Author Games: Salem

Task Five: The Final Speech - Sybil Josefina May

Sybil had never thought it would come to this.  She had never thought the mob madness would come so far as to steal her own life away. She was only a child.  That was supposed to be her protection.  She knew that whoever had murdered Margaery would not be above killing another sixteen year old, but Margaery’s killer would not be the one to kill Sybil today. 

Today’s weather alone seemed enough to kill someone.  Another breeze washed through the town square, forcing Sybil to shiver in her thin dress.  As she did, the noose bounced against her throat. 

The one facet of the situation Sybil hated most of all was that they made her stand there with the noose already around her neck.  As if Sybil needed any more reminder of the fate that awaited her in less than an hour. 

The entire town was already present, but Elijah insisted on waiting for any stragglers.  Sybil suspected he just wanted to humiliate her, but for what reason she couldn’t say.  As long as she stood here she thought she might as well take the opportunity to say something, and she gathered the courage to produce her voice. 

“May I speak?” Her voice cracked more than she would have liked. 

Elijah didn’t even meet her eyes.  “If you must.”

Sybil cleared her throat.  “People of Salem, I will not lie to you.  You expect me to repent for my sins.  I do, but not for the sins you claim.  I am innocent of murder, and my only sources of guilt are the same of those any chaste teenage girl would have.  I do regret, however, that I will never grow up.”

Sybil swallowed hard.  But the knowledge that she would never get a chance to say the words again kept her mouth moving.

“I will never find a chance to marry, or become a mother, or live a life.  I will never grow up.  Some may say that I will remain a child for all eternity.  Others may say I will get to grow up in the kingdom of our Lord. I say that you are thieves.  You steal me of my life like it is nothing.  My life is not nothing.  No life is nothing.”

Sybil had hoped her words might affect the crowd, but they remained as eager for an execution as ever. 

Elijah Druitt turned his head toward Sybil from his place on the ground and flashed her an angelic smile.  A bit like how the most dormant volcano becomes the most destructive, the calmest girl became the angriest.

“You called me a demon, yet you died and live still.  How?” Sybil called. 

A muttering of agreement and suspicion broke out over the crowd.  The tips of Elijah’s mouth slowly turned down. 

“I faked my death in order that I might catch the killer.  Or rather, catch you,” Druitt answered.  Though his exterior was eased, Sybil could see his inner unease.  He was not the only one with unease.  The townsfolk of Salem whisper amongst themselves. 

A flicker of hope lit up in Sybil.  Perhaps she could change their minds.  There was still a chance, wasn’t there?

Sybil’s eyes met her mother’s in the audience.  And beside her, Lydia.  How had Sybil’s sister come to Salem? 

“Perhaps it would be wise to put all executions on hold until a proper investigation can be done into all the demonic events of late,” Sybil’s mother suggested.

One townsperson voiced agreement, then another and a third.  Sybil realized that as fast as the townspeople could be moved to violence, perhaps they could be pacified as quickly. 

“Surely justice is worth the wait,” Lydia added.  “Our Lord values mercy, after all.”

Sybil could see Elijah’s smile.  He moved to stand next to Sybil. 

“People of Salem, these two women ask that in the name of God we show mercy on the child accused before us now,” Elijah paused.

The crowd sounded their assent.  Something inside Sybil uncurled and she released a breath she hadn’t even believed she had been holding. 

Then the floor vanished from under her. 

Sybil kicked her legs while she struggled for breath.  What was going on?  Sybil couldn’t get any air.  A ring of pain formed on her neck. 

“But they possess the foolish sensibilities of the weaker sex!  I am the new Mayor of this town, and my verdict is guilty!”  Elijah shouted over the sound of Sybil’s family’s screams. 

No air. 

No air, no air, no air.  Sybil’s kicks grew weaker until she couldn’t feel her legs.  In one last effort, her fight against the noose intensified.  Her desperate gasps for oxygen strengthened before they began to fade against the beating of her heart. 

For one frantic moment, Sybil’s heart pounded harder than it ever had before, and then it was still for forever more.