The Horror of Popularity
Chapter 9: Harsh Revelations and Punishment
(1 Mile Away from the Boarding House)
"Damn that bitch to hell," Britney hissed as she continued walking towards the dormitory, "now she'll tell Ian and Trixie that I'm the witch for sure," she muttered, "not that she's lying" she added with a chuckle and kicked at some of the gray pebbles that littered the path.
"Hi Britney!" a female voice cried happily not too far from behind her then went into a fit of giggles.
Britney turned around to see second grader Kimberly Carmichael. She was giggling and skipping on the path in a prance-like circle. The little girl's waist length golden blonde hair were in their usual huge Goldilocks-like curls and only emphasized her innocence which shone in her purple eyes which Britney only saw a quick flash of before little girl Kimberly closed her eyes again and continued skipping happily. She was in an oversized overcoat, wore boots on her feet and her lightly tanned skin shone in the moonlight.
"Dumb kid," Britney muttered and continued walking, "so happy at a time like this," she said, "why just two days ago she was...." she continued but stopped when she remembered something that made little Kimberly seem more than just a little off.
(Flash Back)
(Two Days Ago in the Boarding House Lunch Room)
"I don't feel so good," Kimberly declared, "I think that I'm going to be sick," she said from one table ahead of the one that Britney sat at.
"Everyone's sick," Douglas Jones a third grader who sat across from Britney mumbled, "don't see why she has to make a worldwide declaration of it," he said cuttingly then continued eating.
Suddenly Kimberly started to throw up, her once sun blonde hair now looked dead and dull and the big curls now hung in limp dead strings that barely held onto the little curl(s) that it had left. She looked even more pitiful in the gray uniform made from calico cloth that was dyed gray and everyone of the children had to wear it. She stood up to her feet and held unto the table as everyone at her table hurried away from her, she soon started to throw up even worse. Her knuckles turned an unbelievable ghost white that made her now grayish pale skin look almost healthy. Then she started to throw up blood.
Britney continued to watch in surprised disgust when a guard hurried from his post and picked Kimberly up in his arms and carried her off.
(End Flashback)
"You're eyes are green," Britney said emotionlessly, "at least they were when you were alive," she added.
"How observant of you," a voice still female but very different from Kimberly's voice now uttered, "how very observant," she said in a voice that not only sounded older and colder but cutting and sarcastic as well, "I died at twelve (years) but this body is sufficient," she said and her voice was totally different from the innocent voice of Kimberly which this unknown female imitated with perfection before, "we can't control the bodies taking on our original eye colour," she stated.
"Who are you?" Britney growled, "if you're not alive...."
"We are alive," a male voice said suddenly, "just not in living bodies," he stated as he came closer to the path, "you can practically call us the living dead," he said sarcastically as he came into view not far from the girl who now inhabited Kimberly's body, "recognize someone?" he asked snidely when he saw Britney's eyes widened, "the eyes are now green, but I'm certain that his body isn't that hard for you to remember," he said frankly and stopped to stand right next to the blonde girl.
Britney's lips could only move wordlessly and quiver. It was Tad, or at least it was Tad's body. The person standing beside the strange blonde girl looked like Tad physically, except for the eyes. The eyes that looked at her now were not only bright green, but unlike the blonde girl's regular purple eyes, glowed brightly from time to time but mostly glowed only slightly. Either way he looked absolutely eerie. But that wasn't what was causing her lips to quiver. Her lips quivered because Tad, the one boy that she had feelings for; the one boy she from first grade loved was dead and gone. In his place was a cold boy who looked at her sinisterly while the other girl looked at her with a sarcastic grin.
"Don't tell me that you miss him," the boy in Tad's body teased, "after all," he continued, "you brought upon him the curse that caused him to be buried alive," he said with a evil chuckle which increased to a loud evil laugh when Britney covered her mouth and stepped back but before she released a loud shriek and her eyes filled with tears.
"Don't tell me that you didn't know who we were," another voice spoke up and Britney looked to the side of the path to see more and more children coming slowly towards the path, "and I thought witches were so intuitive," she said.
Britney looked around to now see more than thirty children standing not far from her. Three more children stood beside the first two then the other children followed suit. Soon there were more than four rows of five children behind the first row.
"Forty-Five," Britney said automatically, "they're forty-five of you demonic children here," she accused, "you cursed children who murdered..."
"You're so brainwashed that you believe your own lies," a girl with black hair and pink eyes interrupted scornfully, "you don't remember the incantation that you put on yourself nearly eight hundred years ago, do you?" she asked, "the incantation that allowed you to go into hibernation and be reborn when you could complete your revenge," she said to Britney, "Joseph can tell you more if you want to know the truth," she said formally.
"I'm Joseph," the male in Tad's body spoke up, "and I'm also the closest among the forty-six that was a demon child," he told Britney, "well a dark magic invoker to be more precise," he continued, "but we were all human then," he said frankly, "human and mortal," he added and the others looked upon Britney and glared at her hatefully.
