prom queen

“You literally are. And I didn’t say we should hurt it, I just thought it might be wise to keep it a bit further from your face until we figure out why it came back from the dead. And I know you’re committed to your baths, but I feel like that might not be the best idea at the moment. And will you put some clothes on!” She snapped at the clone. The question about her name stopped Lyra short and she furrowed her brows slightly, not realizing she had. “Oh, uh, sorry, I didn’t really realize that I had.” 

Lyra wanted to be annoyed when she called her ‘Angry Lyra”, but instead she let out a light chuckle. If nothing else, she could always depend on the other woman to make her laugh. “Okay, how about this. We had a project together in 10th grade. It was on To Kill a Mockingbird.” 

“I’m positive that being a werewolf isn’t normal,” she scowled, voice softening at Lyra’s anger, flinching at her words. “Lyra...” She turned to the half-naked woman, nose twitching as she struggled to find a scent that would place her as being an impostor. She was all Lyra’s shampoo and soap, nothing Cecelia felt was off. “It’s fine, tiger,” she sighed, “I’m just not used to hearing it out of anyone but my mom. Besides, I think you look great in nothing but a towel.” The blonde smiled.

“Convincing,” she tapped her lip, pretending to think. There was no doubt in her mind that the clothed one was Lyra, the smell notably her; but she’d have her fun with it. “But everyone did To Kill a Mockingbird in tenth grade. What do you got sexy-Lyra?” She gestured to the one in the towel. 

“I have a knife,” The woman shifted closer, hand behind her back.

“What are you so worried about?” She frowned, refusing to let go of the rabbit at all. She blinked, eyes darting between the two women. From here, she could smell the Lyra close to her—a scent she knew and loved. Her nose too weak to pick up the other scent. “One of you isn’t Lyra, right? So just tell me something only Lyra would know.” She shrugged, stepping out of the brunette’s grip and moving towards the woman in the towel. “Hey, don’t be mean to…yourself.” She patted Mr. Floppy-Ears. “Come on, it’s fine.“ 

“I’m worried because this isn’t natural. Something is going on here, and I have no idea what, but I’m inclined to believe it’s probably not good.” Lyra responded irritably as Cecelia stepped away. “Hold on,” Before she could say anything else, the Clone Lyra grinned, stepping forward. “As clever as whatever made you, well, made you, it’s pretty obvious that you’re the clone. Cecelia, I know that your bunny’s name is Mr. Floppy Ears..” Actual Lyra shook her head incredulously from where she was standing by the door. “This is insane. Celia, I’m the real Lyra. I was literally texting you earlier ten minutes ago. Why would I text you if I was already in the house? Also,” She turned to look at the clone, “She’s literally said the rabbit’s name like, five times.”

"I like books," the woman said, slowly moving towards them. 

"Yeah," she shrugged, "sounds about right. How about you, angry-Lyra?" 

Seeing two visions of Lyra felt like a dream, in fact it had been a dream she’d had. Much like the reality, Lyra was there in a towel…although the other Lyra was far less furious–but that was neither here nor there. “What…” she stepped back, Mr. Floppy-Ears close to her chest. “I–is–okay, fantasy aside, is this normal?” She asked the Lyra beside her, then turned to the one down the hall. “You look nice like that though,” she smiled. Perhaps she should have shared the alarm, but in her mind, the more Lyra the merrier. “But one of you isn’t a killer robot now, right?”

Part of Lyra felt guilty about having to rain on Cecelia’s parade, but the other, larger part didn’t want to die by a zombie-bunny attack. “Ce-” Before she could say much more, the sound of a door opening and closing echoed through the house, followed by the appearance of- herself?- wrapped in nothing but a towel, her hair dripping on the wood floors. “I am out of the shower,” She- it?- stated. As much as she prided herself on finding better words than swears to describe confusion or distaste, that all went out the window at that moment. “What the fuck is this fucking shit?”

Seeing two visions of Lyra felt like a dream, in fact it had been a dream she’d had. Much like the reality, Lyra was there in a towel...although the other Lyra was far less furious--but that was neither here nor there. “What...” she stepped back, Mr. Floppy-Ears close to her chest. “I--is--okay, fantasy aside, is this normal?” She asked the Lyra beside her, then turned to the one down the hall. “You look nice like that though,” she smiled. Perhaps she should have shared the alarm, but in her mind, the more Lyra the merrier. “But one of you isn’t a killer robot now, right?”

Normally seeing Cecelia in such a great mood would’ve put Lyra in an equally pleased mood as well, but her stomach was twisting and between everything else, she couldn’t muster more than a half hearted smile. “No, really, I just got home. My hair’s dry and everything.” Absently, she patted the bunny’s head, more to have a hold on it, just in case, scanning the room for anything suspicious. “He is rather cute, though I also mentioned that zombies have to feed on living flesh, so that doesn’t really bode well for holding a potentially zombie-fied bunny three inches from that face that I like so much.”

Sensing her girlfriend’s--though she wasn’t sure if she could call Lyra that--reluctance she frowned. “I saw you go into your bathroom,” she sighed, she wanted to talk about the rabbit, not Lyra’s shower--as amusing as the visual of it was. “He hasn’t tried to eat any flesh so far,” she pouted, “it’s fine, he doesn’t even have sharp teeth anyway.” The werewolf, smiled down at the bunny and then back up at Lyra. “Say, can we take him into the bath with us? I think bunnies can swim.” 

Lyra pulled her car into the driveway with a screech of the tires, practically jumping out of the car. Between Kaia not answering her texts anymore and the walking dead episode they’d all apparently fallen into, she was kind of panicking. Pushing the door open, she was suddenly incredibly happy that her house wasn’t very large as she spotted Cecelia on the couch immediately, though her relief disappeared a moment later when she was the animal in her arms. The one that was dead before the zombie apocalypse decided to start. “What shower? I just got home.” She furrowed her brows in confusion, before focusing on the ball of fluff in her girlfriend’s arms. “Celia, I don’t think you should have that rabbit in here, cute as it is. Wasn’t it dead earlier?”

The blonde chuckled, bouncing up to Lyra’s side. It hurt to partake in her usual energetic step, but she was happy, so she couldn’t help it either way. “Sure thing, tiger. And I’m the queen of England and all that. I’m only offended I didn’t get to join your wonderful shower,” she smiled, pressing a quick kiss to Lyra’s cheek before stepping back. “Look at him!” she lifted Mr. Floppy-Ears up to Lyra’s eye level. “Aw, come on, I don’t think he was ever really dead. Plus, who cares? Didn’t you say zombies were real? Maybe he’s a cute zombie bunny.” She brought the bunny to her face and kissed it. “Aren’t you, Mr. Floppy-Ears?”

Top 50 Movie Villains

#37. The Killer Rabbit Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)