CHAPTER 11: FARMHOUSE

"CORN"

Later that night, Bonnie sat passionately munching on corn while Rodri, Anna, and Elizabeth sat fatigued beside him, their bodies slouching against the couching.

Bonnie munched, and as he munched, Elizabeth thought feverishly about the capital with an opened mouth. Bonnie gulped, and as he gulped, Anna wondered what it would feel like to blow up a nursing home before riding a horse toward the sunset. Bonnie munched again.

Rodri scolded, "Oi! Might as well go sit with the pigs if you're gonna be munchin like that!"

"Darn plague," Bonnie began, "hoggin up all the space when no one invited it. It seems there ain't any procedures being developed to mitigate its spread. So much careless activity. If I can gather some willows, and lay out a couple hundred cups of heated water, I could ignite the first step towards some sort of maintenance. I can. No one deserves to suffer like that. No one."

"Oh, we'll work somethin out, Bonnie," Anna encouraged.

Taking another bite, he continued, "Ya know, that Aurora lady was the only person nice to us at the capital. Everybody else either tried to kill us or… well, I guess that's all they ever tried to do durin our visit. She was the odd one out."

Kindly handing him more corn, Elizabeth said, "She wasn't very nice to you specifically, though. She was as cold as that chamber of hers. When we return to the capital, maybe we can get to know her better."

Bonnie choked.

"'We'? 'Return'? 'To the capital'? Of Nadiria? What are you talkin about?"

"If I calculated correctly, we were only in the capital for less than thirty minutes, and already we encountered more revelations than you could find if you searched all year in the darn countryside! I say we've barely scratched the surface. Who knows what more we could run into if we circled the galleries, the theaters, the museums!"

Her eyes grew wild, and Bonnie could only stare her down in uncertainty.

"Erm, Elizabeth, you can't go back to the capital anymore. What are you talkin about, dear?"

"Of course I can! Have you seen the feats we've been able to garner in the past few days—just by the acts of sheer resilience? First, there was the bear, which by normal circumstances would've turned us to mincemeat—but we got away. We even killed the darn beast!"

"Elizabeth…"

"Then, there was the plague, not even that could lay a hair on us—even though it was airborne! We still managed to go by without any setbacks!"

"Elizabeth, you're sayin a lot of things, but you're missin a very important detail…"

"What detail could I be missin? We're invincible! Nothin could stop us now. Not even the Hexclaw Menace! Not even that zombie-boy with the funny accent!"

While the two calmly debated in the background, Rodri opened up to ask Anna, "Hey, why have you been actin so weird lately?"

"Huh? What are ya talkin about?"

"Well... you've just been actin really annoyin lately."

Anna sat in short silence before remarking, "Bonnie's touch is one that rids a being of their unfortunate impurities. So that means, if he were to lay his hand on you, Rodri, you'd be gracefully healed from your stupidity."

"Oh, shut yer trap!"

Bonnie continued trying to reason with Elizabeth, "Yer scarf was only off a few seconds before you wrapped it back on again. Any more time than that and you would've been guaranteed to catch the—"

"You know, for a man, you're awfully soft, Bonnie," Elizabeth casually interjected.

"What?" Bonnie asked, confused.

"You're clearly scared for dear life. Ain't no point in hidin it. If the thought of visitin the capital again has you wettin yer leggins, then you can idly rest here at the farmhouse while me, Rodri, and Anna venture to the capital. You can even take care of the farm if you want."

Bonnie, eyes locked dead serious on Elizabeth, ordered with a cold whisper, "You are not goin back to the capital. That's the final say. The three of us can go, but you can't. You'll get sick."

Elizabeth got up from her seat, and heading towards the kitchen she continued, "Oh, I won't get sick. I've been there once, and I've survived worse than that feeble plague. You clearly need time to get yer head together, Bonnie. You don't even know where you come from, or who you are. Rodri and Anna seemed to get along just fine with everythin they were handed, but you… (chuckles) you couldn't even remember yer own name."

Bonnie stayed silent, looking down to the side in contemplation.

Cutting herself slices of a red apple, Elizabeth cheekily mused, "Well? What's yer name then, sir? Yer real name. Not the one I so-kindly offered ya. It ain't even a boy's name."

Bonnie sighed.

"Well?" asked Elizabeth a second time, blissfully chewing the fruit with utmost cheek.

Bonnie facepalmed, and lifting his head, he uttered, "Elizabeth, that ain't the point. There's a lot that goes unnoticed under circumstances like this, and it could end up leadin to an unfixable consequence. You're only focusin on one side of the picture, and it's a very narrow scope. You're still a child, so it's only expected; I don't expect you to see things in full view. So, I'm only gonna say this once: You, are NOT going back to the capital!"

"Have you forgotten about my brother?" Elizabeth stubbornly interjected. "He's still out there somewhere, just waitin to be found. I'm gonna find Noah no matter what. So I'm gonna go back to the capital, whether you like it or not."

Bonnie sat silently in troubled thought, pulling his hair in visible frustration. 

His expression turned solemn, and he said, "Elizabeth, there are… possibilities, and… What if something happened to you? Before you could see him again…"

Elizabeth remained silent, avoiding any sort of eye-contact and chewing her apple while staring at whatever was so significant upon that ceiling. She took another bite, and her right heel noticeably was tapping on the wooden floors in high tempo. She shook her head.

"I'm gonna find him," she said. "I... I don't need you."

She gave Bonnie a fierce look, holding it to make sure he could get the message, but in return he tilted his head and gave her a look that said, 'You know you're better than that.'

The room was silent for an uncomfortable moment...

Standing abruptly, Elizabeth took her hoodie, opened the door, and stormed off into the night.

"Elizabeth..." Bonnie tried calling for her, but she had no plans on turning back now.

"She's alright," Rodri said. "She ain't gonna run off to the capital or anythin like that at this hour. She just needs to breathe a little…"

Bonnie listened, and with time he calmed his heart and turned to sit.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth strolled around the farmland, the farm animals still very much awake. Gazing at the stars, she drifted deep into thought, still holding a frustrated expression. As she walked further, she noticed that the other farmers had their lamps lit and doors open, but none of them were around. Passing each farm, she observed oddly placed vegetation sitting around, from tomato roots to unusually large pumpkins, accompanied by scattered farming clothes. The sights confused her, but she abruptly halted as sounds of commotion inside one of the farmhouses hit her ears.

As she entered to observe the scene, the revelation sent chills up her spine and froze her right on the spot. With a bounty of red apples lying on the floor next to scattered farming uniforms, the only living presence there was the infamous anomaly. It stood grand and as diabolical as ever, for the creature was none other than the great Hexclaw Menace!

CHAPTER 11 of 'Bonnie's Touch' ends