Samantha Blacklock
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But I Swear You're Really Pretty, Part 7
🕑 Added 2025-04-22 12:10:10 +0000 UTCContent/Trigger warning: Depression, Suicidal Ideation
This chapter entirely focuses on Elizabeth and Valerie and how they met, so Lynn is not in it. Honestly, this chapter may be far from what (I think) you expect from this story, but it's part of the universe and part of Lizzy, and Lizzy is important to Lynn. x) I hope you like it.
Special thanks to Connie for helping me verify everything was right in English (I wrote it in Spanish first) and giving me some suggestions to improve the text ^^
Worse than death
Elizabeth was lying down in a hospital bed, her head covered by a scarf to hide the lack of hair. She had dark circles under her eyes, her skin was pale, and her gaze was empty.
The room had three beds, and the one beside her was yet to be made. Fresh sheets on top indicated that a patient had recently left, and the furthest one was simply empty.
Elizabeth was using a laptop. The screen showed a conversation.
'Come on, let me see you. You've seen me.'
Oh, yeah, Elizabeth thought. The nasty, unsolicited photos. You sicko. Let's see if you like it when your mother knows about the things you do.
'Fine, but please… Don't share them. I trust you, okay?' She wrote and attached a link.
"Dudes like you are so easy," she said in a low voice. "Just open this, and I'll get access to your camera, list of contacts, everything. Everyone will know the kind of man you are."
On the other side was a man in his thirties with short blonde hair, dressed in brown pants, a white shirt, and a necktie. He was ready to download photos from a girl named Laura on his smartphone. "Another one for my collection," he said confidently.
After downloading the file in the link, he tried to open it, but as soon as he did, the screen of a PC to his right turned red and shut down after a few seconds.
"Wha— The fuck?!" he exclaimed. "Come on, turn on, you piece of shit!"
He pressed the power button several times, but it didn't work. Then, out of desperation, he hit the computer's case. He looked at his smartphone and realized he had lost connection and was locked out. He threw it to the floor, completely enraged. "That bitch! She tricked me! Fucking—"
A different mobile phone rang. It was an old model; its only purpose was to make and receive calls. The man looked at the screen. 'Not your mom' was the caller ID. He gulped.
As soon as he answered, a distorted voice questioned him. "What do you know about an intrusion attempt in your network moments ago?"
"N— Nothing, sir, I was—"
"An agent is on their way to your location," the voice interrupted. "Wait for them with the terminal for it to be analyzed."
The call ended. The man stood aghast, and after a moment, he ran his hands over his face.
"Fuck."
'Hello?' Elizabeth asked in the chat. 'Are you still there? Helloooo.' Messages didn't reach their target, as only the 'sent' mark appeared, not the 'received' or 'read' mark.
She sighed. "Well, I guess he realized what I tried to do, or his antivirus detected it, or… It just didn't work." Elizabeth closed her laptop and put it aside before looking through the window. "When am I gonna leave?"
—
Valerie was sitting at the table of an expensive-looking restaurant, drinking a cup of coffee. She wore a black short skirt, a long black coat, dark pantyhose, and thigh-high boots. The only thing of a different color was her white shirt, unbuttoned to expose a bit of her cleavage.
A young woman with a menacing look approached her. She had short, pale purple hair and wore skinny black pants and a dark purple jacket. Once she arrived, she sat across the table.
"So? What do you have?" Valerie asked.
"The loser in charge of that terminal was using his personal smartphone to chat with the person who sent him the malware, and it tried to map the network. That pig thought he'd get a pretty girl's photos. Nothing indicates the attack was directed at us; it was just the wrong person in the wrong place."
"Of course." Valerie rolled her eyes. "It took an imbecile within our team for outside software to compromise one of our devices. In any case, I want a complete report of the origin of said malware. And get rid of that idiot, Annie."
"You don't have to worry, boss; we've already dealt with him. We also traced the origin; it came from a nearby hospital. We're already at it."
"A hospital? Who inside a hospital would be sending malware? It's obvious it was redirected."
"We've considered that possibility, but everything seems to point to a patient. A woman named 'Elizabeth Blacklock.'" Annie took her smartphone from her pocket and showed Valerie a photo of Elizabeth wearing a school uniform. "This is a photo from last year; she's been hospitalized for a while now, getting cancer treatment."
Valerie stared at the picture for a moment. "It wasn't her. That idiot could barely use a computer to watch cat videos."
"You know her?"
"I just know. It wasn't her."
