the boarders

Octavia

It took Octavia ten minutes to work out where she was and piece together what had happened the day before, but a quick glance around the basement where herself, Valentina and Aurelia were being held captive, secured her realisation that Ellen Cody and Katie had tied them up the night before.

As she was about to scream for help, she remembered the thick, duct tape that prevented her from speaking and her tied up hands, held securely behind her back. Both Aurelia and Valentina had the same.

Aurelia seemed slightly groggy, due to the fact that she'd been drugged by Ellen and Katie, but when she opened her eyes and saw Valentina and Octavia, they became wider, and even though Octavia couldn't see her mouth; she knew for certain her best friend was smiling.

Aurelia gestured to a huge antique chest of drawers behind them; with the second shelf open. With no hands or mouth free, Octavia used her chin to open it wider. She motioned for Valentina and Aurelia to move closer to her, as she dropped the knife on the floor and held it between her knees as she cut open the ropes; freeing both girls hands, who soon helped her to untie her hands and take the tape off of her mouth.

The three girls, finally reunited after nearly a year, hugged each other tightly and all of them started to cry. "God, Aurelia, we've missed you so much!" Smiled Valentina, holding onto her friends arm tightly. Octavia smiled, "Luckily you didn't miss much." She joked.

Aurelia smiled warmly at both of her friends, "But what I don't understand is why they would go this far? I know I was purely evil to Katie, but it was only for a few weeks!"

Suddenly, a deafening crash startled the girls, and they huddled closely together, terrified of what was coming to them. They looked up to see Katie, her hair bedraggled and her clothes ripped, as if a giant wolf had savaged her. In that light, thought Octavia, she looked petrifying, scarier than any horror movie villain or mythical creature.

"A few weeks!" Cackled Katie, reaching the bottom of the stairs and sitting on the steps, her long legs jutting out from underneath her. In the light, she looked terrifying, her angular face lit up by the small crack of sunlight through the tiny window in the basement.

"Do you know how hard life was?" Cried Katie, wiping her nose with the back of her hand and seeming strangely human for a moment. "To want to not exist? Aurelia made my life hell, and now I'm going to get my revenge."

"Look, Katie, I'm sorry, I was evil I know that, but it doesn't have to be like this-" Aurelia started, trying to stand up, but Katie stepped forward and pushed her backwards onto the cold, hard floor as Octavia and Valentina comforted her; screaming out in pain at her badly bruised leg.

The sound of stilettos tapping against the floor, startled the girls and they sat close to each other to see Ellen Cody descending down the stairs, her long blond wig on her head. She was wearing clothes straight out of Aurelia's wardrobe; Tiffany & Co jewellery, Gucci dress and YSL stilettos. Ellen Cody could have been a clone of Aurelia, from the blond hair to the perfectly picked out clothes; they could have been twins.

"Why?" Screamed Aurelia, her fear obvious and her eyes wide. Ellen stood next to her daughter, and the two of them exchanged a smile. "I hate bullies, and to see my darling bullied by a bratty girl - I couldn't stand it. I'm a woman of means, I don't just watch something, I take action." Ellen suddenly turned to Aurelia, a huge smile on her face. "Aurelia, the death of your father was awfully sad - it only took me five minutes to rig the accelerator."

Aurelia's face went white and she started to gag on her own vomit. Her two friends held her hair back, as she gagged up remnants of food she'd managed to find to stay alive. "Why would you do that to me?" She cried, her entire body shaking.

"Because, my darling, us Cody's don't let anyone get away with anything!" Laughed Katie, sounding exactly like her mother. Octavia watched as they hugged each other, seeming sickly pleased with themselves.

"What about Drew?" Valentina whispered, in a small voice. They all wanted to know what happened, but they were all too afraid to hear the cold truth. "The photo you found in the shed, it was of me when I was younger. I know Drew loved me, he was only a kid, but I think I was a kind of fucked-up motherly figure to him." Said Ellen, examining a bitten nail. "I changed that note to look like it said Aurelia, but you were all too clever to even suspect her."

"He was about to tell you all that I had Aurelia, said we were psychos." Hissed Katie, holding her mother's hand tightly. "So, naturally, mother pushed him off of that cliff." All of the girls looked shocked. Katie and Ellen had nothing to lose, and had gone on a killing spree just to spite Aurelia.

"You won't fucking get away with this!" Screamed Aurelia, regaining her strength as her two friends stood either side of her.

"Oh, darling," Smiled Ellen, as Katie followed. "I do believe I already have!" Ellen shook her blond wig, Octavia felt sick, Ellen's plan had worked out all along, now no one would know that there were three girls in the basement.

The two women walked out of the basement and shut the door behind them. Ellen suddenly opened the door, adjusting her blond wig. "I doubt your parents will even recognise you, Aurelia, I'll pass off as a good imitation."

The door slammed behind her again, and all the girls started to scream, out of fear of what would become of them...