Pia stared into the mirror and smiled. Another day of being perfect.
She had it all, the grades, the looks, the body, plus it didn’t hurt that her family was rich.
If high school was a jungle then she would be at the top of the food chain, watching the plebeians fight for her scraps.
As her car pulled into the driveway of her school, she couldn’t help but notice the prom banners everywhere. It was Pia’s senior year and she knew what her destiny was.
The title of queen would be her claim.
That night, as she drifted into sleep, the thoughts of being crowned royalty danced in her head. She was standing on the stage, next to her king and addressing the rest of the school with a well-prepared speech.
There was no way she could have been happier.
She would have enjoyed that dream longer if she wasn’t woken up by the sounds of “Lok-u! Lok-u! Lok-u!” coming from her window. She grabbed the nearest thing she could and tossed it at the direction of the sound.
“Damn lizard!” She said to no one in particular. Pia looked at the clock and realized it was 5am, time to get ready for the day.
Pia strutted around the school like she owned it, and if you looked at the faces of the students you’d think she did. She spent the whole day talking to as many people as she could, buttering them up so she could get votes for the prom.
Everything was going perfect.
Until she came. Valerie Arida, a name that left a bitter taste in Pia’s mouth.
Valerie was a transfer student from the States and for the first few weeks Pia didn’t think about her at all. If she cared, she might have noticed Valerie had enough charisma to fill entire rooms and that everyone around her wanted to be her friend.
Pia stuck with her campaign, noting the fact that there were eight other girls in the running to be prom queen. They were so far behind her that she was already writing down her victory speech.
But gossip is as gossip does and it landed on Pia’s ears that the student body would name Valerie queen of the prom.
There was still no way she could lose, not in Pia’s head. She was obsessed with the prom it was like she had lost her mind. Pia was blinded to things not prom related.
She shoved her cheer squad, her clique and even her boyfriend aside.
Even then Valerie was comfortably leading in the student body’s opinion.
Pia’s sanity was fraying bit by bit. Her friends wanted nothing to do with her, but what broke her was when her boyfriend texted and said, “I’m taking Valerie to prom.”
That night she again dreamed of royalty, but it wasn’t in school and in front of her batchmates. She was adorned in gold and jewels and in front of her was a man bowed in supplication.
He said, “My liege, what do we do about those that refuse us?”
The words came to her lips like an instinct, “They must be put to death.”
The man bowed again and said, “Your will be done.”
With that Pia awoke to the sound of a lizard by her bed. “Lok-u! Lok-u! Lok-u! “
She stared at her mirror and thought of the eight things that were preventing her from seizing her destiny.
Her plot was hatched on the night of prom.
Patricia was easy, all Pia had to do was slip some poison in her drink.
Rina had to be taken outside and her back was turned when Pia smashed her head in with a metal bar.
Olivia took a bit more effort. Pia had to lure her to the roof and push her off the ledge.
Mariana didn’t have time to look behind as she was being suffocated with a plastic bag.
Quiara’s body would later be found floating in the school’s swimming pool.
Una’s dismembered limbs were scattered around the campus.
Eranielle was stabbed 37 times and her blood splattered all over Pia’s dress.
Eunice tried to run when she saw Pia, but she wasn’t fast enough.
And Valerie brought all of this to an end by calling the police.
In the end Pia got her wish, her wrists were wrapped in silver as she shouted “I’m the queen! I’m the queen!”
At least in her head, she was queen, now and forever.
And in the distance a small lizard smiled and cried out its name.
“Lok-u! Lok-u! Lok-u!”
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Story inspired by the Loku legend accessible at: http://www.sacred-texts.com/asia/pfs/pfs06.htm
Loku Illustration by Rinar Dengwas