==========
September 14th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
A feeling unrest and unease has settled over the
being of one Marie Annabelle Jones as she walks through the halls of The Inner
Peace Enlightenment Retreat. These halls and corridors are so plain and
ordinary. So drab with literally no
decorations to speak of lining these walls.
The floors are simple hardwood.
The Phoenix cannot help but take notice of the drastic contrast between
the inside of this facility and the bright, upbeat happiness of the outside
courtyard. This doesn’t have the appearance the joyous hope-filled
organization that Marie was introduced to when she toured the property with its
leader Raul Alfaro. Instead it has the
appearance of the one organization that frightens Marie more than anything
else…
...an insane asylum.
There is a history of mental illness within the
Jones family. Marie’s identical twin and tag team partner, Kimberly
Williams, spent time in a mental ward. Their mother, the matriarch of the
Jones family Angelica Jones, also spent time in a mental hospital. Marie
doesn’t want to suffer the same fate as them, she doesn’t want to believe that
maybe she too needs mental help. Yet it was just a couple of months ago
when Marie attempted suicide.
Grief will do terrible things to people and her
grief over the death of her husband Arthur Pond nearly drove her to ending her
life. So maybe, for her sake, she does need help? Going to this place, this retreat, is a risk
she is willing to take in order to get her mind off of her problems, to forget
her grief, and hopefully refocus on her career.
She doesn’t like the idea of going to a session
with anyone at all and sharing her problems; it sounds too much like the kind
of mental asylum that Marie fears. Raul Alfaro assured her that this was
different and that they could help her.
So she will give it a chance, as soon as she drops her belongings off at
her room.
The Phoenix eventually round a corner and spots a
door with the numbers “2718”. Jones checks a piece of paper with the same
numbers written on it. She sighs and
walks towards the door and pushes it open, preparing to step into what will be
her room for today at least. That is another thing that bothers her; in
order to receive the benefits of The Inner Peace Enlightenment Retreat, she
must spend at least one full twenty four hour period there.
Why? For what purpose?
Upon pushing open the door and stepping inside she
is pleased to find that the room is larger than expected with two large Queen
size beds side by side. Marie is great full to find that there is a large
window that next to one of the beds. The
window overlooks the beautiful courtyard.
The Phoenix is grateful for at least some nice view while she’s
here. Still, two beds? That’s odd,
Jones thinks to herself as she walks further into the room and sets her bag on
one of the Queen size beds. Shortly
after doing so she spots the reason why there are two beds.
She isn’t alone in this room. Standing in the
corner is a blonde haired beauty, about her age or a little older. The
Phoenix clears her throat to get the woman’s attention. She turns around and smiles pleasantly at
Marie, but it’s Marie who speaks first.
“Excuse me?”
“Good afternoon!” The woman seems to have a
sickeningly sweet voice and seems to be very happy. Her pleasant mood
matches that of the joy that Marie witnessed outside on the courtyard. Still,
who is she? The woman approaches her and embraces her with a tight hug, which
Marie finds unusual for a complete stranger to hug her like this. “It’s
so nice to meet you!”
“Yeah, same…” Marie says uneasily as they break the
embrace “...but we just met; can we hold off on the hugging?”
“No!” She declares happily. “We got to get used to
one another since we’re gonna be roomies!”
Jones wrinkles her brow out of confusion.
This was most definitely not something she had been planning for.
“Roomies? Seriously?”
“Yup!” The woman nods her head enthusiastically.
“Didn’t Mr. Alfaro tell you how this works sweetie?”
The Phoenix shakes her head as she pulls away from
this stranger and walks back over to the bed. She sits down on the edge
of the bed and it isn’t long until she is joined by this strange woman who she
only just found out is going to be her roommate for the duration of her stay at
the retreat.
“All I was told was that I would spend one night
here and that I would have to go to some kind of sessions…” she shakes her head
“...I wasn’t told anything about a roommate or anything else for that matter.”
“Awwww now don’t be a sour puss!” She sets her head
on Marie’s shoulder. “You’re gonna love having a roommate, because it’s me!”
The Phoenix gently pushes this woman away and
stares at her incredulously. She is in disbelief that this woman actually
is thinking this way and acting in this way. Where is she, the twilight
zone?
“I’m sorry, but I don’t even know you.”
“Oh, silly me!” She smacks herself on the head. “I
can be a ditz at times!”
