Chapter VII: Erika’s move

“Good morning, Lillya.”

Satomi, Cléa and mom were at the table, staring at me as I entered the dining hall.

I slept in that morning, since talking to the witch and hearing her sick plan made me lose any trace of sleep I cold have had.

“Where’s William?” I asked them, since it was usual to see him having breakfast with mom during morning.

“He went to Rosie’s shop with her.” Satomi replied.

“And...Gale and Vance?” I also asked, sitting right beside mom.

“They’ve been out since the funeral. They are probably...sorting out their emotions in their own way.” Satomi says, looking disappointed

“I just hope they’ll be careful with booze.” Cléa adds. “We don’t want any more bad news, right, Madame Rondart?”

Mom looked at her cup of tea, staring into it. I haven't talked to her since I killed dad. I didn’t even know what was in her mind.

I wanted to spend my last time with her as much as possible.

“Cléa, Satomi, can you leave us alone for a while?” I asked the two maids, which immediately bowed. One went straight to the kitchen. “I’ll go prepare something for you too then.” She said. While the other left the room hurriedly.

Mom looked up, her sad eyes meeting mine.

“Mommy…” I muttered, getting up and hugging her. “I’m so sorry.”

“Oh...my sweet baby…” she immediately broke down crying, holding my body with her warm arms. “...I-I’m so sorry too, baby. I should have...I should have helped him.”

No. it’s not your fault, mom.

I wanted to tell her. I ached to tell her the truth.

But that witch had my entire soul on her hand, and she could have crushed it whenever she wanted.

Between sobs and moans of pain, mom held me tight, making it hard for me to not apologize for killing her husband...who apparently had a secret lover.

“I know you loved him so much. We all loved him.” I muttered, caressing her hair.

“He was such a good man...such a good...oh god…” her cries became even louder. “...I’m so sorry baby, you shouldn’t see mommy like this. Why did he do this to himself? He didn’t deserve this pain! Why did he kill himself!? W-Why!?”

Then, the doors of the dining hall opened slowly. Mom didn’t hear nor see, but I did.

Erika stared at us, her expression was...cold. Erika, right as the witch planned, was showing that she was against mom. I will never forget that cold gaze. To me, it meant the final proof that the witch was going to win at that game, and that she could foresee everything.

Her shoes clicked on the marble floor as she stepped slowly towards us, sitting on one of the chairs. Mom noticed her and put her hand on hers. “Erika...sweetie. I’m sorry you have to see me like this.”

“It’s okay mom.” She calmly said, putting on a beautiful, fake smile. “I know it’s hitting harder on you than anyone else here.”

“No, don’t say that.” She shook her head, looking at the both of us. “I just need some time but, I will take care of this family. I will never leave you alone, my babies. Everyone will smile again. He’d want to see us smiling, right?”

“Yes, mom. He would.” I nodded, looking at Erika. She stared back at me with half-closed eyes.

Thinking back to it now, I think she was trying to tell me what she was convinced of.

Cléa came back with a new plate, gasping as she noticed Erika. “Miss Erika! I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you. I’ll prepare your breakfast in a moment.”

Breakfast went smoothly from that point. I was glad Erika didn’t accuse mom directly. She probably was going to take the route the witch foresaw, and I had to just wait and see.

Mom ended up having to go to her room and Erika headed to the library.

It was ten in the morning and I really didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t sleep, read, study or talk to anyone. I felt like an empty, abandoned doll.

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I reached the backyard. I stared at the leaves of the big tree.

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I sighed and sat on the other side of the tree, so that I didn’t have to look at dad’s grave, which was right beside it. I hung my head and...basically turned off.

I wanted to die. I wanted that situation I was in to stop. But neither could happen, not in a million years.

Time passed by as I kept staring at the ground. It was getting colder, but I didn’t care.

My mind started wandering off, the twitching hands of my suffocating father flashed in my eyes...then his red, boiled face came next. Then I reminisced the happiness of the past six years, prior to the arrival of the witch.

Even though those joints were there with me since the start, I would have never imagined that their were the prelude of a never ending nightmare.

I could only wait.

Wait for my entire mind to rot to a point that my consciousness would be no more.

Then, suddenly, something caught my attention. A white, twinkling shadow, a little sound following it.

I raised my head.

It was a cat. A white cat, pure as snow. It jumped across the fence that separated our garden from the forest, meowing at me as it brushed his head against my leg. It had a collar with a bell, so it was probably someone's pet. But our mansion was very far from civilisation...so I was immediately impressed by the ability of this cat to walk so far from his home, being that cats really liked houses, from what I knew about them.

