The Counterplay

(written in 2023)

She turns the key in the lock, and opens the door, gesturing for me to go inside. So, I walk in first, taking in the beautifully decorated apartment.

How trusting she is, this one is going to be easy.

The apartment was small, but it’s definitely personalised to Olive’s quirky taste, which I had come to discover over the last couple of days of knowing her. It has been decorated with bright blue, yellow and purple furniture, and she had stuck fake butterflies and greenery on the walls. This gave the illusion that you were outside in a beautiful, calm garden. The kitchen and dining room were all one room, with an island kitchen bench separating them. I also noticed a small hallway off to the left, presumably leading to where her bedroom and the bathroom was. 

‘Wow, you really have a thing for bright colours, don’t you?’ I ask, as I walk over to her purple couch by the window that overlooks the street down below.

She lives alone, that’s convenient. And on the third floor, also helpful.

‘Yeah, doesn’t it just feel comfy in here though?’ she replies, as she tucks her keys into her pocket and walks over to join me.

‘You’re really good at decorating, I’ll say that. Any suggestions on what we should do now?’ 

I run my hands through my hair, only for it to fall straight back into my eyes, I give myself a mental reminder to get a haircut, maybe get it dyed, after this is all done. She sits next to me on the couch, and from the corner of my eye, I see her trying to catch a glimpse of my arms.

Oh, Olive Kelway. You’re perfect. 

She turns to look directly into my eyes. They were the lightest blue eyes I have ever seen; they look like ice. She tucks the left side of her hair behind her ear, letting the sunshine on her face and her blonde almost silver hair look as if it’s actually shining.  

I’m starting to get impatient about my plan now, it’s just been so long since I’ve had a chance to do this.

‘I want a drink, how about you?’ she declares and immediately gets up off the couch and walks into the kitchen.

She opens the fridge next to the front door to reveal her very own beer stash. She had a section of her fridge just for beer. She points at them and looks back at me with a little smirk, it’s as if she’s saying to pretty, please have one.

Now she’s just trying to make this easier. 

‘Oh, absolutely.’ 

As she turns around to grab the beers my right hand starts instinctively to reach for the knife I have stashed on my right rib, that’s being concealed by my jacket. Just to triple check it’s there and I’m actually going to do this.

But I can have a little fun first.

I hear the cracks of the beers being popped open, a therapeutic sound to me. Then she’s back on the couch next to me and handing me an ice-cold beer.

‘Cheers!’ She exclaims and we tap our beers together before both taking a sip.

I wrap my right arm around her shoulders, and she slides closer into me.

‘Thank-you, for this, it’s perfect.’ I thank her for the beer by taking a swig.

‘Well, I’ve kind of wanted to talk to you alone for a while.’ she says and gives me a quick shy glance before she takes another sip.

‘Is that so? You got some questions for me then, Olive?’ I press teasingly, but I’m genuinely flattered that she’s been thinking about me. 

‘I actually do. Theo, is that short for Theodore?’ She shifts a little, moving a bit so she can look at me. 

‘Yeah, it is.’ I take another swig, it’s too damn nice.

‘Not Sebastian Tead?’ she says quickly, and it catches me a little off guard.

I tense up at the sound of the name. My real name, but there’s no way she knows it. I give her a little squeeze, a reminder of how much bigger I am. I can suddenly feel my heart beat a little faster, I might have to execute my plan a little sooner than I wanted.

‘And where did you hear that?’ I smile at her, she slides even closer into me, as if to return my squeeze.

‘I saw your drivers license when we met at the bar, remember?’ she says simply, ‘you know, you are really hard to find on the internet. How do you not have one single social media account?’

She leans forward out from under my arm to put her drink on the coffee table in front of us.

‘Well, I don’t go by that name anymore, so maybe you were just searching for the wrong name.’ I tell her, debating whether I should just tell her the truth.

She’s not going to be leaving this room again anyway.

She stands up and walks over to the bookshelf positioned next to the entrance of her hallway. She starts scanning her CD collection with her pointer finger, and I watch her while I take another big swig, finishing the drink. She turns her head back to look at me, her shirt sliding slightly off her shoulder.

‘And why don’t you go by your legal name? Has it got to do with the death of your wife? What was her name, uh, Rachel? Rachel Wipps?’ she says plainly, looking directly into my eyes.

What is this?

I clench my fist, there’s no way she actually knows anything about it. I feel a pang of rage as I stop my instinct to reach for the knife.