"You're lying," Britney said in teary denial and started to step back, "You're lying!" she shrieked but her eyes revealed that she wasn't so sure and she stopped moving back, "what really happened then?" she asked softly in a cracked voice.
"You hated us," the female in Kimberly's body spoke up superiorly, "you always did," she said openly, "from the day we came to the farm you despised us," she hissed, "all the other witches loved us," she said, "but you hated us," she hissed hatefully pointing at Britney.
"We first came to this farm wandering around after being tossed out, scorned and even beaten from several villages," Joseph started, "you and the other witches of course were wary of us at first, but the oldest witch Gwendolyn decided to walk up to us and check us out," he said, "she thought that we were alright and was especially interested in me because of my ability to invoke dark magical powers or beings upon myself and use the powersabilities to my advantage," he said formally, "so she decided that we could stay and all the witches agreed fully except you and Jacqueline," he said and his voice took on a dark tone, "Jacqueline didn't think that we deserved to live on the property and she also feared us because we were not one of you," he said simply, "but you plain hated us," he hissed and his eyes grew small as he glared at Britney, "you hated that we were normal, you hated that we were totally mortal, you hated us totally and unconditionally most of all because of our humanity," he said, "your parents were killed by regular townsfolk so you hated anyone who wasn't a witch whether they did you anything or not," he stated, "but that doesn't excuse what you did," he snarled, "you tried every possible avenue to make the other witches agree to get rid of us," he continued, "but Gwendolyn always stood fast and she was the one you needed to convince," he said with a grin, "so you started to hate her too," he said, "but we noticed that you always hated her," he pointed out, "you were spoilt and always want things your way," he observed, "Gwendolyn wasn't up for that and she also had a love for humans greater than all of you combined," he said, "your hatred grew but soon you and I formed a friendship six months after we first came to the farm," he said, "you found out that I went around at night murdering people in the villages who had harmed us and chased us out," he recalled, "you even went along with me sometimes and we kept it our little secret," he said, "but from weeks after we came to the farm the other kids suspected the witches and became quite and suspicious of you," he said, "over time I noticed that the other witches noticed this and began to suspect us," he recollected, "but after you found out and both of us killed those horrible people together I was having too much fun to stop," he admitted, "but two years after we came Gwendolyn found out it was me and not the other children who were killing villagers," he said ominously, "but she was even more furious because she also discovered that you were participating in it," he said with a grin, "I know that rumours today say that all the witches were evil but that was not so," he said, "the only evil witches were Darla and you," he pointed out, "she demanded to see both of us and while the two of you were arguing you used an evil spell to kill her," he said, "then you tried to kill me, but I was able to deflect your attack and I ran," he said seriously, "but not before you grabbed at my coat and accidentally ripped off a button," he said snarled, "I'm betting that you hurried off then later when the other witches found Gwendolyn,s body, you 'coincidentally' discovered the button and convinced the others that we were some evil murdering demon children," he suggested, "I'll let Mary continue since I had fled the farm and dormitory and wasn't around for their demise," he said and looked at the girl who was now in Kimberly's body.
"Before I start I'll like to tell you who you are," Mary said seriously, "you're the witch Marilyn who after searching for the one child who got away for more than one hundred years decided to use magic to make yourself hibernate then be reborn when the descendant of that child you wanted to kill so badly re-surfaced," she told Britney, "but to do that spell I'm guessing you needed to use some form of unstable magic and that's why you were reborn to normal mortal parents and had no memory of who you were," she guessed (D.S.: and she's right), "you probably discovered your powers by chance and very likely had dreams of this Farm and researched on it," she said and smiled when Britney's eyes widened, "you concluded that your ancestors must've been the witches and that would explain your red hair after your parents must've told you that no one on their family tree had any other hair colour than black, brown, or blonde," she pointed out, "we know a lot thanks to Joseph who's powers aren't affected by the curse and while he was trapped beneath the earth his invoking of powers and beings allowed him and the rest of us to be kept informed about you and the one who got away (the child)."
"How did the child escape?" Britney asked feeling a rising anger in herself that she didn't understand, "and who's the descendant?" she asked but noticed that her voice came out in a snappish hiss and that her fist clenched despite her not feeling any reason to clench them at the moment.
"But she was so instrumental in you being able to do the curse," Joseph said, "you used her because you sensed a higher witch power in her that you didn't have," he said simply, "your powers had been dormant for centuries and you couldn't do much since your generation wasn't fully out of the curse of being powerless yet," he told her, "but Veronica was gaining back her powers quickly and she didn't even know that she had them," he said and shook his head, "do you know who Veronica really is?" he asked suddenly and Britney shook her head, "she's the one witch who backed out of killing the children and took one of them and ran," he said, "she found out from the little one she took that it was really you who killed Gwendolyn then framed us," he snapped, "but she was ill at the time and couldn't destroy you," he said, "do you know what she did?"