"If you say so…"
Annie received a message on her phone, which she read. Valerie took another sip of her coffee.
"Well, it seems our patient is having a really rough patch," Annie said. "Her parents died not so long ago, no one ever goes to visit her… I thought she was popular, but she's rather lonely. Her only companion is that laptop of hers. It has been for the last few months."
"That thing must be infested with viruses. That poor idiot tried to send her nudes to our idiot and ended up sending him malware without even knowing. She's been someone else's victim the whole time, and she doesn't know it."
"I don't know. We've been analyzing the hospital network, and her laptop shows no signs of intervention. If anything, she seems to take her online security seriously. I still think it was her."
"Are you sure she's the one at the hospital? Have you confirmed her identity? She could be a victim of identity theft."
Annie showed another photo on her phone. "Just taken. Tell me if you recognize her."
The photo shows Elizabeth looking at her laptop, again, without an expression.
"Then she's not the target; she's just a—"
"No," Annie interrupted. "It's her, boss, I know your preconceptions. It really took me a lot to show you that I was capable of working with you at first. Just because you think a girl is pretty doesn't mean she's worthless and has her life sorted. Go to therapy, god damn it."
Valerie leaned backward and stared at the ceiling. Then, she looked at Annie again. "Take me with her," she said before finishing her coffee.
Both stood up and left. Once outside the restaurant, Annie lent Valerie a helmet, and they got on Annie's motorcycle.
—
Elizabeth was staring at the empty ceiling. Her laptop was on the side table to her left.
The sound of the opening door could be heard. Elizabeth closed her eyes. Steps came closer and closer to her, but they didn't sound like usual. Once the steps stopped beside her, Elizabeth opened her eyes and was met by Valerie's angry look. Despite the heart monitor betraying her by showing a sudden increase in heart rate, her expression remained calm, as if nothing had happened.
"Oh," Elizabeth said. "So, if you die and you have no one to shed some tears for you, the state provides you with a professional mourner. Glad to know that taxes are put to good use."
"You're not dead. Not yet," Valerie said.
Elizabeth sighed, looking disappointed. "I thought so. It was too good to be true. Well then, miss, I believe you made a wrong turn; patients who have lost their lives are usually taken to the mortuary."
"I believe I am at the right place. You're Elizabeth Blacklock, am I right?"
Elizabeth thought for less than a second before she answered.
"I'm sorry, but I must insist. My name is Anneliese Miller. Elizabeth Blackwood must be in a different room."
"Blacklock. And I think that must be you, given the name on the footboard of your bed."
"That's weird..." Elizabeth faked a perplexed look. "You see, a new nurse arrived today and doesn't know the patients well yet. I'm sure she got the wrong name. I'd better ask when she comes to make sure she doesn't give me someone else's meds. However, there's no Elizabeth Blackmore in here. Before you go looking for her, may I ask why you need her?"
Valerie's eyes turned colder and more serious than before.
"Oh, I just want to see the horrid consequences of her bad karma. I've heard her parents died and that she has no friends to visit her… And she's not that pretty anymore. It looks like she's lost everything she had."
Elizabeth stared at Valerie for three whole seconds, her eyebrows twitching briefly.
"So… did you come to visit her, to kill her, or to make fun of her?"
"I came to ask her what it feels like to lose everything. She had a comfortable life; her parents gave her everything. Good grades at school… I'm sure she had to sleep with a few teachers to get her way, but now… she's dying of cancer completely alone. It's not surprising no one is coming to see her; who would want to be near that shallow witch? Are you sure you haven't heard of her? She sounds a lot like… you."
"Actually, yes," Elizabeth replied with a resentful tone. "I met her the other day. She told me, 'If a bitter bitch comes to talk shit about me without knowing shit about me, tell her to go fuck herself.'"
"Oh, Elizabeth, what did you do?" Valerie asked in a mocking tone.
"What did I do?" Elizabeth was furious, and she yelled. “What did I do?! What could I have done to deserve this?! Go shove your so-called karma up your ass. You have no idea about my life or what I've done or not!"
Valerie remained calm. "What else is there to know? You had it too easy. Some of us struggled and fought to get to where we are now."
"So I deserve to suffer because I am me? Because my parents loved me and I was doing well? Did I steal anything from you? Did I steal this life from you?! Take it then, you asshole, kill me and take it!"
"I didn't come here to kill you."
