Webs of Revenge

Chapter 4: Golfing

I was running slightly behind schedule. My father is expecting me at the course in thirty minutes. I just got home, and it takes fifteen minutes to get to the Country Club, so I just need to get changed. My white tennis clothes and yellow visor seemed to be enough. I would normally redo my hair and do my makeup again, but I just didn’t have the time. Running out the door, I grabbed my clubs, and ran straight into the family car. 

“Where to Miss.Klara?”

“The Country Club, I have a business meeting!”

I arrived punctually and on time, I stepped out of the car with the clubs and my father and Vincent greeted me.

“You came here to support me?”

“A big boy like you doesn’t need support, I came here to close the deal once and for all.”

Vincent turned to my father:

“Does she actually know how to golf?”

“As a matter of fact she does, she always closes the deals, and won a couple of championships.”

I laughed as Vincent's jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe that a lady, and of such high rank, knows how to golf!

“I told you, didn't I?”

Vincent shaked his head and answered,

“And I don’t even know how to hold a golf club…”

“Well, you better be some prodigy, because this is a major deal that would be great to close.”

Walking through the course, Vincent kept on panicking, I sipped on my energy drink, and my father was revising his business presentation, we looked like a wreck. At some point, I thought Vincent was going to faint.

“What is the matter Vincent? I bet you know how to golf! It’s a basic skill that you were probably taught when you were little!”

“I was never taught how to play! My father died when I was three, and my mother only taught me edicate, and I never liked sports!”

“You don’t even know the basics? How did you close deals before?”

“Well my mother would always close them, and it would be formally at a desk.”

“That step usually comes later, most people do it over golf…”

Vincent started to panic. I really didn’t know what to do, he can’t learn how to golf in 30 minutes!

So I took extreme risk, but it might help Vincent,

“Father, I think that Vincent could close the meeting formally, because he isn’t feeling his best today.”

My father stared at me and Vincent for a while, then at Vincent, and then at me.

“You're right Klara! The boy even looks sick! Go inside the Club, and wait until we finish golfing and the deal is closed.”

Vincent gave me the “Thank you” look, and walked away from the course. We were almost at the main complex course, where we would close the deal. If we wouldn’t, my Father would get very angry at me. That's why I wanted to become the best in the league, so that all deals could be closed, to avoid conflict. I saw Mathew Henderson, I forgot that we were closing the deal with HIM. His wife Liza was standing next to him, she wasn’t golfing though. Thank goodness that she wasn’t golfing. My father went up to shake his hand, but he turned around. “Lets just golf.”

My father looked astounded, nobody turned their back to a Milliton-Cortex. His face turned fully red and grabbed his club and answered, “Lets golf.” 

“He heard about how you treated me at the DAR.”

“I’m sorry Mrs.Liza, but I didn’t embarrass you in any way, all I said was that you have a chance to get accepted, and you exploded and started screaming. So if anyone embarrassed themselves, it was you.”

She stared at me, for a long time, and answered,

“Mrs.Milton-Cortex,  my husband was warned of your female golfing. We find it improper behaviour, and it shouldn’t be the reason why we close a deal.”

I stayed silent. She was a vipers nest, if you stepped in you would get bit in a thousand different directions. My father walked up to me calmly and said,

“It's your turn, knock him dead.”

I walked up the course to see Mathew Henderson. He was losing by a great deal, and if we win, we get too close we deal.

“Hello, Mr.Henderson, how are you on this fine afternoon?”

“I heard how you treated my wife, and I find that as proper as women golfing.”

“Well sir, I didn’t embarrass your wife in any way, I told her she had a chance to be accepted and she started screaming.”

I set my ball on the tee, and hit it straight into the hole.

“I heard a different story.”

“Well, you could ask everyone at the dark and you would get the same story that I’m telling you.”

I hit it into the hole again, my father and I were in the lead, he had two more hits, we won!

He missed, again. It was his last try, and we won, closing the deal in our favor. He looked very upset and remarked:

“You shouldn’t golf in any way.”

He walked away, and I told my father we closed the deal, and we went to get Vincent from the inside of the club. He was sitting at a table and I saw that color returned to his face. Thank goodness he was ok. I thought he was going to have a panic attack on the course. 

“How was it?”

“We closed the deal! We will sign the papers in a couple of days.”

“Well that's great!”

We went into the car and started to drive towards the villa. The car ride had a heavy silence for fifteen minutes. The gates opened and we stepped outside of the car, my mother was waiting for me and kept on asking me how it was and informed me what happened after I left the meeting.

