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Vera sat quietly in the room designed for the other people staying there to socialize with each other. She didn't like it all that much, but hopefully, she wouldn't have to remain there too much longer either.
She just wanted to go home.
The young woman walked slowly back and forth, from one end of the room to the other as she watched the other people sit and stare at the television as if they were zombies.
Damned if that will ever be me, she said under her breath as she thought of the pills she'd flushed down the toilet a short while ago. Even when they checked underneath her tongue to be sure that she swallowed them, Vera had learned how and where to hide them from sight in her mouth. One of the guards was standing off to the side, never too far away from her, and it annoyed the shit out of her.
Ever since she'd gone off on Marianne the other day, this big goon showed up to accompany her any time Vera was out of her locked room. Usually, they let her out to the yard to exercise or to the day-room if it was raining or too cold to go out. It was all Vera could do to behave herself when her mother had come to visit her. Marianne had left to go back to the hotel just a few minutes ago. Hank was trying to get time off of work and come there so that their mother would not have to be alone through all of this.
She turned her eyes on the big guard, watching him watch her and she scoffed. Vera was hardly a threat and she planned to complain to the management about this asshole the minute she could get away from him long enough to do so.
Vera paused in mid-step as yet another fight broke out over a board game on the other side of the room. She hid her smile as she fingered the two missing game pieces in question that she'd hidden in the pocket of her grey jumper, which is what started the melee as accusations of their whereabouts flew. These morons were serious about their fucking board games and many of them played as if it were an Olympic event.
Originally, Vera had thought about stealing the television remote to create her diversion, but the guards had taken to holding onto it because of the constant arguments over what to watch every ten minutes getting on their nerves. The second-best thing was the board games because other than those and the television, there was nothing else to do there during the incessantly long and boring days. It was the only happiness they had in here, small as it was.
“Dammit....watch her for a sec.” The man previously watching over Vera commanded as the newly recruited guard nodded, shooting a nervous look towards his assignment.
She sized up the guard, young and apprehensive of the patients if his body language could be judged. He now appeared to be ill-at-ease around her, perhaps rethinking his choice of being a guard in a psychiatric hospital.
“You've got this.” Vera heard Lizzie whisper in her ear as they sidled over to the young man that was supposed to be watching her.
“Piece of cake,” Vera murmured back as one of her more alluring smiles appeared.
“Hey, handsome.” Vera called, smiling at the young, somewhat attractive guard, “What's your name?”
“Greg.”
“Oh my God!. That's one of my favorite names!” She purred, running her hand over his thick, dark locks as her hand snaked down his stomach towards his crotch “I haven't seen you around here before, Greg.”
“Well, I'm new.....”
Vera had her hand on his crotch now.
“Well, I know just how we can welcome you to our little place. Take me back to my room and I'll show you what I mean.”
Greg looked uncomfortable with the proposition and opened his mouth to protest when Vera suddenly burst out laughing.
“Would you look at your face! I'm just fucking with you....”
“Yeah....y-yeah, sure....” Greg laughed uneasily, a little embarrassed flush coming to his cheeks as Vera suddenly moved towards the hall leading back to the patient rooms. He grabbed her arm, tightly to keep her from leaving the area, “Whoa...hold it...”
That was when Vera let out a blood-curdling scream, the episode getting the attention of her original guard, Robert Moss, as she bent at the waist, screaming louder this time. Every head in the room turned to watch as Vera screamed as if she was being murdered, which startled Greg away from her.
“Willis! Knock it off!” Robert bellowed, trying to separate the two women who were still fighting over the board game as they scrabbled on the floor of the day room. “Greg, take her back to her room and lock her in...I’ll be right there.”
“Let's go.” Greg urged, gripping Vera's arm and leading her away from the violent fray.
Vera cut a glare back at the huge guard, who now had the melee under control and she knew that Robert didn't like her, but no one ever did anyway so she didn't care. She had tried that same, flirty shit on him when he was first assigned to her and he had told the idiots in charge what she had done. When Vera mentioned that she didn't like how she was being treated and spoke of wanting to go home they started drugging her.
She was sure of it.
Every time she got mad about having to be here and spoke up, they would hold her down. Do stuff to her. Then she would wake up hours later, out of sorts, so Vera had quickly learned not to say or do anything to invite that.
