Crazy Bitch (Bitches and Queens) (24 page)

“Of course,” Hannah exclaimed. “How
could I forget? Remember the last time we came and your lovely ménage a trois with
those beautiful twins from Germany. Kate would just love to hear that story,
wouldn’t she?” she questioned as she stroked his cheek. “You see, I forget very
little. Just like the time you let them fry my fucking brain while you were
traipsing across Europe fucking your little bride in my fucking villa. You didn’t
think I would forget that, did you?”

Sam stepped back, looking
simultaneously shocked and furious. “You fucking little cunt,” he snapped.

“I warned you,” Hannah
murmured. “If you couldn’t learn to play nice, I wouldn’t let you play.
Threatening to ruin Willow if she tried to contact me is
not
playing
nice.”

“You’ve gone too far this time,
Hannah. This is the last time. I’m done,” Sam declared. “I’m done with you and
all your freaky little games.”

“But I haven’t even begun,”
Hannah giggled.

Sam’s heart sank to his stomach
as he realized that this game was never intended for him. He had just been the
pawn that she used to play. The elaborate farce had been orchestrated for only
one person alone—Willow.
Good God, what did she plan to do to her?
Having gone this far already, Hannah wouldn’t let anything get in her way. Come
hell or high water, she was going to win or destroy them both. If she was
winner, that made Willow the loser. But at what? And why?

Sam didn’t have time to
discover the answers. He had to warn Willow before it was too late. He only
hoped she listened to him because the fates of both women depended on it.

“You’re insane,” Sam gritted
through his teeth.

“No Sam,” Hannah denied. “I’m a
crazy bitch. Now go back to Kate. Mommy is going to make you proud.”

From her vantage point
clustered deep in the shadows, Willow only had a partial view of the long
platform stage. Just as she was strongly considering going back out front, the
lights dimmed. The silence that filled the room was heavy with a vibrating
sense of anticipation. As the light strum of an amplified wind chime sounded,
an oversized, iridescent chrysalis floated down from the ceiling. One by one,
the panels dropped like the blossoming petals of a rose, and there she was.

Multicolored lights began
dancing back and forth in rhythm with the electronica beat, but too soon, the
sound of the song was drowned out by the crowd. In unison, they chanted and clapped,
“HAN-NAH…HAN-NAH…HAN…HAH.” Until finally, she stepped forth.

Willow stretched and craned her
neck trying to see, but she moved quietly out of sight. Whatever she was giving
the audience, they loved it as evidenced by the chaotic explosions of cheers.

Willow only vaguely realized
the fact that she was wearing one of her designs because she was so worried
about Hannah. As Hannah quickly strutted back toward the front, Willow caught a
glimpse of her face, and almost didn’t recognize her. It had nothing to do with
her makeup or hair. It was her expression that troubled Willow—so cool and
calculating. The rebirth of the Ice Queen. What was going on? Had the strut
down the runway triggered her lost memories? Was the old Hannah back?

Moving swiftly back down
towards the audience, she was once again out of view. Although she could no
longer see what was happening, she felt it. A pause, a hiccup, the audience was
growing ever more demanding. They didn’t just want Hannah the beautiful face—they
wanted all of her.

Willow squeezed her eyes tight
and silently mouthed,
No! Don’t do it!

Over the roar, a single voice
that sounded like it belonged to a legion of hell’s furies, screamed from the
stage, “SUCK…MY…COCK!”

Sam returned to Kate just as
the lights dimmed. He hurried forward and grabbed her hand, “Come on! We have
to find Willow.”

“What?” Kate questioned. “What’s
going on?”

“It’s Hannah. She made up this
whole thing. We’ve got to warn Willow,” he explained as he tugged her through
the crowd.

As soon as they exited the
room, Kate dug her feet into the tile and refused to move until he explained
himself. “Sam, what’s going on? What did Hannah say to you? And what are we
supposed to warn Willow about?”