She extends her hand, offering a handshake to
Marie. “My name is Julianne, Julianne Brady.”
Jones stares at Julianne’s hand for just a few
moments before looking back up at her and finally, for the first time, smiling.
“This is a start.” Marie shakes her hand. “Nice to meet you, Juliannne.”
“That’s the spirit!” Julianne slaps her on the
back. “No need to be so grouchy, eh?”
Marie sighs and rolls her eyes. Perhaps
Julianne is a little too happy for her own good? It does get on Marie’s
nerves. But at the same time Marie also
recognizes that she has been a little grouchier than usual, due in large part
to the apprehension she feels about being here at this retreat.
“Maybe I have been in a little bit of a bad mood.”
Marie offers. “I apologize for that.”
“No need to apologize.” Julianne insists, shaking
her head. “You’re new here so I can understand the butterflies, the jitters,
and all that. I think it happened to almost all of us the first time.”
“Even you?” Marie asks. The Phoenix finds it
hard to believe that this woman who doesn’t even seem to know the meaning of
the word negativity to have had a hard time adjusting to this place. Yet
she gets an answer when Julianne nods her head.
“Yep!”
“I find that hard to believe.” Marie states
plainly. “You are just so...happy?”
“People do say that about me!” Julianne chuckles.
“But believe it or not, I wasn’t always this upbeat.”
“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Marie asks. Julianne smiles back at her and shakes her head.
“Not now, sweetie. Maybe later but not
now. All you need to know is that I owe everything to the Inner Peace
Enlightenment Retreat.”
Jones is still curious about what brought Julianne
here to the retreat. She still finds it hard to believe that she, like
Marie, was as upset and angry and needed help. But it isn’t any of her
business so she lets the issue rest, for now.
“Hopefully it can do just as much for me as it did
for you.” Marie answers.
“Oh Raul Alfaro’s methods are proven!” Julianne
states excitedly. “Whatever your problems are, the Inner Peace Enlightenment
Retreat will heal you spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.”
“I’m looking forward to it. Speaking of
which, when is this session supposed to begin? Raul told me that there
would be sessions in which we’d share our problems.”
“There are.” Julianne says smiling knowingly. “And
it’s already started.”
“Really?” Marie asks curiously. “Where?”
“Right here!” Julianne happily declares. Once
again Marie finds herself perplexed about the goings on at this retreat.
She cocks her head to one side and stares blankly at Julianne.
“Wait...what?”
“Did Mr. Raul Alfaro explain anything to you?” She
giggles. Marie shrugs her shoulders.
“Apparently not.”
“It’s ok, because your buddy Julianne is here to
explain things!” The blonde winks playfully at Marie. “See, The Inner Peace
Enlightenment Retreat believes in one on one personal, individual relationships
that heal our wounds. Sure, you can throw money away at psychiatrists
with fancy medical degrees but they’ll get you nowhere except maybe in a loony
bin and who wants that?”
That mere statement causes Marie to shudder with
fear. She doesn’t want that at all.
She doesn’t want to end up in a mental hospital the way her mother and
sister did. Jones shakes her head as she continues to listen to Julianne.
“Friendship, Marie; friendship is what can heal our
wounds. And we all have wounds that need healing, even me.” She takes
Marie’s hands and squeezes them tightly. “I hope we can be friends, Marie.”
Jones stares into the eyes of Julianne Brady.
She can sense the sincerity in the blonde haired beauty’s eyes and her
voice. Tears start to form in the eyes of Jones as she nods her head.
“Yeah, I’d like that too!” Marie leans in and
embraces the blonde in a tight hug. After breaking the embrace Jones seems
to have as big a smile on her face as the one Julianne has been sporting this
entire time.
“Now Marie, sweetie, people come here to this
retreat for healing. So tell me, your friend, why do you need
healing? Tell me what hurts.” Julianne’s
words are comforting as they break through Marie’s rough exterior.
Before Marie can speak up, Julianne places a hand upon her shoulder. “And
please, start at the very beginning. We
are friends now, after all, and we need to get to know one another.”
“Right, sure.” Marie nods her head. “What do you
want to know?”
“Tell me about your family?” Julianne asks. “Your
mom and dad? Brothers or sisters?”
“My family situation is…” Jones pauses as she tries
to think of the appropriate language. Finally she comes up with one.
