101

Morag was back against her, arms around her neck, trying to choke her, trying to pull her down. They stumbled, tripping over discarded items in the dark and Rose was thrown to the corner, hitting her back hard on one of the door handles and knocking the wind out of her. She slid down unable to breathe, unable to control the jelly-ness of her body as she hit the floor. Morag was clambering around on her knees, looking for her, unable to see her in the shadow of where she had fallen and giving Rose a moment to gather her scrambled senses. Rose struggling to catch her breath, her ribs crushed and painful, the burning panic as she fought to breathe and was overwhelmed with nausea.

Morag was illuminated on the floor by the soft moonlight coming from behind clouds, like a creature crouching down on all fours, wild-eyed and sobbing, she used the light to lurch forward, grabbing something from the counter and was by Rose in seconds, holding the long kitchen knife out towards her from her crouched position threateningly. Rose recoiled in fear.

‘You couldn’t just leave him alone, could you?’ Morag hissed, her breath heaving dramatically. ‘He wasn’t yours to take... He was mine!’

Rose dragged oxygen into her lungs trying to find her voice, her body shaking violently, and her eyes glued to the sharp metal, glinting in the light mere inches from her throat.

‘Morag please... I didn’t take him... He chose to come to me.’ Rose’s voice was shaking, breathless and low, she was terrified at seeing nothing but hatred in Morag’s eyes and unsure if Rob would even get here in time anymore.

‘No ... NO... You seduced him... You wrapped him up and made it impossible to leave you... I know your type! ... What did you do Rose?’ The strangled voice and hitching hysteria in Morag accelerated Rose’s heartbeat, boosting her adrenaline. ‘Flutter your lashes and give him perverted sex that he couldn’t refuse, do things for him that no decent woman would do?’

‘Morag, I swear... Please don’t do this, it’s not that way. He loves me. I love him.’ Rose was gasping through tears, unable to conceal her fear, curling up small and trying to keep the point of that blade away from her neck.

‘What do you think I’m going to do Rose? .... Hurt you?’ Morag bursts into an insane laugh ‘Maybe I will... Maybe I should... I should kill you for what you have done to me... You need to leave...Go far, far, away and let me have what is rightfully mine.’ She swung the knife around carelessly, the heavy weight making it look unstable in her hand, her own eyes streaming scornful tears.

‘This is my home Morag...’ Rose pleaded desperately, but it only fueled Morag’s manic anger.

‘No, it’s fucking not! It’s my home... It’s Rob’s home... You’re an outsider... An intruder that doesn’t belong here in my village... If you leave I can have my life back!’ She spat cruelly, shuffling closer so that the knife inched nearer Rose’s face. Morag was kneeling taller than her and looking menacing.

‘He doesn’t want you Morag.’ Rose was finding her inner strength, that inner stubborn and fiery part of her, unable to back down even though sense told her to be submissive. She had let this woman rule her life for too long and was choosing the worst possible time to rile her.

‘He does... Rob just sometimes gets distracted...I know there have been others... You’re not the first whore he took to bed... Like the rest, he will end it with you and come back to me, like he always does.’

‘Then why are you here? If you are so convinced that he will leave me and come back to you, then why do you even need to do this?’ Rose snapped, anger replacing fear and pig-headed rage at how much the woman ruined everything, kicking in to push logic aside.

‘Shut up... Shut up!’ Morag clawed at her head a moment, trying to clear her racing thoughts, looking deranged and uncontrolled. Rose could see the mental turmoil reflected in her face. ‘He gave you his mother’s ring... You’re a clever little witch, aren’t you? Wonder how you swung that one?’ She jabbed at the air again with the sharp tool, turning it so the light reflected across its width in a terrifying way before bringing her focus back to Rose.

‘He loves me Morag... Really loves me... He doesn’t love you.’ Rose lifted her chin defiantly, refusing to be a victim even if this was to be her last moment in life.

‘What the fuck would you know .... You have no idea about the love we share. If you did you wouldn’t be hanging on like some sad desperate puppy with your fucking doe eyes. Can you not see how pathetic you are?’

Rose held her tongue, wondering if Morag was really talking about Rose at all. Her clearly unstable state hinted that she was talking about herself and delusional about it.

‘If I left he would come after me Morag, and you know it.’ Rose knew this for certain and knowing he was coming soon to save her had strengthened her resolve to keep her talking. ‘He’s on his way, he will see what you are doing, and he will hate you for it. You have no idea what this will do to your relationship with him. He will never forgive this.’

