Her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping. She looked as defiant and peaceful as the night he'd left her for dead.
Joseph stared at Rita Harper's solidified body. A limbless body. He remembered he had wanted to make Rita suffer for disobeying him after he had ordered her to kill Lainey.
She saved her instead.
So he literally tore her apart and buried her, leaving her to suffer a slow death as her body desiccated from lack of flesh and blood.
He grimaced as he reflected on his actions.
It was something only a monster would do.
He knelt down beside Rita and ran a finger through her strawberry blonde hair.
"I'm so sorry," he sobbed as he leaned over her. "You didn't deserve this. Your life was cut short because . . . because you met a monster. A monster and a coward and . . . and someone who's trying to do better. Who's going to do better."
He caressed her face. It could have been stone. Some dead walkers believe that one isn't truly dead until they are "one with the earth". That solidification is just a dormant state for the undead.
That they are still alive.
While there is no proof to confirm that dead walkers are still alive after desiccation and eventually solidification, there is no proof that they are indeed dead. And Joseph did not intend to let Rita suffer any longer than she already had.
He pulled out his silver pocketknife.
"I don't know if you're still in there," he said quietly, placing the knife tip on her forehead, "but if you are, your suffering ends today. Right now."
He dug the knife into her skull and sure enough, several seconds later, Rita's solidified body disintegrated into a pile of ash.
"Tell Nicole I'm sorry."
* * *
"This had better be important," Vivienne said, finally joining the group back at their spot on the wall. "Sam was about to tell me what 'aleumdabda' means. Apparently my skin is 'aleumdabda'." She smirked as she tossed Nox a quick glance. "I bet it means 'perfect'. Some people appreciate perfection."
Nox playfully scoffed at her.
"It is important," Fawn whispered. "Very important. There's a dead walker headed here as we speak."
The group became silent.
"Well . . . good thing we're here, right?" Vivienne said after the long silence. "In fact, it's the reason we're here in the first place."
"Everyone, look at me," Fawn said to the witches. They all gave her their full attention. "Addo Parere!"
The witches all stared at Fawn as if in a trance.
"I want you all to get out of here. Go home. Now."
Without a word, the group of witches turned and walked away.
"Fawn, what are you doing?" Lainey asked.
Fawn turned to Lainey, tears in her golden eyes.
"I'm saving them," she squeaked.
"What are you talking about?"
"Just trust me," Fawn said, wiping her eyes. "Now it's your turn. You have to get out of here."
"Are you kidding?"
"No, I'm not."
"I'm not leaving you here alone!"
"I have stay behind to take care of the dead walker on the way."
"I'm staying with you."
"Lainey!"
"Fawn!"
"Don't make me use my magic against you."
"That's the only way you'll get me to leave," Lainey said defiantly.
They shared a stare down. Fawn shook her head as her eyes returned to their normal color.
"You're so stubborn," she whispered.
"You're one to talk," Lainey replied.
The girls were caught off guard by the sudden applause from the partygoers. That was when Lainey noticed Vera making her way through to the center.
Vera stood proudly at the center of the crowd, soaking in every bit of praise.
God, it's just your birthday. Everybody has one.
You'd think she'd win the Nobel Peace Prize.
The music stopped as someone from the crowd handed her a mic.
"Thank you all for coming; you guys rock!" she shouted and was met with more applause. "Welcome to Vera Barnes' Annual Birthday Bash. Yes, we do this every year. So if this is your first time here, welcome to the cool kids' club. You're now officially one of us." She turned her attention to a kid in the crowd Lainey recognized from school. "You've come a long way, Stephan," she said, singling him out. "Glad to see you've kept the weight off long enough to be here."
The crowd erupted in laughter as Stephan's face was drained of color.
Vera turned her attention to someone else in the crowd.
"Good to see you, Sam! You look so much better without the acne. Maybe now you can hookup with a girl like me." She giggled. "Who am I kidding? One can dream, though, right?"
