Chapter 216: I really liked you

As Elvira crept out of the forest and started to head back to the mansion, there was only one thought left running through her mind: if she was going down, she was going to take everyone else with her.

She would not go down alone.

First, she sprinted back toward the overgrown path she had memorized, intending to sneak into the mansion through the back door that was rarely ever used.

She quickened her pace, eyes peeled and hyper-alert. Her mind raced with desperate strategies, calculating the best way to execute her final plan.

She would have to slip into the kitchen first, retrieve the poison she had given Martha months ago, and poison the food supply. The mansion should still be largely empty, as most of the guards hadn’t returned from the hospital yet, making it the perfect way to infiltrate unseen.

She would also need to evade the maids and everyone else. She knew she could do it; she had done it years before when she successfully framed one of Dorian’s guards out of pure spite.

By the time she reached the path leading to the back entrance, it was past noon. Cara and Sophie had vanished from the garden, but the side door was locked tight.

She waited in the shade for a few minutes, ensuring no one would emerge to catch her in the open. When she was certain the coast was clear, she hurried out and sprinted for the back door.

It was unlocked, just as she had predicted. She slipped inside, quietly kicking off her shoes. Her heart hammered against her ribs so violently she was certain the entire house could hear it.

She tiptoed down the long, dim passage, regulating her breathing to total silence. Suddenly, voices echoed from the far end of the hallway, causing her to freeze in her tracks.

She pressed her back hard against the wall, praying silently to any god that would listen to get her through this, while ignoring the fact that she was about to do something terrible and monstrous.

Fortunately, the voices faded away down the cross-hall. She hurried forward until she reached the large archway leading into the living room.

The living room was completely empty.

Sucking in a deep breath, she dashed across the open space and raced toward the adjoining door that led straight into the kitchen.

?Suddenly, the sound of Alyssa’s and Pandora’s voices drifted down from the stairs. Terror seized her, paralyzing her limbs for several seconds as panic clouded her mind.

At the last second, she bolted into the hallway and shoved her way into the kitchen. At this hour, it was vacant. Lunch had already been prepared, meaning the household would be filing down to eat shortly.

She slammed the kitchen door shut behind her, ducked quickly and crawled beneath the kitchen island. She had barely managed to tuck herself into the square shaped corner when the door swung open.

She held her breath, her chest burning as someone stepped into the kitchen. From the hallway, Alyssa’s voice cut through the quiet.

"Pandora? What’s wrong?"

Pandora stepped past the threshold, scanning the kitchen with narrowed, suspicious eyes. "I don’t know," she murmured. "I thought I saw someone hurry in here."

Alyssa appeared beside the doorway, peering cautiously into the room. "Maybe it was just a maid grabbing supplies. Come on, I want to check on Zed at the hospital. I already told Dorian before he left. Alec is taking us."

Pandora lingered for a second, glaring across the kitchen one last time, before stepping backward and pulling the door shut.

However, just as their footsteps began to recede toward the front entrance, a shrill, blood-curdling scream pierced the silence of the mansion.

Alyssa let out a sharp gasp, her head snapping up toward the stairs. "That’s Samantha! Something’s wrong!"

She and Pandora bolted back toward the stairs, racing frantically toward Samantha’s room where the scream had originated.

Grateful for the sudden distraction, Elvira scrambled out from beneath the island. Everything was working in her favor; Dorian was out of the estate, and if her instincts were right, that scream meant disaster had struck Samantha just as Conri had assured her.

?She rushed straight to the pantry, where hundreds of glass jars and spice bottles lined the shelves. It took only a second to spot the distinct jar she had handed Martha months ago.

Her jaw dropped, her eyes widening in pure disbelief. It was still completely sealed. Martha had never put it in Alyssa’s food.

"Oh, you fucking bitch, Martha," she hissed under her breath, a surge of wild rage roaring through her veins. All this time, she had believed her trap was laid, only to realize the old woman had failed her.

