Crown Of Thorns [ Michael Langdon ]

25 - chiquitita - 25

{Chapter Twenty Five - Chiquitita}

~ Chiquitita, you and I cry,
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you,
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before,
Sing a new song, Chiquitita ~

- Chiquitita

"Get some sleep, El." Michael stroked Elora's hair as she laid down on her side on their bed. "I'll wake you when the witches are here."

"Okay." Elora whispered, closing her eyes. She was thankful to have some alone time to think over what just happened. She was sick of crying. She had done so much of it in the past couple of days, that she had no more tears to spill. But her eyes still stung as she remembered her mother's death, over and over again. She had to remind herself that Cordelia was alive, and she was going to see her very soon, just like her mother had promised. Although, not in the way Cordelia imagined. She died thinking Mallory would go back in time and reverse everything back to the way it was.

What felt like hours of tossing and turning later, Elora finally drifted into an uneasy, dreamless sleep. She even slept through the perimeter alert, indicating that the witches had arrived. Michael quietly woke her up, shaking her shoulder lightly.

"Hmm?" Elora sat up and rubbed her eyes, "Are they here?" Michael nodded, and helped her to her feet. "How was the halloween party? The same as last time?"

"Oh, I didn't go." Michael shook his head.

"Then what were you doing?"

"Telling Ms Mead who she was, waiting around for the witches to turn up." Michael shrugged as they walked down the stairs. "Oh, and convincing Ms Venable that the perimeter alert was an accident."

"You weren't watching me sleep were you, creep?" Elora asked, as they passed the halloween soiree. She was glad to hear the music and laughter still going.

"No." Michael let out a short laugh, and led her into the decontamination room. Three coffin like structures held Cordelia, Myrtle and Madison.

Three men in decontamination suits and plague-looking masks stood on the perimeters, who Elora didn't recognise. She assumed they were the 'demons' Michael conjured. She had pictured something straight out of hell, but these demons looked pretty human-like.

Elora was far from surprised to see the witches, but the three women looked both angry and shocked at the sight of her.

"Elora!" Cordelia exclaimed, and Elora got deja vu from their last reunion. "Get us out of here!"

"Aw, I'm sorry. Did you really think you could ambush us?" Elora retorted, a hand on her hip. After hearing what her mother really thought about her, she was not going to hold back.

"Even if you kill us, in case you haven't noticed, we've already infiltrated your little Outpost." Myrtle spat, and Elora could tell she was scrambling. "Or have you forgotten about Mallory and Coco?"

"They have no fucking clue who they are." Michael said with a short laugh.

"Mallory is the next supreme, once you kill me, she'll rise." Cordelia spat.

"Then we just won't take her to the Sanctuary. Maybe the cannibals will get her instead." Elora said thoughtfully.

"The Sanctuary?" Madison asked. Elora noticed she was being strangely quiet for Madison, and her eyes seemed desperate. As soon as she is on the losing team, she wants to switch. Don't blame her.