“...complicated. I’m not sure you would
understand.”
“Now Marie, we are friends. Do friends keep
secrets? You can tell your friend
anything.” Julianne insists. “I won’t judge you. I promise.”
Jones ponders this for just a moment before nodding
her head. “Right. I have sisters, two half sisters and an identical twin
sister.”
“Two halves make a whole!” Julianne says with a
laugh. She stops immediately when she notices Marie not laughing.
“Sorry…”
“Well, my mom gave up both me and my twin sister at
birth. But I was the lucky one who got a good home. My sister ended up in a bad situation.”
“Did you two ever reunite? Whatever happened
to her?” Julianne asks.
“We did reunite.”
“Well that’s a wonderful thing!” Julianne states
happily. “Truly wonderful! And you reunited with your mom?”
“Yeah, I did.” Marie nods her head.
“See, Marie? You need to start focusing on
the positives. You have so much to be thankful for, to be grateful
for! You truly are blessed, you just need to know how to recognize those
blessings!”
A warm smile forms on Marie’s face. “Yeah, maybe I
do.”
==========
September 15th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
Normally the buzzing of her alarm would wake Marie
up in the mornings, and while she did bring her alarm with her to the Inner
Peace Enlightenment Retreat for that very purpose, her roomate Julianne
insisted that she ditch the alarm. According to Julianne peace and
tranquility was all part of the healing process and that Marie needed to forget
about her busy, intense schedules. She
should just let her body relax and conserve energy. Today is a Sunday and normally on a Sunday
Marie would rush to Sunday morning mass at the nearest Catholic Church she
could find and immediately begin a strict training regimen for whatever
wrestling match she was booked for that week. In this case, she would be
going to mass and then preparing for a World Tag Team Championship Match with
her twin sister Kimberly against Ryan Watson and Autumn Valentine. Julianne suggested that instead of such a
strict, regulated Sunday schedule, Marie should just “soak up the beauty of
nature.”
All of this is about healing spiritually and emotionally.
And while the idea “soaking up the beauty of nature” sounds somewhat like a
crazy hippy notion to her, the idea of at least relaxing a little instead of
being so focused and so tense all of the time is definitely worth trying.
Thus it doesn’t really bother Marie when she wakes up and looks at her clock,
noticing the time is eleven o’clock.
Eleven is when her church’s Sunday mass starts, so she knows she has
already missed it. It feels odd to miss
such an important event in her spiritual life and yet, she also doesn’t feel
guilty. Does this make her a sinner?
In the eyes of the Church, yes.
Does Marie care?
Right now, the answer to that question is no.
Marie swings her legs over the side of her bed and
stares at the other bed. It appears as if Julianne is still there, fast
asleep. Julianne is completely covered
by the covers and massive comforter. Her head and entire body must be
underneath as Marie can see nothing but the form of a human body covered up
underneath. Jones chuckles lightly, she
can’t imagine how anyone can sleep underneath that massive, thick
comforter. It would be so hot.
Jones is careful to quietly stand up, trying not to
disturb her new friend and roomate. But then just as she stands up the
comforter and covers fly off of the bed and Marie spots her identical twin
sister Kimberly Williams staring at her with an insane grin on her face.
“PEEK-A-BOO!” Kimberly points a long slender finger
at Marie. “I SEE YOU!!!!”
“Kim?!” Marie exclaims loudly. She is
startled to see her here; then again, she shouldn’t be startled to see Kimberly
do anything wild or unusual like this. “What on earth are you doing
here?!”
“Oh come on now! Can’t a girl stalk her twin
sister anymore?” Kimberly leaps out of bed and embraces her in a tight
hug. Marie shoves her off.
“Get off me!”
“Oh, what’s wrong?” Kimberly asks coyly. “You act
like I’m gonna kidnap you, tie you in a basement, and replace you or
something!”
“In case you forgot, you actually DID that to me once.”
Marie states, placing her hands on her hips and glaring angrily at her
twin sister.
“Oh yeah! I forgot! That was back when I was all evil and shit
but then you turned me back to the light side of the force! You turned me
into a Jedi again!”
“Star Wars references, Kim? Really?”
“Why not?” Kimberly asks. “Abi makes Batman
references all the time!”
“You’re not Abi.” Marie states plainly.
“This is true.” Kimberly answers, nodding her
head. Marie sighs out of frustration and points towards the door.
