A New Queen

Chapter 4

      The weather had become unbearable. Somehow, during the last few sleepless nights, the weather had become unbelievably cold. Just a few seconds outside had made her fingers numb. 

       "It has to be below freezing," Lauren thought, grabbing a frayed sweater from her closet. She winced as a dull, buzzing pain passed through her skull, making her drop it. "This cold is giving me a fucking headache."

      She stomped down the stairs, ignoring how the noise made her head throb. She ignored the hair and how tired she still felt. She ignored the lack of snow or frost on the ground. She ignored the loud buzzing noises coming from her car as she pulled out of the driveway. She ignored it up until she saw the bees on her windshield. 

      For some reason, she felt the need to scream, and she wasn't sure if it would be out of anger or fear. She felt her heartbeat quickening, and her breath did the same. The edges of her vision grew fuzzy, until all she could see were the black and yellow shapes on her windshield. 

       She felt her foot on the gas pedal, pushing further and further down. She was barely aware of how both she and her car were careening towards disaster. She was too afraid to move a muscle. She could hear the buzzing, louder and louder, closer and closer and then...

      the bees flew away.

       She slammed her foot down on the brakes. She could feel the car lift slightly before hitting the ground at a full stop. 

      All at once, her bodily functions resumed. She rushed out of the car, shaking. Sitting on the ground, she replayed the event in her head. She wasn't sure why the fear had paralyzed all but her foot or why she couldn't seem to realize how fast she was going.  She pulled herself onto the grass as quickly as she possibly could, scurrying away from the car as though it were on fire. She sat on the ground crying and trying to forget everything.

      She wasn't quite sure how long she sat on the ground for. All she knew was that by the time she got up and approached her car, the sun had long since risen. She hated the thought of getting back into that car, but she had to check on Hive 1. 

      In the days after bringing the new queen to the hive and giving the hive time to become familiar with her, along with introducing her, she hadn't checked on the hive, too focused on selling honey. Last she checked the hives had been doing fine, preparing for winter well, or so Dean said. But she needed to grab more honey. The locals always got a little cranky when she sold out. It was unnerving to see how they looked at her when she had to inform them that she was didn't have any more. 

      Starting the car, she looked around. The road was deserted. It comforted her to know that no one had witnessed her freak out. She began the drive, focusing on everything except for the windshield.

      Hive 1 wasn't doing well. Some of the bees flew mindlessly around, circling their hive for no reason that Lauren could see. The rest wandered around on foot, ignoring her entirely. 

      The hive itself looked as though it had been left to the elements for years. The hive was soggy, though the last few days had been hot and dry. The beginnings of mold had begun to sprout on it, creating a rotting smell that radiated from within. Lauren hated the thought of approaching it. 

       Her first thought was to look for the queen. She should have been easy to spot, but upon closer inspection, she couldn't be located, and no matter how much she combed through the sea of black and yellow, the queen bee couldn't be found. She gave up and began the walk to the shed, when she noticed a circle on the ground where the bees were congregating. 

She took a step. 

And then another one. 

Closer and closer she walked, somehow knowing what she would find. 

More bees gathered around the circle, as though they had planned for her to see this. 

And that's when she found the dead queen.

She screamed.