Page 46 of Locked
CHAPTERTWELVE
Zelle
long-hair-dont-careposted:
Guys… I am seriously starting to get worried about Basil. He's listless… not talking for long periods on end. I have no idea what's going on…
As a result, I don't have many other updates for you. My Rapunzel plants are doing alright. And my replants of all my vegetables seem to be coming along.
I started some more catnip for Basil, maybe that will snap him out of his funk? What do you guys think?
Well, I have to go. Mother's coming for a visit. Maybe she'll know something I can do for him. You guys have a great day, okay?
~~monday, early morning~~
Mother arrived on Monday morning, promptly at seven, just like usual.
And I knew from the second she arrived that it was not going to be a good visit.
I'd instructed Basil to act listless and sick, and to stay in my room, but it didn't seem to matter, because she stormed past me without even asking where my cat was. She stomped into the kitchen and began throwing open cupboards and cabinets. Looking for something, but what, I didn't know.
"Mother?" I asked, keeping my voice low and timid.
She didn't respond. So, I tried again.
"Mother?"
She rounded on me, her hands squeezing and destroying the loaf of bread I'd baked the day before. She tore it apart in her hands, letting the pieces fall to the floor like clumpy, gluten-y snow. "What are you hiding from me, Rapunzel?"
I frowned, shaking my head. "I don't know what you're--"
She sneered up at me, stalking toward me, all the while clutching the destroyed bread in her hands. Small pieces left a trail of destruction from the counter to where she now stood in front of me. She glared up at me, trying in vain to straighten her back and failing to do so.Glaringas if that would make me spill my guts.
"You're hiding something. I know you are. I can tell by how it smells around here…"
I tried not to allow panic to creep into my body. Instead, I held myself up and tried to look appropriately meek. She didn't like it when I stood up for myself, and I was trying to get through this visit without rocking the boat too much.
"I'm not hiding anything from you, Mother… maybe the smell is Basil. He's not doing very well lately…" I trailed off, sniffing.
She practically grinned with glee. "Oh, isn't he? He's doing poorly, is he? The poor, old dear."
Her tone made me grit my teeth. I wanted to hex the smirk off her face, but I knew better than to go up against Mother. I'd been working on my magic, sure. But it was all defensive spells and unlocking charms.
Internet magic and ways to ensure I wouldn't ever be without the outdoors again.
All unbeknownst to Mother, of course. She hadn't ever meant for me to learn the magic I was learning. She merely wanted me to work on my plants and stay in my place.
The thing was, she wasn't wrong. There were alotof things I was hiding. Video chatting with my guys. Plural. My cat wasn't dying because I destroyed the poisoned food she had brought him. Learning and honing my magic without her knowledge.
It could have been anyoneof the things she was smelling. But since there were so many, she wasn't able to pinpoint where it was coming from.
Good.
I wasn't sure when the absolute shift in my thoughts about Mother happened, but I could venture a guess that it happened somewhere in the few seconds after she'd brought the poisoned food for Basil. I stopped defending her. And started plotting to get away.
Even if I died in the blast from the tower's explosion, I didn't want to spend any more time in this high rise than I absolutely had to. I didn't want to waste away waiting for her to come up and bring me things. To pretend that her control and manipulation was actually love. To pretend that she gave a shit about me. That she cared about more than whether I was fully under her thumb or not.
Fuck her.