But now that she had made Greg's acquaintance, she had a feeling that she wasn't going to have to worry about anything in this hell-hole anymore. The guard half-heartedly shoved Vera into her room, still clinging to the bravado he tried to show and she turned on him with a hiss.
“Take your hands off of me, cocksucker!” She shouted as he smirked and shook his head.
“Settle down, Miss. Willis or I'll have to call...Dr. Kramer.” He said, struggling to remember which doctor had this ward. “You don't want that, do you?”
Vera hung her head, shaking it slowly back and forth as Greg gave her a smug nod. When he turned to leave, Vera suddenly rushed up behind the guard with an alacrity not to be believed and snatched the nightstick he carried away from his standard-issue utility belt. Vera wielded the lightweight, wooden baton as if she'd done it a million times, striking the hapless Greg Almasy across the back of the head. He fell right on top of her bed, out cold, where Vera quickly covered him up so in case anyone looked in they would think that it was her.
She needed a moment to think.
She took the baseball cap off of his head, and after considering it for a moment, she removed his clothing. Vera dressed quickly, grateful that the brown uniform pants weren't too long since she and Greg were roughly the same height. Next, she put on the baseball cap embroidered with the word ‘security’, tucking her blonde hair up underneath it and fixing the hat so that it would sit properly.
“Did you get it?” Aaron asked her anxiously, as a slow smile appeared on Vera's face and she walked towards the barred window and stared out of it for a moment.
“Piece of cake.” Vera crowed, holding up the small key-ring, which housed the patient ward’s skeleton key, as well as the barrier door keys for the outer ward door dangling from it.
“Good.” Lizzie sighed in relief, worry tingeing her voice as she shivered and then rubbed her arms, “Let's get out of here. I don't like this place.”
“The cameras in the hall, someone will come looking for this asshole.....” Aaron cautioned, throwing up his hands in exasperation. Vera peered through the thick glass window high up on the metal door leading out of the room. “We'll never make it...”
“Leave it to me,” Vera said softly, turning to walk to the large, barred window.
“Oh really? And how are we supposed to get away from this place once we get outside???”
Vera continued to stare out the window.
“Already on it, now that we have a ride,” Vera whispered as she stared between the bars of the window overlooking the parking lot where her mother was slowly making her way back to her car on tired legs.
Marianne would no doubt call Hank while she sat there in the car and got herself together. So that part was good because it bought them some time. As she used the key and quietly left her room for the final time, walking at a slow and steady pace as she twirled the wooden baton and whistled a jaunty tune, Vera Willis did not look back. It would take the staff hours to figure out that she was gone. She had learned the guards' rotations and knew that she had a good hour and a half before anyone would even come to check on her. They would look in and see Greg's dead body all covered up because she was pretty sure that Aaron had killed him with that blow to the head, and assume that it was Vera asleep in that bed.
Vera Willis had been nobody, but when she was through she would be somebody.
***
Robert Moss scowled as he clipped his walkie-talkie back onto his belt, an irritated expression on his face. Damnned guy was going to get him into trouble.
Again.
“Almasy? You there?” Robert called out loud as the large, boorish man made his way down a vacant hall.
Just as he was about to take up his radio again, he caught sight of the smaller, uniformed man making his way towards the exit.
“Dammit, Almasy,” Robert grumbled, “Where the hell are you goin’?”
As he reached his subordinate, spinning the guy around to face him, he was briefly shocked to see the familiar face of Vera Willis staring back at him. He didn’t make a sound as her hand shot out suddenly, jabbing him in the throat so hard that it made his neck snap backward. Robert slumped to the floor, trying weakly to stop Vera from tugging at his belt. She quickly unclipped the lanyard with his security identification card key and gave a little giggle.
“I’ve got it!” she hissed, in an excited voice as her facial expression changed slightly.
“No! We can’t just leave him here. I’ll take care of this asshole.” Vera threatened, in a surprisingly deep, sinister voice as her entire demeanor changed.
“Forget about him. Let’s just get out of here. Quick! Before someone comes!” Vera was saying to herself now, in a higher-pitched voice that was singed with nervousness as her eyes darted around, nervously. “We have to go!”
