Chapter 44: Mary's Evil Plan
Night was falling and the darkness was beginning to consume everything. In the center of Rose Square, Mary stood all alone. Nobody as far as she could see. She gripped the scythe tight in her right hand. She ran the tip of her index finger of her left hand along the edge of the blade, from the base where it was attached to the wooden pole all the way to the point.
Mary paused, and looked warily from side to side to make sure that nobody was watching her. Staring at the last sliver of the sun setting over the horizon, she raised the scythe high above her head and screamed out in rage, proclaiming the glory of her existence, "Finally! My evil plan has been set into motion. All the pieces are coming into place. It will only be a matter of time before the whole town falls to their knees before me." She laughed long and deep, a wild and dangerous laugh.
Suddenly, her evil laughter collapsed into uncontrolled giggling as she fell to the ground clutching her side, "Oh my goodness, I've always wanted to do something like that." She managed to blurt out the words through her wild laughter at her display of 'evil.' She tried to put on a straight face as she stood up and brushed herself off. "Now I know why all the villains in books do evil declarations. It's so much fun."
With that, Mary once again began giggling against her will even as she tried her hardest to contain it. She started walking back to Jack's home, "Evil plan." She snickered again. That was one of the most fun things she had done in a long time. She felt so powerful with the scythe in her hands that she felt that she had to try, just once, a nice villainous rant.
Well, she did have a plan, a very good plan. She tried to laugh evilly again, but it kept being interrupted by little bits of giggling.
Mary had spent much of the day talking to various citizens of the city. She reminded everyone to stay locked in doors if at all possible, as all but one of the murders had happened outside people's homes. Everyone was going to stay inside, Mary was quite confident of it, especially after the scolding she gave some of them. She took some guilty pleasure in yelling at those who opened their front door to her too readily. Caution was the best defense, she reminded them, for they didn't know for sure that it wasn't Mary herself who was the murder. She wasn't certain that Zack was the killer anymore, especially since Elli told about her suspicions of Gotz.
Most of all, Mary hoped that by taking precautions, she could prevent another murder. So far, Jack's showing off of his strength seemed to have done nothing to intimidate the murderer, and she seriously doubted that her frail frame could do a better job in that aspect. She believed that maybe her new plan of defense would work. If there wasn't anyone around to be a victim, then there would be no murders. She would be stopping the killer indirectly, without confronting him, but the result would be the same. The most important thing was to save lives.
Some time was also spent making wedding plans. She was determined to have the wedding on the original day planned. If they let it be delayed, the would only be surrendering victory to Anna. The wedding would happen within the week, that is, if Mary had anything to do with it.
Since she had fallen out of her mother's good graces, if it could honestly be said that she was ever in her mother's good graces, Mary needed to get a wedding dress elsewhere. She found what she needed in the elderly Ellen, who was more than happy to have her wedding dress be worn by Mary. It was an ancient thing, but Mary loved it. It was stark white and covered in beautiful lace. Best of all, it somehow fit her perfectly, meaning that they wouldn't have to do any alterations. It was almost as if the dress had been made just for her.
It wasn't just Ellen that was willing to help out. There was hardly a person who didn't promise to donate at least some small thing to benefit the wedding. Everyone wanted so badly to play a part in making Jack and Mary's wedding perfect. Ann and her father, Doug, were going to make the wedding cake. Saibara the blacksmith was going to forge them wedding rings by free, by far the biggest of the gifts offered. Duke, despite still being depressed over the murder of his wife, Manna, was very eager to give them wine to go with the wedding dinner that Sasha was cooking. Her father, feeling horrible about the arrest of Anna, still decided to give his tuxedo from his own wedding to Jack. Those that didn't have something special to donate were giving flowers from one of the many personal gardens that dotted the city. It was wonderful how everyone was doing something to help their marriage be one of the most beautiful weddings the town ever had.