Theories and Guesses

Chapter 14 - Val's Story

"Honestly, I only pretended that it was about you because I knew the 'obessed fan' story would fool the police. Detective Bent is so much stupider than she thinks."

Matt had stopped pounding on the glass, but he was still clearly terrified. He had his free hand pressed against the glass, and even though he knew Valerie couldn't hear him, he still clearly managed to ask, "Why?"

Valerie let go of Stephanie, still sitting limply and barely conscious, and approached Matt at the window. 

"Sophia. You didn't really think she was nothing, right? No, she's at the center of this whole thing."

Matt had gotten a series of instrutions from Nathan on how to talk to Valerie if something went wrong. Step 1: build a conection. 

"What happened with her?" Matt said with through the glass.

Valerie chuckled and rolled her eyes. "I know what you're trying to do." She said. She sighed and approached the glass, leaving Steph limp in the chair, barely conscious. Valerie clicked the remote again, allowing Matt to speak if he had to. "I'll humor you, though. You do love your lore." She turned around. 

"Where do you want me to start? With Sophia, or with myself? Oh, you're going to be down here for a while, I'll just start at the beginning." She pulled up another chair and straddled it, facing the glass; facing Matt. 

"So my parents sucked. My mom was a drunk who ran off with our babysitter, Nora. Dad was super pissed that mom married a girl, so he coped in his own ways; wanted to me live up to all of his way-too-high expectations. I tried for a bit, but then..." She sighed, then rested her head on her hands, which rested on the back of the chair. "Sophia happened. We fell for each other, and Dad cut me off. Sophia and I tried to get along for a while. I opened up Valerie's , and Sophia stayed over often, and I was good, for a while."

"What... what happened?" Matt tried to ask calmly. 

Valerie rolled her eyes. "You don't have to fish for answers, Matt. I'm telling you willingly. But, since you so kindly asked, the pressure of having a life of our own was so overwhelming that she started going to some bad places. Drugs, fighting, drinking... we started fighting every night. The neighbors complained a lot, too. But eventually, it all just piled up on her." 

Valerie stopped for a second. She regained her composure, even though she ever seemed to loose it. "I came home one night to find her in the bathtub, blood from her wrists, and a note that just said, 'I'm done.' That's all we amounted to, after 4 years." Valerie said. "I couldn't accept loosing her. I was too attached. So I threw the body in the freezer. And for a while, it was all okay. Then..." Valerie turned to Steph. She gave a sort of dreamy sigh and stood up, making her way over to Steph. 

Valerie sat down next to Steph, kneeling beside her and looking at her lovingly. Steph moved her head to face Valerie. "Stephanie came in. I think it was the eyes." She gently held the underside of Steph's chin. "Sophia's eyes. She had Sophia's eyes. With enough looking around, I found out that she was married, and I knew I had to get him out of the picture. Seeing as how you were kind of a celebrity, I pretended that I was obessed with you to throw off the cops, and then Ryan's cut little crush bought me even more reason for it to not be me. Dumped Sophia's body in the river after I was done preparing. I don't need her anymore. I've got Stephanie." 

"But Valerie, she's not Sophia." Matt said. 

Valerie laughed. "Exactly! Sophia... I see now, was horrible. No good. Stephanie is the exact opposite. She's all the good, with none of the bad. Don't you get it? Sophia practically owned me; I was hers. Now, I can have someone else." She stood back up. "But first, I've got to get rid of you."

Valerie held up the remote. "We'll have to deal with you, now." 

...........

Outside, Nathan received a call from an unknown number. He picked it up. 

"Nathan Cote, who is this?" 

"Nate, it's me."

"Cora? How... I mean... what's going on?" Nate asked. 

"I'm fine. Look, I tracked down Valerie's father." 

"Okay, and?" 

"So, he tried telling me about her suicide. I didn't buy it. So I pressed him and... Nate, you won't belive it." 

"What?"

"Nathan, Sophia had recently been attending rehab. She was almost clean. What's more, she asked to see Valerie's father to ask for her hand in marriage." 

"So wait, Sophia wanted to marry her? But she... she killed herself, then." 

"No, Nathan. Sophia didn't kill herself. Valerie's father admitted everything. He drugged her drink that night."

"Wait, so-"

"Nathan, Valerie's father murdered Sophia, and left it to look like a suicide."