That was no medicine. It was poison.
I knew the smell of poison. I remembered learning about them with Tynan. This was nothing like those Tynan made me examine, but it was poison for sure. A very strong one. Had Celsa suicided? Or had she been murdered? But why? I stood frozen with the evil smelling glass in my hand. I recalled the two ladies' body language around me, dressed as Celsa. I had seen them exchange glances. I had seen the look of utter surprise and hidden disappointment when they thought Celsa was alive. There was only one way of finding out. I pulled Celsa's lump body with little difficulty and put a piece of torn bed sheet around her. I got up on her bed, trying not to step on her and tied the end of the sheet to her ceiling fan.
𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺.
The moment those two ladies entered Celsa's room, they let out gasps and shrieks. Celsa's body hung from the fan and she had tied a note to her finger.
'I know what you planned to do. I cannot die like this.'
It was stupid and foolish. I needed to know my life wasn't some flop film but I still did it. The two ladies covered their mouths with their hands as they read the note,
"What does she mean by that?" The housekeeper lady asked. "She couldn't have know could she?"
The other lady shrugged slightly, worry stretched all over her face. "Let's just put her with the others."
"So her soul avenges us?"
"What else can we do?"
"It was your idea. Lady imbecile"
"Don't call me that. My name's Lella"
They began arguing. Their teamwork was way too poor to achieve what they wanted; luxury and authority over one of the biggest known nations. A pang of fright hit me when I remembered Tynan and me. Our teamwork was way poorer; at least the ladies didn't keep secrets.
I walked back to the main building of the palace and realized everyone was already gathering for dinner. I quickly washed and got changed. Everyone sat like usual, Tynan and Hope sat on either sides of Zoya. Asa and Larkin conversed while Ignis' stare bore holes in my scalp. I pretended I didn't know. Tynan was the first to excuse himself from the table. I went after him not long after. I needed to tell him. Something. 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. I couldn't keep this all to myself. Before I could go to his room, someone grabbed me from behind. The hallway was darker than usual, and while I struggled to breath under the sudden pressure, I heard Ignis' breathy laughter behind me. "I told you, you will regret this. Didn't I, lovely?" He snickered. Next I felt a cold object against my neck. It was a blade, a very honed one. My heart pounded against my chest.
"Do what I say or I'll slash your arrogant face off your neck. Move forward." Ignis threatened. I did as he said until we were in the same garage-like place from my first night here. On the map, Tynan had labelled it the 'Open Attic'. Ignis pushed me forward. With great toil, I prevented my head from hitting the old table in front of me. Before anything else, I pulled out my dagger. Ignis was stunned for a minute but soon he smirked, ecstatic. We circled each other; I was breathing hard while Ignis seemed keen. I could sense his thoughts, his eagerness to slice me in pieces. I shuddered and dodged as he pounded forward. His heavy body took time to face me again and by then, I had placed a satisfying bash across his forearm. Fresh anger leaked his features and he moved forward, his blade missing me but his other arm knocking me down. Hitting the floor, I elbowed his calf, disbalancing him. Before I had time to get up and move away, he was on top of me. A crazy expression on his face, he cupped my face in his hand and traced it with his blade. My arm was stuck under an old hanging wire.
"Who do you think you are, huh?"
"Let me go," I breathed.
Hearing this, he pressed his dagger against my neck harder. I hissed as it dug into my skin. As he continued blabbering, I set my hand free and without thinking struck it in his abdomen. Blood sprayed on my face as Ignis' stupefied expression turned blank and then he fell backward. I lay there for long thinking about what I had done and the consequence of my action. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. No one. I pulled my legs from under him and sat up straight. This wasn't the time to lose my senses. Before I knew it, I was headed towards the dark hallways with Ignis' body inside an old jute bag. I thought of the rooms with dead people inside. I could just dump him there. Or the backside of the rooms where there was fresh dirt, but the smell would cause suspicion. I had to see how the other bodies lay in those rooms. I entered the hallway through back and when I passed the old black door, I found it open. No light peeked from the little gap and when I knocked on the door, there was no response. With a wall torch in my hand, I took a look inside. There were stairs that lead to a basement. This wasn't a good idea. I carried Ignis body down there anyway and was relieved to find it empty and filled with dirt. It was like some abandoned underground garden. I found several pieces of wood and polish for furniture, or coffins. Did the ladies use these to make coffins for their dead friends? They must have opened it for Celsa. But who were the other people? Dying so frequently that I had found the door open just a few days ago. I took his body to the very corner and frantically began looking for any broken tile on the floor. When I didn't find anything, I used whatever heavy object I found to break a tile. I was terrified and regretful. I cried and prayed no one would hear as I picked apart the broken tile pieces with my bloody dagger and began making efforts to make a shallow pit in the floor. It was poorly built by no proper labour so I did the work quickly and dumped him in there. I gathered as much dirt and threw it on him. I found some bleach in the room and threw it on him to keep the smell away. I had no idea if this would work. I felt crazy and mad.
That night when I washed up, I saw someone different in the mirror. When I slept that night, I saw blood. I saw Ignis' dead face and his open stomach; I saw Celsa and her fearful eyes. I saw her hung from a tree, but I felt her pulling me with her. I struggled under her bony arms, which somehow had so much strength. I heard Ignis' laughter and saw myself; again and again. In the dark room, crying; in the bathroom, drowning. I woke up screaming and found myself alone, with my fears and regrets looming around me.