“This…” Sam exclaimed. “It’s
made-up. None of it is real. Hannah is playing another game. I’m afraid she is
going to end up hurting herself, Willow, or probably both of them. We have to
convince Willow to get away from her.”

After her grand proclamation,
Hannah exited the runway. Instead of returning to the changing rooms, she
walked towards Willow and let out a loud squeal of delight. Vaulting down from
the steps, Hannah wrapped her arms around her and squeezed tightly. “Oh my God!
That was horrible!”

Willow stepped back, now even
more confused. The old Hannah now only seemed like a distant memory. Standing
before her was her
sister. What the hell was going on?

Hannah reached for long overcoat,
which had been left waiting for her. “Come on! We need to get out of here fast
before the press finds us. One of my old friends has offered his private jet.
If we leave now, we won’t have to tangle with any reporters.”

Just as they started to walk
away, Sam called out, “Willow, wait!”

Both women turned around to
face him and Kate.

“Kate, tell her,” Sam insisted.
When Kate remained stubbornly silently, he added, “You have to tell her. She
won’t listen to me because I’ve been such a dick.”

“Sam,” Hannah whispered with a
frown. “I’ll call you when we get home. We’ll do lunch.”

Willow only faltered for a
moment. A
dick
didn’t even begin to describe how Sam had been treating
her since the day they met. She had lost track of his countless barrage of
insults and the nasty glares he shot her way when no one else was looking. Not
to mention the fact he had threatened to destroy all her future dreams and
aspirations. As if there was a choice? She didn’t believe a word that came out
of his mouth.

Admittedly, Hannah wasn’t
acting normal, or more aptly phrased, normal for her. Having known her for
several months now, Willow decided that
normal
wasn’t in her emotional
gauge. Right now, the person she trusted wholeheartedly was Kate, and she
refused to speak. Instead, she silently watched Hannah.

Finally, looking back at
Hannah, Willow said, “Let’s go.”

Before they exited the hall,
Hannah turned back one last time. The bitch had the audacity to wink at him.
Spinning on his heels, Sam shouted, “What the hell, Kate? Why didn’t you tell
her?”

“Sam, I don’t believe you are
thinking clearly. If Hannah was really set on hurting Willow, why hasn’t she
done it already? Willow has been staying with her over a month. She has had
ample opportunities,” Kate answered.

“Yeah and that’s how a sane
person thinks, but Hannah is not,” Sam groaned with disgust.

Kate reached for his hand and
squeezed it reassuringly. “I know the truth.”

“The truth? What truth? What
the hell are you talking about?”

“I know Hannah took care of you
for years. I know she loved you when no one else did. I know she is your…” Kate
paused, taking a deep breath before she forced the words out, “…
mother.
But you have to let her go. They need to figure this out for themselves, and we
need to get on with our life. It’s been over a year since you asked me to marry
you the first time, and that’s what I want more than anything else.” She
reached up and stroked his brow, which was still creased with worry. “I want my
best friend back. I’ve missed him so much.”

They had only been in the air a
little over an hour when the plane started to descend. Willow looked up at
Hannah, who was sitting across from her passing the time by reading a
newspaper.

“Hannah, what’s going on?”

“Sorry, did I forget to mention
we have to make one tiny little stop first?” Hannah dismissed casually.

Once they landed and left the
airport, a car and driver was waiting for them outside. After they were situated
in the backseat, Hannah said mysteriously, “It won’t be much longer now.”

Dusk was settling in the sky.
Willow knew they were somewhere outside of Pisa because she spotted the famed leaning
tower from the car window. Leaving the city behind, the road stretched and
meandered around the rolling hills and golden fields filled with vineyards. Willow
was so caught up with the beauty of her surroundings that she forgot she still
didn’t know what the hell was going on.

After several more minutes, the
driver pulled off the main road and turned onto a graveled, dust-covered path
of sorts. When they passed the scattered tree line, Willow spotted a
picturesque villa sitting on top of a hill.

