Rot & Romance (Rewriting)

Chapter 98

21 hours ago...

Farrah placed a hot mug of tea on the kitchen table before Jules and sat down opposite her.

"So, you couldn't sleep either?" Jules said, clasping her mug with both hands.

Farrah shook her head.

"I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing, Jules," she said. "Fawn is a child. She shouldn't be doing this kind of thing."

Jules sipped her tea and set her mug back on the table.

"Nature chose the child, Farrah. Clearly she has potential."

"She could get hurt. Or worse."

"Or she could create miracles."

Farrah dropped two honey cubes into her mug.

"I feel like a horrible mother for allowing her to get involved," she whispered, stirring her tea with a spoon.

"Do you not trust her?"

Farrah raised her mug to her lips and paused.

"It's not about trust, Jules. Of course I trust my baby. But Fawn's seventeen. The most she should be concerned about after school is watching reaction videos or how many followers she has on social media . . . or whatever the hell these kids are into today." Farrah sipped her tea.

Jules smiled and then sighed reflectively.

"Maybe she's like me. I've always been honored to be a servant of Nature. Never once have I hesitated to carry out Its will." She raised her mug. "I still remember my mama preaching about Nature every day after I was Touched. That It is all-powerful. That It sees beauty in all things under the sun. That we must never rebel against It. . . . That It is perfect. And I believed her every word." She sipped her tea. "I understand that the youth find it unfair that man-eating monsters were the product of our past sins and that we're still paying for it today. But it serves as a testament of how far humans are willing to go for power far beyond the realms of our control."

Farrah sipped her tea and smiled.

"You really do have an answer for everything, huh?"

"I've been doing this for nearly forty years." Jules grinned. "I know it's easy to forget, but I have twenty years on you, Farrah."

"You know witches are now using magic to keep a youthful appearance."

Jules playfully posed, pointing at her face.

"Not even magic could create this kind of beauty."

The women laughed. There was a short silence before Farrah spoke.

"I know my daughter. If Fawn decides to become heavily involved in all of this . . . she'll follow her own path and deal with the undead her own way. One that doesn't involve killing them. One she believes is right."

Jules took another sip of her tea.

"Well, it is Nature's decree to eliminate the undead. How we choose to do so is entirely up to us. Unfortunately . . . killing them is the only way. Witches have been seeking a cure to undeath for centuries to no avail." Jules leered at Farrah through the billowing steam from her mug. "I don't know if finding an alternative is worth the effort. The undead are monsters born from sin, only wearing the shells of their former selves."

Farrah nodded, staring into her mug.

"I witnessed Fawn crying out back earlier today. Right in front of the patch of burned grass where the undead boy's Shell once stood."