It was an unusually brisk June morning, filled with darkened grey clouds cloaking the kindness of sunrise. Mina smiled as she dashed towards the cover of the trees, thankful for the added stealth. On her heels, her best friend and apprentice cohort, Tish, trudged behind.
"The Beast should be leaving soon," commented Mina, as she fished through her jacket pockets for a pair of gloves, "then we'll head inside and figure out what she's really up to." Tish nodded uneasily, but said nothing. Helen, known to the girls as The Beast, was Mina's stepmother and a right bitch. Slowly, Mina's family's fortune had dwindled without explanation, causing her father to take a job in another state, leaving her alone with The Beast until she could finish school.
Pointing at the ornate sedan passing by on the road at the edge of the woods, Mina exclaimed "Yes! Let's go, I'm freezing my ass off." Both girls sprinted out from the woods as fast as they could; heading back towards the cosy warmth of Mina's lavish home.
Immediately entering The Beast's den, Mina and Tish threw off their jackets and settled into the desk chair, pulling open drawer after drawer in search of some sort of proof. "I know she's got another bank account. She used a check to buy my prom dress the other day, and I noticed my father's name wasn't on it."
"You can't have checks with one person's name on it?" asked Tish, frowning. "What if I don't want my husband's name on my checks when I get married?"
"It wasn't just that, you prat," Mina replied, "it was a different bank altogether. She's taking his money and putting into her account, I just know it. Why else would she marry him? She's only five years older than we are, and let's face it; my father isn't very... attractive now, is he?"
Tish shuddered. Mina's father was old enough to be her grandfather; short, podgy, greying, and boring. The Beast was indeed his exact opposite. She was all of 23 years old, tall, large build, and quite striking. Her only downfall seemed to be her vicious personality. She was a wicked, hate filled woman.
"I really hope school hasn't called yet. My folks'll kill me," she murmured with a deep sigh. She rested her chin on her palm and pouted, only letting off a slight chuckle as Mina rubbed the tension away from her shoulders.
"It's worth it, we'll find something here." Mina stood up and stretched out. "I need some caffeine; I didn't sleep a wink last night just thinking about today. You want anything from the kitchen?"
"Sure. I'll take a coke if you have one," said Tish, waving her off.
Mina opened the refrigerator door and scanned over each shelf before finding what she was looking for. She smiled, and grabbed two bottles of coke, slamming the door closed with her hip. At that precise moment, the garage door adjoining her home closed, giving off an eerie echo throughout the kitchen.
Mina gasped in shock as her eyes darted around the room for a reasonable explanation as to why someone would be home at this time of day. The Beast should have been long gone, nestled in at her job, and he father had no plans on returning until commencements.
The clicking of high heels against the tiled floor pounded into her head. Clearly, The Beast had returned and was heading her way. If she was caught ditching one of her school days, she would be in very big trouble. Quickly, she backed up towards the swinging door leading to the dining room and slipped through it, catching a glance at the towering silhouette of her step mother entering the kitchen.
'Oh God,' she thought to herself, as she hid behind an aged curio cabinet, 'Tish is in her study!'
Helen smirked to herself and looked around the kitchen, sensing something was amiss. She opened the refrigerator door and noticed the missing cokes immediately. Closing the door, she walked to the stairs ascending to her chambers, entering her bedroom, and silently opened her walk-in closet door. On the floor was a leather kitbag. She swept it up and left the room, heading straight for her den across the hallway.
"Took you long enough," commented Tish, hearing the rustling sounds of footsteps enter the room. She set a stack of copied papers onto the desk and looked up, freezing in place. "Helen!"
"I thought something was up with you two," Helen replied, closing and locking the door behind her back. Gracefully, she paced over to the desk, dropping her bag down and taking ample opportunity of Tish's shock.
"Stand up."
Tish panted for breath as Helen's long fingers encircled her upper arms, yanking her from the leather-bound chair and shoving her forward into the desk. Before she had a moment to compose herself or plead out an explanation, her arms were twisted cruelly behind her back, causing her to yelp in pain.
Helen gripped the smaller girl's wrists with one hand, and opened her bag with the other, pulling out a lengthy piece of blue cord. She pursed her lips tightly together as she bound Tish's hands behind her back, fighting the struggle the young girl began to give her.