Britney shook her head.
"She first used a charm to make the boy Cory unable to be tracked by you and placed him in a far away village in hopes of keeping him safe," Mary told Britney, "then she used a different spell to make herself re-emerge as a child when she was strong enough to destroy you," she said seriously, "she re-emerged as a three year old, three years after your birth," she continued, "but unfortunately she lost her memory as well and was found sitting in an alley and was taken to a rich orphanage," she said, "Veronica's parents had lost their son named Veron in a car accident one year before and were unable to have more children," she stated, "they came to the orphanage two months later (after Veronica was found) and when Veronica's eyes reminded them so much of their son that they adopted her," she said, "and she grew up to her current age without any knowledge of who she really was," she said, "but as you got to know her you realized that she had incredible power," she whispered, "so you used her sleeping powers to summon the curse by using the ritual called 'The Horror'," she said, "'The Horror' is a curse which you place on a certain set of individuals for example you placed it on the elite popular kids in school," she reminded her, "it's called the horror because the curse is random," he stated, "you can only specify the group who's cursed, if you want others to suffer and if you want anyone exempted," she recalled, "you cursed the elite popular kids, wanted the unpopular kids to suffer directly from the curse and you exempted Tad," she said and Britney's eyes widened, "you loved him but hated him enough to allow the closest to him to suffer," she said coldly.
"How does it feel to know that he died because of you?" Joseph asked suddenly and a grin came upon his new face, "how does it feel to know that your curse took the only boy you ever loved and that he died buried alive after they found and simply took him here and threw him in the pit that they filled with dirt and cement after throwing in any surviving critically ill children into the pit as well?" he asked and Britney covered her ears and started to scream as tears fell down her cheeks.
"It was you!" a voice cried suddenly and everyone except Britney turned in the direction of the voice, "you cursed everyone like this!"
"Who are you?" Mary demanded.
"Vicky," Vicki responded, "I came here as part of the secret resistance who wants to save the children," she explained, "Timmy's parents started it, but I took over after Timmy had them arrested," she stated, "few know this but the real reason Timmy had his parents arrested was because he found out about them leading it by listening in as they spoke to Crocker in the bathroom," she continued, "he probably would've lied and tell the authorities that Crocker had snuck into his house without knowing," she guessed, "but with Timmy's personality now no one can guess what's going through that kids head," she said and shook her head sadly.
"Icky with a V," Joseph said simply, "it's an honour to meet your acquaintance," he said with a smile.
"Tad?" Vicky asked in confusion since his voice was totally different, "what did you do to your eyes!" she demanded, "spray them green glowing stuff or something?"
"I'm not Tad," Joseph told her, "he's dead," he revealed and Vicky gasped slightly, "do you the legend of this place?" he asked and she nodded, "well I'm one of the kids revived and please know that we were not really killers," he added.
"Something's wrong," some of the undead children said suddenly and Joseph turned to them.
"I sense it too," Joseph said seriously, "the children are dying in the barn," he said emotionlessly.
"The Barn!" Vicky cried incredulously, "but my info said that they ate in the Boarding House," she said.
"They're having some special food thing in the barn for them," Joseph said dismissively, "from what I'm picking up they've locked the barn and released carbon monoxide on the children," he said as his eyes glowed even brighter, "they're dying fast," he said seriously, "we need to go now," he said and turned in Britney's direction.
"What about the children!" Vicky demanded, "if I'm not cold enough to leave them you can't be!" she shrieked and pointed in the direction of the barn, "you have to help me!" she shouted, "you have to help me save them!" she screamed and tears formed in her eyes.
"Those children are not my concern," Joseph said stiffly, "we have to contain her (points at Britney) before they (the elite popular children) all die," he told Vicky, "if her curse gets completed now she'll be free to terrorize others," he said, "and I for one want my revenge," he snarled.
"I'll go with you," Mary spoke up suddenly and the other children looked at her in shock and horror, "I'm sorry Joseph but I cannot let history repeat itself," she said firmly, "we died while those who could help us could either barely save one of us or didn't do anything at all," she said, "I'm saving them all," she declared.
"You know that if you go now that you'll never be able to see us again until you die of old age," Joseph said seriously, "you know that don't you," he persisted.
"I know you love me Joseph," Mary whispered and he stepped back in surprise, "and I love you too," she told him, "but our love cannot burn bright while we allow innocent children to die," she said in a quivering voice, "I will miss you all," she said formally, "goodbye," she said and walked towards Vicky to tell her how to get the children out.
"Goodbye," Joseph whispered as the other children looked after her with somber expressions, "now for you," he snarled and turned to Britney who was now on the floor cowering.
"What are you going to do to me?" Britney whimpered as the children slowly made a circle around her.
"Making sure that you never harm anyone again!" Joseph snapped and started to chant an ancient curse as the others muttered 'and bind her powers away' as Britney resumed her original position only screaming even louder.
Done.
Death's Soulmate: I had writer's block. Review.