“Fine,” Vera responded in her normal tone, carrying on with the conversation, changing the voices as fluidly as if three separate people were talking amongst themselves when it was just her and him in the vacant hallway. As far as he could tell, Vera wasn’t paying any attention to him now at all as he lay gasping on the floor. All Robert could do is watch helplessly as it was becoming more difficult for him to breathe by the moment. He couldn’t even call for help and it was then that Robert knew that something was severely wrong with his throat. Vera leaned down now to snatch his radio, clipping it on her belt as she used his keycard to swipe the electronic reader next to the door. A moment later, the night swallowed her up as Vera Willis disappeared.
***
The rain pattered loudly against the roof of the rest stop bathroom as Vera calmly rinsed the brassy, red hair dye out of her hair after the allotted period so that the color would set.
It was different, that much was certain, but she kind of liked it.
It was brazen.
Chic.
Stylish, but with some accents she could pull off a gothic look, which would make her appear younger than her thirty years. It was something that she had never tried before, but she was feeling optimistic that it would work. She had made use of Marianne’s car, and quite well, opting to leave the unconscious woman sprawled in the parking lot.
Her mother hadn’t even sensed Vera coming up on her, and as confusion filled her face at the sight of her daughter dressed in a security uniform, Vera had almost laughed. A punch directly between the eyes did it and down Marianne went.
It had felt good.
Damned good.
It was something that she’d wanted to do for years and while she could have easily just killed her, something deep inside stopped her. After all, Marianne was her mother. Damn pathetic Vera was still in there somewhere despite how far she’d come in being a stronger person.
Next came the charcoal eyeliner to rim the blue-green eyes she now sported thanks to a pair of contact lenses. Matte, black lipstick completed the look, along with a nose ring and some well-placed piercings in her ears, lip, and even at the edge of one shaved eyebrow. Vera had copied the look from a movie that she’d seen recently about a murder that took place in Sweden. The female lead had a very peculiar way about here and right then and there, Vera decided that would be her new persona.
Tough as nails, hardcore bitch on wheels.
Yes.
It would work for her.
She knew already her next stop would be to get some tattoos, temporary of course, to help with her overall disguise. Feeling better than she had in a long while Vera finished up in the rest-stop bathroom and headed back out to the car that she’d stolen. Something else she’d learned while ‘inside’ was how to effectively get away with stealing a car safely.
License plates.
It was all about the plates.
She had simply taken a sharpie and altered some of the letters on the plates.
Piece of cake.
They would eventually figure it out, but Vera would be long gone well before they did.
***
September 2020
Upstate, New York
––––––––
“I’m so glad you came along.” The old man said as Vera pasted a well-practiced smile on her face, tossing her purse somewhere into the back seat to make room for him as her new companion eased into the passenger seat.
“You’re lucky because from what I know not too many cars come through here. Hannah Sloane.” She greeted, pleasantly, comfortable now with the alias she’d been using the past year and a half.
Such a boring, dull, name to hide under in plain sight.
No one would find her, especially not with the total one-eighty she’d done on her appearance.
“Riel Vertiport. A pleasure to meet you.” The grandfatherly man said in kind as he settled back and she waited until he had clicked his seatbelt into place before pulling off. “You just call me Rye.”
Weird fucking name, but whatever.
“So, where are you from Rye? I detect a bit of an accent.” Vera asked as Rye laughed softly with a small nod.
“And here I thought I had lost my accent. Ponchatoula.”
“What?” Vera asked as she wrinkled her nose as she tried to work out where exactly the hell that was.
“Ponchatoula. It’s a small seaport town in Louisiana. Very close to the Mexican Gulf.”
Vera didn’t answer, but she allowed a nod as she continued driving, her eyes on the road as she fought the urge to rub them with the back of her hand. Damned contact lenses were itchy and she didn’t always like wearing them because they made her eyes feel dry.
“You ever been?” Rye interrupted her thoughts in his deep southern accent, that last word slow and drawn out to the point that it made her smile.
Vera shook her head in the negative.
“I’ve never been that far south before. Don’t know anyone there.”
Rye smiled gently at his new acquaintance.
“Well, you do now, my dear. Best Louisiana dining at this little restaurant right on the water. They serve a pan-seared gulf fish that is really something.”
