Double Cross

Kind of twisted... My first finished story. :P

Harmony Cross loved cooking. It was her method of relaxing and she was determined to make it last. Her husband Henry was out on a business meeting and he still wasn’t back yet, but when he did, they were going to celebrate. It wasn’t a special holiday or anything like that, but Harmony just wanted to make his return special. He was going out on various business meetings so often that they never really got to celebrate anything at all, or just relax.

His job at that marketing place was taking far too much of his time, Harmony thought crossly. The delicious smell of the turkey cooking in the oven reached her, and she remembered that this was her time to relax. Deliberately, she loosened all her tense muscles, exhaling slowly. The oven bell rang as Harmony reached for the oven mitts. She put the turkey on the countertop and reached over to the opposite countertop to turn on the radio as she started on the dishes. The window beside her showed a perfectly peaceful sunny day. She smiled when she realized it reflected her perfect mood. The weather being on her side must be a good sign, Harmony decided. Perhaps Henry would come home early today.

“Hello, Harmony.” She froze. Harmony knew that voice, so much like her own. But she hadn’t heard it since the final days of her childhood. “Guess what? I’m back.”

“Scarlett.” Harmony turned off the tap, taking off her apron and rubber gloves. If she was going to face her twin, then she’d do it when she wasn’t cleaning. “The doctor said you left. That you went away. You weren’t supposed to come back.” There was a hitch in Harmony’s terrified voice.

“Well, I did.” Scarlett swaggered in the kitchen and plopped down in a nearby chair. “You know you can’t keep me away. I said I’ll always be there for you, and I will, no matter what it takes.”

The bell rang, and Harmony jumped like a startled rabbit.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” Scarlett watched Harmony as if she were examining an interesting specimen. Taking a minute to relax, Harmony walked over to open the door.

“Henry!” She exclaimed in delight.

“Hey, honey. I’m sorry I was so late.” He walked up the stairs to their room to put his stuff away and change into different clothes.

Scarlett watched him walk off, a disgusted expression on her face. “Did you smell that on him? He wasn’t at a so-called ‘business meeting’, he was off with another woman.” She spit scornfully. “That b*****d’s cheating on you, sweetheart, and you’re too blind to see it.”

“Don’t say that! Henry loves me and-and he’s just been very busy, that’s all.” Trembling to the bone, Harmony shot an accusing look at her sister. “You’re trying to wreck my life again, just like the last time. The doctor told me that you’re insane.”

“Hell, I could’ve told you that. Why’d you bother to ask the doctor?” Scarlett straightened and stood, her face showing her annoyance. “Get out of that safe little box of yours, Harmony, and look around. The man you swore to love doesn’t seem to share your sense of loyalty, and you’re a little housewife with no prospects in the middle of nowhere—”

“It is not nowhere!” Harmony cried out shrilly. “It is a very nice neighbourhood, and everyone here is very nice.”

Scarlett smirked. “Like I said, the middle of nowhere.”

“Honey?” Harmony’s head jerked up, towards her husband’s voice at the top of the stairs. “Who’re you talking to?” She looked around, but Scarlett had disappeared. She always had a nasty tendency to disappear. Harmony looked up to see Henry walking down the stairs. She put on a strained smile, but he didn’t seem to notice. “No one, sweetie. I was just… singing.” She went to pick up the plate wrapped in foil. “I made turkey.”

“Really? What for?” He appeared as disinterested as ever. “Say, have you seen my burgundy tie?”

“Your tie?” Surely he wasn’t going again… “You don’t need a tie at home. Why would you need a tie?” Her voice had gone shrill again.

He put on an easy smile as her strained state became evident to him. “Just one more meeting, honey. You know they need me. But at least it’s not for a few hours yet. It’s at night.”

“At… night?” That b*****d’s cheating on you… Scarlett’s voice rang in Harmony’s mind, over and over. Something in her broke. Harmony decided it was her heart.

Henry looked over at the turkey she had set on the dining table. “So why the turkey?”

“What?” Harmony looked at him, then the turkey, as her thoughts swirled. “Oh, the turkey.” Determinedly, she shut off all the different voices and concentrated on the moment. Taking a deep breath, she summoned another strained smile. “It was to celebrate your return. I mean—it is to celebrate your return. And to celebrate all the time we have together, no matter how less it may be. You need to go soon, so let’s eat.” Obligingly, he sat down with her and picked up his fork.

Harmony went through dinner in a dazed state. She would follow him, she decided, and if Scarlett was right, then she would calmly ask for a divorce. Surely he’d agree to that. He had to. He just had to.

* * *

Following Henry down to one of the seedier parts of the town wasn’t as easy as Harmony had thought. There was the grime, the hiding, and the looking to see which corner he went down. But, finally, she followed him to a small, grubby townhouse, and watched as he knocked on the door.

“So you finally decided to do something about it, didn’t you?” Harmony jumped as Scarlett appeared beside her. She looked back at the house and saw a buxom redhead open the door.

“How the hell did a loser like him get a girl like that?” Scarlett sneered. “I bet he’s paying her. She certainly seems the type.”

Harmony watched as Henry—her Henry—entered the beautiful woman’s house.

“So what’re you going to do? I say we gut him like a fish and leave him in some cockroach-infested alley to die.” Scarlett clapped in delight and anticipation, like a child on Christmas day. “It’ll be perfect! Besides, look what I got.” She held up a gleaming butcher’s knife.

“Y-You’re insane!” Harmony was horrified.

Scarlett rolled her eyes. “You told me that already. But fine, if you’re not going to kill him,” She pouted, “then what’re you going to do?”

“N-nothing. I’ll… I’ll just talk to him when he comes back and… see what happens.” Something would definitely happen, Harmony was sure, as she watched Henry leave the townhouse and walk down the street.

“Nothing!!” Quick as ever, Scarlett’s anger surged. “Fine! If you won’t do anything, then I will! He will pay!” Before Harmony could stop her, Scarlett ran down the street after Henry.

“No! Scarlett!” Harmony ran after her just as darkness engulfed her. Then everything went dark.

* * *

She was standing in a pool. A pool of dark, thick, red—blood! Why was she standing in a pool of blood? Harmony held up her hands, one of them holding a once-gleaming butcher’s knife, now covered in the crimson liquid. She looked down and saw the body of her husband staring up at her, gutted, predictably, like a fish.

“Scarlett… what have you done?!” Harmony watched her reflection as it smiled, ruby red in the night.

“Why, simply what I had to, sweetheart. You know that. But I didn’t do it alone. We make a good team, Harmony.” Scarlett smiled at her reflection as, pocketing the corpse’s wallet and watch, she walked away.

 

Author's Note

So.. what do you think?
Also, the wallet and watch are so that it looks like a mugging... or whatever.
Please review!