.･:*:･･:*:･.
"The lady protests too much, methinks."
(Gertrude, act 3 scene 2)
.･:*:･･:*:･.
****
My blood ran cold as Michael strutted away. What? No.. We didn't make it?! Shit shit, this is my fault! I shouldn't have said anything to him or Ms Venable in that room, now I've fucked up both of our chances!
"Karinya?" A soft voice spoke next to me, instantly melting my worries away for the time being.
"I'm so sorry Mina, I should go after him I-"
"Shh, it's going to be okay.. somehow." Ms Venable cupped my cheeks so I faced her. It surprised me that there were tears forming in her eyes. She would normally keep her cool and figure out a good straightforward answer to problems but she seemed at a loss, standing in silence.
"We can survive though, right?" The last two days had been so full of anxiousness waiting, all because of that stuck up arrogant man, and now he said we didn't make it? He walks in here and acts like he's superior?
"I don't know, we have food supplies but we how long can we do on like this? It's been almost four months and nothing's changed. It's going to be like this forever, having enough food but just waiting for something that will never realistically happen." Deep down I knew everything Ms Venable were saying was right, but I couldn't believe it, i didn't want to believe it.
Michael was our only chance of a life.
"I don't know what to do. He seems to hate me and he's already said no to you." I wanted to burst out crying but I had to hold myself together. We needed to make a plan, any plan.
"We could kill him."
My eyes snapped up to Ms Venable in shock, physically recoiling.
"What? Are you insane?!"
"No.... think about it.. if he was gone, we could take whatever antidote to the radiation he seems to have.. and we could just go together, to the new place." Ms Venable looked deadly serious, and that half scared me. I seriously was NOT going to kill anyone.
"I'm sorry Mina but I can't do that. You're asking me to kill someone, I'm not a murderer."
Ms Venable sighed, rubbing her forehead, "Karinya, what choice do we have? Michael isn't going to take us, and I somehow doubt that he's warming up to anyone else here. I know that it seems crazy, but doesn't it sound like an option? You don't have to do anything, I can take care of it all. Ms Mead would be happy to assist with anything that I need done. Please Karinya, please say yes."
I shook my head, taking a step back away from her, "No, no, this is not okay. You can't just kill someone, no matter how much of a bitch he is. You're acting like it's nothing.. wait, have you.. killed someone before?!"
Ms Venable looked down to her feet, mumbling under her breath. I didn't hear what she said but her expression was enough to know that she had.
"Look, if we don't do something, we're going to be stuck here forever, doing absolutely nothing, having enough to eat and drink but living an empty and hopeless life. Don't you want to see what this 'safe haven' is like? It will be a new beginning, I know you want that."
She was too convincing. The thing about Ms Venable was that if she said the exact right words, she would persuade me to do literally anything.
"I-I.... "My frown grew bigger, not being able to believe what I was about to say, "If something did happen to Michael, and I wasn't involved, I guess I would be murdering him, right? If he just.. passed away without me knowing.."
Ms Venable smiled, taking hold of my hands, "Exactly, it would work, you don't have to be involved in anything sweetheart. All you'd have to do is wait in your room. So, will you?"
My mind was a whirr, I couldn't believe that I was actually going along with this.
".... okay."
*
We were all sat in the main room, everyone looked half dead from the boredom. Michael had walked into our lives, given us hope, then somehow mad us all feel worse than ever. I held onto Ms Venable's hand tightly, closing my eyes briefly, wondering what it would have been like to know her in the real world, before the apocalypse. Would we have even met? Probably not, I'd spent most of my day locked in my apartment and working from home everyday, leaving the building only to buy groceries.
"Hey, sweetheart, look at me." Ms Venable spoke softly, touching my chin, "It's going to be okay, I promise. Tonight, at dinner, we're going to spike his drink and it will take about ten minutes to work, and by then he'll be alone in his room, okay?"
My heart started to beat a hundred times an hour, and panic started to rise in me again, which Ms Venable noticed, "I-I don't know if I can do this Mina, this is wrong.."
"Sweetheart, it's okay. I promise you it's okay."
We finished our hushed discussion when Ms Mead entered the room, informing us that dinner was ready. She glanced at me and Ms Venable, indicating that she'd spiked the drink, and that the plan was running smoothly.
