I have four words to say. YOU. GUYS. TOTALLY. ROCK. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or any characters associated with the story. And I would like to credit Phoenix Fanatic's idea of this so called "game" (read at the end – AFTER READING THE CHAPTER, don't peep okay!)
Chapter 8: The Witches
Four other women entered our line of sight and they were dressed just like the first old prune. "We shall introduce ourselves and teach you alllllll about witchcraft," she introduced. We began to relax and started chattering among ourselves.
"My name is Florida Smithen and I am the head of this coven," she introduced.
"Geez, imagine if she really were Florida. James Patterson wouldn't be able to exist!" Zoe whispered, mortified.
"James Patterson's my all-time favourite author! He writes like absolutely amazing books!" I could practically see Carmen drooling. Heh. I should really check out this person. I wonder what kind of books he writes…
"As I was saying," Florida interrupted. We returned her our attention. She gestured to the slightly shorter woman next to her. All of them looked alike, actually. Only their heights differed. They were standing according to height, from the tallest to the shortest.
"I am Zachary Flowerbottom," she said. I swallowed the uncontrollable urge to laugh. Some people, however, were not as discreet. Or polite, for that matter.
"Isn't Zachary a guy's name?" Ken asked.
"Maybe she's undergone sex change!" Iggy whispered dramatically to Ken.
"You do know that I can hear you right, dearie?" Zachary said.
"Really?" Iggy said. "I'm so sorry, Zack!"
"Iggy, be polite," Mr. Danny reprimanded.
Zachary cleared his – I mean her – throat loudly and beckoned to the slightly shorter witch standing next to her.
"I am Wi Tch," she announced in a grand manner. I get the irony. Wi-Tch. How idiotic can their names get? I could see Iggy practically bursting as he held in probably all the snide comments he had.
Wi introduced the other two witches, who were shorter than her. The last witch was the shortest of all.
"This is Short Tee and that, at the far end is Joanna Juan-Jolene Johnjackson."
I bit my lip. These witches have hilarious names.
"Do you have any questions before we go on?" Zachary asked.
It looked like Iggy couldn't contain himself anymore and burst out saying, "Do you parents come from the mental hospital?"
Zachary smiled and said, "At least some of our names make sense, unlike yours. Iggy? Please."
That was rewarded with people erupting into laugher and lots of back slapping.
"Nice one!" Alvin shouted.
"Nice two!" Iggy muttered.
"How lame can you get, Iggy?" Angeline said and rolled her eyes.
"Well, at least my name isn't one from the opposite sex," he retaliated.
"Your name reminds me of some kind of animal. Like a hamster," Short suddenly croaked.
"At least I'm not called Tall," Iggy muttered.
As the idiotic conversation continued, I realized that Fang, who was next to me, was fidgeting in his seat. Then I noticed that Florida was staring at him. Everything else became a faint murmur in the background.
"Maybe she's secretly attracted to you," I whispered cheekily into his ear. He scowled.
"Jealous?" he asked sardonically, eyebrows raised. But I could see that deep inside he was actually kind of freaked out.
"You player," I punched his shoulder playfully. The sides of his lips twitched and he continued staring into space. I sighed.
There had been a time when he wasn't like that though. Fang hadn't always been so impassive before. He had been outgoing, friendly, and talkative. Do I see those jaws dropping? I've known him since we were tottering around in diapers – and a lot has changed since then. And this change had come about because of one tiny incident.
Fang choked on a fishball.
Fang had been talking and eating at the same time, when he just suddenly choked. Of course he got out of it alive, but after that incident, he became the total opposite of what he had been. For two whole weeks at school he had been acting strangely and after that, he told me that he had to change. Because according to him, people can die talking. And with that no-talking thing, came the mask – way to complete the image, Fang!
Raucous laughter broke me out of my train of thoughts and I saw Iggy standing at the front with the witches with his pants pulled down. What the h?!?!