“You remember I told you about
this place—that I wanted to bring you here,” Hannah whispered coyly.

Willow’s eyes widened in
surprise as the alarms started ringing inside her head.

Hannah stepped out of the car
and held out her hand for Willow. “Come on,” she insisted. “Trust me, you’ll
love it.”

A handsome young man, probably
no older than eighteen or nineteen years old, met them at the front archway. “Miss
Fairbanks, it is so good to see you again.”

“Thank you, Nico,” Hannah said
sweetly, then reached up and kissed his cheek. “This is my darling, Willow.”
Hannah then turned back to Willow and explained, “Nico’s father owns a vineyard
down the road. He looks after the place while I’m away.”

As soon as they were alone
inside the main house, Willow demanded, “Hannah, I want you to tell me the
truth. What are we doing here?”

Hannah turned around slowly.
Her blue eyes twinkled devilishly. “I want to play…
sister
.”

“No,” Willow declared, feeling
as if she had just been sucker punched. No doubt about it, old Hannah was back
with a vengeance. For weeks, she had been praying Hannah would find her way
back, but not like this. The look in her eyes was all wrong. She wasn’t seeing
Willow the person but Willow the doll.

“You’re right, of course. We
can’t play in here,” Hannah retorted calmly, turned, and started walking down
the long, narrow hall.

Willow reluctantly followed.
She had no choice but to follow. Stranded in a foreign country with a woman who
may or may not be crazy, her only option was to see what Hannah had in mind and
then run like hell if necessary.

Hannah was waiting for her in the
bedroom suite. Leaning against an ornate wooden door, she turned the knob and
pushed it slowly open. Hannah held out her arm for Willow to come inside.

Willow stepped past Hannah, who
was silently waiting at the threshold, and was stunned speechless for several
long minutes. To an ordinary person, the sight of a filled, steaming bathtub
might not seem so horrific, but for Willow, it was a symbol of how far they had
fallen. There was no way she would get into that tub, not after everything they
had been through. If this is what Hannah needed to stay sane, then it was time
to say goodbye.

Willow turned around to tell
Hannah but she was nowhere in sight. She stepped out of the bathroom and found
her sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning over with her arms rested on her
knees.

“When did you remember?” Willow
whispered.

“I never forgot,” Hannah
admitted without expression.

“All this has been a charade!”
Willow screamed. “Why? Why would you do this?”

“I thought you were my dead
mother and Kate was an angel come down from heaven to save me. Clearly, I was a
little confused,” Hannah said sarcastically.

“All right. But what about this
last month? Why did you have me come to Sedona and convince me that you thought
I was your sister?”

“You didn’t come,” Hannah
cried. “You didn’t call, you didn’t write.”

“I couldn’t,” Willow shouted. “Your
precious
baby boy
threatened to ruin me if I tried to find you.”

“I know that,” Hannah spat as
she ran her fingers through her hair. “I know because my lawyer told me
everything after I was declared mentally component. But I also know…” Hannah paused
and looked up. Her eyes glistened with tears that stained her cheeks. “…if it
would have been you, the devil himself couldn’t have stopped me from finding
you.”

Willow fell back against the
wall and squeezed her eyes shut. She heard Hannah say, “I thought you despised
me.”

Trying to keep her emotions in
check, she slowly opened her eyes and answered softly, “No, I didn’t hate you.”

“I’m trying to get better,”
Hannah pleaded. “I am taking my medications, going to therapy, I even went to
group counseling with Kate and that was just a fucking blast.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me
the truth?”

“I didn’t think you would
believe me. I needed to prove that I could I be
normal.
I know you think
I’ve been acting crazy the last couple of weeks, but everything I’ve been
doing—those are the things that make me content. Right now, I have to fill my
world with happiness to get healthy. I have to heal because none of it will
matter without you. You are my joy, my bliss, and I’m trying very hard to
become a person you could learn to love.”