Vera’s stomach grumbled loudly and the old man stared at the girl with pity. She knew that she looked a bit rough around the edges and she had not eaten well in a while. Out of the corner of her eye, Vera saw the old man cast what was supposed to be a surreptitious glance in the rear of the car. She had been sleeping in it, the blanket and ratty pillow a dead giveaway. It had been an interesting few years and although it appeared that no one was looking for her, Vera knew that they would not give up. Her mother was still terrified that Vera was going to show up on her doorstep one day. Her research showed that Marianne had sold the house in Queens and had moved out onto Long Island. So had her brother, for the safety of his wife and children. It hadn’t been that difficult to get this information, since all of it was public record, but she wasn’t going to bother them. At least not yet. No, right now she had to get away and straighten out her head so that she could plan exactly how she wanted to do things when the time was right.
“You hungry?” Rye suddenly asked, breaking into Vera’s thoughts as swallowed deeply and she took a sip from a battered old plastic water bottle that had seen better days.
“I could eat,” Vera answered carefully, still embarrassed that she was so obvious, as she cut her eyes to him and then back to the road ahead. “I’m sure there’s a gas station or something that we can get some snacks from.”
“That’s fine.” Rye said, settling back comfortably in his seat as the scenery whizzed by, “It’s on me.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Vera said as Rye waved her away with a dismissive hand.
“Now, I insist.” The old man said firmly, but with a friendly smile so that the girl understood that resisting was futile.
She smiled back, knowing the relief on her face must have been apparent. Vera decided right then and there that this old man had been a Godsend, even if he seemed a little bit ‘off’. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something about him made her feel safe.
Secure.
He was so genteel with his manners and Vera could almost feel the protective, fatherly vibe coming from him. A father that she wished she could have had instead of the pedophile that she’d gotten. She would keep old Rye with her, for a while at least, until she could get to Canada.
“By the way,” she mused aloud, deciding to bring it up, “I’m headed far up north towards the border. I can probably take you quite a ways.”
“Canada, huh?” Rye assumed with a little chuckle. Vera didn’t correct him. She had no passport but let the old man think what he wanted, “Fine time of year for a visit.”
“Exactly,” Vera said, playing along. No sense in telling him too much, “Where are you headed?”
“Vermont,” Rye answered, his striking, ice-blue eyes straight ahead. “To Montpelier for a long-overdue visit with a very dear, old friend.”
Vera nodded, sorry that she wasn’t going to have the old man with her long, but she would take him wherever he wanted to go. Hell, Montpelier didn’t sound like that bad of an idea right now to her either. Who said she had to cross the border? Besides, it would be something that they would expect her to do. She liked Rye and there was just something about him that felt right to her. It was as if fate had brought him to her.
As they drove in silence for a few minutes, she could feel Rye watching her intently. Sizing her up as he took in the whole Goth persona she had going on, his lips twisting slightly as most old people did when seeing her type of insolent youth. But Vera found that she still liked the look much better than her usual one. She had changed it up quite a bit over the past couple of years, making things even edgier than normal. No one would ever guess Vera Willis would ever look like this but she had decided that she still wanted to play it safe by putting as much distance between her and New York City as she could.
And the thought of how dull and boring she’d been back then made her miss Lizzie and her outgoing flair and personality. Lizzie would be proud of how well Vera had made herself up after leaving the hospital. She hadn’t heard from her or Aaron in a while after they parted ways on the outside, and that had hurt, but she hoped to reconnect with them once she got settled. Focusing back on Rye, Vera could tell there was more to him than he was letting on, but he’d eventually open up. They had a rather long trip ahead of them.
“So,” Vera asked, breaking the long silence finally, “Is your friend expecting you?”
“Oh, no, no...” Rye chuckled warmly as his mouth formed a sly smile, “Julia doesn’t know I’m coming. But I assure you that seeing me again will absolutely take her breath away...”
Thank you for reading Mirror, Mirror. I hope you enjoyed this standalone novel about Vera Willis, who is now using the alias, Hannah Sloane.
Keep exploring this world and read more about Riel Vertiport in The Doctor, the first book in the new Oliver Perritt psychological medical thriller series.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
Hi!
Thank you for reading my book. I hope that you enjoyed it. Word of mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review at your favorite online retailer, Goodreads, or both. Even if it’s just a sentence or two, it would make all the difference and would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
Erica
