Chapter 6: Tangle
667 Words
Chapter 6: Tangle
“ Wake up in the dark and hear the screaming of the lambs ” — Silence of the Lambs.
I begin telling them my plan, and all three elders turn gaping, staring at me in disbelief.
“ You plan to do what? Do you have any idea what exactly you ’ re initiating, Amira? ” Mother looks at me in bewilderment, as if I am the devil reincarnate herself.
“ I know this sounds crazy at first, but give it time. I ’ m sure you ’ ll change your mind pretty soon, ” I assure her calmly, as if she ’ s the child and not me.
“ I-it ’ s so crazy . . . it might just work, ” I hear Father say, eyes still wide in shock. “ I mean, now that I think about it, do we really want to risk putting ourselves in danger? Is working with the other covens really that bad? ”
“ You ’ re only saying this because you don ’ t have to put up with all the sh — I mean, stuff , that the other elders are saying, ” Mother tells him angrily.
“ That ’ s not true. I talk with them, too, ” Father tries to defend himself.
“ And when you do, you tend to make a mess out of things. Our problems add up with an additional three new mountains of haystack, on top of that first stack which we have no chance of solving. This happens every time you open that big mouth of yours! ”
Father looks as exhausted at Mother. The blow of being at the other end of Elder Miranda ’ s outburst is merciless, and I can sympathize with him. “ Please, Miranda. Let ’ s not talk about this whilst in the presence of —”
“ The needle is lost, Charles! Lost! ” Her eyes go wide with her outburst. “ And now we have to deal with this werewolf issue. I. Am. So. Damn. Tired. ”
She rises from her seat and strolls across the room, the end of her heels clacking loudly against the porcelain as she does so. Mother leaves the room without turning back. Not even to excuse herself from Elder Thomas.
With Mother gone, it is Father’s duty to take over.
“ I ’ m sorry about the commotion, but you know how it is between us, ” Father says apologetically, fingers rubbing his temple to ease the stress.
“ I had thought that you were crazy when said you wanted to marry her, ” Elder Thomas says, “ and I still do. ”
“ Love. What do we do without them, huh? ”
“ Completely lonely and childless, I assume, ” the old man deadpans.
Oh no. I know where this is going. This is why Mum always end up so mad at him. Dad always likes to deviate the conversation to pointless chit chat, and I can ’ t allow that to happen. I have to take back control over the topic.
I cough, and both men take their time shifting their attention back to me. “ Um, sorry to break this up, but we ’ ve got more pressing matters to discuss. Still on the new hive thing? ”
“ Right, about that. Why do you call it a hive anyway? ”
“ Because it resembles one. Only ten times better. My design in impeccable. Security is no joke, if we follow my blueprint to the dot. Worse case scenario, if the werewolves still manage to get in, we ’ ll still be able to cut down our losses using my system. ”
“ You talk of lives as if there are nothing more than numbers to you, ” Elder Thomas can ’ t help but point out the coldness in my tone when I regard our would be victims as nothing but losses .
“They will be nothing but that, numbers, if we don’t do anything about it soon. I mean, who really cares about anyone these days, huh? Everyone’s just out for themselves. If their loyalty does not lie with their coven, then it is with their family. If not, lover, or child, or sibling. Worse case, simply on themselves.”
“ And where does your loyalty lie, young one? ” he eyes me curiously.
“Why, with myself, of course,” I answer almost immediately.
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