Chapter Twelve
A/N: Second to last chapter, are you ready? I am. Sorry that it's taken me over a year to finish, but hey, I got it done. Last flashback in here; are you guys sad? Don't worry, I'll have the flashback characters in the last chapter too (just not in a flashback!)! Oh! I almost forgot to tell you… I don't own clue. Alright, enjoy!
One second we had been in the attic, and the next we were out on the wet rooftop. I must've crawled out here to get away from the menacing gardener, but I don't remember. There was too much adrenaline in my blood.
I could feel the ancient slip of paper against my cold chest, and butterflies seemed to explode in my stomach. I was shaking, but if it was from terror, excitement, or cold I wasn't sure. The man was staring me down as he slowly but surely inched his way farther out towards me.
And then, someone crawled out of the attic.
"Madison!" I heard Peter scream. Both the man and I turned to stare at Peter who was trying to get his footing on the slippery green tiled roof.
"What are you doing boy?" the groundskeeper yelled at him, a slow smile crawling onto his crooked face. Peter finally stood as he gained balance, glaring at the old man that stood between me and the attic.
"I'm trying to save my friend." He stated, pure hatred in his eyes as he glared at the gardener. And then there was a crack of lightning and the groundskeeper was stalking towards Peter.
"Peter," I yelled, my voice sounding strange and faraway, "watch out!" The wind whipped my words and wet hair around my face, making it hard to see.
The old man had reached Peter, and the two were trying to fight without losing their footing. I watched in frozen horror as they fought their way further out onto the roof again. Just when I thought that Peter might win, he took too big a step and stumbled. Falling to his knees, his leg slipped off the roof. He glanced quickly back up at the groundskeeper.
"Careful boy," the man smiled, "watch your step."
And with that, he kicked Peter in the side. Peter made a painful sound somewhere between a cry and a grunt as his hands scrabbled over the tiles, struggling to keep their grip as he tried to find his breath. And then, his body neatly fell over to the side and he tumbled down the roof, and over the edge.
I was breathing heavily as I stared at him disappearing, trying to comprehend what was happening. But as he fell past the edge, my gaze snapped away. I didn't want to see my friend die, not like this. I closed my eyes, letting my tears spill over onto my face.
And then the gardener's cruel chuckle brought me back to reality. I opened my eyes to find the groundskeeper staring at me.
"You kids need to learn how to be more careful. Didn't your mother ever tell you how easily a life is lost?"
I stared forward hollowly as he walked towards me.
The not-quite-as-young lady slowly walked up the marble steps that led to the worn-out front door. She stared straight ahead, her thoughts on what had happened the last time she was here. Without its owner, the mansion had long since seen better days.
Opening the door slowly, she timidly walked inside to find the others already waiting. There was a much older woman whose once-red hair had now faded to gray, a still-muscular but definitely quite older big game hunter, a still-young looking man who had the sense of greed forever stained in his dark eyes, a woman whose startlingly white hair was pinned up inside a gray pillbox hat, and finally a more matured and slightly taller boy whose unkempt hair and thick spectacles still made a rare smile light up the girl's solemn face.
She joined the group silently. Indeed, the meeting had the feel of a funeral rather than the cheerful occasion it was meant to be. The woman stole a few glances at the man named Plum and happily realized that there was no wedding ring around his fingers. Indeed, it thrilled her because her last name was still Scarlet and it was not too late to be married to a man at her age.
"Well, I wonder where on earth our host could be." Peacock said, her voice much more weary than it had once been.
"If she doesn't show in the next ten minutes I'm leaving." Mr. Green stated bluntly, even his voice cold. Scarlet shivered, pulling her woolen shawl closer around her shoulders as she stole a glance outside a window. The sky was grey and the trees were bare. The mansion itself seemed to be dead along with its owner.
Plum slunk next to Scarlet inconspicuously. Glancing down at the tired woman he had once loved, he cautiously cleared his throat.
"So, how is your life?" he asked her quietly. She glanced up at him, a warmth hidden behind her eyes, "Oh, it's been quite dreary. My brother has gotten married and has himself a baby boy already, but it's been quite dreary for me." She quickly explained, a leap of hope in her heart.
"So… you never married?" the man asked her.
"No; I just haven't found who I'm looking for yet, I suppose." She sighed.
"Well you better find him soon before you grow much older," Mrs. Peacock muttered, "Goodness knows that men only marry beautiful young girls nowadays."
All at once there was a slam behind the group and they all turned to see a rather plain woman with short brown hair dressed in a gray cardigan and a rather ugly green frock locking the front door. She turned to them, pasting on a very small smile. In fact, it was more of a very tight line on her face than a smile.
"Mrs. Grayson?" Mr. Green ventured, reaching his hand out to shake.
"No, I'm afraid my husband left me some time ago. I go by Boddy again." She corrected him, certain darkness behind her calm face. "If you'll all follow me into the living room, I'll show you the will. Took me forever to find it." She muttered, leading the hesitant group behind her.
Plum knew something was wrong as they entered the large open room. In the middle of it some of the hardwood floor had been pried away, creating an opening to a large hole. Next to the hole was a pile of boards that used to be in the floor and a large black box.
"Ms. Boddy… what's going on?" he turned to the woman. She stared at him.
"Really Peter, I would've thought that you had it all figured out by now." She smiled coldy at him. "Since they declared the case unsolved, finding none of you responsible for my brother's murder, I've been trying to figure it out. I know it was one of you." She told the group, fixing them with a stare.
