When would it happen?
When would the real headmaster make himself known and begin the great battle for the school?
Credence was a bundle of nerves for the rest of the day, walking as if over hot coals from one place to the next.
At any moment, she anticipated war.
The day dwindled into dusk and the students were eating dinner, none of them aware that chaos would soon erupt.
Credence couldn't stand it. She felt like flint scraped across steel, ready to ignite.
Had the real headmaster covered his tracks after his escape, or had the imposter returned to his room to find the evidence of his prisoner freed?
No, surely there would have been some commotion if that had happened.
The real headmaster was smart, he would know that the element of surprise would give him the upper hand. He was probably hiding, waiting for the school to go to bed before he attacked.
It'll happen in the middle of the night, Credence thought. I'll be ready.
When the school woke the next morning, the whole world would be changed.
One by one the students took their medicine, and Credence was comforted that this would be the final time they were ever forced to partake of a monster's poison.
When it came time for her turn, however, the domestic at the head of her line held her hand up to stop Credence from opening her mouth.
"You wait here and take your turn last," the woman grumbled, making Credence, and the few students close enough to hear, blink in surprise.
Credence thought to forgo her turn entirely and leave for bed, but the domestic laid a wrinkled hand on her shoulder to keep her in place.
A few of her peers gave Credence a quizzical look as they walked by, but none dared to ask what was happening.
When the final child left the room, the two domestics at its entry turned to Credence.
"Is it...my turn?" Credence asked.
The answer was a sack thrown over her head and tightened, and the sound of a heavy door closing, mingled with the cackling of old women.
YOU ARE READING
Journey of a Girl
Fantasy||Wattys 2022 Shortlist|| "You've got several lines of destiny in you...whether you use your power for good or wicked is still blank." After narrowly escaping the Collector, Credence finds herself at the mercy of aunt Lilith, a hateful witch who ea...
