- Wake up, witch! Sneered a voice throwing a pebble inside the cell.

Mary opened her eyes to a smug wrinkly face. She squinted her eyes, taking in the twisted line on the forehead, the pale eyes lost in folds of skin, and the giant nose. The perfect portrayal of an old drunkard. His jutted jaw twisted as he chewed on what could only be tobacco. When he smiled at her it was horrifying; nothing except a row of yellow teeth and a bleeding gum.

- I was itching to watch you burn today… Though I guess hanging is just as good, he continued. Don’t you agree?

Mary turned away from the hideous sight. Every muscle in her body ached and she felt like she terribly needed a bath.

- Oh yes, you thought you will burn, said the awful creature answering a question he was never asked. I honestly believe all you witches deserve to burn but you’ll do enough of that in hell and the Sheriff said we just couldn’t afford to lose fire wood to make a pyre for you witch…

Mary stopped listening as the man went on and on for what seemed like an eternity. She wanted to let her mind wander but her thoughts kept returning to the previous night. What the old lady told her echoed through her head. It was all lies! She wanted to convince herself. All that woman can do is lie in order to destroy Mary. She may have fooled everyone else but she will not deceive me, thought Mary. On the other hand the woman had no reason to lie especially considering Mary was about to die. The entire night she hoped Christopher would somehow come… He tried, she told herself. The guards must have gotten in his way.

- Listen you witch! I know you can hear me! This is what you deserve for thinking you are above us!

Mary looked at the now angry man. His face seemed somehow familiar, still she could not recall who he is. From his throat came a disgusting noise and she knew what he was about to do…

-Enough! Came the Sheriff’s voice. Leave now or I’ll throw you in a cell.

The door to the cell creaked as the Sheriff opened it. He looked almost sympathetically and grabbed her arm firmly but not roughly. Mary felt the blood rushing through her veins, her mind going blank, her vision becoming blurry… She didn’t realize how afraid she was of dying till this moment. With all the terror she was feeling she expected herself to struggle, to try and unleash herself from the Sheriff’s grip but her body suddenly felt heavy and the Sheriff had to ask one of his man to help get her to the platform. Mary felt someone slip the noose around her neck and the familiar pain of her hands being tied, this time behind her back. She squinted her eyes through the crowd; her traitorous servant, the Sheriff and his wife, the ugly man… No Christopher.

- God tells us that no evil shall go unpunished. This woman here has committed wrongs against us, against our faith, our prosperity and above all, against God. For the crime of witchcraft she shall pay. That is the fate of all sinners.

Mary listened to Father Mathew as he stood next to her. The crowd cheered awaiting the spectacle they came for and she felt rage consume her.

- We have no sliver of a doubt that this woman is a witch, he resumed. May god save your damned soul.

- May you choke on every word in every lie you ever told you faithless reverend!

Loud shouts and hisses tried to drown her voice. She just spoke louder.

-Fools! Ignorant fools! All of you! Falling for the lies of a lying man of God, a scheming woman of society, a faithless servant. You are the biggest fools I have ever seen because you choose the lies. You believe them. You thrive on them. May all the lies and secrets of this town turn to demons and haunt you all to the gates of hell where I shall await to dance upon your burning bodies…

Mary’s attention turned to Mrs. Nightingale

- You think this is justice! You think this is your victory! Your pain will never fade! The hole in your heart will never be filled! What you lost will never…

Mrs. Nightingale’s unwavering smile twisted for an instant and she gave a quick nod. The floor beneath Mary disappeared and the rope tightened around her neck as she fell through the air. The last thing she heard was a sharp snap and a thud.

Mary smelled wet earth and heard the sound of running water as she slowly came to. She felt an extreme pain in her back. She was too afraid to open her eyes as she wondered whether or not she was dead. If she were why would her back hurt? The dead aren’t supposed to feel pain, are they? Unless she was in hell? Was she in hell? Her heart started beating like a war drum faster and faster with every passing second. She remembered the people shouting at her, laughing at her, and Mrs. Nightingale’s eyes staring right into her. She slowly moved her hands fearing they would not respond, when they did, she reached for her neck the memory of the noose still fresh in her mind. The rope wasn’t there but she felt like the air was being sucked out of her. She gobbled with the invisible rope trying to pry it away. The more she tried, the more panicked she felt, and she started to scream.

Someone grabbed her arms and pinned them to her side. She slowly opened her eyes expecting divine punishment or at least a release from this nightmare. Two bright green eyes stared at her.

- You’re alright! Mary you’re fine! Said Christopher.

-Why? How? Asked Mary breathing fast.

- Just breathe I’ll explain later, he answered.

- Explain now! She almost shouted, releasing her hands from his grip. The relief she felt for being alive was engulfed with an anger she didn’t comprehend.

- I made a deal with the Sheriff; your life in exchange of us never setting foot in that town ever again.

- But how? She insisted.

- Can’t you just be glad you’re alive? I saved you. We’re free. We can go wherever you want. His voice was like a plea or that’s how it sounded to her.

- I can’t. I need to understand. I need to understand so many things. She didn’t know where all of this was coming from. Her old self would’ve been glad to be alive. She would’ve leaped into Christopher’s arms and never asked any questions but all she felt now was a need for clarity.

- Fine. I tempered with the rope so you would fall the instant you hung from it and the Sheriff walked up to you before anyone else and declared you dead. I jumped in then and carried your body away. Understand?

- Yes! What I don’t understand is why you didn’t tell me.

- I didn’t have a chance to…

- Not about that, Mary interrupted. Why didn’t you tell me about her?

- Who? The Sheriff’s wife? I did. He sounded puzzled.

-You didn’t tell me she loved you! You didn’t tell me she had your child! Her voice was more accusing then she intended it to be.

-How did you… That filthy whore! She told you, didn’t she?! I didn’t tell you because it didn’t matter. I never loved her.

Mary looked at Christopher as he slowly backed away from her and then stopped. His face was a mixture of shame and anger.

-Mary please don’t let her do this to us again. We’re free. We can have the life we always wanted.

- Can’t you see she’s not doing anything to us right now? We are doing this. I am doing this!

He got close to her again cupping her face in his hands and slowly coming close to her. She looked away from him but didn’t put his hands away.

- Christopher, you know I came back for you. I did it all for you. I love you more than anything, but what you did… What she had to endure all alone. All because of us. It’s too horrible. I do love you. I can even forgive you. Know that I love you more than I can hate you for what you did, but I don’t know how to feel right now.

- I understand.

He pulled her close to him and held her and all Mary could do was let the tears stream down her face. She felt lost and confused, happy yet frustrated. The world seemed so twisted now and she didn’t know how to feel about it. The lie she had just told leaped through her mind and echoed as Mary reminded herself that sometimes lying is all you can do, to save a lost love, to find justice, to survive…. In the end the world was built on a thousand lies and one. We just choose some to believe as truth.

THE END…