Long Live the Queen

Ten: How to Plan Murder (and Properly Apply Mascara)

MAIA

We'd been in hiding for a while. How long, I wasn't entirely sure. After all, I was dead. One thing I've learned is that time moves different when your dead. Not slower, not faster, just... different.

I was sitting on my air matress, staring at my reflection in the little mirror that was attached to my compact. I stared most especially at my hair. My beautiful, dark hair.

"It's time to dye it," I sighed. I didn't know whether Hobbes was listening or not, since he was on the laptop, but apparently he was.

He looked over at me with wide eyes. "Babe, no. Your hair is beautiful. Why do you need to dye it?"

Babe. That stupid pet name made my stomach churn. Hobbes was definitely not someone I would be interested in dating. Like, at all. But at the same time, he was the only one to side with me; the only one to believe me. And for that reason I needed him. He was in love with me, that was clear to see, and as long as he believed I felt the same, he would stay by my side. I wouldn't have been able to do any of this on my own. So I let him call me babe. I let him kiss me and touch me, because that was what he wanted.

I smiled, "Thank you. But I need to disguise myself. If I get caught, if I'm seen, this whole thing will be ruined."

Which was why Lindsey... no, bad idea. Don't think about that or you'll end up a worse mess than the night you visited your grave.

"Dye ruins hair, right? Why not just keep wearing your hood up when we go out, like you've been doing?" Hobbes suggested.

I sighed, he was right. "Oh, whatever, screw the dye." I tossed the box of red coloring at the wall. It bounced with a hollow echo. You know you're in a bad mental state when you can relate to a sound.

Hobbes smiled, "That's my girl." He turned his attention back to the computer.

I turned my own attention to the list I pulled out from under my pillow. Three names were already crossed off. Three people who had wronged me had already met with revenge. There were only a few more until I got to the main prize, the kill I was saving for last. Everyone else went quickly, maybe even painlessly. But him... he would suffer. Like I did. Worse than I did.

"We're going out tonight," I said, folding the list and stuffing it into my jacket pocket.

"Tonight?" Hobbes asked quietly. He looked up from the computer again, this time his eyes locked directly on mine.

"Yes, tonight. We have to. It's been long enough since the last one, but if we wait too long someone will have enough time to put things together." I stood and stretched, my back cracked. Maybe I would get back into yoga. I had a tone of free time now, I might as well do something productive. I turned and cast a playful smile at Hobbes, who had definitely been staring at me.

"Would you do yoga with me?"

"You mean like that Kama Sutra shit? Hey, I'm game." He grinned slyly, shrugging. "But really, babe, are you sure you're up to going out tonight?" The look of concern on his face reminded me why I keep him around.

"Absolutely," I said with a nod. "Tonight Adrianna Wilkes is commiting suicide." Hobbes didn't look entirely convinced so I added with a wink, "then afterwards we can talk about that 'Kama Sutra shit.'"

Hobbes jumped up quickly and pulled on his jacket. Hopefully we do more than just talk about it." The car keys jingled in his hand as we walked down the warehouse stairs. "So where does Adrianna live anyway?"

"Just outside town. South of here." That was the best I could do off the top of my head. The exact adress was on the list for later refference.

We climbed into the stupid beater that had replaced my Cammie. Neither of us talked or joked now that we were out in the cool darkness of the night. After all, what is there to talk about when you're about to kill a girl?

Once we reached Adrianna's street we parked the car along the side of the road and walked quietly up the sidewalk together. All the lights in her house were out apart from one upstairs bedroom. She was home alone. Of course she was. I'd had practice when it came to planning murders. I didn't take my job lightly.

"Alright babe, do your stuff," Hobbes said once we'd reached her porch. He assumed his position outside the door, keeping watch.

"Thanks," I purred. I pecked him quickly on the lips before getting to business. The front door was locked. I expected that, but it never hurt to try. I moved stealthily around the back, which opened easily.

People always forget to lock the back door.

I pulled my hood down as soon as I was inside. I didn't care about being undercover now. I wanted Adrianna to see me. I wanted to be able to look her in the eye; she needed to know why she was dying.

I found her upstairs in her room, listening to Taylor Swift and reading the newest issue of Vogue. Razor blade in hand, I leaned casually in the doorway, feeling like a total bad ass.

"You know," I began, smiling as Adrianna gasped, "that issue really wasn't so great. The cover's fab, but the make-up tips are seriously lacking."

Once the screaming stopped, she managed to choke out, "M-Maia? How... y-you're... you're dead. I went to your funeral! You... you... you ki-"

"Killed myself, yeah," I shrugged, "death wasn't really my thing."

The little blonde gaped at me from behind her glasses, her mouth opeining and closing like a fish. She sat shaking on her bed, scooting herself up against the wall. Silly little fish, she only cornered herself.

My smile widened as I continued, "However, I think it would look good on you. Red is totally your color."

Minutes later, I was wedging the bloody razor in between Adrianna's quickly cooling fingers. She was left handed. I penned an apology to her parents, to her friends, and to her cat, Snickerdoodle, and closed her empty hand around it.

"I would say I'm sorry," I said quietly. Adrianna was curled halfway into fetal position, and the pool of blood around her was quickly growing larger. Her parents were gonna come home to one hell of a mess. "I would love to say sorry.... but you never did."

I crossed her name off the list. I was one kill closer to him.

As I left her room, I ignored the pictures on the walls. I didn't want to think of her family, of what suffering they would go through, because my parents went through the same. This revenge was supposed to make me feel better, and so I comforted myself with the fact that Adrianna's funeral would be much smaller than mine.

"Done?" Hobbes asked when I made my way back around to the front of the house.

"Done," I responded, pulling my hood back up around my face.

Hobbes was quiet for a minute, but then he asked. "What did Adrianna do to you?" His tone wasn't accusatory, it was gentle. He was asking for my sake, not her's.

I bit my lip and looked down. "She was one of the people I told. She laughed at me and told me I was overreacting."

Hobbes didn't say anything, he just pulled me into a hug. "Then the world is better off without people like that."

I hugged him back and buried my face in his neck. I didn't love Hobbes. If given the choice I would never choose to date him. But when it came to getting revenge, I couldn't ask for a better partner in crime.