CW: On and on – shut up and listen!

Maureen stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She was so tired and wanted to sleep just a bit more but continuous whistling prevented her from enjoying the…

Where am I? She looked around cautiously. The room was mostly empty – there was only a pillow and a thin blanket. The walls were bare brick. Stylish? Maureen really didn’t think so but wanted to hope that wherever she was, she wasn’t in any sort of danger. Murderers didn’t bring their victims to places that were featured in home magazines.

The whistling grew louder. Whoever it was, they were coming closer.

Instinctively, Maureen scooped up her legs and rounded her back. What do they want from me?

The man who entered her room was handsome, clean-shaven, and well-dressed. Hmmm… She breathed a slight sigh of relief.

How much did I have to drink last night? She searched her memory but couldn’t find any files pertaining to the night before.

“Hello, Sunshine!” the man greeted her with a smile as he made his way toward her.

Maureen scooted backward and pressed her back into the cold wall. The man seemed almost familiar, but she couldn’t figure out where it was that she met him. This was very unlike her as she usually could remember a random person’s face she saw at the supermarket during her last grocery run.

“Who are you?” she asked, playing for time, trying to build up the courage to… fight or run.

The man smirked. “You’ll find out in time. Come, I want to show you something.” He gestured to the door before he walked away.

She stood up. What came out surprised even herself. “I’m not going ANYWHERE with you until you TELL ME who you are and what you want from me!” Maureen yelled out.

“It’s in your best interest to follow me,” he replied calmly without turning around.

“No!” Maureen crossed her arms as if that would help root her in place.

The mystery man sighed and turned to his left, toward the wall, which parted slowly to reveal a glass window. Behind the panel, Gloria was leaving her house.

“Gloria!” Maureen ran to the glass and pounded it with her fists. But Gloria didn’t seem to notice. “Leave her alone!” she seethed. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to her baby sister.

“I don’t plan on hurting her.” The man walked up to the glass and stopped a foot away from Maureen. “She’s very pretty,” he added and turned to look at Maureen.

All Maureen wanted to do was to launch at him with fists. She wanted to curse him out and scream for Gloria to get away, but she knew that wouldn’t get her far. This guy isn’t playing. “Lead the way,” she extended her arm toward the door.

The man smiled and exited the room. “I’m Lloyd, by the way,” he said as they walked down a narrow hallway with rooms on both sides.

“I don’t give a f*ck,” Maureen murmured, wondering if there were other people imprisoned there. While more people could potentially aid her in the escape, more people also meant that whoever was holding her, whoever Lloyd was, they were serious and capable of terrible things.

***7 days later***

“I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE!” Maureen screamed out in between sobs but there was no one there to hear her.

***2 hours later***

“Hey, Maur!” Gloria kissed her sister on the cheek. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she got a waiter’s attention with a wave.

“Uh, umm…” Maureen stuttered. She had rehearsed this scene many times in her head but was still unable to think of a good way to deliver the bad news. “I have to tell you something,” she continued.

“Yeeees?”

Maureen’s eyes began to fill with tears.

“STOP! You’re scaring me!” Gloria pulled out a pack of Kleenex from her purse and offered it to her sister.

“You’re so good to me…” Maureen wiped her eyes and forced a smile.

“You’re my sister!” Gloria squeezed Maureen’s hand. “Whatever it is, we’ll get through it. Together.”

Noticing the tears, the waiter asked if they needed a minute.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Maureen blew her nose.

“Two espressos,” Gloria ordered.

“No!” Maureen almost jumped out of her seat. “It’s only going to make us more nervous.” She looked at Gloria with pleading eyes.

Gloria nodded in understanding. “A pot of green tea, please,” she concluded.

Maureen smiled but her heart sank even lower in her chest.

They both agreed not to broach the difficult subject until after their first sips.

“So…” Gloria started as Maureen traced the outline of her cup with her index finger.

“So…” Maureen swallowed hard. “I’ll just come right out and say it.” Her head was hanging low.

“Out with it!” Gloria invited.

“I’ve been having an affair with Bill,” she spat out and lifted her head to look at Gloria.

“Bill?” Gloria was puzzled. “I don’t recall you mentioning meeting any Bills.” She furrowed her brow and took another sip of her tea.

The words came out barely audible. “Your Bill.”

“What?” Gloria’s eyes darted from one side to the other. “Is this some sort of a prank?”

“I’m sorry…” Maureen hung her head, tears streaming down her cheeks and landing in her lap.

“No! Bill would never do that!” She pushed away from the table. “YOU – YOU would never do that!” Gloria looked pleadingly at her sister.

“That night that we died, we were driving back from the hotel, arguing whether to tell you about us or not.” Maureen reached for Gloria’s hand but she snatched it up.

“‘Us’?” Gloria stood up from the table and cradled her pregnant belly. “You’re spewing this nonsense because you’re jealous. You want to destroy me and my family. But I won’t let you. Leave the memory of my husband alone. He would never have done anything like that to me or his unborn child! Never!” she added and rushed out the door.

Maureen was aware of all the eyes that were then on her. Gloria was loud enough for anyone to hear. But, she didn’t care. All she cared about was the pain she was causing her sister. And how by doing so, she was also harming her unborn niece or nephew – a child she would never get to meet.

***A little later that day***

“I don’t want to do this anymore, Lloyd.” Maureen pinched herself so as not to cry this time.

“See, that’s the whole premise of punishment. It’s not something you want to do. That would be called a reward,” he explained with a smirk.

“I’m not gonna do it.” She crossed her arms.

“And you do know what’s going to happen to poor Gloria if you don’t, right?”

Maureen saw how Lloyd tortured others and she didn’t want any of that for her sister. “But I can’t be breaking her heart every single day for the rest of her life!” A waterfall appeared on her cheeks.

“You should have thought about that when you decided to sleep with her husband.” Lloyd laughed. “Plus, she only remembers talking to you and hearing the news for the first few hours of the day. Then, she goes back to living her ‘normal’ life.” A smile did not leave Lloyd’s face the entire time.

“You’re the Devil!” Maureen grunted.

“Yes, I am,” Lloyd bowed. “Take a nap. Build some strength. Tomorrow we go again. Ta-ta!” he waved to her and left.

Maureen laid her head on the pillow and covered herself with the raggedy blanket. “I’m sorry, Gloria. Please forgive me,” she sobbed as she did every night.

***

“Write a story where a character must continue to tell their tale to a listener to avoid unsavory consequences.“
– prompt used for this CW piece.
[Source: Reedsy]

***

P.S. As always, you are more than welcome to use this prompt to inspire your post. If you decide to write something, be sure to pingback to this post so that I can get an alert and check out your piece. (A post on how to do pingbacks can be found here.) If pingbacks are not your thing, feel free to simply leave a link to your piece in the comment section below. The more, the merrier!

Stay golden,

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