Cryptic Inheritence

[admin]

==========
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Off Camera
==========

Sophie O’Brian is sitting out on the front porch of her brother’s modest home in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a modern looking home, certainly big enough to house both Sophie as well as her brother Mark and Mark’s wife Ashley O’Brian. Somehow Mark managed to end up financially luckier than his sister. Ever since he retired from active full time wrestling and put all of his effort into training students at the Glenn Braddock Wrestling School in Southampton, England, Mark has managed to save up quite a bit of money. That money, combined with the money his bride Ashley already had, enabled them to buy this home. But Mark’s sister Sophie has not been so lucky. She never has been. All their lives Mark was the lucky one. He managed to escape their drunken abusive father before Sophie. Mark was never tormented and twisted by a sociopath named Quinne Murray. Mark found love whilst Sophie never did find true love. It is difficult for a sociopath like Sophie to find love. And Mark is more financially well off than his sister. As a result of this, Sophie now finds herself living with her brother and her sister-in-law in Belfast.

“Sophie?” Ashley herself emerges from within the home, stepping outside onto the porch. Her brown hair hangs down to her shoulders. She is wearing a red gingham dress. She looks at Sophie with a polite smile. “Are you ok, Sophie? You’ve been out here for a long time.”

“I am contemplating the pointless trivialities of unending perils.”

“Huh?” Ashley asks curiously.

“I’m fine.” Sophie snaps back. Ashley backs off.

“Sorry for asking. It’s just that you have been out here for hours now. You missed lunch and your brother is worried about you.” She slowly but cautiously approaches Sophie and places a hand on her shoulder. “So am I.”

“I doubt it.” Sophie says with a sigh. “If I recall, we never did get along in the beginning. I wasn’t exactly in favor of you dating my brother. And you thought I bullied him too much.”

“We have our differences but that doesn’t change the fact that we are family. Whether by marriage or not, I consider you like a sister to me.”

Sophie rolls her eyes. “I appreciate the attempt to show concern for my well-being, but if my dimwitted brother wishes to speak to me then he can march his Neanderthal ass out here himself.” Sophie turns her attention away from Ashley. Ashley turns in a huff and marches back into the home. Sophie waits patiently. She fully expects her sister-in-law to go right to Mark and complain about Sophie’s rude behavior. Sure enough, it isn’t long before the door opens back up and Sophie’s older brother Mark O’Brian emerges onto the porch.

“Works every time.” Sophie says with a smirk on her face.

“Why did you hafta be so rude ta Ash? She was just tryin’ ta help ya!”

“Does it look like I NEED any help, dear brother?”

“Ya want my honest opinion?”

“If you are capable of forming an opinion, then yes, I do want it.”

“Yeah, ya do need help. You’ve been down in the dumps all day. Hell, you’ve been depressed several days lately. I mean, you always were the broodin’ type, but you’ve been broodin’ ever since ya moved in here with Ashley and me.” Mark slowly approaches his sister and sits down. “Look, I get it, I’m not the smartest guy in the world…”

“That’s an understatement.” Sophie remarks sarcastically.

“...BUT it doesn’t take a freaking rocket scientist to tell when someone is depressed. And you, Sophie, are depressed. You have been depressed for a long time now and me and Ash are worried about ya.”

“Why are you so worried about me, dear brother? Are you concerned that my dark depression will lead to suicidal thoughts?” Sophie scoffs at the thought and shakes her head. “Dear brother, I admit that I am slightly depressed, but I am not and never will be suicidal.”

“Ya say that now but…”

“It’s true.” Sophie insists. “It’s the beautiful thing about being a sociopath. You can easily shut off emotions.”

“You’re not as much of a sociopath as ya wanna think.” Mark warns. “The fact that ya admit to bein’ depressed is proof that yer at least kinda in touch with your emotions.”

“I’m actually quite impressed that you were capable of putting together a coherent argument, dear brother. But I assure you, I am fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’ve been out here all day. You have been moping around the house for days. Why don’t ya just tell me what’s wrong with ya?! I mean, Ash and I let ya move in with us, we let ya live with because we care and…”

“That’s just it, you uneducated chimpanzee!” Sophie exclaims angrily. “I did move in with you two!” Sophie finally releases all of it. She sighs deeply and shakes her head. “I am a former four time world champion as a professional wrestler. Many wrestlers would kill for that kind of career record. Yet while wrestlers with nowhere near my kind of resume are living it up in the lap of luxury, I don’t have enough to even rent my own place. I have to stay with my idiot brother. No offense.”

“None taken. But seriously, if you’re ashamed of having ta live with us, why don’t ya just ask Glory for help? She’s loaded with cash. She could freaking buy you a home!” Sophie smacks Mark in the back of his head. “Owww! What was that for?!”

“That was for being stupid. If I am ashamed of having to live for free with my brother, imagine the shame I would feel if I asked Glory Braddock to buy me a house? Besides, it would just make the feelings I have for her even more awkward.”

“What do ya mean?”

