Tainted

I remembered my last moments before death. They were terrifying. But they were nothing compared to this. Nothing compared to what she was about to face. I felt ready to throw up and run as far away as possible. I'd run until time itself ended. Anything but this. “Tonight.” His voice echoed off the trees, his smile brighter than the full moon. “Tonight, we create our vengeance on the Crossers. “Tonight, we end this hiding and running once and for all!” There was cheering as he tightened the noose around her neck, cutting the bonds that tied her hands behind her back and placing the knife in her hand. The boy who led her to the well was tying the other end of the rope to a metal spike in the ground so it would hold her weight. The cheering died down as the Devil-child raised a hand to continue speaking. The woman knew that a weapon would not save her. There was no saving her anymore. My entire body was shaking in terror. Tears rolled down my face. I was thankful for the distance. I was thankful for the noise, as it hid my fear. “On this night, we do not fall under the ultimate sins of this wretched world. Tonight, we create them! Tonight, we go beyond where any of us have ever gone before and we make this war face itself and reveal its truth to the rest of them out there! The ones who are suffering just as much as we are!” More cheering. I leaned against the tree to calm myself. “The ones who are trying to demolish the system just as we are, to no avail. We are their hope. We are their salvation, and we. Will. Rise!” I had good hearing. It was my gift. Over all of the cheering, all of the stomping and applauding to his speech, I saw him look at her. I saw him close her hand around the hilt of the knife and put a hand on her back to push her in. I heard him say the last words she would ever hear on this earth with a purely human, beating heart. “You may suffocate to death, or you may cut your way free and drown in the depths of your grave. The choice is yours, do what you will.” Without even giving her time to process his words, she was gone. Her long raven hair flew around her as the rope followed suite, tightening to a halt when the slack ran out. As the cheering grew louder and the wailing of the dead began, he got down off the ledge and pushed the concrete platform that went over the well back into place, locking the innocent down in the pits of hell for all of eternity. He looked out at the crowd of cheering bodies, watching the effect his work had on us. He was a monster. But in this invisible war, he would win, and he would break all of reality to those who followed order and structure. The name that scared even the shadows. The only name the Crossers feared, and the only name that brought hope to a sinful race. Ayer. Ayer Therrian.