It kept meowing at me, staring into my eyes.

“Hi there…” I cooed, rubbing its little head with my hand. “...what are you doing here?” Then I scratched its little chin, and purrs started coming out. I grabbed it carefully and put it on my lap, running my hands around the soft, clean fur.

After some positioning, it lied down comfortably, purring constantly as I petted it carefully.

I had never seen one, yet my body and mind were immediately ready to interact with it...it somehow felt like I was familiar with such a gesture. And that made me feel somewhat at ease, even if I was a broken, lifeless puppet. I looked up at the sky. It was so blue. I stared at the white clouds and then at the green tress. I realized the world was still so bright – yet I couldn’t enjoy its colors like I used to.

In no time, I started sobbing, hugging that cat between my arms. It kept rubbing its wet nose against my cheek as I wept, trying to comfort me.

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“Is that a cat…?” Nelya put her school suitcase down as she stared at Milo. He was a male, and apparently decided to live with me from that moment on.

I nodded and stood up, leaving the chair empty. Nelya approached Milo with a smile, which was lying right beside the open book I was trying to study. In a way, his presence made it all easier, for what it was worth. Milo ignored her approaching hand and closed his eyes, trying to sleep, she giggled and pet him anyway, and he responded by flicking his tail violently and perking up his ears.

She sighed as she unclasped her uniform.

“Nelya…” I muttered.

“Yes?”

“About yesterday, uhm...”

"I don't want you to even mention it." She sighed. "Let’s just pretend you never did it, okay?”

I felt something inside me twist. Despite her words being very wise, kind and coherent...I felt mad. I wanted to talk about it, because deep down I still ached for a positive response from her.

Milo looked at me and immediately jumped down the desk and up again on the bed I was sitting on, brushing his body against me. Suddenly, all my anger vanished.

I watched Nelya grab one of her dresses and go in the bathroom. I figured that from then on, she would have avoided showing herself to me...so although she said she wanted to forget, she had already changed her habits around me.

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I walked back and forth in the small, silent library.

I needed to think about my next move against the witch, since she was probably going for another kill very soon.

The first thing I had to take care of was trying to expose the murderer without fail. I couldn't just accuse them, because that would have made them go on a killing spree and I would have never had the chance to progress against the real enemy.

One thing was clear - the witch was trying to make me believe the culprit was my mother.

Though, many facts proved wrong that conclusion already:

First. Mom is a weak woman, physically and mentally. It was impossible for her to carry out such a murder, and even more, it was unlikely that she could accept the existence of the witch without losing her frail mind. During those six years, I’ve collected enough information about her to be sure of that.

Second. If the witch really chose mom to murder dad, she would have never done it in such a bad moment that gave mom no alibi at all. Nighttime is the moment where a couple join in bed, after all.

Third. Mom was a very emotional woman, she wouldn’t have been able to conceal her anger towards dad until the right moment, even if manipulated by the words of a supernatural being. She would have told him right away and would have even made a scene in front of the whole family.

Fourth. Mom was too pure. I knew she loved dad very much...and that there was no way she could kill him because he cheated on her. It was very likely she would have forgiven him after a while instead. This may have been a bias of mine, but the rest of the points reinforced it’s truthfulness.

Hence, mom was not the murderer.

I mumbled as I rubbed my chin, trying to figure out what was the witch’s real plan. I figured that she wanted the real culprit to act undisturbed as they both bought time with me aiming towards the wrong person.

Also, I realized that they were probably going for a silent approach, since the witch didn’t send her pawn to do a genocide in the middle of one night. That meant the witch couldn’t afford the family members to get scared and leave the house.

So, I was right. She was doing it for that, and she needed all the blood she could gather.

I could have tried to make everyone move out, but the odds were too low, and I couldn’t risk alarming the witch – while she could probably see me all the times, she still couldn’t hear my thoughts. So, as long as I planned inside my own mind, making her believe falsehoods, I was fine…but when would lay down my cards by taking action, I’d have to face her next turn.

Thus, I needed to be very careful.

If making the family move out isn’t an option, what can I do…?

My eyes suddenly widened as I found the answer.

I had to use the same strategy. The witch was trying to make me think mom was the murderer, so I had to make her believe something false as well.

But how could I deceive her?

I bit my lips as I looked out of the window.

There was only one way to deceive the witch. It was very risky...but if I succeeded, victory was going to be mine.