"Then you just came to make me suffer? More?! Don't you think I've had enough?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Elizabeth's voice started to crack as she lowered her tone. "Just how cruel can you be?! And you come here to tell me about karma?!"
Valerie finally made a pause. She seemed to realize she had crossed the line.
"If you're here for the photos I sent to your boyfriend," Elizabeth continued while she tried not to cry, "there was no photo at all; I was just trying to expose that pervert. Are you aware of what he does online? I'm not after him, but if you're crazy enough to come here and tell me all that, I think you're made for each other."
"He's not my boyfriend. He was my employee, and his ineptitude was a problem for me."
"Well, what the hell do I have to do with the fact he's an idiot?! Am I to blame for the fact that he's a fucking pervert? Is it bad karma in your book if I try to expose him for what he is?!"
Valerie sighed and looked away. She regretted how she had started the conversation.
"Who are you?" Elizabeth asked. "No, I don't care, just kill me, okay? Please, I beg you. I'm tired of all of this; I can't withstand the pain of not knowing if I'll live, especially when I have no idea where I'll go if I do. I have no one, that's true. I'm sick of this."
At that moment, a nurse opened the door abruptly.
"What's going on here? Who— Who are you?" She asked as she saw Valerie.
Valerie replied, "I apologize, I—"
"She's my cousin," Elizabeth interrupted. "She just—sorry, Gina. This is my cousin..." Elizabeth looked at Valerie, hoping she would say her name, without success. "Rachel. Her name is Rachel, and she came to visit. After all this time, she finally did, and... I was angry she didn't come before. That's why I was yelling."
Valerie realized what Elizabeth was trying to do and almost imperceivable nodded at Elizabeth. "I can't express how much I regret not coming to visit you before, Elizabeth, I simply—"
"There, there. It's okay now. I didn't know what you and your husband had been through. Now I know, and I'm just glad I can see you. I'm glad you're here, even if it's just for a moment."
The nurse stared in confusion for a moment.
"I'm sorry I scared you, Gina, but everything's fine now. I'd appreciate it if you could give us some space to continue getting up to date."
"Okay, Liz. I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a visitor, but I'm glad," Gina smiled. "I'll leave you to it then. If you need anything, just call me."
"Of course. Thank you, Gina."
The nurse left the room. Valerie quickly took her smartphone and pressed a single button on the screen. "Change the name in the visitor log book to Rachel," she ordered through the device.
"Will do," a voice replied to her before she hung up.
"Look at all this," Elizabeth said. "You're going through a lot of trouble just for me. I feel important."
"Why did you tell the nurse I was your cousin?"
"Because I don't know who you are or what you're capable of. You're here for me. I didn't want to put her at risk."
"Well done."
"You know? Oh, I'm sure you do. A new nurse indeed arrived today, and now I'm completely sure she's with you. Jeanette, I’m guessing that’s not her real name. That's who you just told to change the name in the visitor log book, right? She spent a lot of time chatting with me, but now that you're here, she's nowhere to be seen. Suspicious, huh?"
"I don't know who you're talking about."
"You do, but I can keep my mouth shut for a bullet."
Valerie stared at her. "Do you seriously want to die?"
"Loneliness is worse than death."
Valerie sighed. "I know your parents dying was out of your control, but what about your friends? How did you end up alone?"
"See, you knew nothing about me. Didn't you say it was bad karma? For me, life's a piece of shit, but what do I know. Does it matter?"
"I want to know what brought you to a point where you want to die. If you want me to kill you, I need to hear your reasons."
"Shortly before my parents left, I lost all of my friends just because I was outed as a lesbian in high school. I always tried to be nice to everyone, but they turned their backs on me, and some tried to make me miserable. I was dumb for thinking people would be good to me just because I was good to them. It's even worse than that; just look at you being cruel to me, and I don't even know you."
Valerie's look reflected some guilt.
"That's how I was left alone," Elizabeth continued, "just for being... 'different.' I scared away the few who didn't leave with my endless sadness. Then I got diagnosed with cancer, and here we are. I don't deserve this. Had I been selfish or a bad person, then I'd think it's karma, that somehow it's my fault. But from where I stand, everything seems unfair. Nothing I do matters. I don't know if I'm paying for crimes I can't remember or the actions of a past life. I don't know what my sin is."
"What will you do once you get out of here?"
"I'll sing like a bird if you don't kill me now. You've led me to believe that—"
"If I were not to kill you," Valerie interrupted, "and if cancer didn't either, what would you do once you get out of here?"
