AFTER THE ENGAGEMENT

Twenty Seven

"Welcome back." The voice said to her as soon as she opened her eyes, looking around to take in her environment.
The blurry face, smiling down at her, became clearer. "Must have been hard coming out of La la Land, huh? Let's play."
She said.

Janelle shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. This must have been a big dream she would probably come out from.

As if reading her thought, Candace chuckled. "Oh no, sugar. You ain't dreaming."

"It was all you? Everything that happened was all you?"
Janelle's voice finally came back.

"Ah, thank God. You still have that smartness in you. At least Harvard wasn't a waste."

Janelle looked up at her.

Candace scoffed. "You can imagine. You even had to attend Harvard and I had to attend a boarding school in Nigeria. Who does that? If he didn't want me to be noticed, he should have taken me abroad, but a far different school from yours. No, he didn't."

"Why are you doing this? Why did you kill him? He was your father!"

"He didn't act like one!" Candace snapped back. "All my life, Janelle. Do you know how much I have always wanted to have what you had? How many times Caroline made me feel like shit? Do you know how many times, she called me a bastard? Do you know how many times, she threathened me? And what did he do? Nothing!"

"He loved you, Candace. That night, he had a fight with mum, just to be with you. He even didn't care being tagged a cheating husband to be with you. And you had to go ahead and kill him!"

"Do you think I care about that. I don't give two fucks if he had her beheaded to be with me. I wanted to have his head on a platter. He didn't treat me like his daughter."

Janelle shook her head, looking at Candace. How could she have missed it? How could she have thought that Candace wouldn't hurt a fly? But she wouldn't, she thought.

Candace walked to the other side of the room where a small table stood, picked up a knife lying there, studied it with a smile on her face.

"You needed to see the look on his face when I slit his throat. It was priceless."
She said, studying the knife.

Janelle had tears rolling down her eyes, as she stared a the smiling face of Candace and was only blinded by the apologetic look on her face 'when face, the last time he looked at her.
"When I get back, I promise to tell you everything." That was the last promise he made to her.
The only promise, he didn't keep.

"How could you?"
Janelle whispered. Candace turned to her. "How could you take his life like that? My father was never a bad man. Everyone testified about him as a wonderful man. He would never reject you."

"I didn't say he did." Candace said. "But, I wanted what you had, Janelle. Do you think I didn't want those beautiful dresses you wore all the time? Do you think I didn't want to live in his mansion and eat at the same table you ate? But, no. Caroline had to make me remember where I came from all the time. Everytime she saw me, she made sure of it. And I promised her, hell. I was only keeping my promise."

Janelle screamed, struggling to break lose from the tight grip of the ropes, so she could pull Candace's eyes out. All Candace did was smirk and watch.
"Don't force it, Darling. You can't break free. I made sure of that."

Janelle got weak. "Candy, please. Don't do this. What happened to you? This isn't you, Candace."

"Oh, this is me. Flesh and blood. And it is going to be Candace to you from now on. So, I said we would play a game." Candace said putting the knife back on the table. She sat on the other chair, crossed her legs and looked at Janelle.
"You ask me any question and I answer you. At least I'm going to marvel at the look on your face when I answer your questions." She said and chuckled.