Pushing the fury aside, she bolted out of the pantry and crossed to the massive, steaming pot of food. The rich aroma hit her nostrils as she wrenched the lid off. Chicken soup and rice. Too bad none of them would live long to digest a single bite.

She unscrewed the jar and dumped the entire contents of the brown powder into the broth, smirking with dark satisfaction as it dissolved completely.

Good. Phase one was complete. Now she just needed to slip up to Dorian’s study and wait for him to return.

She capped the empty jar, shoved it deep beneath the island, and pivoted toward the door.

Suddenly, it swung open again, and Martha stepped into the kitchen.

Elvira froze, every drop of blood draining from her face. Martha stopped dead in her tracks, staring at Elvira, then at the soup pot with the lid slightly disturbed. Realization slowly dawned on her.

"Miss Elvira?" she whispered, slipping further into the kitchen and frantically reaching behind her to lock the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Don’t scream if you value your life," Elvira warned in a cold whisper. In a flash, she lunged forward, grabbing Martha by the arm and dragging her violently into the pantry. "Make a single sound, and I’ll slit your throat right here."

Martha’s hands flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. "Please, I won’t tell anyone you’re here," she sobbed, trembling from fear. "Please don’t hurt me."

"Shut your mouth!" Elvira hissed, abandoning any pretense of restraint. Knowing there was no turning back, she let the full weight of her madness show. "I’m going to ask you a question, and you better answer immediately. Understand?"

Martha nodded rapidly, terrified to utter a single whimper. She considered screaming for help, but she knew Elvira was fast enough, and crazy enough, to tear her apart before help could arrive.

"Why didn’t you put that powder in Alyssa’s food?" Elvira demanded. "I gave it to you months ago to help her with conceiving, yet you abandoned it. Why?"

Tears streamed uncontrollably down Martha’s weathered cheeks as she stared into Elvira’s bloodshot eyes.

"I forgot," she whimpered, shaking her head. "I swear on my life, Miss Elvira. With everything that has been happening, it slipped my mind..."

"I’m going to fucking kill you," Elvira whispered, the threat dripping with venom. "If I’m going down today, I’ll drag every last one of you into hell with me."

The kitchen door suddenly swung open, and Cara stepped in, calling out loudly for Martha.

Elvira turned sharply toward the sound, momentarily distracted, and Martha seized the opportunity to act.

With a desperate surge of adrenaline, she shoved Elvira to the side with both hands and bolted out of the pantry, her face pale with terror.

"CARA!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "CALL THE LUNA! ELVIRA IS H..."

The words were brutally cut short as Elvira lunged across the kitchen, hooking her fingers into Martha’s hair and yanking her backward.

Cara let out a strangled shriek before whirling around and tearing out of the kitchen, screaming frantically for Alyssa and Pandora.

Elvira knew time had totally run out. She couldn’t afford to waste another second getting to Dorian’s study. But she wasn’t about to leave Martha behind as a witness.

She slammed the weeping woman to the floor and straddled her, pressing her clawed hands against her throat.

"I really liked you, Martha," she whispered into her ear with a chilling calm. "But I can’t let you ruin this plan for me."

With one swift motion, she ripped out Martha’s throat, a manic grin stretching across her face as a violent torrent of blood sprayed across the kitchen tiles.

By the time Cara rushed back into the kitchen accompanied by Alyssa and Samantha, Elvira was gone.

And Martha lay dead on the floor.

"Oh, goddess," Cara whispered in horror, her legs buckling beneath her as she dropped hard to her knees. "Oh... oh, Martha..."

Alyssa and Pandora stood paralyzed at the threshold, their eyes blown wide, faces entirely drained of color. The brutality of the scene was overwhelming, and Pandora instantly reached out, turning Alyssa’s face away before the trauma could shatter her completely.

"She was in the house," she choked out, her voice trembling with rising panic. "Elvira was inside the house. We need Dorian! Now!"