Going inside, my father turned to Vincent and remarked, 

“We would like a moment alone please.”

I felt fear bottling up in me, I had done something wrong, I just couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Vincent raised an eyebrow, and went up the stairs.

“What did I do wrong?”

“I think you know what you did!”

“I closed the deal, went to the DAR meeting and did everything correct.”

“I don’t need to explain, because you also added lying to the list!”

I started to panic. He was going to hit me, I couldn’t run up the stairs fast enough to make it to the book shelves, and he grasped my wrist. He was about to punch me, when I heard Vincent yell:

“Don’t you dare hit her!”

My father let go of my wrist, and I quickly ran up stairs, and I heard Vincent's footsteps behind me. The book case, I thought. Pulling out the six specific books, the book case shifted, and Vincent and I ran into the passageway. The case closed, and I lit the passage candles. This passage leads to the servants quarters, or the kitchen.

“How many times did you have to run away like that?”

“Plenty of times, that's why I know all the passageways and where they lead to.”

“Don’t your parents know the combinations to the passage ways?”

“No they don’t, they aren't even aware that they exist, they only know the escape way that is located in their bedroom.”

“Why did your father want to hit you?”

I fought about this question for a moment, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

“Liza Henderson…”

“Ok, I guess. Could I ask you another question?”

“It depends.”

“When is it safe to come out of this passageway?”

“Well, I usually come out of the servants quarter when I use this specific passageway, and it takes an hour. My father has usually cooled off by then.”

“So how are you going to get to your welcome home party?”

“I drew a map when I still lived here, and I placed it here!”

Taking out the piece of paper and locating the passage ways, I saw that we would be able to get to our rooms, and from there sneak into the ballroom to make it in time.

“You seriously must have spent hours exploring all of these tunnels and many more just standing.”

“Shh! I hear their footsteps!”

Creaking of the hardwood floor was increasing, so Vincent and I stayed in place.

...Meanwhile...

“What did she do Micheal? Why did you want to hit her?”

“I heard what happened at the DAR meeting with Alice. Don’t you dare deny what happened!”

“I’m really curious what happened at this meeting your Talking about!”

“Remember, and mark my words, if you keep lying I will tell everyone about how you killed your sister on the day of your debutante to become the heiress! I was there, because I helped you! Your white dress was covered in dark red blood! Then you took hers and put it on, because it was still on the rack, you put yours on her! She didn’t commit sucide because she didn’t love her fiance. Because I was her fiance! She was crazy over me, but I being the i***t I was, I liked you for your looks, and I helped you kill her with fake promises of happiness. Your stupid promise was only active for six months! Because after that the guilt started to sink in, about how you killed without any emotion. You just wanted to be important to your family, but your sister was stopping you from achieving your goal. So here you have it! Your stupid goal! Being a housewife of four children and plotting to kill your own child because you would like the other one to take charge of the fortune. Yes, maybe I am not the best parent! Yes, they have been abused by me, but I only did it to try and discipline them, and then, I started doing it more so that I could protect Klara! I wanted her to stay as distant from us as possible, because I saw your plan! You wanted her to trust you, and then you were planning on killing her. Even though it comes with the cost of her hating me, I still have a capable heir, one that is smart and alive! It doesn’t matter how much you think Honor is more beautiful, and involved, she isn’t Klara!”

“You wouldn’t dare to say something! You where a contributing factor to the murder! Yes, maybe you think that Honor isn’t capable of taking over the fortune, but she agreed to help me kill her. It doesn’t matter what you do. That plan I created is very outdated. Klara was supposed to be found dead at the age of five, but she is turning sixteen! So your plan of protection has failed, she will be gone soon, and it doesn’t matter if its at the Academy or here, because it's going to happen!”

“Every single day I see a new monster spawning in you.”

My own mother is planning on hurting me, and Honor was going to help her?! Oh my goodness! Honor wanted to move up the place in her rank. Once I’m out of the picture, she would take over the fortune and everything in my life. I heard my parents walk down the stairs, and I nodded towards Vincent.

“She wants to get rid of me.”

I started sobbing, I always tried to be the perfect child, I did everything, even more than was expected of me on a daily basis. I took all the extra classes, I was a part of the DAR, I was a proper lady and I did everything! I planned stupid tea parties, galas and fundraisers. I felt cheated, and lied to.

“God, please don’t cry! I don’t know what to say or how to calm you down! I do know how to use the throwing knives, but that's about it. I never lived through something like this. But please, don’t cry.”

“I know how to use knives… I’m trying to calm down, ok?”

I stopped crying, and straightened my face into its proper forum.