To tea or not to Tea

Rocks crunched throughout the gravel as Flora drove up into the driveway of Penneltong Mansion. It had been abandoned for almost twenty years, but it was recently sold to an anonymous buyer. The people who lived in the town nearby, had no clue as to who could possibly afford such a gorgeous property. But it didn’t stop many of them from accepting invitations to a dinner party. 

As Flora’s car began to slow down, she noticed a few other vehicles parked slightly to the left of the mansion, signifying that she wasn’t alone and those who had also been invited had already arrived. 

Her vehicle idled for a few seconds before she turned her key towards her, and excited the vehicle, slamming the door with her hip after her leg was clear of impact. 

The front door opened and a tall man wearing black dress pants and a bright red shirt stepped out. He ignored Flora as she walked by him, his focus instead, was on finding his lighter to light his cigarette. She hurried up the stairs and grasped the door handle, turning it down and opening the door with a creek. As the door closed behind her, the man began coughing aggressively from inhaling the cigarette smoke, Flora drowned out the sounds by shutting the door with a click. 

She met with bright lights illuminating a path to the living room. Smiling as she listened to the background noise of chatter, growing more excited, the noise became more distinct as she followed the lights, only to see the others exchanging small-talk. 

In the living room sat three other women and one guy. Two of the girls sat together on a fabric sofa while the man sat in a recliner with the third woman comfy in his lap. Their attention turned to Flora as she came within their view. Flora smiled shyly at them before taking a seat on the couch opposite to a where the two women sat. 

“Hey, my name is Kaya and this is Arnold, my husband.” The blonde woman who sat on the man’s lap spoke. Her hair was super fine and light, with warm welcoming hazel eyes staring back at Flora. Her sky blue dress complimented his white shirt and blue pants perfectly. A match made in heaven perhaps. 

Flora smiled at the girl and replied, “My name is Flora, it’s just me tonight.” She looked down and kicked her legs against the couch. 

“I’m Camille.”

“And I’m Elsje” 

Flora's eyes shot up to meet theirs. “We are sisters.” They said, smiling in unison. Twins to be exact, they both had the same long brown hair with matching brown eyes. To top it off, they both wore the same short purple dress with ruffled sleeves. 

“Nice to see you all. Who’s the man outside?” Flora questioned the group. 

“The name’s Derick, who are you?” Flora turned her head around, shocked to see the man who reeked of cigarette smoke standing behind her. She had been nose blind until he made his presence known. 

“Flora.” She repeated again, looking away from the stink bomb, attempting to hold her breath. 

“Scooch.” Derick instructed throwing his body over the back of the couch and sitting down next to Flora who rolled her eyes as she was thrown from comfort. 

Kaya began to speak, “Soo… I am assuming everyone got one of these?” She tossed a white card on the coffee table that sat between them all. 

-You are invited to a special dinner party-

-Penneltong mansion-

-August 17th 6:00pm-

Straight to the point, Flora liked that. The rest of the group nodded yes in response and threw their cards onto the table as well. Flora didn’t move, but just stared at the pile of cards. 

“Where is yours Flora?” Camille asked. 

“I left it in my vehicle, didn’t think I would need it.” She fell silent again. 

Elsje’s eyes lit up, “I think the mayor invited us here, only he has enough money for this place anyways. How exciting huh?” Her smile beamed brighter than the lights that led them all here. 

“Why wouldn’t it be addressed from him then?” Arnold challenged her smirking. The room grew silent until Derick opened his mouth, releasing even more stink into the room. 

“Whatever, we get free food, that’s good enough for me.” He slumped back into the couch, coughing causing the seat to shake underneath both him and Flora. In return Flora rolled her eyes at him moving a couple more inches away from the man, as the group hummed in agreement to his statement. 

“Well it is nice, whoever invited us. I’ve been so exhausted from my shifts at the hospital, I’ve barely had time to eat properly.” Kaya chimed in. “And this one doesn’t know how to cook to save his laugh.” She teased Arnold, kissing him gently on the cheek earning laughter from her beloved. 

“We are definitely thankful, this is our chance to better fund our teens home organization. Whoever owns this place is loaded and they could really help the young kids in this town.” Camille stated. 

“I’m surrounded by Samaritan’s.” Derick coughed out. “What about you Flora? Anything godly to share?” He stared daggers into her eyes. 