Her eyes finally landed on Lainey, causing her gut to somersault.
"And here we have Lainey Sullivan," she said, slowly moving toward her. "I'm happy you could make it," she said when they were face-to-face. She turned to the crowd. "I invited her. I was the mature one who decided to bury the hatchet between us. You see, Lainey hated me after her ex boyfriend decided to upgrade and date me--"
"What are you doing?" Lainey whispered as the crowd booed.
"I thought it was childish and mean," Vera continued, ignoring Lainey, "but, being the forgiving, kind and beautiful person that I am, I decided to forgive her. And Lainey being here shows that she's finally grown up. Everybody give Lainey a much deserved round of applause!"
The crowd whistled and roared.
"Vera, please stop," Lainey whispered.
Vera snuck in a quick grin before turning and walking away.
And falling face first to the floor.
Her groupies rushed to her side and helped her to her feet.
"Damn it!" she shrieked, staring at the broken shoe heels at her feet. "These are twelve-hundred dollar shoes!"
Lainey quickly glanced at Fawn, who met her with a small smile.
"Vera, you okay, babe?"
Eric rushed to her side.
"I'm fine," she whined. "Where the hell where you mid-fall?"
"Babe . . . I--"
"It doesn't matter. Make yourself useful and go get me a drink."
He obeyed her without a word. Lainey found it amusing and sad that she had already trained Eric to be her lapdog.
Vera grabbed the mic from the floor.
"Well that was embarrassing," she laughed. "I know where I'm never shopping again."
Laughter.
"Well I'm going to go change into a more comfortable pair of shoes. You can never be too prepared, especially when you have as many shoe emergencies as I do. I do hope everyone has a blast! We have the finest catering in all of Oregon at the tables in the back with everything from chicken, beef and seafood and various desserts. At the opposite tables we have the finest drinks--no alcohol, of course! Not all of us are twenty-one yet." Vera nervously laughed along with the crowd. "Okay, DJ, turn the music up--it's time to get this party started!"
Thunderous roars erupted from the crowd.
"You know," Fawn whispered, "Vera Barnes may be popular and have a lot of fans . . . but there's one person here that she's actually a fan of. Although she'd never let that show."
Lainey narrowed her eyes at her but Fawn just winked and walked away.
"I'm going to go visit the food tables," she shouted as she departed.
"I bet you enjoyed that."
Lainey turned to see Vera frowning at her.
"It was a pretty impressive face plant, yes," she casually replied.
She took off what was left of her shoes and approached Lainey, barefoot.
"I was going to throw these away," she said, holding up the heelless shoes. "But I figure the least I could do is try to donate them to someone who could at most appreciate me being the former owner."
Lainey sighed.
"Your boyfriend tried getting back with me not too long ago. I thought you should know."
Vera stared at Lainey in blunt disbelief, smiling even. She handed her shoes to one of her groupies.
"Lainey, Lainey, Lainey. I totally understand you've been through a lot in recent days. It's your fault one of your friends is dead. Your ex broke up with you to be with me. And your jealousy is the result of your blind hatred towards me. It really must suck to be you right now. That said, I can't tolerate a liar, no matter what they're going through. There's no way Eric would go from me to you."
Lainey shook her head.
"You know, Vera, I'll be the first to admit that you're the most popular girl in school. You're charismatic. You're funny when you want to be. And you're beautiful. But there's an ugliness buried deep within yourself that overshadows your outer beauty. An ugliness that wants to be seen and heard. That ugliness is the reason you have to buy yourself a pity party." Lainey nodded towards Vera's groupies. "It's the reason you have to buy all of this. Otherwise nobody would stand to be around you. And you know it." Lainey noticed Vera's eyes growing glossy. She lightened her tone. "You need to discover where that ugliness originates. Who knows . . . maybe you and I could actually be friends . . . because I know you'd love that."
