Hatchetfield Stories

Farewell, Honey Queen

WARNING: This story contains MAJOR Honey Queen spoilers. Do not read if you haven't seen Honey Queen yet.

TRIGGER WARNINGS:
-Death
-Gore
-(verbal) Abuse

-------

"River's safe. Everything's okay."

Linda breathes a sigh of relief as she stares at the text on her phone, her mangled fingers throbbing as they struggle to hold the device.

She stumbles down the stairs and towards the stage. Of course, this is the moment she had been waiting for, but she's far too exhausted to pay attention when Henry Hidgens calls out her name, and only when she hears the other contestants congratulating her, she realizes she won. A smile creeps onto her face and instictively, her hand goes to the phone in her pocket. We did it, Gerald.

She doesn't want to think about the implications when her phone goes over, and she hears Gerald's cheery voice.

"Hey, you've reached doctor Gerald Monroe of Innerbeauty Cosmetic Clinic. I'm not available right now, but if you leave your name and number, I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Beep.

"Gerald, I did it! They all tried to stop me, but I did it!"

She had heard the gunshots outside, but still, she kept talking.

"We... we did it. I want to thank you, Gerald, for believing in me. I know I'm not the easiest person to live with... I... I can be cold, and cruel. And I don't remember the last time I said it, but... But I... I love you, Gerald. I just wanted to tell you that."

But it's too late...

"There's also a body hanging from the fucking rafters and I need you to help me get rid of it so where the hell are you?!"

He must still be alive, right? He has to be. He has to help her out, he always does...

"Linda!" the all too familiar voice of her father called out from behind her. "It's hard for me to admit when I'm wrong," he says as she quickly spins around, wiping the single tear from her face. "But I was wrong. I didn't think you had what it takes to win this... competition. But I'm proud of you, Pigl- Honey Queen."

The tear she'd just wiped away was already replaced by three new ones. Thirty-six years, Thirty-six years of hoping to ever hear him say those few words.

"Come with me," he says, a smile on his face.

"I really should wait for Gerald. You know, find the kids..."

And find out if he's alive...

*** *** ***

"It's said that when the Honey Queen is crowned, she leaves Hatchetfield forever, onto bigger and better things. That's true, in a way... She comes here, for the offering."

What.

Linda looks at the mutilated pigs that seemed to appear out of nowhere, disgusted.

"God, that stinks!" her nose burns, and she waves her hand in an attempt to get rid of the flies that swarm around the clearing. "What the hell do you think is out here and why would you offer a bunch of dead pigs?!"

Roman chuckles. "Oh, no no no. That's not the offering. You are." He smiles at his daughter, his eyes filled with rage. "Nibbly is unique amongst his brothers. For one night a year on the eve of the honey festival, Nibblenephim, a Lord in Black, may walk upon the Earth, if he's given the flesh to inhabit. And when he comes, he must feast!"

"Linda, you didn't win the competition because of that egregious song. I'm not a fan of rap music. You won because of everything else you were willing to do." He smiles sadly. "We know about the dead girl in the rafters. That's why you won. You wanted it the most! You were the hungriest! Nibbly is a creature of hunger, of desire, passion! That's what makes you taste so sweet to him, the sweetest woman in Hatchetfield."

Rough hands grab hold of Linda, forcing her hands together with a zip tie, which digs into her wrists as she struggles. "What do you think you're doing?! Get your hands off me!"

"Linda, don't embarrass me! You wanted to be the Honey Queen and that comes with certain obligations!" Yes, I will embarrass you, she thinks, and it'll be the last thing I do. Literally.

The hands drag her to the pile of dead pigs despite her heels that dig into the mud. "Gerald?! Gerald, help me!"

"Gerald can't help you now, he's dead," her father tells her, though he seemed more relieved than anything. "But don't worry about the boys." Yeah, that's what she's worried about, definitely not the corpses at her feet she'll soon join. "In exchange for our offering, Nibbly will gift us wealth and power. We will raise your sons to be strong charismatic men! Just like me!"

"No..." Not like him. All she ever wanted was to raise her boys to be kind men. She had already failed, of course. But like her father, that was a step too far.

"Farewell, Honey Queen, blessed she be! Thank you for this bountiful harvest!"

"And the farmer said to mock it, with you," he sang, smiling wickedly.

Linda watches in terror as the pigs rise and melt together into one creature, a furry pink monster, with a mouth easily big enough for her to fit in.

Hopefully he was right about Gerald, she thinks as the jaw closes and the sharp teeth rip off her head, then she would be able to see him again.