"Um, Ms. Boddy? The will…" Mr. Green persisted. She turned sharply to the impatient man.
"Mr. Green, I think I'll start with you," she smiled.
"Start?" he asked as she bent over the black box. She brought out a heavy lead pipe, testing its weight with her hands. Mr. Green's eyes widened at the sight of the weapon.
"This… was your weapon. And so it shall be your death." She said. Mr. Green tried to back up, tried to escape, but it was already too late. She threw the pipe at his head, and it connected with his skull in a dull crack that stopped him dead in his tracks.
Scarlet stared at the cruel man's eyes, which seemed not as dark as before. Already blood was flowing down from his hairline.
And then he collapsed onto the floor, dead.
Everyone stared down at the body in silence for a moment, their minds not quite comprehending what had just happened. And then a gasp was heard and Peacock fell to her knees as the rope tightened around her neck.
"No, stop!" Mustard cried out, rushing towards the woman who was killing the older lady. A shot rang out, and he yelled as he clutched his arm in pain. Peacock's eyes dulled as she fell to the ground, her breathe barely there.
And then there were other screams and other awful sounds, but Scarlet could see nothing but Mr. Green, dead at her feet. And then there was a pain in her chest and she looked up to see Ms. Boddy standing there, her eyes far darker than Mr. Green's ever were; revenge is far stronger than greed.
She was holding the dagger to Scarlet's heart, ready to plunge it into her chest at any moment. Scarlet just laughed at the woman, a desperate, humorless laugh.
"Go ahead, kill me! I've been dead for years already." She said quietly. And then the dagger broke through her tender pale skin, staining her dress with her own scarlet red blood. As she fell, she saw Plum on the floor beside her, his head bleeding and his eyes staring far-off. The sight terrified her so much that she became cold with fright.
"Peter," Scarlet cried, except she was already so weak that it sounded nothing more than an inaudible whisper.
"Evelyne…" he exhaled, his last breath. Weakly his hand snaked towards her, and he laid it on her own blood-stained hand. The tears fell off her face as she stared at the dead man who had once loved her.
But the heartbreak only lasted a moment.
Slowly, the pain grew fuzzy along with her vision. As her eyes continued to stare at the lifeless eyes that were staring back at her, she died.
Ms. Boddy was surrounded by six bodies and various puddles of blood. She panted, staring around at what she had done, before gathering the weapons up and methodically cleaning them off. She placed each one back into its original box, closed the lid, and laid to rest the last of her brother's enemies.
I felt so cold, and yet there was nothing to do about it as I watched the gardener stalk towards me. All I could do was watch as his meaty hands were brought out towards my neck, and still I didn't move. Peter was dead; that's all I could think about.
"Madison… I've been waiting for you…" the gardener breathed into my ear as he closed his hands around my throat. I swallowed a gulp of air as I battled the tears hidden behind my eyes. "All night I've imagined killing you; unfortunately that boy there stood in my way. Seems that he cared a mite too much for you for his own good though," he chuckled roughly, "You want to know what he told me?" At this he leaned in closer, "He told me that he loved you…"
I caught my breath as his hands tightened.
"Peter… loved… me…?" I choked out of my strangled throat.
I wasn't exactly sure what happened after that, but suddenly the gardener lost his balance and took a shaky step back as my hands pushed him away, and as he did he grabbed a corner of my jacket. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as his foot slipped and he tumbled backwards, bringing me with him. I tried to open my mouth and scream, but nothing would come out. Somehow as we were sliding down towards the edge of the roof, my hand caught a sturdy tile and it held me in place as the groundskeeper lost his grip.
I stared down at him as he fell, his arms thrashing around in the heavy rain. Then he hit the ground and I glanced away, wincing. My hand started to slip off of the slippery tile and I had to use what strength I had left to pull myself back up to the rooftop.
Collapsing into a sitting position, I started to laugh. I closed my eyes and lay down at the foot of one of the gargoyles on the roof, letting the rain soak me to the bone. My breathing was heavy, but there was a smile on my face. I felt an immediate release as the nightmare seemed to go away instantly.
Peter.
All at once the thought struck me and I sat up as if I had been struck by lightning. I crawled as close as I dared to the edge of the roof, glancing down. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for, but I found it.
There was a grunt and then his hand was clawing at the tiles of the roof. I couldn't breathe as I stared at his hand, surely thinking that I was imagining it. And then his head struggled above the edge of the tiles and his eyes found mine.
"Hey Madison," he groaned, "How about giving me a hand?"
I just stared at him for a moment, not sure if I wanted to laugh or cry. I started to do both.
"Peter," I cried as I moved towards him, grabbing his other arm, "I-I thought that you were…"
"Dead?" he moaned as I pulled him up next to me, "Yeah, me too. Luckily though, Mr. Boddy sprung for nice gutters."
I laughed out loud, leaning weakly against him as the night finally caught up to me. In the distance I could make out the faint whine of police sirens as they made their way to us. Peter's warm arm wrapped itself around my tired shoulders and I smiled as I glanced up at him. The rain had matted his hair against his head and a few drops were caught in his eyelashes as he stared down at me.
And then we kissed.
It happened so suddenly that I didn't even realize it was happening until it was over. I blinked quickly as Peter moved his face away from mine. We stared at each other for a moment until a smile twitched onto my face. That was permission enough for him to kiss me again, slower this time.
Peter Plum loves me, he loves me.
The thought made me smile through our wet kiss.
A/N: Aww… how sweet! Was that enough fluff to lighten the mood? Review and I'll let you have the last chapter!
