the night begins to wind down and people gather toward the stage, eagerly awaiting the announcement of this year’s snow queen. the girls involved in the coronation line up on stage ( aside from iskra gill, who is located in the EAST WING, ) anxiously awaiting the announcement until one name rings clear – “VALENTINE VEGA!” valentine steps forward to receive a crown and sash and people clap appropriately. there’s vague sounds of whispers, but there always are after a divisive vote. but the whispers start to get louder and louder, until suddenly the low hum becomes deafening. stunned realization crosses the students’ faces as they realize: the noise isn’t HUMAN at all.
it’s not whispers. it’s buzzing.
flies begin to pour into the room from all directions, tiny yellow splinter flies start to cover every surface of the stage, drawn to valentine like a honeycomb as they swarm around the room. despite the attraction to valentine, it seems as if no surface is left untouched as students run screaming from the ballroom, tripping over each other and pushing other students down as the stampede to escape from the dance intensifies. the bugs themselves are harmless, but students are panicked. chaperones are quickly attempting to divide and escort students back to their dorms as the buzzing slowly starts to subside. it will be days before the tiny black clusters of flies disappear from campus entirely. students will find them in the food, in their notebooks, and crushed up by windowsills. and no one will forget valentine vega’s coronation – no one.
unbeknownst to the students captivated by the annual coronation, theresa rigby and iskra gill are located in the east wing, conducting a seance. it seems silly at first, a bit of rehearsal where they’ll play a part with no audience, but a few minutes in, theresa is decidedly not herself. “it’s in the gardens,” she wails, “you have to dig it up ! you have to dig it up !” and she can’t stop screaming, clawing the floor like she needs to DIG, and luckily she has good friends to escort her back to her room before she passes out entirely. the message itself remains clear: there’s SOMETHING in the east wing gardens, isn’t there ?
this post technically CONCLUDES our event, but you’re welcome to continue your event threads for the time being ( i know there are some big works-in-progress, ) you just can’t start new ones – all NEW threads should take place after the event !
a short follow-up plot drop to this will be posted on our honesty/meme day, monday, february 10.
