“…whurr?”

“Ah, good - you’re awake. No, don’t try to move; the drug usually takes longer to release the limbs. As a side note, that you can speak at all means you aren’t permanently paralyzed. There was a 10% chance of that, you know - or maybe you didn’t. You weren’t a chemistry major, after all, Catherine.

“Your eyes widen in surprise; yes, I know you. It seemed entirely too coincidental for you to die, just when you were about to be mine once and for all, but ten years later and - well, here we are. I won’t say it’s been smooth sailing; anything but, really. There’s been quite a few bumps in the road, false leads and misdirections… but it’s all worth it to finally have you here with me. All mine at last. I- oh, are you trying to speak? Yes, the cotton mouth is a customary side effect, no need to be alarmed. Here, have some water - it should help.”

“…nnnoooot… heeeeeeeeeeerr…”

“Oh, no need to be ridiculous! Of course you’re not that same, callow college girl; ten years does so much to change us all! I’m sure nowadays you’d never do something so dramatic as faking your death. And I, well, I blush to think of just how crushed I was - they wouldn’t even let me attend the funeral, you know. That - cretin - who called himself your boyfriend, oh, he had your family fooled. I never really understood what you saw in him, all those muscles on top of muscles - and more in his brains! I can see why you felt it necessary to take such drastic measures to get away from him but - couldn’t you have let me know? Couldn’t you have said something, anything, to make your true intentions plain - to code your words as you had so many times before, spurning me in public with dismissals and snubs, encouraging me on all the while? I endured so many beatings with only that glimmer in your eye to reassure me that all your haughtiness, your feigned disgust, all that was but a ruse to keep us safe from those who would tear us down. You a rich girl, and me - well.

“Your love did little to support me when the police arrested me, you know - a ‘person of interest’ in their inquiries. The first I heard of your death, and it was people accusing me of your murder! Quite a shock… and you, two days buried before I was freed. I rushed to your grave like a madman, scaled the graveyard fence in a thunderstorm - I still have scars, from tripping over gravestones, tumbling over forgotten tools. And then at last, there - in the shaking beam of my flashlight - your name! The newly turned earth of your grave, the simple granite lines of your headstone! No marble angel for you, my dear, and I thought that only appropriate - for no angel from heaven sent could be more pure, more holy, more beautiful, then the one corrupting in the earth beneath my feet!

“I raged then, raged against heaven and fate, swore oaths of vengeance against all the gods and spirits - raged while the heavens raged above me, while God swore back in the thousand voices of the storm! And then, when I was spent, I collapsed onto your grave, wishing only to crawl into the earth and nestle beside you - and there I saw it.

“Your name, my dear. They had misspelled your very name.

“…naaaaaame?”

“Yes, of course, I was outraged at first - but then I realized, this wasn’t an error. This was a sign. More importantly, this was a clue. How many times you had said you’d rather be dead than stuck at that school, with those people! How often you had wished you could just disappear than have to deal with another mindless exam, or boring term paper! And there, pelted by rain and hail, I saw the entirety of your plan laid out before me - as though written in words of fire - how you had concealed the truth from your controlling family, from that abusive lump of muscle who shared your bed - but not from me!

“No, never from me. I swore then that I would follow you, and I have - for ten years, across three continents, back and forth and back again - followed you through false leads, false hopes, sometimes despairing but never failing - followed you until now, at last, Catherine, we’re together again!”

“My… my name’s… Michelle…”

“Oh, the years apart nearly drove me mad, my dear - but for love of you, I endured. Love… and hate. Sometimes I hated you, Catherine, hated you for putting me through this - I could feel you, looking back, watching me stumble about like a drunkard in a funhouse, and I could feel your smile. That smile! Just like when you’d look back while your boyfriend humiliated me, tormented me, and you’d smile. That smile… its memory alone can bring me hope. Won’t you smile for me, Catherine? I’ve waited ten years to see it again…”

“I never… went to college…”

“Not even one smile, after all I’ve been through…? Well, I guess this is hardly the reunion you were expecting, that you’d planned. I’m sorry to ruin those plans, but after so long… well, when I saw you, I just couldn’t control myself. It was the end of such a long road, after all… I do apologize for that beard of a husband, of course, but you should have warned him that your time together was only fleeting. That someday, I would come for you. He should have known better than to stand between us.”

“My husband? You killed…? I’m not Catherine! My name is Michelle Riley! I just want to go home-”

“Hush, hush, my dearest. You’ve lived a lie so long that it’s started to seem like truth. Don’t worry, I’ve dealt with this before - I know the cure! The electrodes are already in place, but then, I did see this coming… a little high voltage will break down these delusional walls you’ve built, and then we’ll be together again! Just a little longer…”

*

“It’s been hours. Tens of thousands of volts, and yet she does not remember. She does not even speak anymore… was she right? Have I made a mistake, taken the wrong woman? Possibly… and yet, I know it must be one of them! Perhaps the next one is the correct… oh, good! You’re awake. No, don’t try to move…”

———
Skills prompt:

Write a 500 word story of only dialogue.
Well, I fail at word length limits… but it is a complete story!