The Survivors

Ten

As the party drew towards a close, Pumpkin stood on a balcony alone. Her orange hair moved with the gentle breeze and she stared straight ahead, imagining what her life would be like once she took over the pitiful empire she lived in.

Two males walked onto the balcony: Red Wine and a taller, less muscular man with long, blood colored hair. "Pumpkin!" Red laughed and hugged her. "Meet my favorite cousin, Bloody Mary!"

"Hello, I'm Pumpkin," she said briskly, trying to step towards the door.

"It is a pleasure, Miss Pie." He bowed and smiled. "Red has spoken only kind words."

"Yes, I do not doubt he has." She smiled. "Did you come with a date? I would love to meet her."

Bloody winced and straightened up. "I did bring a date, yes. I'll go get him." He walked away, angry.

"You shouldn't assume a man likes women, Pumpkin!"

"I'm sorry, my love," she muttered. He sighed and grabbed her waist, kissing her. She had to stop from gagging or slapping him, breathing deeply as he stepped back.

"I've been wanting to do that for the whole night, my little Pie."

She grabbed his jaw and smiled. "I've wanted to do something for a long time, my Emperor. Please open your mouth."

"A surprise? How fun." He did as asked and she shoved three tablets down his throat, shut his mouth, and pinched his nose. He tried to get her off, but felt dizzy as the pills slid down his throat. He coughed and fell to the floor, his eyes wide and full of tears.

"Can't breathe? Good." She tried not to look happy and she forced herself to cry. She screamed and threw herself upon his dying body, hugging him and screaming for help. She watched as his eyes rolled back and his chest stopped moving.

Bloody and two men ran to them and she kept crying. "What happened here, Pumpkin?!" Bloody pried her away from the corpse and held her back. Peking Duck knelt down and examined the body, his face like stone.

Pumpkin only cried into his chest, hiding her sick smile with his silk shirt.

Peking Duck frowned and looked up. "Poison, I'd say. A very quick acting one. Who has he been near in the last ten minutes?"

"Me," Pumpkin sobbed. "And Bloody Mary! You murdered the love of my like, didn't you?!"

"No, I did not." He gently lifted her chin. "Did you kill him? Did you kill my cousin and the Emperor of the Food People?"

By now Empress Diane, Yellow Wine, and a healer from the Magic Court stood on the balcony with the others. Yellow was crying, trying to reach where her twin laid, but was held back by the healer and what was assumed to be Bloody Mary's date.

She soon broke free of their grasp and sat by the body, holding his hand. She cried even harder, feeling his cold skin on hers.

"Who is responsible for this?" Her voice was cold, sucked dry of warmth or joy. She had lost half of herself, and she would kill whoever killed Red.

"Now, I ask you again, servant, did you poison my cousin?" Bloody smiled cruelly.

"No! I would never kill the love of my life!"

Silence, then a laugh.

Bloody Mary, son of Beer and Gin, was laughing. He clapped in delight as stone creeped up Pumpkin's legs, slowly inching up to her knees, and then her thighs. Gradually encasing her in stone.

"I forgot to mention that you mustn't lie to my face. Not after I ask you a question. We've found ourselves the killer, and a new statue."

Pumpkin screamed and tried to break free. The stone was at her ribs. "I'll come back! I'll kill you all!" she swore. The stone took her shoulders, then her neck, and then she was no more. A statue of herself.

Peking Duck touched a hand to the statue. "She is still alive," he said calmly. "Why?"

"I would never kill someone," Bloody laughed.

Yellow stared at the statue, huddled up in Diane's arms and nearly finished crying. She was smiling. "I...never liked her..." Her throat was sore from her sobs and Bloody's date ran off to fetch her something to drink.

"I could always...use her life to return our fallen Emperor." Peking Duck looked at Yellow and then Bloody Mary. "If that is what you want."

"Please!" Yellow cried out. "I need him!"

"Her life force is dimming into a sleep like state, so I would hurry."

"I shall do my best," he said. His hands and lips began moving as everyone watched in fascination. A soft, pink light came from Pumpkin's stone tomb. Peking Duck seemed to lead the light to Red's lips, forcing him to swallow it.

All was still.

All was still.

A cough, two coughs. Yellow cried and tackled her brother in a hug, sobbing into his already soaked shirt. Bloody knelt and embraced them both, laughing softly.

"Idiot cousins," he said as he kissed Yellow's head, wiping her glistening eyes and wet cheeks with a handkerchief. "Stupid, idiot cousins."

"We get it, we're dumb. Can I please get up now?" Red chuckled as he was helped up. He looked at them all, watching as Peking Duck and a servant carried the statue out. "You saved me after all she made me do?" His gaze rested on Yellow.

"Of course...you're my brother," she said between hiccups. She gladly took the glass of water from Bloody's date. "Thank you, Rocky Road."

He smiled and hugged her before standing beside Bloody. "Mhm!"

"Perhaps we should all go to the lounge and have something to eat?" Diane gently took Yellow's hand, her beautiful eyes full of fear. "I thought we had lost two emperors," she replied as Yellow asked what was wrong. "And now I know people, my people, want to overthrow me..."

They had never seen the Empress, the Woman of Fire, cry, but they all knew it wasn't a good thing they had.

The went to the lounge.