#frigidwitch

Coomer slides the shotgun under his arm.

"...We'll be leaving now."

"...The Queen will make your eyes his own; you'll live out the rest of your days under his watch. And when he eventually buries you, you'll both end up right back here, right in my garden, right in the dirt where you belong. It's only a matter of time."

Coomer hesitates, before releasing Herda. She doesn't move, merely glaring at Bubby and Coomer.

Coomer makes his way over to Bubby, helping him up. Bubby leans onto Coomer, and they begin to limp away.

Bubby and Coomer are silent.

Herda is silent.

The flowers are not.

"Employer?! I don't have - if you mean the Queen, you wouldn't dare!"

"YOU CAN DO IT, HERDA!"

Herda rushes forward.

She doesn't make it very far.

Bubby grabs Herda's leg and tries to drag her down with him.

"GET OFF!"

She slashes wildly at his arm. Bubby screams. Her attention is elsewhere for only a moment, but that's all Coomer needs.

"Coomer, help!"

Coomer lunges for the shotgun. Herda makes no attempt to fight back, to even move.

He grapples with the firearm for only a moment.

Coomer takes the shot.

You hear the dull click of an empty shotgun.

"You're both so dramatic..."

She turns the knife on Coomer.

"We wouldn't want a mess, now would we?"

-☁️

Bubby is on the ground. Only a small distance spares him from the flower bed. Blood is seeping out of a wound travelling up his leg. He attempts to sit back up.

Herda is standing above Bubby, wielding a knife.

Coomer jumps the fence, landing just beside Herda.

"You-"

"What was I thinking, what was I thinking-"

Before long, he's outside the gate to Herda's garden.

"...I told you to stay STILL! You're making this so difficult, you know."