STRANGERS ♱ yellowjackets

41. purple

THE SUN CAME UP AS THE TWO WALK DOWN THE YARD.

"Natalie," Lottie said, her voice a soothing balm that did little to ease the between them. "It's been too long."

Natalie said nothing, her eyes narrowing as she studied Lottie. The wellness center, the therapeutic sessions, the promises of healing—it all felt like a facade, a carefully constructed illusion to hide something much darker. She was determined to uncover the truth.

"The last time I heard you were fingerpainting in the loony bin, and now you're running a cult", Natalie states bluntly, "Clearly, you've recovered then." The sarcasm in her voice was thick as honey. Lottie smiles with a certain flare of self-satisfaction, "Last time I heard you were getting out of rehab for the... fifth time? How's your recovery going?"

Natalie stays quiet.

"We're not a cult", Lottie says with a soft smile, "We are an intentional community turning suffering into strength. So we can live as our best selves."

"You fucking kidnapped me, Lottie."

"That was not the plan", Lottie defends herself.

"Oh, and what about the guy you were burying alive in the woods?", Natalie challenges the woman again. "A therapeutic treatment. One of the many we offer here", Lottie answers.

"Oh", Natalie says sarcastically, "Was I being treated when your purple fucks came and jumped me?"

"It's heliotrope not purple. We make the dye ourselves, from the flowers used to treat wounds", Lottie says with a proud smile. Natalie looks at the woman like she's crazy, "Wow, deep."

Lottie stays quiet for a moment before she takes a sharp breath in, "After Travis died I was worried that you would do something stupid. I know he was your best friend, Nat. So I sent my friends to keep an eye on you, and, surprise you stuck a gun in your mouth. They had to act fast. You're welcome, by the way."

Natalie doesn't get the chance to answer her as they are interrupted by the worker, who Natalie stabbed in the face. The worker sends a deathly glare at the woman as she hands Lottie her smoothie. Lottie takes a sip before eyeing the worker suspiciously. "I smell butterscotch. Did you put maca root in here? Hmm.. I asked for Ashwagandha. I want my focus increased, not my libido."

"I'm sorry, Charlotte. Um, I must have mixed it up", the worker quickly apologizes.

As Natalie smirks at Lottie's pettiness, Charlotte changes her mind. "It's okay, I'll drink it."

Natalie gives the worker a half-ass apology about her hand and face, but the worker just sends her another cold stare. As the worker walks away, Natalie turns to Lottie. "Is that her best self?", Natalie asks slightly humored by the situation. Lottie groans, "Don't be an asshole. You could've blinded her."

The room is dimly lit, a soft amber glow coming from clusters of candles scattered across the low shelves and corners. Their flames flicker gently, casting moving shadows that dance on the walls, almost as if the room itself is breathing. The air is thick with the earthy, sweet scent of sandalwood incense, its smoke curling lazily upward before dissipating into the dimness.

Charlotte lit a candle, "On the night Travis died he called me. He said the wilderness had come back to haunt him." Natalie stares at the woman with wide, bitter eyes. "And he said he knew what he had to do, and I asked him what he meant but he just hung up. And I panicked. I drove all night and by the time I found him, he was a mess. He was terrified he was paranoid. I felt like I had reached him. I just wish I wouldn't have fallen asleep."

Natalie interrupts Lottie, "You think with him like that, you should have reached out to me? You don't think that I could've--"

"Helped him?", Lottie asks, "I asked him that, Nat. And he said that you would only make things worse."

"I woke up in the middle of the night and Travis wasn't there. He left instructions on how to get into his bank account, and he'd written you that note. I drove as fast as I could to the ranch where he worked. And then... I found him in the barn. He had lit candles around him in the shape of the symbol. He had rigged his neck to a crane. He, uh, he wanted to hang himself only for a moment so that he could- get close to dying I guess. He wanted to talk to... it. But he said he wanted to also see her, and I didn't know what he meant, not until... he died. The button got stuck and he-"

"So that's the story? That Travis fucking died because the buttons got stuck?", Natalie asks, her voice full of suspicion, but also bitterness. She was angry.

"It was... a horrendous accident", Lottie says.

"I know there's something you're not telling me", Natalie spits out. Lottie only shakes her head, "I swear." But Lottie's mind wonders to the moment the button stopped working, how the fear paralyzed her, and how she saw her. Laura-Lee walked out of the darkness, with a figure behind her. A figure, whose large antlers cast shadows over the blonde Christian. And Lottie knew at that moment who the figure was. Its ink-colored skin and black hollow eyes didn't give it away, but the smell of blood was dripping from its head like it was cracked open.

"I didn't kill him, Nat. I was trying to save him", Lottie swears.

"Well, that's funny. Because every time you try to save someone a lot of bad shit happens. And look at you 25 years later and the same shit is happening again", Natalie yells.

"I know you miss her, Nat. We all do", Lottie says, knowing that the hurt that is sneaking through Natalie's voice is truly rooted in the faith of the girl they both cannibalized.

"Not like me you don't!", Natalie screams, before silence falls between the two. "And you don't get to talk about her like that, you made her go crazy", Natalie's words drip venom as she points a finger at Lottie. Lottie's eyes sadden for a moment as she takes a deep breath in. She brushes a bracelet on her left wrist with her fingers, a bracelet she was once gifted by Bunny on her 16th birthday.

"I think about her every day of my life, Natalie. A day doesn't go by when I don't think about her", Lottie whispers as she takes a step toward the woman. "But she was sick. You weren't with her for the last days before she died, she was... different. I mean– hell, she grabbed a gun and was ready to shoot her friends to save you. That's not the Bunny we knew. She changed, and I think it was for the better. She wouldn't have survived the wilderness after that. Things... they got so much worse. I just thanked the Gods that they took her, because I would've never forgiven myself if she came back alive and ruined. She was too pure", Lottie's words break something inside Natalie. Natalie shakes her head as she glares at Lottie.

"It's the same shit, Lottie! Only this time you're wearing a Rolex, and you got all these broken toys around you who think you walk on water. I'm- I'm gonna put a stop to this, I don't know how yet, but I will."

"Well, at least you have to stay alive to do so... a win for me."

"Take me to the train station! Or however somebody gets out of here, back to civilization!", Natalie yells, but Lottie stays hauntingly serene. "I'm afraid it's too late", Lottie sighs and checked her watch, "you'll have to spend the night here. So your plan for my destruction will have to wait until you're rested."

Natalie storms out.