"Why?" Elizabeth asked. "Do you want to invite me to the movies, or do you want to beat me up where no one can see you?"
"I'm just curious," Valerie said.
"The hell do I know? I guess it'd be a waste of my doctors' efforts to jump in front of a train if I got out alive. I want to help someone and die fighting to make this a better world."
"After all the talk about how everyone left you, do you still want to do something for someone?"
"What should I do? Should I try to hurt others? Should I do nothing and watch the world burn? Except for a drunk asshole, nobody is to blame for anything. Even the people who abandoned me were trying to survive, even if that meant throwing me under the bus. This world is unfair, and bad things happen to good people, while the bad people rarely pay for what they did… The idiot who killed my parents never set foot in jail. If I could do something to change that…"
Valerie looked at a glass of water on the side table. She took a small packet out of her pocket, opened it, and poured its contents on the glass. "So… What's a 'better world' for you?"
"It'll never be the world I wish for, but if I could give my life to prevent someone else from suffering, that'd be enough. I'd be at peace. " Elizabeth looked at the glass of water as Valerie mixed it. "What's that? Polonium? Nice. I hope it's fast."
“Polonium-210?” Valerie laughed. I don't think you'd be fond of it; you'd be in extreme pain before death arrives."
"Oh. Then, something quicker, please."
"Didn't you want to fight for a better world?"
"You asked me what I'd do if I were to get out of here alive. But even if you don't prevent me from doing so, I don't know if my illness will let me, so why keep waiting if I may not even be able to do anything in the end? For now, I just want the pain to stop."
"In that case…" Valerie offered the glass to Elizabeth. "This is slow, slower than polonium, but I promise you won't suffer too much."
"As long as it is not slower than cancer…" Elizabeth drank the water at once. "Now, tell me, are you going to take my laptop away from me?"
"There's no need to. I got all I needed. You can keep it, just be discreet about my visit. I don't want to hear any stories of government agents or the men in black coming to silence you, understood?"
"You are a woman in black," Elizabeth pointed out. "But, just so you feel calmer, I'll keep the act up; I was visited by my cousin, Rachel. I was mad at her for leaving me alone all this time, but she explained that her husband has a severe illness and they're going through serious financial problems. Once we had cleared things up, I apologized for my outburst and asked her to revisit me."
"Great. Then I'll come visit soon."
"Of course," Elizabeth said sarcastically.
"No, seriously, I will. I want to see how this ends."
"Well, you just put poison in my water. I don't know what you expect to happen."
Valerie showed Elizabeth the packet. "It was sugar, but you passed the test, Blacklock. You really want to die."
"You asshole. Don't play with people's expectations. You know I will talk, don't you?"
"You won't because if you do, I won't return, and you'll be alone. And I know that's the worst for you."
Elizabeth made a brief pause. "You don't get tired of torturing me, do you?"
Valerie smiled. "I was moved by your will to help others. Had you been the bitch I thought you were, the polonium was on the other pocket."
"Of course it was." She sighed. "You better come back."
"It's a promise. I'll see you soon, Elizabeth Blacklock."
"Wait, before you leave, what's your name?"
"Don't you remember your cousin's name? Yet you seemed so excited to see me…"
Elizabeth pouted and then smiled. "You were always my least favorite cousin, Rachel, but I'm still glad you came. Please, don't forget about me."
—
It had been almost a week since Valerie visited Elizabeth for the first time. Elizabeth was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor or, perhaps, her bare feet. At that moment, someone knocked on the door and opened it.
"Liz, you have a visitor," a different nurse said excitedly.
Valerie appeared at the door.
"Rae!" Elizabeth exclaimed with a smile. "You came to visit me, I'm so happy! Thank you for letting her in, Kate."
The nurse nodded cheerfully and left.
Valerie walked towards Elizabeth. "I only know one person who would be so happy to see me, and I would already have broken his nose."
Elizabeth smiled flirtatiously. "Can I be part of your harem?"
"Stop saying nonsense."
"Fine, fine. Well, make yourself at home. How are you going to insult me today?"
"I didn't come here to insult you, idiot. It's pretty clear that I misjudged you, and I apologize for it. I hope we can leave that behind."
"Meh, don't beat yourself over it. It's not that I care about what you think of me; it's just that I lost it when you said it was karma. I despise that word. I'm angry at life, not you. If only life were actually fair…"
"I feel sorry for everything you've been through. I investigated about the death of your parents and—"
"Hey," Elizabeth interrupted. "I understand everything must be top secret and confidential, but why are you so interested in me? You've come twice, and you don't seem like someone who has nothing better to do than to talk with a dead woman. I don't think this is about my sad attempt at exposing that guy, given that you did nothing about it last time."
