“So this was a few months ago, before the accident. I had gotten home after a long shift at work. This was around 10 pm and my husband asks me if I want to go for a midnight drive, no where in particular just go out and drive. I am tired, I just want to curl up in my bed and watch ‘Attack of the Phones’ and gorge myself on food.”

“That sounds like a good Friday night” Ben jokingly said

“I know right? I wish I could do that all nights. Anyways he goes off to drive and I begin my after-work routine. I showed, get dressed, have dinner and watch my movie. After the movie ends, I notice he still hasn’t returned which is strange because he is never out for more than a hour or 2 at most. I call him and after a few rings, it goes to voicemail. Now I am a paranoid person, so I decided to get up and go look for him. You know, in case anything happened. Worst case scenario I got out of bed for nothing and he returns home safe and sound, right?” Rebecca asked, still keeping her happy tone and smile.

“Yeah” Ben agreed but Alex and Jill began to get concerned.

“So I begin driving our usual route that we normally would do. He’s not on it so I try a few different ones. Eventually I spot something in the distance, his car. I get closer and that’s when I notice, it is completely wrecked.”

The atmosphere in the room immediately changed. Ben was starting to get worried but Alex and Jill were now scared.

“Garry’s car is completely totaled, his body is crumpled through the windshield, with glass and metal imbedded into his body. I obviously call the ambulance who arrive and take him to the hospital. I prayed but to my horror he died an hour before I found him.” Rebecca says, now her eyes locked on Alex and Jill and still keeping her smile.

“What the fuck?” Ben said, getting worried at Rebecca’s tone

“They do a test and find out he isn’t drunk. So they can rule out it wasn’t drunk driving, but rather a hit and run. I of course am destroyed, my whole life is turned upside. Love of my life gone, all that sad stuff” Rebecca said in a sarcastic tone, much to the disturbance of Alex, Jill and Ben.

“The cops can’t find anything, no evidence of the attackers and no cameras in the area so they can’t do much and the case is put on hold while they deal with other “more serious” matters” Rebecca said, still making intense eye contact with Alex and Jill who are now beginning to sweat. Ben is noticing that they are looking scared.

“Rebecca what-“

“I’m not done yet, please let me finish” Rebecca cut Ben off, still locking eyes with Alex and Jill.

“I decided to take matters into my own hands, do a little investigating. I won’t bore you with the details but I get my results. Turns out, a male and a female decide to go for a few drinks at the club and make the wise decision of driving home, completely wasted. They think it is a good idea to get behind the wheel and drive home, completely out of it and not caring about the safety of others” Rebecca said, with her voice getting louder. Alex and Jill are now scared, realizing that their secret is out. Ben is slowly piecing it together.

“I don’t know the exact details, but I guess they must’ve turned a corner too fast and collided with Garry. They of fucking course were fine, a little ruffled but alright. Garry on the other hand, well you already know how he turned out. The lovely couple decides to drive off, not even attempting to help my husband, leaving me to find him hours later.”

“It was an accident” Alex screamed, standing up

“Alex, what did you do?!” Ben said, also standing up but now backing away from Alex

“We didn’t mean to!” Jill said, also standing up. Rebecca remained sitting down.

“I’m sure you didn’t mean to, but you can’t change the fact that you still murdered him” Rebecca said

“We’re sorry” Jill said, now on the verge of tears

“Save your apology, I’m not here for that” Rebecca said, now standing up

“Then, why are you here?” Jill asked, now scared

“To get revenge” Rebecca said, now dropping her happy persona

“Babe get back” Alex said, pulling Jill behind him

“Rebecca, calm down” Ben said, trying to diffuse the situation.

“It’s too late for that. I’m sorry you have to be here for this, Ben” Rebecca said, still not taking her eyes off Alex

“Rebecca, leave now” Alex said, trying to not make it obvious he is scared

“Not until you pay for what you and Jill did”

“Look, we’re sorry, we didn’t mean for it to happen” Jill said

“I don’t care” Rebecca said, now her voice full of anger

“Rebecca I swear you better leave now or else I’m calling the cops” Alex threatened her

Rebecca simply took a few steps back, before lifting her head and rolling her eyes backwards, making her eyeballs appear completely white before they filled with blood, turning them red. Alex, Jill and Ben all took a few steps back, now concerned. Alex then began noticing that his body was emitting a red glow around him.