Time to play the game.

‘What did you say?’ I put on a sterner voice; I haven’t heard that name be mentioned in years.

I lean forward and place my empty beer next to hers which is practically still full. My hands start to feel heavier, and I give them a little shake, it’s probably just my nerves trying to come out.

‘Oh, that’s right. I know about her, I’ll admit though, it took me a while to figure it out. You did actually hide it pretty well; I’ve been looking into it for weeks before I ‘accidentally’ bumped into you at that bar a couple of days ago. But I’m flattered that you thought I might be your next victim.’ She relays while she paces towards her front door and back.  

I stand up too quickly, my legs are suddenly wobbly, and I fall back onto the couch.

It’s time for her to die.

I quickly reach for my knife, but my arms aren’t responding like I want them too. They just flinch back at me as my mind is screaming at them to move. She’s now standing right over me, as I’m slouched on the couch.

‘Yeah, I’ll take that knife now. We can have another chat once you wake up.’ She smiles down at me as she reaches into the side of my jacket and takes the knife out of its hiding place.

How is this happening?

My vision blurs and all I can see is the outline of Olive as she’s admiring my knife before she gives me a shove so I’m on my side. There’s nothing more I can do; my body has given up on me.

~

‘He really thought he was going to kill me?’ I laugh to myself as I point Sebastian’s knife at his face.

Seb, as I have been calling him, is now unconscious and tied up to a chair sitting at my dining table. I feel so accomplished, my plan was executed perfectly, he totally thought I was falling for him. There is at least another three hours before he wakes up, and there’s still a few things I need to sort out. I tuck his knife away into my calico tote bag. I think I’m going to keep it as a souvenir, it’s kind of comforting. It feels as if all the people he has killed are here cheering me on while I prepare to give them revenge. First things first, I have a psychiatrist’s appointment on zoom in about an hour.

‘How have you been doing?’ I hear Dr Imogen ask.

I give a big smile to my laptop screen, the glare on my screen is so bad I can only see myself staring back at me. I had set up my laptop in my bedroom, on my vanity. If only she knew that I had a man tied up and sitting at my dining table.

‘Not bad, yeah, not bad, wait one second,’ I say as I quickly stand up to pull the blind down in front of me.

Now I could see Dr Imogen in detail, her short white permed hair, and her bold red glasses. She’s definitely put on a significant amount of weight during the time I have been seeing her. Sometimes I wonder if I’m the reason she’s put on weight, if helping me get better means I’ve just passed the burden onto her.

‘I’m actually really well. I think the medication is actually helping.’ I tell her.

‘That’s good to hear!’ she puts her hand to her heart as if she was expecting something to be very wrong, ‘so what did you want to talk to me about today?’

‘I’ve accidentally misplaced one of my prescriptions, and I just need a refill, please.’

I tuck my hair behind my ears and watch her as she glances down at the pile of paper sitting in front of her. I’ve never misplaced my medication before, she has to trust me with this.

‘And which prescription was it?’

‘The sleeping ones.’

‘Temazepam?’

‘Yes, that one, I just can’t find it anywhere and you know how I am with sleeping.’ I give her a little laugh, making sure to sell this lie.

‘Okay sweetie, I’ll do it for you this time, but I can’t do it again. These are supposed to be temporary anyway. All right? I’ll email you the prescription. And how’s your visions? Had any more?’ She adjusts her glasses so she’s looking over the top of them, trying everything to see me better.

‘No, no. I haven’t had one in a while actually.’ The last time I fell for this question she sent me to a mentally ill facility for a while.

I wasn’t completely lying; I actually haven’t had any more visions. I think I have just finally found the right way to get rid of them.

‘Good, good. I’m so very pleased you’re doing so well, Olive. Well, I hope you have a lovely evening, and we’ll talk more next time.’

‘Hey!’ I yell as I kick Seb in the leg.

I had gotten changed into some old, thrifted overalls and pulled my hair up into a high bun. I’m trying to get Seb to wake up, I need to dispose of him tonight if I want to get away with this. I kick him again, but a little harder and I hear him grunt. I watch as he slowly opens his eyes and remembers what happened. He tries to pull on the rope around his arms, trying to get them free.

‘Who are you?’ he spits out at me, and the chair he is attached to almost tips as he continues to try to break himself free.

‘Stop moving, really, you’re not getting out of it.’ I take his knife out of my bag and place it on the table.