Beautiful white snowflakes drifting down slowly, covering the ground and making everything sparkle...trees swaying gently in the wind...as for the weather..
IT. WAS. COLD.
Abigail had gone outside to veiw the beautiful scene from a new perspective, but was beginning to regret her desision. The snow seemed much less peaceful when it was getting in your shoes and freezing your toes. It was fun at first! She had made a snow-man, and shook branches to make the snow fall down, sparking like stardust. The icy breeze seemed to be going through her jacket, making her shiver. It had felt good before, before the wind had picked up and started driving snow into her face. She couldn't feel her hands. She wished she had told somebody that she was going outside! Her father would be angry for sure...tears of frustration ran down her face.
Through the now blinding snow, she stumbled in the direction she thought home was. The wind had swept away her tracks. Where was home? She hoped she would find home quickly. Her hands and feet were numb. Rather suddenly, she spotted a figure nearby. She called out to them, desperate to go inside. They were most likely a servant of her house, after all. And who in the world would try to hurt her? It just wouldn't make sense!
"Excuse me! Sir! Can you hear me?"
The figure turned, and came to her quickly. She had never seen him before, but they were dressed like a servant, so she didn't think twice about it. She looked up at the man. He smiled down at her. He looked surprised. "You shouldn't be out here in this blizzard. Come with me, I will take you back home." He took her hand, guiding her back to the house. Her teeth were chattering, and she wasn't in great shape.
As she entered the house, the warm air inside felt wonderful. The servant who had found her outside hurried off to get her some tea after guiding her to a fireplace to warm up. As she sat in front of the fire, she winced slightly at the prickling sensation of feeling coming back to her hands and feet. She waited eagerly for the warm cup of tea she would be drinking.
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The man grinned. It had almost been too easy. He had not expected his target to be wandering outside in the cold, waiting for help. Good thing she hadn't told anyone where she was going. That would have made things more difficult. Now that everyone was searching for her outside in the blizzard, nobody would find him here, or question him. Even if they did come, they would not question a servant making tea. As he carried the tea to where Abigail was sitting, he slipped a substance into the tea, and it dissolved instantly. Ah, the wonders of poison.
Nobody would suspect the cause of death to be a simple cup of tea!
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Abigail looked up as a gloved hand tapped her on the shoulder, and quickly took the cup of tea that was offered. She smelled the scent coming from it. It smelled wonderful! But, she swore something was a tad bit....off about the smell of it. She loved drinking tea, and could usually tell what sort of tea it was just by how it smelled. She looked up at the servant that gave her the tea. "Excuse me, but this tea seems rather....odd. What type of tea is it?"
She swore his smile faltered a little when she questioned the type of tea. "It is a new type of tea, imported from far away. You should try it." Abigail shrugged, not questioning him. She heard the outside door open, and people shouting about something. She heard her name among the shouting, and stood up. "I do wonder what all the commotion is about!" She started walking towards the door to the room.
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The man watched Abigail carefully as she took the cup of tea he offered. He smiled, keeping up with the servant act. He almost scowled when she didn't take a sip of it right away, questioning the sort of tea it was. 'Just get along with drinking it. I don't have all day. He made up some random excuse about it being foreign and that she should drink it.
Suddenly, the search party came back. He cursed, too quiet to hear. Not good! He watched with alarm as she decided to go investigate, walking to the door. He hurried after her, stepping in her way. They were right next to another door, which was cracked open. Because this was the way he got in, he knew it led to the Meeting Place. Abigail looked up at him, confused, taking a small step backward. "What are you doing?", She asked. He glanced at the room's entrance in alarm, as footsteps were coming this way down the hall.
The man didn't know what to do. He couldn't allow them to discover him in here, with the poisoned tea. They knew his face, and it would be quite suspicious for both the tea and him to be in the same room together with the girl. They could put two and two together, and he would be in huge trouble. He knew he needed to do something with the girl; something so she wouldn't be seen and the tea wouldn't be seen. The tea in her hand was the only cup in the room; the poison would take effect in that cup, so he hadn't needed more.
He heard the doorknob turning, and did the only thing that he could think of. He shoved Abigail through the open door, not knowing where it led. Both the tea and her would be gone, and he wouldn't be discovered. Hopefully. He didn't have time to go after her through the door. He closed it just as the people entered. The man faced the other way, pretending to search for someone or something. Someone shouted to him, "Have you seen Abigail?" He shook his head, and said, "No." The people continued along, and he smiled. He went over to the door, and tried to open it, but he found it was locked. Crap. He snuck out of the house when nobody was looking.
Oh well. She'll die anyway...and nobody will find her. Nobody will suspect she's there.
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Abigail was confused when the man had stepped in front of her. She had just begun to be suspicious of him when he shoved her through a door, leaving her completely shocked. She sailed down and hit...grass? She looked down at the ground below her, and at the door. Or...lack thereof. Her mouth dropped open. What? Where was she? What just happened?
She looked down at the tea. She had dropped it when she fell. It spilled all over the ground nearby. Standing up, she looked at the ground in distaste. Ew. Dirt. She brushed herself off. Then, she realized she had no way of going back now. She felt a bit afraid. Abigail realized that she had no survival skills, having never lived anywhere but the house she had just been taken from. She left the spilled tea and began cautiously walking around, exploring a little.
After a little while, she sat down. She hadn't found any people. Or anything interesting, for that matter. She was frustrated. Right then, she realized how lost she really was and started crying tears of frustration again. She had just wanted to go out in the snow. She had just wanted a cup of tea. She had just wanted to have fun, and look what happened now. It wasn't fair. Was there even anyone here to help her?
'Probably not.', she thought. She cried...
Because it was the only thing she knew to do.