"Mind telling me what's going on?" I asked Zoe. She was laughing so hard, I had difficulty understanding her.
"HAHAHAHA IGGY HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA MADE FUN OF HAHAHAHAHAHHA ZACHARY AHAHAHAHAHAHA AND ZACHARY TOLD HIM TO HAHAHAHAHHA STAND AT THE FRONT HAHAHAHAH AND THEN SHE JUST HAHAHAHAHHAHA PULLED HIS PANTS DOWN!!!! AND HE HAS NICE HAHAHAHAA BOXERS!! HAHAHAHA!!"
Iggy was attempting to regain pride by putting his pants back on again, but Zachary prevented him from doing so by whacking him each time he tried to. Even Mr. Danny was laughing his head off. Then I realized why.
Iggy was wearing pink boxers.
And I joined in the laughter.
"He must have gone shopping alone," Alvin chortled.
"Ah, the woes of being blind," Zoe laughed.
"What? What's wrong? Haven't you seen people in boxers?" Iggy shouted over the ruckus.
"Yeah, but not a blind guy in PINK with FLOWERS printed!" Michelle shouted. Iggy appeared deep in thought. He was probably wondering when he had bought those. This. Is. Just. Priceless.
"Where's a camera when you need one?" Zoe groaned.
I turned around and realized that Fang was gone. Huh?
I looked around the laughing crowd. He was nowhere to be seen. And, I all-too-soon realized, so was Florida.
This is bad.
Very bad.
Fang
"Soooo, Nick," Florida drawled. "You nauuughty little liar."
Annoyed was a huge understatement. I had to know why this witch kept staring at me. She had beckoned for me to follow her while everyone's attention was on Iggy and Zachary. So I had ignorantly followed and we were now in her cottage and I was sitting opposite her. The idiom curiosity killed the cat suddenly rang in my head, for one reason or another. I kept my impassive face on and just stared at her.
"Care to tell me your real name?" she asked in that creepy voice of hers. I just stared. I'm not ashamed to admit that this woman freaked the living livers out of me. Because if I'm afraid, everyone's afraid.
Roping in all my courage, I managed to ask her the question that I badly wanted the answer to.
"I want to know why you keep staring at me." There.
Florida looked at me weird. She cocked her head and her eyebrows shot up. Her cat jumped onto her lap and started hissing violently, and its hair rose.
"I'll be damned…" she croaked, her voice suddenly hoarse. "That… That voice… You… My hunch was right! You are the one!"
Crazy demented witch! I started out of my chair when she suddenly pounced on me and her cat raked it claws onto my leg. I bit my lip and winced. That was definitely going to leave a mark. I struggled to leave the cottage but Florida tackled me with a war cry and I realized that she had a chopper clutched tightly in her hand. I was stupefied. Was she a cannibal or something?! She started to tie me up with rope. Damn, that woman is strong. I think even Max couldn't beat her, with that tackle.
"Evil," I managed to say darkly. "What do you want from me?!"
"Dearie," she smiled sweetly, dangling the chopper dangerously close to my face. "You're going to be…"
Mwahahahaha! What does Florida want from Fang?
It's in this chapter, I swear.
Figured it out? I'll give you a hint – IT STARTS FROM FANG'S POINT OF VIEW. Try figuring it out yourself before you scroll down to get the answer.
-
Don't peep!
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I know you want to know…
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
This is getting really lame, isn't it?
Well let me tell you.
Read the first letter of each paragraph starting from Fang's point of view. (Somehow, I recall saying that but people seemed to overlook it) Then add it on to the last sentence of the chapter. Then you'll know! :O
This was kind of fun to write, given the restrictions :D You should try it out someday! So yeah credits to Phoenix Fanatic.
And yeah, review! (Incentive: Imagine me as a greedy Flying Dutchman who'll chase you around with –cough– mutated clicky pens until my hunger for reviews is satiated.)