Digging Up Old Bones
Part XIV
The sun's rays refracted through the atmosphere leaving trails of brilliant oranges and reds in it's wake. Bright streams lit up the sky, passing over the light cyan sky behind it. Unfortunately dark grey clouds blocked out this magnificent sight from the eyes of those who resided in Lethe and as far down as Mt Sinagashi so Tiffani never got to see it. Even if it was visible she wouldn't have been basking in Nature's beauty, she'd have been looking at the ground as she currently was. Half a black bug that was sticking out of the ground behind her tavern caught her eye. After kicking it away she realised it wasn't a bug, it was from the arachnia family. A scorpion. She picked it up and turned it upside down.
"How did you get here?" she spoke to the dead critter. Her eyes fell to the dirt mound under her feet. "No..." she said in a low voice.
Tiffani threw the scorpion to the side, picked up the shovel that leaned against the tavern wall and started digging. About a metre down she hit wood and hastened her shovelling. Once the lid was visible she dropped the shovel and dug the rest out with her hands. After a bit of trouble she managed to get the lid open. Save for a snake, it was empty. Tiffani was expecting to see Felicity in a riggor mortus stage.
A scream of rage came up her windpipe and through her voicebox but was never heard. She covered her mouth and let it seap through her hands. She managed to supress most of her anger, surprisingly. Alex would be back soon and she didn't want him knowing she knew his dirty secret. Before she jumped to conclusions she wanted to see if she lived, and she knew exactly where her sister would have gone. If Alex was behind it, which seemed like the only likely explanation, she would make him pay dearly for his betrayal.
Tiffani heard Alex walk through the door as she had just finished heaping the last bit of dirt over the coffin. She ran around the front and walked in after him.
"Evening Alex." she said casually, her soul wanting to reach out and gut him the moment she set her eyes on him. "Evening... Tiffani? What happened to you? You're filthy!" he said in surprise. She looked over herself, forgetting she was covered in dirt. "Oh, got in a brawl. He won't mess with me again." she shrugged. Alex just laughed. It was almost time to open the tavern.
"Alex, I'll be going to Zuben for the next two days, so would you mind looking after the tavern for me while I'm gone? I don't trust anyone else with it." she asked, rubbing dirt off her hands. "Sure. When do you leave?" Alex replied as he started washing some shotglasses. "Right now. I'll see you when I return. Thank you." she said with a wave. "Wha? Now?" he asked in shock, almost dropping a glass. "You break that and you pay for it." she muttered, closing the front door after her.
She went to her little tent around from the tavern and grabbed some clothes, a vial of poison, bottle of ale, her hairbrush and closed the tent. A short walk later, she arrived at her destination.
Sure enough, Felicity was inside the house just as Tiffani predicted. Why Felicity didn't run out of town as soon as she had the chance, Tiffani didn't understand but this just made her job a hell of a lot easier. Tiffani pulled her cloak over her eyes, stashed her bag near the door and knocked loudly. A woman answered the door, and Tiffani recognised her, even with the added years to her life.
"May I help you?" she asked warily, trying to peek under the hood. "Yes, actually. You can get out of my way." Tiffani said, advancing on her and jabbing her stomach with a brown-stained dagger. Tiffani shoved her fist in the woman's mouth to stop her from yelling, expecting her to bite her hand, and as such she did bite. Tiffani took her throbbing hand out with a smirk, unsheathed her second dagger and slit a neat line across her throat as the woman gasped for air. Blood squirted out from her arteries as Tiffani pushed her to the floor, her dagger freeing itself from the torn flesh of her stomach lining. Tiffani shook her head.
"You didn't even try to scream for your ex-almost daughter-in-law." she sighed, walking inside as blood dripped off the blades that hung by her side.
"Clarise who was that?" a voice came from a bedroom. A dark glare came across Tiffani's face. She scanned the rooms until she came to the end one where Felicity was sitting on a bed folding clothes.
"How the HELL did you survive?! I buried you!" Tiffani growled. Felicity froze, her back to Tiffani. "Tiffani?" she said, the fear obvious in her voice. "Just answer me one question and I'll let you live this night. Alex did it didn't he?" she said venomously.
Felicity turned slowly to face her, the color drained from her usually rosy cheeks. "Where is Clarise?" Felicity said quickly as her eyes fell to the daggers. "Answer the goddamn question!" Tiffani said, walking up to her and pointing a dagger at her neck. "Alex did what?" she asked with a quiver. "He dug you back up while I was off chasing the fucking man who Derrick sent after me." Tiffani said, her anger apparent in the tone of her voice. "Y... yes he did. But only because he understands. He has a sister who he protects." Felicity said in his defence.
"Oh? He did, did he?" she said sinisterly. "Does." Felicity corrected her. "Not by the time I'm through with him." She smirked. "You are PURE EVIL!" Felicity said, her voice raising. "Thank you but I can't be greedy. My God deserves some of the credit. Now turn around, I don't wanna see your ugly mug anymore." she said, her eyes flashing with power. Felicity pouted, turning obediently. "You said you wouldn't hurt me." Felicity noted. "Not this night." Tiffani repeated herself, ripping a pair of pants Felicity had folded and binded her hands together tightly.
"Ow! What are you going to do to me this time?" Felicity asked sadly. "Binding you is becoming a habit isn't it? At least I'm getting practice at tying knots. You won't be able to get out of this without help, and clearly Clarise can't." Tiffani said, gagging and binding Felicity's feet too. "Now be a good girl and stay in here." Tiffani smiled.
She walked out the front and dragged the dead woman into the room where Felicity was, a trail of blood leading into it. Felicity screamed through the cloth when she saw Clarise but only a muffled hum was released. "I'll keep her in here to watch over you, just in case you try to escape." Tiffani laughed maniacally, closing the door behind her. She walked to the kitchen and fetched something to eat all the while wondering where Lenard was. He should have been home too. Chewing on some dried fruit, she searched for a parchment and quill and when both were found she wrote out a note.
Lenard. Felicity returned and we've both decided to flee to the town of Braunach. She has guaranteed us a room there where we'll be safe. This is out chance to live normal lives again. We have already left, and we took all your belongings again. Don't even bother going inside, just join us when you can. Derrick won't be coming with us, I'll explain when I see you next.
Love Clarise.
Tiffani re-read it and grinned. "Perfect. I'll let him find his wife's rotting body once I'm through with Alex. So much to do, so little time." she said to herself, laying the letter on the front step. She covered the pool of blood in sand, which was highly abundant around those parts, and closed the front door, picked up her bag and left for her next stop.