Who really killed Wanda Day! - Wedding Bells (DAY! Series Book 2)

Chapter 5 - A Cunning Bitch, A Caterer, And A Call

Katinka Bogdanova was born in South Africa, as the daughter of Russian diplomats. For the first five years of her life, there were no abnormalities - or at least, none that anyone could detect. No, little Katinka was an absolutely delightful child, the kind that grandparents coo over and parents brag about at dinner parties.

But around her fifth birthday, something happened that no one had expected. Out of nowhere, the little girl began to hurl objects at the family dog, 'laughing like she was possessed by a demon,' as her mother would later tell the bewildered doctors. Cue the panicked parents rushing their darling daughter to every specialist in a 50-mile radius. Countless tests were conducted, with the assumption that Katinka might have had a brain tumor the size of a grapefruit. But the whole thing was finally ruled out after a sluggish six months when the doctor delivered the news that no parent ever wants to hear: 'I'm terribly sorry, Mrs. Bogdanova, but your daughter is... well, she's a sociopath. The kind that can't feel remorse or empathy, you see. Basically, she's a tiny, adorable psychopath. Congratulations!' The mother, understandably, nearly fainted right then and there. All those years of thinking Katinka was the perfect child, only to discover she was a budding supervillain in the making.

Despite years and years of therapy, conversations, and even more hospitalizations than a teeny actress, Katinka was eventually able to distinguish right from wrong at the ripe old age of 16 years, 7 months, and 14 days. But as the saying goes, "She didn't give a fuck."

And so, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, as the birds chirped merrily and families strolled by, Katinka decided to add a little excitement to the day. With a casual shove, she sent an unsuspecting boy tumbling in front of an oncoming train. Emotionlessly, she watched as his body was torn to pieces, like a rag doll in a blender.

However, when the police showed up at her home the next day, Katinka understood that her father's diplomatic status wouldn't be enough to negotiate her way out of this one. So she did what any self-respecting sociopath would do - she lied through her teeth. The security camera footage only showed the two teenagers leaving together, after which the train blocked the view. Then it showed Katinka calmly strolling back alone, not a hair out of place. She explained, her eyes wide with feigned innocence, that the boy threw himself in front of the train after she rejected his advances. She further expressed how traumatizing the event was, and that she didn't stay at the scene due to the gruesome sight.

The cops, clearly enamored by Katinka's Oscar-worthy performance, bought her story hook, line, and sinker. No one noticed the cracked, almost gleeful smile that briefly flashed across her face as she closed the door behind the departing officers. Katinka then fell dramatically into the waiting arms of her parents, who cooed and fussed over their "poor, traumatized" daughter. But there was one witness who saw through Katinka's charade - the family's housemaid, Carol. As Katinka embraced her parents, Carol slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with a mixture of horror and disbelief. She had seen that twisted smile, that fleeting glimpse of pure, cunning hate on Katinka's face.

Poor Carol. If only she had kept her reaction more subtle, she might have lived to see another day. But in Katinka's mind, that made Carol a liability that needed to be eliminated. Under the cover of darkness, she lured the unsuspecting maid to the old well shaft at the edge of the property. With a swift, merciless shove, she sent the poor woman tumbling into the deep, dark abyss. Katinka then quickly covered the opening with a wooden plank, piling earth on top and planting a lovely floral arrangement to conceal her deadly deed. When Carol's absence was eventually noticed, Katinka spun a tale of woe for her parents, telling them Carol left to go back to live with her family in Nigeria.

If her parents had simply glanced at the security cameras back then, it might have saved the lives of many poor souls. Alas, they were far too preoccupied with the pressing matter of finding a new maid who could properly fluff their throw pillows and arrange their collection of decorative teacups.