TAINTED REMNANTS: VOLUME 1

CHAPTER 7: THE BLACKBIRD'S JUDGEMENT

11:59 PM

01/09/2020

At the table she sat at with Dylan and Brooke twice now, Millie did her best to figure out a plan. At first, she thought of using electricity, but that would be hard for her to use. Where could she even get a taser from? How about gasoline? That could work, but where? If she wanted to use gasoline, she had to figure out a good place to use it, maybe lure Freddy somewhere. She was sure he'd follow her anywhere. Of course, that was probably what he'd want her to think. She was probably overthinking it, but she couldn't be too careful either.

"Millie?" Dylan asked.

Millie blinked, looking up from her food tray and focusing her gaze on Dylan.

"Are you okay? You look like your mind's just been somewhere else for a minute." Dylan said.

"Um, yeah. Sorry. Just a lot on my mind." Millie said.

"School?" Dylan asked.

"I.... Guess? I don't know. There's just been a lot going on recently, and school is one of those things, so... you're not far off." Millie figured it would be best if she told a half truth.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Brooke spoke up.

Millie paused, then shook her head. "No. Not right now."

"Oh, okay. Sorry then." Brooke said.

"It's fine. You don't have to worry." Millie assured them. That would probably make them worry more though.

"I hope not. Your poor, cute cat probably doesn't want to deal with a mopey Millie." Brooke said.

Millie laughed. "No, she's not really a fan of my mopeyness." She herself wasn't sure of that. It wasn't like her cat really cared about her feelings. That much was evident whenever she scratched up her clothes mistaking them for something to climb on. Of course, Annabel Lee was also always snuggling up against her, so either she owned a cat whose mood changed on a dime, or just a cat that was repeatedly trying to get on her good side whenever she did something bad.

"I showed Dylan the pictures." Brooke spoke up.

"Yeah. She looks pretty cool." Dylan said.

"Well, thanks for all the nice comments of my cat." Millie said.

"Don't you mean 'clawmments.'" Brooke joked.

Millie feigned a groan. "Puns... god, no."

"Oh, come on! It was so good! You can't tell me that wasn't funny!" Brooke argued while giggling.

"Brooke, you do realize that puns are the lowest form of humor, right?" Dylan said while crossing his arms and giving her a disappointed glare.

"So what? Doesn't mean it's ineffective." Brooke argued.

"At making people get away from you." Millie said.

"So what? That just means only the worthy can be around me." Brooke said.

"The worthy? If anyone likes puns, I don't think they're worthy of anything." Dylan said, making Brooke laugh.

Millie didn't know how she could be jealous of this in the first place. It was impossible now for her to feel the same resentment she felt before Christmas. Their joy was starting to become infectious. This was what it meant to have friends, real friends. She missed this feeling.

"Anyway, you probably didn't hear what I was saying while you were in Millieville, did you?" Dylan asked.

"No. Sorry. What were you talking about?" Millie asked.