Chapter Seven:

Looking to her left, Morticia opened the top counter drawer and drew out a chef knife, the sharpness of it glinting in the faint light. She tested the weight of the knife in her hand, twisting her wrist left and right, the reflection of the glints dancing across the walls, while Gomez watched her with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. She let out a sigh before setting down the knife and saying, "Perhaps we should be a little more subtle."

"Like...strangle her?" Gomez suggested raising his eyebrows.

Morticia's eyes lit up like torches as she held out her hand and said, "Give me your bow-tie."

With a smile, Gomez unhooked it, pulled it off his neck, and set the black tie in her palm, her pale fingers immediately closing in upon it.

"Now go find Lurch and distract him; I have work to do," Morticia said softly, her words dripping with a sinister malice, before spinning around, her hair flipping over her shoulders, and heading out the door.

Gomez smirked and quickly ran out and down the hall, opposite of Morticia, in search of Lurch.

"Come out, come out wherever you are..." Morticia breathed to herself as she rounded another corner, heading down the hallway that led to the back stairs, her predatory eyes darting back and forth as she searched for her target. That's when she heard it,

"Just where is that boy of mine?!" Mother Lurch's voice pierced through the air from around the corner.

Just as Morticia was about to turn that corner, Mother Lurch came around from the opposite direction, almost colliding with her.

"You!" Mother Lurch shrieked. "I don't even want to see you! Never again!"

As Mother Lurch quickly turned around, Morticia growled lowly, "Don't worry. You won't..."

Before Mother Lurch could react to her sinister words, Morticia pounced forward and threw the thick bow-tie around her neck, pulling it tight against her throat with such force Mother Lurch fell backwards toward the floor, the older woman's hands clawing desperately at the fabric as she began wheezing for air.

Morticia managed to keep her from falling all the way, the bow-tie tightening tighter against Mother Lurch's hyoid bone. With a strong jerk upward, Morticia created the same effect as a hangman and fractured the bone, crushing her windpipe.

Mother Lurch immediately fell limp against Morticia's body and it was then that Morticia finally released her hold on her and stepped out of the way, watching as the old woman's body fell to the ground with a thud. Morticia looked down at her with a smirk and began to circle around the body as if admiring her work. The throat of her victim was already covered with a dark bruise in the shape of the tie and small red dots faded to the surface form the hemorrhaged blood vessels underneath. A slight trace of blood was found on the edge of her mouth and in her nose as her bulging eyes gazed upward in pure terror. Morticia had to keep from giggling out loud in delight.

After making a full circle, she stopped and kneeled down at her head and as she ran a hand through her stringy grey hair she spoke softly, "Now...what to do with you... We mustn't let Lurch know I killed you. It would ruin everything. Perhaps I could stage your suicide. With the way Gomez annoyed you I'm sure you would have done it eventually. Most definitely if you came to discover your "flawless" son had his eyes trained on someone like me."

Rising back to her feet, she carelessly walked over to the small closet under the back stairs where ropes and garden supplies were stored. Pulling out a long thick rope, she skillfully tied it into a hangman's noose before looking around for a place to tie the other end to. It had to be somewhere that Mother Lurch could reach. Her eyes landed upon a beam that could easily be reached if you stood about 6, 7 steps up on the staircase before the rest of the stairs passed it and all you had on each side of you was a wall. Perfect...

Climbing up to the 7th step, she leaned over, careful not to lose her balance in her dress, and fastened the rough rope to the beam before moving back to her victim. Bending over she picked her up halfway by the armpits, letting her legs drag, and easily pulled her to and up the stairs, she wasn't that heavy. Once to the 7th step, Morticia grabbed the noose and slipped it over head and around her neck before flinging Mother Lurch off the steps as if she jumped. A crack was heard and the rope let out a snap as it pulled tight and began swinging back and forth with a soft creak.

Morticia smiled as she watched her sway back and forth before whispering, "Rest in peace."