“You need to get out of here, Kim.” Marie tells her
twin angrily. “I don’t think the people here at the retreat would be very
pleased knowing you broke in.”
“I didn’t break in.” Kimberly insists. “They let me
in. And I’m pretty sure I’m welcome here any time I damn well
please. At least that’s what that nice used car salesman Raul told me.”
“Raul?” Marie gasps in shock then in embarrassment,
curious as to what her sister said to him. “You spoke to Raul?!”
“Of course! He thought I was you, but then
again, everyone here thought I was you.” She winks playfully at Marie. “That’s
what made it so easy to get inside.”
“Oh God…” Marie’s voice trails off as she walks
back over and sits down on the edge of the bed. She buries her face in
her hands out of humiliation. She cannot
believe Kimberly did this. Kimberly
smirks as she walks over and sits down on the bed next to Marie. She wraps
an arm around her shoulder.
“Don’t be upset, sis! You should’ve known
that a crazy loon like me would’ve tried something like this!”
“You’re right.” Marie answers, looking up at
Kimberly and staring deep into her eyes, demanding answers. “What I
really want to know is how you found out about this place? I only told one person about Inner Peace
Enlightenment.”
“Yep,” Kimberly nods her head with a knowing smirk
on her face “and who do you think was the snitch?”
“Crap!” Marie exclaims, rolling her eyes. “I guess
I can’t trust our mother to keep any secrets anymore.”
“Oh don’t blame her.” Kimberly tells her. “The
truth is, once again I impersonated you and during our conversation she
mentioned this little hippy commune.”
“It’s not a hippy…” Marie stops, her voice fades
off as she ponders what Kimberly just told her “...wait, you managed to
convince our mother that you were me?”
“Yep!” Kimberly states proudly. Marie,
despite the situation, can’t help but be impressed.
“Wow, you’re real good at that.”
“Thanks!” Kimberly embraces Marie in another tight
hug. Marie gently shoves her off though and shakes her head.
“It still doesn’t excuse your actions this
morning. You broke in…”
“Snuck in.” Kimberly corrects her. Marie
rolls her eyes.
“Whatever. You snuck into a place that you
don’t belong. You invaded my privacy, Kim! Does that mean anything to you?!”
“Privacy, is that what you’re all upset about?”
Kimberly cackles. “It’s cute that you think privacy means a damn thing when it
comes to family. Maybe I should turn the tables? Instead of me telling you what I’m doing
here, how about you tell me what brings you to a dump like this?”
“It is not a dump.” Marie states pointedly. “And
why I’m here is none of your business.”
“Is that how it’s going to be?” Kimberly
asks. Marie nods her head.
Kimberly sighs. “You tried to kill yourself, then you joined this hippy
cult and didn’t tell anyone; you’re starting to worry people.”
“This isn’t a hippy cult.” Marie insists. “They are
nice people. And I’m fine. I don’t
need your help.”
“Don’t play that card with me, Marie. I tried
that when I needed help but you told me we were sisters and we helped each
other. So I’m here to help you.
Besides, we’re fighting for the SCW World Tag Team Championships against
one fuck to give…”
“That’s Zero Fucks To Give.”
“Does it matter? Point is I need my sister
back and preferably in a competent state of mind.” Kimberly winks knowingly. “I
don’t think I can escape this place dragging your limp body behind me after
I’ve drugged you.”
Marie furrows her brow, staring at Kimberly. “You
wouldn’t drug me…”
“I came prepared.” She reaches into her pocket and
produces a syringe. “Go ahead, make my millennium, BWAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“Beetlejuice reference.” Marie observes. “That’s
better.”
Kimberly puts the syringe down and takes her sister
by the hands. “Look Marie, you know I’m the last person to judge anyone.
If you want to hang out with these clowns go right ahead. But you are worrying me. You are a perfect little Catholic girl, but
you missed mass for these people. Wrestling is your whole life and you
missed our training session today. Now
I’m not one of those weirdos who obsess over championships, but I do obsess
over my sister’s well-being and right now I question your well being.”
The Phoenix stares into her sister’s eyes and
notices the sincerity. Marie smiles and then embraces her in a tight hug.
“You’re right. I’m sorry for scaring
you, Kim.”
“It’s ok, babe. Don’t sweat it.” The Woman
Scorned points towards the door. “Now lets beat it before people discover two
of you running around, ok?”
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