*
"Hm, this smells nice, I have to admit that the food here isn't that bad." Michael tucked into his food, eating quickly, almost in a childlike way. Everyone around the table just watched him with stony expressions, eating their food silently, though Michael didn't seem to care about that.
When Michael was finished, he stood up, not bothering to stay seated for the rest of the meal like a normal polite person would, "Well, goodbye."
I glanced at Ms Venable, sickness washing through me. Michael Langdon would die in only a few minutes.
Once everyone was finished, Ms Venable dismissed everyone, but she stayed seated, as did I. Soon it was just me, her, and Ms Mead.
"It's done, it'll be over soon." Ms Mead informed us before leaving.
"Sweetheart, come here." Ms Venable stretched out her arms, so I slowly got up and sat tentatively on her lap, burying my head into her shoulder.
"He's.. he's.." I couldn't bring myself to say it. All I could think about was what I'd just let happen.
"Karinya, it's okay, we'll check on him in ten minutes, and it will all be done, I promise." She smiled a little, rubbing my arm soothingly, but that wasn't quite enough to soothe my nerves.
Fifteen minutes later, Ms Mead returned. I'd spent the whole time in the comfort of Ms Venable's embrace.
"I'm going to check on him, would you like to join me?"
Ms Venable nodded at Ms Mead, standing up, guiding me to my feet, "Do you want to come sweetheart?"
I hesitated, holding onto her hand like a lost lamb, then nodded slowly, hating myself for it. Soon the three of us were walking down the corridor, stopping outside Michael's door.
"Mr Langdon? May we come in?" Ms Mead knocked on the door, pressing an ear against the door. The was no reply, so the two women smiled briefly, knowing that he was probably dead. Ms Mead opened the door, swinging it wide to reveal the room.
But it wasn't how it was meant to be. Michael should have been a crumpled heap, or slumped on his chair, but no. He wasn't there.
"What? Where i-" Ms Venable started to speak, but was cut off when a deep voice sounded behind us.
"You thought you could poison me?"
We spun around in horror when the tall man stood there, a cold smirk spread across his face.
"I-I.." Ms Mead tried to find the words but failed. Michael knew, and somehow he'd survived or managed not to digest the poison.
"Surprised?" He chuckled, taking a few steps forward, inevitably making us take a few backwards into his room, "You should know, I am of greater importance and worth than a simple human. My father, Lucifer, we are far greater than pathetic women like you three, and nothing can stand in my way. I have to admit that it was a somewhat interest plan, poisoning me, but it didn't work, and it never was going to work."
Terror and worry filled my stomach, and I automatically reached out for Ms Venable's hand, which she gave me gladly, squeezing mine, letting me know that it would be okay, though I didn't believe that right now. Lucifer? What the fuck is he on about? But that part of his speech wasn't at the top of my list of things to worry about.
"It was your intention to let a man die tonight, but on this turn of events, you should know that it will in fact be three women dying tonight." Michael laughed cruelly, flexing his fingers in obvious delight, making me almost cry in terror. I was going to die. I really was going to die.
But just as Ms Venable looked as if she was going to strike Michael with her cane, a deafening bang sounded, almost like the main entrance to the outpost had been blown open. We all jumped in surprise, even Michael. All of us simultaneously walked forward, looking over the balcony down below to the ground level.
There, standing and looking up at us four, was three women, women I'd never seen in my life. Two blonde women and one striking ginger woman. The obvious leader of the three called out, sounding so incredibly powerful.
"Hello Michael."
****
Hola, I'm back. Yup, properly back from the dead. It's been a billion years, and people have been coming at me, on Instagram mostly, asking me to update, so here I am. Please understand that I'm trying hard to write, but the state of the world right now has completely fucked up my head more than it was before, so concentrating on writing has been near impossible. Thank you for the majority of you who've been patience and so supportive, I appreciate you all so much.
As you can see, the end is nye, and it's going to have our beloved witches in it, of course. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but whatever it is, there will definitely be an epilogue because of the way I'm going to end it. (Is that a hint of what's to come? Who knows).
Have a nice day, all of you, sorry for that huge authors note lmao.
- H
(My name doesn't actually start with a 'H'. I just had to find a way to sign off all of my author notes, and I don't like revealing my name lmao.)