A Wicked Plan

A Wicked Plan

“Hans, you pesky mongrel, don’t you remember what I told you last night? I need help with my potions and need you to collect an ingredient from the backyard, in my garden.” Olga the witch warned him evilly grinning.   

“I—I forgot, ok! How can you expect me to remember every single thing you tell me to do! Last night itself you told me a million things to do. You just don’t get it, do you, Olga?” Hans asked, scoffing.  

“Oh boy. How many times do I have to remind you to call me Aunt Olga! How dare you question me? You are a coward, a foolish boy. You have absolutely no right to fight back at me! Your job is to be my slave, your only job is to listen to me! How dare you ignore me? How can you behave like a stray dog!? After all, I am your aunt! Your mother’s sister! We’re the same blood!” Olga blew up at him,  

“Ugh! No. I am not your slave, I’m not your servant! I am now a young man who can think and do things for himself. Ok? You have no right to question me.” Hans argued back, both being stubborn at this point.  

“Ha! You say I have no right, do you, runt? Well, if you want to have no food, no water, no home, then you can disrespect me and go! Go and never come back here. Go if you want to live a harsh way." Olga threatened him, and she knew Hans would stay.  

Besides, he has nowhere to go. No family. No friends. No one in this world other than the witch to accept him for who he is. Sometimes he thought the witch really was right about him. He kind of was a fool, a coward, a runt. No one will ever like him for who he is.  

“Well stop acting like a hero. You’re the one who kidnapped my parents and threatened them to give me as their child! You put all your frustration and anger to my mom and dad! They did nothing to you, yet you show not an iota amount of kindness or respect. You killed them, didn’t you? After you got me, you left there—our house in flames! How could you even do this? How could you ever expect me to call you my aunt!?” Hans asked her, looking angry.  

“Now boy, I don’t want to talk much about this anymore. Your job is to listen to me, and that’s all.” Olga replied, trying to calm herself down.  

“I don’t want to be evil like you! You expect me to change people’s lives, and make them go to the wrong path, don’t you?” he questioned her, looking ashamed.  

“Ha! It’s fun to see these innocent, naïve, and gullible people falling for our traps. It’s nice to see them fail in life! You just don’t get it.” Olga said, looking disgusted at him.  

“Yeah, you’re right. I won’t get it because I’m a good person. I would like my job to help people in need, not watch people suffer.” Hans replied coldly.  

“Whatever child. Anyways, go to the back garden and collect thornberries. This will be perfect for our next candidate.” she chuckled, maniacally.  

“Who?” Hans asked out of curiosity.  

“Come to my cauldron,” she spoke, and as Hans came closer, she made a smoky figure of a young man," I want this man’s life to be ruined. I need you to give me the thornberries, and I will squeeze its juice in my potion. Then, I will give it to you and when you meet the man, you will give him the potion.” she replied.  

“Wh—what will these thornberries do? After a person drinks its juice of course,” he asked.  

“Glad you asked. These berries' juice is highly toxic, and once drunken, it will mess up his brain. He will make all the wrong decisions in life, and soon, he will fail. He will leave his old life behind as a janitorial staff in the bakery shop and become a terrible person." Olga told him, and she continued to smile mischievously.  

“Umm....so you’re saying this is what I have to do to him? I have to collect these berries, give them to you and you’ll make a potion. Once I finally meet and talk to him, I should...give it to him?” Hans asked for confirmation.  

“Yes, my boy. Yes!” she laughed hysterically as Hans almost closed the door behind him.  

As Hans was about to leave, another question popped up in his brain. “So, are there any side effects of this potion? Meaning, will something happen before the person’s brain is messed up?” Hans asked.  

“Well, for starters, the person will get dizzy, and sleep for about two to three days. Then, once the person wakes up, they will start to yell random things. After a week or so, the potion’s real magic starts to kick in. That is when all the things I told you about will occur.” Olga told Hans, and she went back to stir the potion she was making.  

Oh, terrible witch, this is it. I will fetch these berries for you, but not for that poor man, but for you Olga. I will help this man have a much better, happier life, while I make sure you will suffer endlessly for all the terrible things you have done to everyone. I will make sure that you die. You killed my parents, I let it go, you have ruled me and made me my slave, I still let it go. But when you are ruining other’s lives, I let it go, until now. I swear to you, witch. I cannot let you do this. I will make sure you drink the thornberry juice before you go to bed. I’ll make sure of it. Hans plotted as he continued walking towards the witches’ garden. He was positive that his plan was going to work.   

He just had a very good feeling that it will.  

You will die, Olga, you will. Hans chuckled.  