Lainey turned to walk away, smiling at how awesome she knew she sounded.
When Lainey found Fawn at the food tables, she was holding her neck, retching. She ran to her side.
"Fawn, are you okay?"
Fawn tried to talk but was interrupted by severe coughing. Everyone at the food tables were staring.
"So you all were just watching her choke?" Lainey yelled. "Not one of you decided to help?"
"N-Not . . . ch-choking," Fawn whimpered. "Burns. Throat . . . burns."
"What did you eat?" Lainey asked.
"The . . . the beef."
Lainey turned to the group of people standing around the food table.
"What's in the beef?"
"Well it's called rosemary roast beef," said one girl," so there's rosemary. There's also garlic, mushrooms --"
"That's it," Fawn croaked. "I'm . . . allergic to mushrooms. I'll be fine. Just need some water."
Lainey ran to the tables opposite the food tables.
"Where's the water?" she asked the partygoers surrounding the table.
A few of them looked at her before turning away and laughing.
"Sweetie, this isn't a baby shower," said one girl.
"Screw all of you," Lainey seethed before running back to Fawn's side.
"Apparently there aren't any drinks here without alcohol in it. . . . I didn't know you were allergic to mushrooms."
Fawn heaved a few times before responding.
"I'm not. It's the rosemary."
Lainey raised an eyebrow.
"You're allergic to rosemary?"
"Sort of." Fawn coughed some more. "Rosemary is a witch's natural weakness."
"Oh my God. So what now?"
"I don't know," Fawn breathed. "But this is bad. My magic isn't working."
As Fawn spoke those words, the doors to the rec center busted open.
And in the doorway stood none other than Jason "Retro" Morgan.
The party seemed to have frozen. Even the music stopped. All eyes were on Retro and his blood-stained T-shirt. His paler skin. His milky white eyes.
"Oh no, no, no!" Fawn whispered. "No, no! He-he can't be!"
"Fawn, please tell me he isn't--"
"He is." Fawn swore. That could have been Lainey's first time hearing Fawn use such a word. "Lainey, I really messed up. Messed up bad." She pulled a golden dagger from her back pocket. "I can't do magic--I can barely move. I found this dagger in Mama's room. Hold onto it if things get bad."
"Fawn, I . . ."
"Retro?" said Vera, approaching him.
He responded with a grunt.
"You look . . . ew. What the hell happened to you? "
He grinned.
"The best thing that could happen to me. To anyone."
"Where's Lionel and Rodney?"
He shrugged. Then shook his head.
"I . . . I . . ." He trailed off as he scanned the crowd. Every eye on him. "I ate 'em."
A mixture of gasping and laughter escaped the crowd.
"You . . . what?" Vera said.
"I ATE 'EM!" he bellowed. He pulled on his T-shirt. "See the blood? It's theirs." He pointed to a thick stream of blood that ran down from this collar. "This is Rod's blood. It spurted from his neck when I bit into his artery. His screaming was . . . so loud. But it didn't make me stop. It only made me want to cause him more pain. To tear deeper into his neck until . . . until his head fell to the floor."
The laughter and gasps turned to cries of shock and horror.
Retro slowly began to approach Vera.
"The blood here," he said, pointing toward his chin, "it's Lionel's blood. I went straight for his intestines with my teeth. Oh, the squirming he did as I tore through his stomach--"
"Stop it!" Vera screamed. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"
Retro responded by licking his lips. He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.
"You're looking good tonight . . ."
"Let go of me!"
"Dude, what the hell?" said Eric, approaching Retro from out of the crowd. "That's my girlfriend!"
"Oh my God," Lainey gasped.
Retro turned to Eric, releasing Vera.
"You've got heart to step to me, dude."
It happened in one swift motion. A short whimper from Eric as his body jerked. The horrified screaming from the crowd.
And Jason Morgan, standing in the center of the crowd with Eric's bloody heart in his hand.
---
To be continued in Chapter 74...