‘No... He fucking won’t...He will understand...He always understands!’ She jabbed the knife in the air menacingly and once again rubbed her face as though trying to get control. She was all over the place, her voice and tone up and down, her moods shifting from sorry to cruel and then anger and back to sadness.

The flash of headlights through the cottage indicated Rob had arrived, relief swept through Rose’s body as she cried out for him, not caring if Morag tried to silence her. Breathlessly at first, but then screaming on him frantically, bringing her hands up defensively as Morag lurched at her, attempting to quiet her by holding the knife to her throat and gripping her by the hair. Rose tried to push her hand away, trembling at the realisation of what Morag intended to do to her. Rose again cried out, determined to alert him.

Rob would be in the house by now, he had to be, he had to know that she was here. Feeling the grip tighten harder and finally causing her to hush. That sharp point pressing into her skin, biting at her neck with its coldness and causing her heart to stop in her chest.

Rob heard the cries from the door and burst through. Searching in the darkness and coming to a halt at the kitchen door, the moonlight showing him enough to stop him in his tracks. His powerful form taking up the doorframe, but Morag had a tight grip on Rose. Still heaped on the floor, unable to move with the crouching form of Morag leaning over her, backing her into the corner. The woman was clutching at Rose’s shoulder now with one hand and the other holding the point of a large knife at Rose’s neck. Morag turned her face towards him, eyes flashing like a demon.

‘Morag?’ Rob’s hands went up, palms forward defensively, his face changing from sheer despair to that instant mask of coolness that appeared when he was in crisis clean up mode. ‘Just put down the knife.’

‘Go away Rob. Go away!’ She screamed at him and Rose shuddered as the knife moved further up her neck scraping her flesh like a burning poker. She closed her eyes tight for a moment, afraid that it would descend into her throat and squirming back to try and put distance between her and it. Rob moved back, still holding his hands up as though trying to show her he would make no sudden movements, his eyes never leaving Rose.

‘You don’t want to do this Morag! You don’t want to throw away your life by doing something you would never be able to live with.’ His voice was unsteady, despite his calm demeanour. Rose could barely make out his face, but she could tell he was trying to keep his head together and to her, he sounded afraid.

‘You think this is what I wanted?’ She screamed at him. ‘That this is what I planned?’ Morag was sobbing through her anger, her voice crackling and her body vibrating.

‘Just put it down and we can talk. Please. I’m begging you.’ He was desperately trying to make out Rose’s face in the dark, his eyes barely able to see anything more than their outlines and forms and the shining metal of the blade at her throat.

‘I came here to talk... To her! ‘She motioned with the knife at Rose, moving it away from her neck and waving it in the air like a pointer. A tiny wave of relief ran through Rose’s body as she tried to edge away, but the grip on her shoulder tightened. Hauling her back to Morag’s side brutally and making it clear she wasn’t done with her yet.

‘Why? It’s me who you should be angry with.’

‘I wanted to see her... Tell her to leave you alone! ... You were not listening to me, Rob. I didn’t plan this. Any of this! I was hurt... I was angry with you... I just needed to see her...Warn her off...’

The woman let out another sob and rubbed her sleeve across her face childishly, sniffing hard.

‘Morag, please. Just let her go. Look at me. Talk to me. We can fix this together, you don’t need to involve her.’ Rob edged forward slowly, his voice softening as he tried to get through Morag’s hazy clouded logic.

‘LIAR!’ She spat angrily and pushed him to move back again, afraid that angering her would mean she turned back on Rose, now she had the knife turned at him.

‘Rose isn’t the person you want to hurt. It’s me you’re angry with. Me that you should be pointing that at.’ His voice was shaking, his emotions on the brink of collapse as nerves and the sheer impact of this scene hit him. Morag let go of Rose’s shoulder, rubbing her eyes dramatically with the freed hand.

Rose, seeing her moment, pulled away, crawling along the cupboards at speed against the units out of reach of her grip, the sharp point still stuck in mid-air between her and him. Blocking her escape so all she could do was sit out of reach, poised and ready to run as soon as she got a chance. Morag seemed oblivious to Rose’s almost escape, so focused on Rob and glaring at him with a broken heart.

‘You know what I got this morning Rob¿ Morag laughed through tears and gritted teeth. She sounded so detached from the various versions of Morag that she didn’t seem real at all. ‘A fucking letter!...Informing me that you’re taking steps to get out a restraining order against me... Warning me off... Telling me to stay away from you.’ She broke down crying again, clutching at her hair. ‘After everything, we have been through together... Fifteen years, Rob! Every god damn thing I have been through and the one person I trust most, cuts me loose. Warns me away?...WHY???’ She screeched at him.