Once Upon A Time...

A horror/dramedy HLVRAI askblog loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" | Created and moderated by @lazygravez on Tumblr and @cozymaplemoth on Tapas

[frigidvrai]

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A horror/dramedy HLVRAI askblog

[frigidvrai]

End of Chapter 3

[frigidvrai]

Lost a shotgun, gained one (1) BLUNT INSTRUMENT

Coomer slides the shotgun under his arm.

"...We'll be leaving now."

"...The Queen will make your eyes his own; you'll live out the rest of your days under his watch. And when he eventually buries you, you'll both end up right back here, right in my garden, right in the dirt where you belong. It's only a matter of time."

Coomer hesitates, before releasing Herda. She doesn't move, merely glaring at Bubby and Coomer.

Coomer makes his way over to Bubby, helping him up. Bubby leans onto Coomer, and they begin to limp away.

Bubby and Coomer are silent.

Herda is silent.

The flowers are not.

"It's only a matter of time."

[frigidvrai]

SERIOUSLY WHY WAS THAT YOUR PLAN HERDA? you really thought either of them would leave the other alone for that long?

"You're right. I should've accounted for both of them being fools. Perhaps I would've done well to be a fool myself, to make a mess: loading a bullet or two into that old thing. But I would hate to be so crude with my methods. Still, a gun is a lot more intimidating than a little old lady with a knife, don't you think? I had to get him on the ground somehow. Oh, the depths you've brought me to..."

[frigidvrai]

Better alert your employer hm Herda

"Employer?! I don't have - if you mean the Queen, you wouldn't dare!"

"Not so high and mighty now, are you?!"

[frigidvrai]

HERDA QUICK USE YOUR MAGIC TO TELEPORT AWAY

"SHUT THE FUCK-"

While Herda is down, Coomer scrambles over to the blade. He slides it securely into his pocket.

Herda tries to stand back up. Coomer holds her down with his boot.

[frigidvrai]

Girl what the FUCK are you doing!?

"YOU CAN DO IT, HERDA!"

Herda rushes forward.

She doesn't make it very far.

Bubby grabs Herda's leg and tries to drag her down with him.

"GET OFF!"

She slashes wildly at his arm. Bubby screams. Her attention is elsewhere for only a moment, but that's all Coomer needs.

His fist smashes into her side. She crumbles to the ground, dropping the knife.

[frigidvrai]

QUICK! CHANNEL YOUR INNER GRIGORI-☁️

"Coomer, help!"

Coomer lunges for the shotgun. Herda makes no attempt to fight back, to even move.

He grapples with the firearm for only a moment.

Coomer takes the shot.

You hear the dull click of an empty shotgun.

"You're both so dramatic..."

She turns the knife on Coomer.

"We wouldn't want a mess, now would we?"

The flowers begin to cheer.

[frigidvrai]

not to say we told you so, Bubby, but...

-☁️

Bubby is on the ground. Only a small distance spares him from the flower bed. Blood is seeping out of a wound travelling up his leg. He attempts to sit back up.

Herda is standing above Bubby, wielding a knife.

Coomer jumps the fence, landing just beside Herda.

"You-"

There's a shotgun on the ground, tossed aside in favour of her blade.

[frigidvrai]

Okay- you ever hear of the phrase "trust, but verify?" Time for the verify part, let's go check on Bubby RIGHT NOW-!

"What was I thinking, what was I thinking-"

Before long, he's outside the gate to Herda's garden.

"...I told you to stay STILL! You're making this so difficult, you know."

"I'LL MAKE THIS AS DIFFICULT AS I WANT IT TO BE!"

[frigidvrai]

What was that!?? Where did it come from?

Coomer points toward Herda's house.

"...That was-"

Without another word, he takes off in that direction.

[frigidvrai]

I think you’ve done great so far Coomer ! It’s hard to notice someone struggling until they’re missing, and clearly you going out like you are now shows you care. You’ll find Gordon I know it, and hopefully soon Bubby realizes you shouldn’t be separated

"...That is a nice thought, isn't it?"

A scream tears through the air.

[frigidvrai]

Soo.. what do we do? -☁️

Coomer looks around. His eyes land and linger on his footprints.

"...I suppose the only way 'forwards' is backwards, so to speak!"

"Still, I doubt Bubby wants to see me right now. I don't even know for sure that Herda is dangerous."

"Perhaps I am a touch too trusting."

[frigidvrai]

... Well... I can't pretend that I've dealt with anything like what you have, or that I'd have the magic words to put everything in perspective. But the fact that you're so bothered by this shows that you do care, right? Or at least that you want to care, which is still something...

"Maybe so..."

"...I should've noticed that something wasn't right with Gordon. But if I did - would that have made a difference? If Gordon told me face-to-face that something was wrong, would I have even listened?"

He's talking to himself more than he's talking to you.

"It isn't just the glass, is it? I've never been... Well, particularly reliable. I just hoped it didn't matter that much. But that's never been true, has it?"

"They would never trust me the way I do them - and they may very well be right to do so."

[frigidvrai]

You're starting to talk like you did when you were hypnotized by the glass snow... concerning

"...Is that so?"

"I suppose I'm just being honest, now that nobody is around to hear. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, that I'm incapable of saying these things to him and to Gordon directly..."

[frigidvrai]

Y'know maybe we should go back and think this through- respectfully wandering out alone into the snow after a heated moment like that seems. Unwise?- ☁️

"You think I don't know that?!"

"I am a Snow Hydrologist! What is it about me - my demeanor, my appearance, anything - that makes people assume that I must not know any better?!"

Coomer makes a hard stop. He takes a deep breath.

"I'm... I must apologize, bees. You don't deserve my ire, especially after all the great help you've provided! It's just... Well, you already saw what happened."

Strangely, Coomer checks to see if he's alone before he continues.

"...That dream I spoke of, the one with the windows and the halls, I've been having it for years. It's tormented me relentlessly! But never before had I thought it was real, that my life here-"

He gestures around vaguely.

"-was fake. I had only... Wanted that dream to be real, in an odd sort of way. The glass upended any good sense I had left! It presented the simplest answer, that I had no reason to care about anything, as the undeniable truth."

"Before I stepped onto the lake, I'd simply... Hoped that my dreams - that window - had shown me the truth. I hoped that nothing was real, hoped I had good reason - a legitimate reason to be so careless, so... Apathetic. It was such a comforting nightmare, in that way."

"Bubby is right about me. I wish I could care more, I wish I could be more 'immersed' in this life I find myself in! Or, if I'm simply not capable of that... I wish I had an excuse. I wish there was some grander truth to it all, to the way I am."

"But there isn't, is there? Haha..."

[frigidvrai]

its so fucking over

You fly away. Bubby, Herda, and her home slowly disappear behind you.

It doesn't take long to catch up to Coomer. He's trudging through the snow, alone.

"So now I'm incapable of knowing when something's wrong, am I?"

He's muttering to himself.