Part 130: Chris Hyde

All of it?
Will you let me tell you about my foolishness in loving an evil man?

Music: Razzle Dazzle


This is off to a GREAT start.

I know there's different standards in 1980, but still.



I knew from the start that he was a bad person. He brought a different woman with him each time and used to keep dubious company. Despite all this, I feel for him. But, as soon as we began to live together, something became very apparent to me. I knew that I'd need to get used to dealing with the times I loved him...and times I detested him.



The strangest thing was, the more I became accustomed to the jealousy I felt, the more my desire toward him grew. It was a very strange position to be in. When he started dipping his feet into the world of crime, I began thinking that I needed to know everything he was involved in. So, yes, before you say it, by keeping his wrongdoings secret, I became an accomplice. The feelings of guilt that arose from all the crimes was what chained us together.



He became more and more distant from me as his feelings faded. Until, finally, I could see there was no hope for a future together.

Not like he was that faithful to begin with...

Music: Shadow Lost in the Darkness


Despite having full knowledge of their intimacy, there was no fuss made. I was perfectly content to just sit back and watch, now that my feelings had subsided.

Doesn't seem like Michael had any idea about this, though.



as he told me that I was going to have to keep one more secret, I finally started to realise that I'd made a grave mistake. I was partly responsible for the man he'd become. It came to me in a flash. I was the only person who'd be able to put an end to his misdeeds once and for all.

There's never been a more appropriate time to use the emoticon

And so, on that day, I... I planned to shoot him using his own gun. But as it turned out, I wasn't to become a murderer that night after all. Somebody else had crept in, pointed a gun and shot George instead.



Music: Deep Distrust




I woke up after being out cold. The first thing I noticed was that the gun that shot George was grasped in my right hand, with the now lifeless body of my husband laid out before me. He had died with the most atrocious look of pain across his face. One thing went through my mind as I stared at his dead eyes: "Enough." He had gotten nothing short of what he deserved for the crimes he committed. I made one promise to his agonised face then...



But why?

I intended to take those secrets with me into the next life, but...

Music: Razzle Dazzle


I drifted aimlessly in the darkness, tossed endlessly by the waves. You know what happened after that. I was arrested and held on suspicion of murder.



Despite my predicament, I remained silent and told the police and lawyers nothing. Do you know why I chose not to reveal the truth, Mr Hyde? Well I'll tell you...



That makes your decision to keep the secret even more confusing

I felt it was only fitting. After all, I was fully intent on extinguishing George's life myself that night. But it seems that greater powers than my own were at work then. Somehow, the court found me innocent of the crime, and the money I inherited from George enabled me to buy the hotel.

Not surprising when your lawyer is

It's also possible that this lawyer is Jeff's father, I guess. He did work for Nile, after all.

Part of the reason I snapped this place up was to maintain secrecy, but I also felt that if I lived here, the lighthouse would be my guide and help me traverse the waves and survive the darkness. Looking back, maybe I was just clinging on to my foolish ideals. But the fact remains, I failed in my attempt to keep what he did secret. And that brings us right back to here and now, where I'm telling you everything.

New Music: Sunset Men (Last Window)


I expect you're overwhelmed with anger at this foolish woman's confession, am I right?
I really wish I hadn't needed to tell anybody what I've told you.
You're kidding, right?
I beg your pardon?
Surely you've been wanting to offload this entire thing onto somebody for years.
I mean, keeping all this pent up for so long and all. You must've been dying to tell anybody who'd listen.
Mr Hyde...
I... I... I admit it, you're right.
I've been languishing in my guilt for what seems like an eternity. I just couldn't see it through to the end...
I know I made the decision by myself, but... I just wanted to put my love for another ahead of my own feelings.
I never thought doing so could lead to this much turmoil.
...
It's true. I've been feeling like this for quite some time now. I desperately wanted someone I could sit down and talk to.
Uhh...





As I stare at Mags crying her eyes out, I think to myself... There msut be so many people around the world forced to keep burdens on their own. And one thing's for sure: I'm one of them. Knowing the truth behind my dad's death and uncovering the hidden deeds behind it... It still doesn't go far to erase the unbearable things I have going round my mind. I understand the pain she's feeling, I really do. Now she's in front of me in tears, after telling me everything, after spending all that time keeping an unbearable truth to herself. The more she cries, the easier the burden will become, though it'll never truly disappear. I suppose the least I can do is wait quietly here until she's done crying.





If you stay there much longer, you're gonna catch your death. Here, I'll help you up.
Thank you, but I'm fine, Mr Hyde. I can stand on my own.
I have never needed anybody's help, and I have no intention of changing that now.



Her eyes are now fixed on the light bursting forth from the lighthouse. We just stand and stare.



Soon we'll be leaving this lighthouse behind forever. I wonder if I'll be okay without it to guide me through the darkness...

Mags continues to mutter things to herself. I'm unable to respond. I just continue staring up at the lilghthouse without saying a word.










I don't feel like dragging myself back to my room. I decide to take one last trip to the fourth floor.

Music: Mulling It Over


I brush aside the dust that's covering the window and peer outside.



It's the cold, damp view I'm so accustomed to seeing: the picturesque city at night. I never thought I'd see the last view my dad ever laid eyes on. But of course, what my dad saw must have been slightly different...



I'm now the age he was then, standing in the same room and looking out the same window. What did he see when he stared out through it? What was he expecting to see? I may have uncovered what happened then, but I'll never know what he was thinking. There is one thing I know for certain though...



A choice which was made with me and Mom in mind. I close the curtains and let the memory of my dad rest at last.