Plots and Ploys

Chapter 13

"....M..Mia?" Katie stuttered in complete shock. But no more than a second later, she ran up and hugged her. "You just disappeared!!! Why did you do that?!!" Katie cried.

"Are you crying?! I'm sorry. Please don't cry!! You only knew me for like a  week! Why are you crying?!" Mia replied, panicking at Katie's reaction.

"But Gabrielle always talked about her roommate and her girlfriend. So I feel like I've known you forever," Katie replied finally releasing Mia from her intense hug.

"Okay everyone's here. Now tell her," Rachel said anxiously waiting for whatever the Serpentine woman was going to announce.

"Patience is a virtue," replied the woman.

"So is honesty. Spit it out already!" Rachel snapped back clearly excited for the news.

"After seeing her response to Mia, I don't know if it's the smartest thing...

"If you don't tell her, I will," Rachel and Mia said at the same time. The two chuckled at each other before turning their attention back to the woman.

"Fine, fine," the lady said finally giving into the two. She reached up and removed her mask.

Katie paused for a moment before jumping out of her seat. The lady opened her arms expecting a similar reaction to what Mia got, but instead of hugging her, Katie smacked her across the head. "How dare you!! How dare you do this to me!!! I cried for you!!! I hate crying!! How dare you pretend to be dead!! How could you!!" Katie scolded.

"I'm sorry. I had to," Gabrielle replied.

"You had to?! You could have told me first!!" Katie yelled still shocked and furious.

"We had to make it as believable as possible! And you're not the best liar," Gabrielle answered less calmly.

"What do you mean I'm not the best liar?! I'm great at lying!" Katie defended.

"Really? How about my 'surprise' birthday party or when we tried to sneak into that convention or when.."

"Okay, okay, I get it. But I'm your partner. We've been together ever since highschool. Why wouldn't you trust me with this?" Katie sighed.

"Hey, I'm her girlfriend," Mia scoffed.

"I love you, but nows not the time," Gabrielle said patring Mia's shoulder.

"But you're mine..."

"Not the time," Gabrielle repeated a bit more sternly.

"Fine,"Mia agreed allowing the attention to be turned back to the situation.

"So why was it so important to fake your death?" Katie asked.

"We had to catch him, and we needed more proof to make sure he was sent right to the chair," Rachel replied.

"They actually don't use the electric chair very much anymore. They use.."

"Not the point. We needed him dead, and this was the best way to insure it," Gabrielle interrupted.

"Why? Just to get power?"

"Well that....and we needed to keep you safe..." Rachel answered avoiding giving Katie any exact details.

"What do you mean 'keep me safe'? Was he planning to hurt me?" Katie questioned needing a better answer.

"We weren't protecting you from him necessarily...." Rachel replied hesitantly. "...We were protecting your reputation."