Ghost of your past

Learning

Mia opened the door to the cottage with Natalia following closely behind, she saw a small, wood-built interior with the make up of a cabin in the woods. Small fire place in the front with an obvious old couch in front of it followed by an unflattering patterned rug right between the two. The kitchen was dingy and small with one sink and a stove that could only fit about two small sized pans. Straight ahead was a small hallway which Mia led her down to reveal 2 rooms, one on the right, small in size and the one on the left , slightly larger in size. "This will be your room" said Mia gesturing to the smaller room on the right. "How did you find this place?" Asked Natalia, Mia just gave her a look and that's when she remembered her sister hadn't exactly been a model citizen all of the time and answered herself  "Never mind"

"So how long are we planning on staying here ?"

"I think it's safe that we consult with Nedley and see if he encounters trouble recently, most certainly it will be tied to Ana, things don't happen in our town without him knowing about it."

Natalia didn't like the feeling of waiting around, especially knowing that Mila was out there and odds are whatever Ana was planning had more to do with Mila than Natalia herself.

She put her stuff down on the bed and laid down, the bed was surprisingly comfortable given the state of the rest of the cottage. "Babygirl?" Asked Mia as she peered in through the opened door space, a quick nod served as acknowledgement on her end.

"We need to talk, about Anna."

Natalia sat up in her bed, already shivering at the sound of the name "wh-why"

"Because, I need to know as much as I can about her, to try and calculate her next move"

"How will that help? I was with her for a year and some and she went and hired a hitman, I didn't know anything about her she is completely insane!"

"You must have seen something concerning over the years babygirl"

Natalia took a brief  thought "I- I never did, I-"

Mia went to go sit by her sisters side, "okay, let's start again, don't talk to me as if this were an investigation, just talk to me as your sister, telling me about your ex girlfriend."

Natalia shifted and instantly felt a lot calmer than she had a second ago.  "Just, start at the beginning"

"Well I remember at first she was very sweet, attentive, things moved quickly. I was looking for a new life and she gave it to me, she gave me an apartment to stay in, really kind of took me in as a stray dog, or at least that's what she told me when she left. And you know what now that I think about it, I did start to feel like that after I got out of the first months trance. Everything she did, she would constantly remind me of, buying the groceries, paying for dinners, for dates, outings. I never felt truly valued for. I remember telling myself it was just me, that she actually loved me. That the days where I felt inspired to write she had to come home with news of an event from her job, an office party, a social event, at the time I felt I never had time to write, but the reality of it was, she never let me have time. I was hers to own, to keep, a prized possession." Natalia sat with her thought for a second, "how could I have been so stupid? I was truly living a fantasy wasn't I? Move to a big city, find the girl, the dream job, except, not finding the dream job and finding the worlds biggest monster." 

Mia let her sister have that moment and waited to ask a question.

"Do you remember meeting anyone at those social events perhaps, that maybe peaked your interests or rubbed you the wrong way?"

Natalia thought for a second, the question seemed obvious to her, nobody she ever met while with Anna was particularly likable. "I definitely did not enjoy most of the company she introduced me to, they were all shallow and snobby, at first I thought they were nothing like her, she was so nice and humble and sweet, I didn't understand how she could be around people like that. However as time passed there was no doubt in my mind she was exactly like them."