photo credit📷: theYou
[Dedicated to confessionsbyme ]

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Since I'm the last  person  Finnegan dances with, the music faints against the background of people socialising with wine glasses and wide smiles. Spotting Harriet and Stella at the food table, I go to join them but someone stumbles into me.

"I'm sorry." The man apologises, barely looking at me. He seems to be in a hurry and suspiciously  jumpy.

I watch him walk away  towards the exit, freezing when I notice the tattoo peeking out from the collar of his shirt.

A scorpion.

It's not long after he leaves that chaos breaks out.

Choking sounds from all around the room fill my ears. I stare in horror at people coughing up some black liquid and falling to the floor.

What on earth?

Confusion tears up the ballroom, people running here and here, doctors trying to calm the poisoned...

It's not long until Isaiah locates me. I'm too stunned to protest as he leads me to somewhere safe.

The other girls are equally ushered out
by their bodyguards.

"I saw someone. He had a tattoo on his neck."

Isaiah stops walking and I stand in front of a portrait while he faces me. "What else did you see?" 

My memory kicks starts. "He had a scorpion tattooed on his neck. Before that, I received a note."

Sweat forms on my hands and I try to wipe them off on my gown.

"Can you wait here, promise?" Isaiah glances around, scanning the guards lining the corridor we're in.

I nod, watching him walk briskly away.

It's been a long time since I experienced fear this vivid. The last time was when Rhoda died. Fear so paralysing that I don't even know what to think.

"Rhods, are you sure we should go in there?"

Rhoda laughs, unlocking the latch of the gate leading to an abandoned house in the outskirts of our village. "Since when are you timid, Lannie, come on inside."

Lannie.

She calls me Lannie.

"Are you okay, miss?" I look up in the face of a guard, drawn to the scar running across his right cheek.

"Yes. I'm just waiting for someone."

He nods. "It's not safe around here. May I escort you back to your room?"

I raise a brow. What does he mean by it's not safe here?

Despite his calm brown eyes, I suspect some unpleasant secret.

"No, thanks."

He holds out a hand. "I insist. The King orders, I'm afraid."

"I suggest you keep your hand to yourself if you don't want to loose it." I threaten, pushing away my fear.

"What's going on here?"

Isaiah's voice from behind the guard makes him twist his neck to look at who it is. And when he does, my eyes land on some familiar sign.

The scorpion.

Without thinking, I jump on the male. "It's him. The traitor!"

By now all eyes are on us. Isaiah and some guards rush forward while the male tries knock me off.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He says after he was restrained with a pair of handcuffs.

"I'm sure you'll be able to explain this." Isaiah pulls the collar of his shirt, revealing the scary tattoo.

I do not miss the hatred radiating from the traitor, but I shake it off, staying next to Isaiah as the man is dragged off to the dungeons.

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Symphony and Danae welcome me into my room, relief showing on their faces. Danae thanks Isaiah and shuts the door. I remember the note he asked to see but on a second thought, I'm much too stressed to do anything at the moment.

Silence falls upon the room, both girls watching me closely.

"Did you get hurt?" Symphony asks, sitting on my bed next to me.

"No, but I watched a lot of people suffer from food poisoning because-"

Because of me.

I mask my words with a sob, burying my head in Symphony's shoulder and letting out the disgraceful emotions.

Danae joins her in consoling me until I somehow fall asleep, forgetting about Finnegan's request.

"Rhoda, don't you think we should go back now?" I ask, staring fearfully at the overgrown grasses behind us as if expecting some hideous creature to emerge.

My best friend laughs, skipping over a small rock. "We'll be back home before dawn, Lannie, stop getting worried."

We reach the front porch of the house that's in different stages of abandon; brown patches on the wall, broken floor boards, a rocking chair that's half eaten n by termites, old plastic containers, missing ceiling boards...

Rhoda tests the handle of the door to see if it's working. It is.

She pushes the door open and peeks inside the house.

This is intrusive. I really want to go back home.

"What if there's someone living here?"

"Then we apologise and run away." Rhoda giggles, stepping inside the house. Surprisingly, most of the furniture is still intact. The curtains are torn in some places but seem freshly washed.

There are photographs sitting on the mantelpiece over the remains of a fire place. Ash and tiny pieces of wood. A reminder that it was one warm and a family lived inside of here.

Whatever happened?

Rhoda had been examining a painting on the wall when we heard footsteps and the creaking of a door.

Followed by a sharp knife thrown at-

"No!!!" I scream, waking up with a start, realising my clothes are bathed with sweat.

Isaiah barges in and turns on the light, eyes heavy with concern and alarm. "What happened?"

I pull my blanket over my chest. "I had a bad dream."

My voice is nothing like how it used to be. It comes out like a mouse's squeak.

"Should I send for someone?"

I nod. "Please."

My eyes narrow at him, hoping that the movement of his lips isn't a smile. "You better not say a word about this to anyone."

He sighs. "You've had a stressful day, Alan. Relax. It's okay to be afraid."

Soon, he goes out through the door and fetches...

"Harriet?" I call out in surprise when the door opens and she walks in, her flowy yellow night dress trailing on the floor.

She rubs her eyes. "I couldn't sleep either. I kept seeing scorpions."

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It's going to be a long night, isn't it?

  What are your theories about the scorpion guy? Hit me with them. Lol

So my network has been quite a mess these days... 😩