“I thought it would be rude to not show up, there was no number on the card. Plus the food is nice.” Flora fell silent letting awkwardness enter and fill the room. The group just stared at her, assuming she’d say more. 

A loud squeak echoed and then some static buzzed throughout the living room and a robotic man’s voice came overhead. 

“Please follow the new designated lights into the dining room. Dinner will begin shortly.” 

The speakers clicked off and the group pushed themselves out of their seats and began heading to the dining room. Flora sighed “saved by the bell.” 

All six people followed the newly lit path into the dining room. It was a large dark room, with the only light coming from candles that ran along the table. Namecards sat in their respective seats, their dinner already loaded onto their plates. Roast, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables filled their noses with a delicious aroma. To wash it all down, red wine had been filled into each glass. 

The chairs squeaked along the wooden flooring as they pulled them out and slid their way into the chairs. A loud clock was heard and the entrance to the room began to close. Two sliding steel doors met each other with a loud bang, sealing the group in. Their faces all shot towards the door, in which Camille began to panic. 

“What the hell?!” She stood up, knocking her chair into her sisters, pinching her skin in the process. 

“Will you sit down Camille!” Eljse commanded her sister, reaching out for her arm and pulling her back down into her seat. “They shut the doors to create a more intimate feel, it’s no big deal. Enjoy this.” She rolled her eyes at her sister. “The question we should be asking is who is that seventh plate for? I’m hungry and don’t want to wait to eat.” Eljse groaned out in hunger. 

“Fuck it.” Derick croaked out. “In my house, if you weren’t at the table when dinner started, you were shit out of luck. Let’s dig in.” He smiled, moving his body closer to the table, leaning his neck over his plate. He picked up his fork and knife and began to dig into the roast, then potatoes, ignoring the vegetables. Following his lead, the group began to pick at their food, moaning through the savoury food. 

The group was around halfway through their meal when the speakers came on again, this time the sound they heard was clear and without static. 

“I hope you are all enjoying your meals. I have a special treat for you all.”

A hidden panel opened up from the wall behind Flora, everyone turned abruptly to inspect it from where they sat. Their eyes met six large glass mugs all filled with a light brown liquid. They noticed their names were printed on each mug and the voice came on again. 

“Please, each of you take a mug of tea. The Penneltong is honoured to share it with you all. Please wait to drink.”

The first to stand was Kaya, she eyed her mug like candy as she grasped it in her hand. She made her way back to her seat as the cup was hot, and she winced as it heated up her hands. Arnold, Camille and Elsje followed soon after, grabbing their respective mugs and taking their seats once again. 

Derick waited for them to all be seated before he turned to Flora and spoke, “You comin Flora?” He elbowed her side gently and she nodded. They both pushed themselves out of their seats and made their way over to the wall, grabbing their teas and heading back to the table. 

“Tonight you all are going to play a game. Tell your darkest secret, or drink the tea.” 

The speakers clicked off and the group stared at each other in confusion. “Share our darkest secret or drink tea? Are we in highschool?” Chuckled Camille, earning laughter from everyone. 

“Fuck that.” Derick groaned, bored of the uneventful night. “I’ll take the tea, end this boring night.” He laughed as he grabbed the cup and pressed it to his lips gouging all of the warm liquid down his throat. When finished he slammed that mug down onto the table and let out a loud burp, causing ‘ew’ to echo from the girls before he slumped back into his chair. 

Derick began to cough, he hunched over himself and moved his hand to his chest holding onto it. Choking began soon after and he spit up all over his lap, gagging on his own saliva. His eyes looked up in disbelief, viewing the group who just stared at him in horror. He began gasping, attempting to ask for help but only getting out a wheezing ‘hel-‘ before being cut off by more choking. 

“Holy shit!” Kaya exclaimed loudly in shock. 

Derick continued gasping and wheezing, grabbing at his chest as more spit began to rush out of his mouth. His face was a dark purple colour as the oxygen separated itself from his brain, and his eyes began to bulge out of his head, pleading for his life. The group didn’t move a muscle as he began to fall to his left side, his weight pulling him to the ground with a heavy thud. 

Elsje began to panic, tripping over her words as she spoke. “Secret…I-I choose s-secret.” She gulped back as tears formed in her eyes. “T-the only reason why Camille and I have the teen organization is because….because we did something h-horrible.” She sobbed. 