＊＊＊  

As Hans went to the back garden to collect the thornberries when he saw someone coming out of a bakery.  

He overheard the store manager yelling, “You’re fired! I don’t want you in my store anymore. Please, go find some other work to do!”  

“Please Mr. Burg, please! I have no work to do! My wife, my four-month twins! We will have no money to live anymore sir!” he heard the man begging the store manager to not fire him.  

“It isn’t my concern. Now go!" he yelled and threw his bag outside and onto the street.  

“No sir! No! P—please! Don’t do this!” he continued pleading to him, and even banging on the store window, but the manager had already closed the door.  

Hans felt bad for the poor man, and he decided to go to the man and ask him for help. Maybe, just maybe he could use his talent of helping people leave their old lives behind for something new. Hans immediately forgot about the berries he was supposed to collect for Olga and ran towards the man.  

“Mister can I—” he was about to ask something until he got severely shocked.  

No! He...he is that man Olga had shown me earlier. No, no, no! I absolutely cannot collect thornberries for him! I can’t! I need to make sure Olga’s dark magic won’t affect this poor young man. I need to keep him safe. I need to help him. I need to use my dark and evil talent, my terrible skill for something good for once! I just need to! Hans soon realized and decided to finish his question.  

“Do you need any help? I saw what happened earlier Mister,” he asked.  

“Oh, why thank you, good man. I—I don’t need any help. I’ll try to find another job, that’s all. Just try to find another way to survive in this world. Thank you for your kind words and your thoughts. I really appreciate you.” he spoke, as he stood up brushing his uniform.   

“No, I can help you. What I saw earlier—it wasn’t such a good sight. Trust me, I will help you get a new, and a much better job sir.” Hans spoke kindly towards that man.  

“Really? You—you will oh good sir?” the man asked.  

Hans politely nodded his head and had one aim: to help this man and feed the evil witch some thornberries, for her to die, and her nuisance to be gone forever. Finally, Hans could live a happy life and forget about his past.  

“Wow, thank you, kind sir! I know it is rude, and I should have asked you this much earlier, but...what is your name? I had not quite caught it.” the man asked.  

“My name is Hans. What about your name sir?” Hans too answered and asked the man.  

“My name is Johan. Nice to meet you, Hans.” Johan shook his hand, tilted his hat towards him, and waved ‘bye’ as he walked past.  

＊＊＊  

The next day...  

“Yesterday, I was a bit busy to take thornberries and add them into the potion I was working on Hans, so would you give it to me now?” Olga asked.  

“Oh, the berries! Well, I forgot about it, sorry! Yesterday I saw a lot of your other ingredients almost fading away, losing its power, so I became too busy tending them and completely forgot about you Aunt Olga!” he lied.  

“Hans! Fine, anyway I need to make other ingredients, so before midnight give me the thornberries and I will add it to the potion. Remember that next morning you will have a lot of work to do! You need to go, meet the man, and give him the drink!” Olga reminded him, and Hans felt very ashamed by her character and her behavior but didn’t utter a word.   

“Of course, Aunt Olga!" he shrieked as he went outside to collect the berries.  

Of course! Of course! he snickered as he continued walking towards the back of their crooked cottage.  

＊＊＊  

The same day, but night...  

Hans had collected the berries for his evil plan many hours ago, and without the witch knowing, he entered the kitchen and used the tools to grind the berries and squeeze all its toxic juice, just like Olga had told him for what she was going to do. He knew that today would be the last time he would have to suffer Olga. He had other plans for living, like getting a real job, some real money, and maybe even starting a new family! But without getting too ahead of himself, he prepared the thornberry juice.  

“Aunty Olga! Where are you, Aunty Olga? I made something special! A special treat just for you Aunty Olga!” he yelled in a babyish voice.  

“What is it now boy? What do you need now? Can’t you see I am working very hard and I am very tired of doing this potion? Whatever it is you need, just come to me and discuss it with me here.” she ordered, and Hans didn’t mind.   

It was her last day after all.  

“Sorry Aunt Olga, I’m very sorry. I will definitely give the treat to you right now!” Hans hollered from the kitchen as he served the juice on a small coaster.  

“Why what is this Hans? Juice, just for me? Oh, my Hans! You have changed drastically!” she said, happy and very shocked.  

“Oh, before I didn’t understand! As you said, I really was a fool to not listen to you Aunt Olga! But now I will! I hope you like this special treat I made! I did work very hard on this.” Hans told her, and just like that Olga drank it.  

No, drank isn’t the word here, she gulped it.  

After that, she became dizzy and fell to the ground. That is when Hans knew his plan worked.  

~The End~