Sort of Dead

38 - An Idiosyncratic, Foolhardy Plan Is Our Last Chance

The plan Bee had brewed up was insane. And I loved it.

What more did I have to lose anyway?

So Aar, Bee and I approached Mr. Om the following day. We told him what we wanted. We told him it was our right to demand this.

'You're taking us to that witch,' I said to him.

'No, I'm . . . not.'

'Thanks, but we didn't ask,' said Aar, smiling and locking eyes with Mr. Om, who, quite naturally, looked dumbfounded. I live for that look on his face.

'What are you guys planning on doing?' he enquired.

'Pretty simple, really,' Bee said. 'We're going to the Coven Thirteen. We're asking them to bring Marra's Dad back to life. We're asking them to erase Marra's curse, whatever it takes.'

She gulped. Obviously she still felt responsible.

Unc - I mean, Mr. Om widened his eyes like an anaconda's mouth. 'You kids have no idea what you're talking about! I never should've told you all this in the first place!'

'Well, oopsie,' Aar butted in. (Ugh, why does everything with the word "butt" in it remind of Jason?) 'You already did.'

'I canNOT take you there!' Mr. Om shouted. 'Do you hear yourself?'

'Do you hear us?' I yelled right back at him. 'I lost my Mum and my Dad! My friends - the only friends I ever made - saw me turn into a monster! Is that not reason enough for you, Mr. Om?'

'Listen, Mar - '

'He's listened to enough!' Aar protested.

'No, he's not! You have no idea what seeking the Coven ensues! We could all be butchered!'

'Then let us!' I said. 'Or are you afraid of your own death after being responsible for others'?'

That shut him up. He took a while to revert back to normal. 'Mar, if we do this - who knows what will happen? Something worse, much worse than death, can befall those who mess with the Grahi Witch.'

'What could be worse than this?' I said, my tone broken. I was, not for the first time these days and nor for the last, on the brink of tears.

'Mar, they can mess with concepts of time and space. If we tell them to take the curse back, they could - I don't know - make us live in the past. When you were never born. They could take away all this wealth, they could - '

'After everything that happened,' I cracked, 'you're concerned about your wealth?'

I would've added 'Pathetic' if Aar hadn't done that job for me.

'I know I sound like a monster,' Mr. Om said. 'Maybe I am, Mar. I'm not sure anymore. But I loved your parents too. Trust me when I say that.'

'If you loved them, you would do this for them,' I shot back. Trying my level best to fight back tears. This was my one opening at setting things right. I was not going to screw this over.

Mr. Om exhaled. 'So you really want to do this, huh?'

'What do you think?' Aar said, and for a second - just a second - I felt hope blossom inside me.

I remember thinking: We can make this work.

Oh, how naïve I was. I did inherit some of my dead parents' genes after all.

YES PLAN. QUEST. EXCITEMENT.

BEAR. BEETS. BATTLE STAR GALACTICA. THE OFFICE FANS REJOICE.

Thanks for reading though, Office fans or not.