“Shut up Elsje!” Camille yelled at her twin. 

“No! Do you see what happened to Derick?” She scooted her chair away from her sister and continued. “Camille and I were in a home when we were young. This other girl who lived there with us, she had the opportunity to get out. To be happy with a family.” She inhaled sharply, shaking her entire body. “We didn’t mean for it to go as far as it did, but the fire became uncontrollable…and she was trapped.” Elsje tried to catch her breath, wiping the tears from her face. “We just wanted to destroy the paperwork, not have anyone get hurt I swear!” 

“I am not a part of this.” Camille huffed out, folding her arms over her chest and looking away from her sister in anger.

“You started the fire!” Elsje yelled at her twin through tears streaming down her face. Camille just stared at her blankly letting her sister know to shut up. “Whatever” Elsje sighed, mirroring her sister's actions and turning away. 

“This is bullshit!” Arnold spoke up, pushing himself away from the table and standing up. He rushed to the door and began banging on it, putting his fingers in the small cracks in attempt to open the door. “I ain’t telling no one shit, neither am I drinking that tea. Fuck this game.” He voice was shaky from panic and trying to open the door. 

A quiet click came from the darkness in the room and Arnold gasped, falling against the door, sliding down until his body met the ground. The doors were covered in his blood which ran from his chest, staining his white shirt. Arnold lay gasping for air as blood surrounded him. 

“Baby! No!-no!-no! What the fuck? Help! Help me!” Kaya screeched out, running to her husband in panic, sending her chair shooting backwards and falling over. The group sat in shock again, another death but how? Kaya moved to take Arnold’s hand in hers as he met his head fall to the right of him, staring deep into Kayas eyes, having her watch the life drain from him. 

Kaya stayed like that for a few minutes, staring at her deceased husband, in disbelief of the events that had just occurred. She closed her eyes and turned her head to the ground sniffling before standing up. “Oh…okay.” She took a deep breath and moved back to her spot at the table, grabbing her chair in the process and setting it down gently before sitting. 

“My secret” she began, “It’s very stressful working at the hospital. I get tired sometimes, it happens to everyone. But there was this once in a lifetime surgery and I had to scrub in. Around six hours in, I began to get light headed and very exhausted, I had already been a part of another surgery for five hours. I didn’t say anything…” She began to choke on her words, staring at her husband's lifeless body, her mouth quivering at the sight of him. “I didn’t tell anyone..” She looked down at her hands and closed her eyes tight. “I passed out over the body and I-“ She inhaled sharply and held it in, steadying her body from shaking. Her left hand rose up and wiped away the tears from her cheeks and breathed out heavily, centering herself. “I fell into the body, an open heart, the scalpel pierced his heart, and it all happened so fast no one could do anything, no one could stop it. He died.” She finished, throwing her hand onto her face, staining them with tears as she continued to silently cry. 

Camille glared at Flora who sat quietly absorbing the events, as if she had been disconnected from the group. “You’ve been awfully quiet Flora.” She leaned forward into the table, eyes locked with Floras. “What’s your secret, since ours are out in the open.” The room fell silent as the three women stared at her waiting for her answer. 

“My darkest secret?” Flora spoke softly, pushing herself away from the table gently and stepping out of her chair. Her legs carried her to the door where she stood facing it, admiring the blood that had begun to dry. 

“Inviting you all here.” 

She turned her body to meet their shocked faces. “Simon, open the dining room for me please.” She smiled at them as the doors parted, making a slight whooshing sound as they did. 

“What the fuck Flora?!” Camille shouted, her face growing red from anger. “You’re crazy!” 

“You don’t remember me?” She laughed as she stepped back and out into the dimly lit hallway. “You all fucked me over, don’t you get it? You either admit to it, or drink the tea. Although…” She trailed off smirking at the women, eyeing the two men who lay lifeless on the ground. “Simon, close the dining room doors.”  

The doors began to shut with a loud creak. The women rushed to get out of their seats, knocking their chairs over and bumping the table, spilling food and wine and wax in the process. Losing the race, the women were trapped on the opposite side of the door, screaming at Flora. 

Flora stood staring at the doors, hearing the muted banging and screaming coming from the other side. “Simon, cleanse the dining room.” The speaker came on again. 

“As you wish.”

Horrific screams filled the room the women were tapped in, their skin growing hot and melting as they received its kiss of death. 

Flora stood and listened.