The Prisoner Project

THIRTY

"The first murder, it's like first love. It's unforgettable."

— Alexander Pichushkin

THIRTY

FRANK WAS BEGINNING TO PUT two and two together and he wasn't liking his result. He had only gone to complain to Mirabel because he had been informed that Aria went into the SSCD building the day before. The information had upset him so he had reluctantly watched the CCTV tapes. When he saw her speaking to some intern called James, he had been so upset. Aria looked suspicious, paranoid, and very terrified. Frank really hated that she hadn't come to him for whatever she needed, instead of snooping around.

No one could deny that Frank had done so much for Aria that he thought she had gained his trust. But no. She had lied about forgetting a bag and snuck into the building unauthorised. For some reason, he was scared that she was going to cause trouble to herself. Rita had always said with a firm voice— 'Curiosity doesn't sit well in SSCD.'

When he had walked into Rita's office earlier, he was on eggshells. Rita had the ability to intimidate him with a flick of her wrist. Frank was no coward but he knew Rita was a no-nonsense woman so he was always wary around her.

It didn't take very long for his meeting with Rita to take a turn for the worse. The second she had mentioned Franks family, it was over for him. She had been selfish, reaching into the most vulnerable part of him and spilling whatever she could get onto the coffee table between them. She had violently thrown his past at him and fuck, it had hurt him deeply but it had also confirmed his suspicions.

It was beginning to dawn on him that Rita had some fucking end game. She wasn't just doing her job. He had seen something sinister overcome Rita when she had seethed — 'Much like you, everyone I loved died in a single moment. And much like you, the murderer still lives.'

The venom and betrayal in her voice harboured years of pain. Frank had known Rita walked a lonely path in life but he could now see and  feel the loneliness and desperation emanating from her. Immediately Rita had said this, she had instantly recovered but Frank had already seen enough. That sentence revealed a crack in her persona and within that crack, dark things wished to escape.

Whatever was in those cracks was why Rita was hellbent on completing this project. "I just know it."

Frank tugged out a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket, sparked a lighter and rested his head against the brick wall.

Frank remembered the part of that meeting that had shocked him enough to make him return to his old smoking habits. 

Before he had left her office, he had made the mistake of looking down at her table. Right there, was a letter. His heart had taken a split second to lodge in his throat and for the first time in his life, he feared that he was being manipulated.

"Dear Diana,—"

That was all the letter had said. It was vague but that was all he needed to see to remember Arias wide eyes and trembling fingers as she complained to him about letters to her sister from SSCD.

Frank blew out a bellow of smoke from the cigarette he had been working on. He was trying to understand how and why Mirabel would be writing letters to Diana. It didn't make sense. What did Diana have to do with anything with this?