“What the fuck is happening?!” Alex asked, as he noticed he couldn’t feel his body anymore.

“Rebecca?” Jill asked, now confused. Alex began walking over to the table and picked up a kitchen knife

“Rebecca, what the fuck are you doing?!” Jill asked, her voice almost breaking.

Alex put his hand on the table, making a star as his other hand lifted the knife high in the air and drove it down, directly onto his hand.

“ARRRGH!” Alex screamed in pain, with the knife firmly lodged into his left hand, but not being able to move his body.

“Alex!” Jill screamed and ran over, trying to lift the knife away but his arm not budging. Ben remained scared stiff, not moving or reacting. The red aura from Alex was gone as he regained control of his body, but his hand was firmly pinned to the table. Then, Jill noticed the red aura began surrounding her as she lost control of her body.

“Rebecca?” Jill said, now terrified. Jill picked up her knife and, the same as Alex, put her hand on the table, before driving the knife onto her hand, pinning her to the table. Jill screamed in pain, much like Alex before the red aura was gone and she was left pinned to the table. Jill’s scream broke Ben out of his trance and he began to make a run for it, until he suddenly stopped still. To his horror, Ben noticed a red aura around him and was turning around, with no control of his body. He noticed Rebecca had her arm extended, with her fingers pointed at him.

“Don’t leave so soon, you haven’t had desert yet” Rebecca said, with a sadistic smile on her face as Ben began walking over to her.

“Rebecca, please-“ Ben stopped talking and he began talking muffled. To Ben’s horror, he began picking up his own knife, before turning to face Jill and Alex and then slit his own throat, standing still as blood began spraying all over Jill and Alex. Jill and Alex were speechless, terrified at what they had just witnessed.

“Such a shame he was here, I liked him” Rebecca said, feeling remorseful.

“Please, let us go” Alex said through tears and pain, as he was trying to lift the knife out, but was able to bring himself to do it.

“Oh, we’re not done yet” Rebecca said, before lifting both of her arms. Alex and Jill had red auras around them again as they lost all feeling in their body. They both pulled the knife out of their hands, but their screams were quickly silenced and all that came out was muffled screaming. Rebecca instructed them to pick up Ben’s body and carry it with them out of the house. Before leaving, Rebecca grabbed a bottle of wine.

Rebecca made Jill and Alex stuff Ben’s body in the trunk and made them both get in the front seat as she sat in the back and instructed Alex to begin driving. After 20 minutes, they arrived at a bridge overlooking train tracks.

“Thank you for the dinner, it was amazing. We should do it again sometime soon” Rebecca said as she got out of the car. Alex and Jill remained silent. As Rebecca stepped out, she handed Alex a bottle of wine and he began chugging it, getting a good half of the bottle before stopping and handing it to Jill, who then finished it off before handing it back to Rebecca. Alex reversed the car and lined it up with the railing, before slamming on the gas and crashing through the barrier, freefalling with the car before it slammed into the ground, the glass and metal impaling and crushing Jill and Alex. After a few moments, the red auras from both were gone. Rebecca could no longer feel their bodies, meaning they were dead. Rebecca began making the long walk back to the house to retrieve her car.

A few days later, Rebecca rocked up to a house in Wicket and knocked on the door. After a few seconds the door opened and there stood a man in a dark trench coat, with most of his features hidden.

“It’s done, thank you for helping me” Rebecca said as she began handing him an envelope of cash

“I got a better proposal. Save your cash, next time I need a favor you help me out and we’ll call it even” he said

“What kind of favor?” Rebecca asked

“The kind that requires your special talents” he said, with a slight chuckle

“Sure thing” Rebecca agreed

“Good. I’ll call you when I need you. Have a wonderful day”

“You too” she said and began walking back.

The man locked the door and retreated to his home. In his living room was a whiteboard that had a lot of photos of the night of the accident, including evidence of Jill and Alex hitting Garry’s car and driving off. He began packing it up, putting all the evidence into a folder and then putting that folder into a filing cabinet. He goes to his desk and pulls out a notebook, before turning to a new page and writing ‘FAVOR #23: The Puppeteer’.