“You know damn well what I mean.” She snaps. “Her father rescued us, Mark. He took us in when we ran away from the abusive home life of our parents. He taught us the skills necessary to make a life for ourselves as wrestlers. And even before all of that Glory and I were close friends. But after what her father did for me, for us, I grew to value my relationship with Glory even more. I don’t know how she feels about me, but for a long time I viewed her as a sister. Now my feelings towards her have grown even stronger. And I know she doesn’t feel the same.”

“Soph, just…” Before Mark can get any thought out, he and Sophie are interrupted when a fancy black vehicle pulls up next to their home. Neither Sophie or Mark were expecting any visitors. They watch carefully as the car is turned off and then the driver, a man in a fancy suit exits. He approaches the front porch where Sophie and Mark are seated.

“Are you Ms. Sophie O’Brian?”

“None of ya business, creep!” Mark exclaims.

“At ease, dear brother.” Sophie says scoldingly. Mark reluctantly backs off. Sophie then looks at the man and nods her head. “Yes, I am Sophie.”

My name is Langford. I am the Head of the Estate of the late Ms. Quinne Murray.”

Sophie’s blood immediately goes cold. Mark lets out a low growl. These two siblings remember Quinne Murray very well. She was very instrumental in shaping Sophie O’Brian into the woman she is today. Glenn Braddock may have taught Sophie how to be a wrestler but Quinne taught her strategy, tactics, manipulation, mind games, and she also is the one primarily responsible for Sophie becoming a sociopath in the first place. She used and abused Sophie emotionally, mentally, and physically. Sophie would eventually snap and murder Quinne. She was under the assumption that no one ever determined a cause of death and that Sophie was in the clear. The fact that this man, a representative of her estate, has now showed up on their doorstep is a sign that this nightmare is about to come back to haunt her.

“What do you want?” Sophie asks.

“We have recently determined that Ms. Murray’s cause of death was murder and not accidental as previously thought. And as per her wishes in her last will and testament, if she were to be murdered, this letter was to be delivered to you.” He produces a letter and hands it to Sophie. “This is for your eyes only, Ms. O’Brian.” Sophie and Mark watch carefully as Langford turns and walks back to his car. He gets back inside and the car pulls away. As soon as it is out of sight Sophie opens the letter.

“What are ya doin’?!” Mark exclaims. “Throw that shit away! Ya don’t need anythin’ else ta do with Quinne Murray!”

“Quinne is dead.” Sophie states. “You heard the man. She was murdered. Good riddance. But she did put me through hell. At the same time she taught me a great deal. She owes me, Mark. I am going to find out what this is about.”

Sophie unravels the letter and begins reading the last words of Quinne Murray, the woman Sophie had murdered years ago. “If you are reading this then I have met my demise. I wanted this letter to be sent to the murderer and therefore it is being sent to you because I know that no one other than you, Sophie, was capable of ending my life. Congratulations, my former pet. You have learned your last lesson. No longer are you a mongrel, my pet, or a toy. You have endured my punishments and tortures. You may have questioned my motives, you may have questioned why I tortured you so, but these lessons were designed to toughen you and most importantly mold you. You wanted wisdom and I offered it to you in exchange for unconditional obedience but you never once questioned WHY I wanted your obedience. All you cared about was the wisdom I could impart upon you. I indeed taught you everything I knew. I imparted upon you all wisdom but the one remaining secret. The last remaining wisdom I have for you, which comes now from beyond the grave, is this; you alone matched me in skill and intelligence. I knew you alone would be worthy of becoming my heir. This is why I tortured you, this is the reason behind the difficult lessons, this is why I needed your obedience. I wanted to mold you into my heir. By taking my life you have finally proven yourself worthy of taking my place. Contained within this envelope is all of the necessary paperwork for you to seize control of all of my assets. All that I ask is that you take my place and continue my work. Find another young person to train in the same manner I trained you.”

“What the hell is it?!” Mark asks impatiently.

“She named me her sole heir.” Sophie states, as she herself is shocked by this. “I just inherited everything she owned.”

“Are you serious?”

“I would not joke about something like this, dear brother.” Sophie sighs. “Now what to do with this?”

“Y’know what I’d do? Take her up on it. Take her shit. Or at the very least sell it all.”

“You actually WANT me to take advantage of this newfound wealth, even though it was my Mistress’s wealth? Sophie catches herself and shakes her head. “Apologies. Old habits.”

“That’s exactly WHY I support you taking advantage of this. That bitch tortured you, she treated you like a dog, she made you serve her hand and foot. You’re right, Sophie. She OWES you. And a lot of what she has is worth a ton. Sell it, make a damn good profit, and that solves a lot of your financial problems. You could buy a place of your own without me or Glory helpin’ ya.”

Sophie nods her head. Mark is right, as the now sole owner of everything Quinne owned, Sophie could sell it and make a ton of money. This would solve her financial issues. But there is a nagging part of her that says another alternative is there; she could simply move into Murray’s luxurious estate. Despite everything she has been through, and despite knowing how horribly a person Quinne really is, Sophie still feels a tinge of loyalty towards her. She only made one request of Sophie and that was to continue Quinne’s work. Should Sophie take Quinne’s mantle?