he did to that helpless, innocent girl, who could blame you? You wanted him to pay. Say it, Ellen. He deserved to die, didn't he? SAY IT!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"And so does the president."
"What?"
"That's why we chose you for this project. We needed a killer. Someone who could actually take a life."
Ellen tosses her bagel into the trash can and sprints up the stairs, her body rattling with turbulent sobs. I don't deserve this! She slinks into the corner and hides her face in her hands. The specters of her past have come to haunt her once again, and she has no control. She doesn't have control over much anymore, she supposes. She can't make these terrible people leave her alone. She can't save everyone like she wants to; someone will have to die.
She wishes it could just be her. It would be so much easier.
Ellen hears the soft pound of Duncan's footsteps approaching her.
"Get up." His voice is demanding and strictly to the point. She slowly rises, refusing to look at him. Memories begin flashing through her mind.
Brian Sanders shoves his girlfriend to the ground in a mighty rage. She lays there for a few minutes, trying to fathom what exactly is happening. Since the moment she met Brian, he'd treated her with extreme compassion and hospitality. He was the man of her dreams, and he still is. All of that seems to be falling apart.
"Get up," Brian orders. His drunken mind is very distant from his sober one.
His girlfriend starts sniffling, but she reluctantly stands on two feet. A trail of blood falls from her nostril. "You don't have to do this," she begs, squeezing her eyes shut.
"You're right. I don't." He throws a punch in her direction, but misses due to his distorted eyesight. She begins to weep.
"Get a hold of yourself. You can't go to work with tears in your eyes. Because you know what happens then? People ask questions," Duncan says, harshly pushing her away. His words bring her back to reality. "And they want answers."
Ellen nods and enters her room to get ready, the memory of Brian still on her mind. She hasn't thought about their past in ages; she doesn't like to think about it. Brian was a different person back then. He was just a teenager, after all. The two of them are way past that stage in their relationship, yet the reminiscence still remains. Ellen can no longer deal with the sudden spurs of emotion. It's just too hard.
But she won't give up. Nothing can make her surrender.
She will emancipate her family. They will recover from this.
She just hopes to God that they won't have to destroy Duncan in the process.
