Try and Catch Me

The Witch Hunt (2)
“What do you think you’re doing?”

Lia did not know if it was her or the people around her who spoke the words. Or perhaps they both said the same thing at the same time.

For Lia wanted to know what caused this… this pandemonium and for the people to know what made a young man sympathize with their supposedly common enemy.

“What do you think you’re doing?” this time it came from Lia.

“What do you think we are doing!? We are killing the witch to save our families!”

“Who told you to do that? The mayor?” Lia shouted. She was beyond caring and at the edge of crying, if she was not already.

A middle-aged man with rounded features strode forward in the hopes of dissipating the argument. In this dimly lighted place, Lia only knew this was the mayor because of the expensive garments he wore.

“Young man, stand back. This is justice for our townspeople who suffered the wrath of the witch. We do this under the name of our King through his General,” the mayor said.

“The… General?” the title echoed inside her head. The general meant Eldric, the person she saved after being ambushed, the one her mother cured, the guy Lia considered her friend. Eldric. “You’re lying. He won’t permit this witch hunt.”

The mayor smiled, but his patience was obviously being stretched thin. “If he didn’t, why do you think there’s no guard holding us back when we left the town? There’s a curfew in town, they ought to punish anyone who disobeys.”

She thought of the guards standing at the gates of the mayor’s house, looking out with impassive faces. They watched as groups of people walked towards the woods, carrying a different assortment of weapons. They consented. And of course, they would not do that without the blessing of a high official. Lia felt her stomach heaved as if she was going to throw up.

The mayor jerked his head, signaling for the people to continue adding fuel to the fire. The rest watched in vigilance, some even dared to shout with glee. Lia reeled in anger.

“Stop it! Enough! My mother didn’t do anything! She never hurt anyone!”

The people in front were the first ones who heard her. They all stopped and stared at her, brows furrowed in confusion, weapons held tight.

Lia knocked back her hat and let her long hair sway in the wind. Only the crackling of the fire could be heard in the still forest.

In the middle, she heard someone murmured. “The daughter of the witch.”

The mayor was the first to react.

“Kill the witch! Burn her! Justice in the name of our King!”

Stones were hurled as fast as the shouts of insults. Lia took a step back until she was near the door or what had remained of their door as the crowd closed in on her. The tips of her hair singed. Yet the people continued to inch forward, forming a semi-circle around her, not giving her a chance to run but not close enough to be near a witch.

As another hail of stone hurtled towards her, she used both her arms to cover her head. But half of her mind was on the burning house. The longer she stayed there doing nothing, the higher the chances of her mother dying. Tamara would not die easily. She could not have died. So Lia would hold her ground and find a way to help her out of the burning house.

A stone hit her in the center of her forehead that knocked her backward. She glared from under her arms, hot, thick liquid gushing from her forehead. A small part of her thought of how movies worked. When the lead was in danger, a savior, preferably a prince would come running, saving the day. But in this remote town, in the middle of the forest, when everyone was a foe, neither a savior much less a prince, would come to save her.

She smiled bitterly. It only worked if you were the lead. But she was not the female lead of this story. She was the cannon fodder and her fate was to die just like in the original novel. Maybe changing and fighting fate was the wrong move after all.

When she thought that the earth had an infinite amount of stones, a sound of hooves resonated, its vibrations felt on the ground. The people must have felt it too. They turned to the sound and saw uniforms wearing gray and white. They all exclaimed in joy.

‘Ah. So this is where and how I die.’