"That idiot no longer works for me, but no, it's not about that., Still, just to make sure, did you really write that code?"
“I know you think I slept with teachers for grades, but I know how to do things, you know? I'm not useless or an airhead. I wrote it, yes."
"Well, it was trash."
"Welp, excuse me for trying to learn. It's not like I have a lot of things to do while I'm here."
"You're excused. In any case, what brings me here is that I want to know more about you."
"I thought you had investigated me and everyone who had been one hundred meters around me at any given moment."
"I did. Now I want to know you in person."
"What? Has my charm had an effect on you? Oh, and you haven't seen me with hair."
"Don't be stupid—"
"Wait!" Elizabeth interrupted again. "You have seen me with hair! How many pics of me do you have? My favorite one is—"
"Stop it! What's wrong with you? Why are you acting this way?"
"Because you're here," Elizabeth said in a serious tone. "I'm usually bitter, sad. I look at the piece of sky visible from my window and ask when my time to leave will be, but no one wants to be near someone who says all the time that life is shit."
"Then stop saying it. Everyone has problems; you can't blame them for not wanting to hear yours all the time."
"I try. I can fake a thousand smiles, but… I'm not me at that moment. The person I'm speaking with can't see the real me, so it's the same. I feel lonely."
"What do you want, then? Someone who is there to hear you cry all day?"
"No, I want someone to talk about anything and everything, but who doesn't feel uncomfortable if I let my tears out. Rachel, you know all I've been through. I know I'm unbearable, but I'm really in pain. I try to distract myself, but then I remember things and crumble. I want to cry all day because wherever I look, I feel miserable."
"Listen to me, Blacklock, you're going to recover, get out of here, and find a new reason to live."
"Oh, it's easy for you to say that. What if I don't? What if I do, just to lose it again? Don't do that, don't give me hope."
Valerie thought for a moment. "As a child, what did you want to be?" she asked.
Elizabeth smiled nostalgically. "A musician. I wanted to have a band, play the guitar, and sing. I wanted to get far, but it never lasted long enough. Maybe I just never met the right people."
"Well, you can still do that. Your hands seem to work well, and your voice also seems fine."
"Yeah, I think so." Elizabeth looked down. "What about you? What did you want to be as an adult when you were a child?"
"I'm the one asking questions here."
"If you want to be my friend, you have to play."
"I didn't come here to be your friend."
"Well, fuck you, it's too late now. Besides, I'm not asking about anything confidential; you don't even have to tell me the truth, come up with something, just keep the conversation going."
Valerie rolled her eyes and smiled. "Okay, then… I guess I… I wanted to be a mom. I wanted to have my own family and give my children what I could not have as a child."
"You don't look like a mom," Elizabeth laughed. "Maybe a very strict one, but…"
"Shut up, you asked, I answered. That's what I wanted to be until I found out I could never bear children. From then on, I focused on my job and nothing else."
"Why can't you?"
"Whims of nature."
"I'm really sorry, Rachel. I guess your job is off-limits, right? So, your turn."
"So…" Valerie thought for a few seconds." You wanted to dedicate your life to music, and you have… mediocre coding knowledge. What else can you do?"
"Well, that's more than you expected of me, isn't it? I'm no genius, but I'm not that dumb. I used to study for all my exams and always did my homework. I also like to understand how things work and how people work. Honestly, I have no idea why you thought I exchanged sex for favors. Actually, that's my next question: why did you think that? You appeared out of nowhere, talking as if you knew anything about me, but I haven't seen you in my whole life."
"I came across a few rumors while investigating you. I shouldn't have believed them."
"Well, thanks for taking the time to get to know me. But still... Tell me, Rae, what high school did you attend?"
"Stop right there. You know you can't ask me about that."
"And you're around my age… Two or three years older at most…"
"Blacklock, I told you to stop."
"Okay, Rae, calm down. I didn't mean to make you mad. Let's talk about something else, shall we?"
---
Comments
PyroCringical XD
Liz and Val having a story like this is CRAZY, i can almost picture it in manga form in my head tbh. I like the way you pace the actual scene and how it all unfolds a lot. Already happily waiting on the next chapter!!! 💖🫶🏼
Connie
I'm happy to be of service! You've done a really good job here! ^.^ 💖
