Truly Immortal (On Hold)

Punishable by Death

Chapter 7- Punishable by Death

The entire village surrounded me, screaming out their curses and angrily raising their torches and pitchforks. As I looked around at the sea of angry faces, I observed that not one villager wore an expression of compassion, sympathy, mercy, or love. No, their expressions were nothing short of judgement, anger, rage, wrath, and underneath it all was the capability of murder. It was like they were all so completely consumed by their rage that they couldn't see what they were about to do to someone who hadn't actually committed the crime. Yes, I'm guilty of mass murder, but I'm not guilty of this murder... or am I? It was I who transformed my beloved sister that gave way to the insatiable hunger that beckoned her from within.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and the more I tried to force it down, the more it lodged itself in my esophagus. Once I finally managed to clear my throat of its obstruction, I yelled out my pleas.

"Here me out, People!" I hollered loudly enough to stop them mid-scream, capturing not only their attention, but their angry, resentful glares. "My sister has a rare disease that is unstable at the moment. I know that it looks bad that she killed this young woman, and I know that it doesn't excuse the fact that she took away an innocents life," I pointed to the ground where the young lady's body lay. She was grey, her eyes were dull and lifeless, her hair was already beginning to lose its shine, and blood soaked into the thin brown dress she wore giving it a deep rusty red look. "But, I assure you that it was only the disease that has caused this atrocity this night, nothing more. I will take full responsibility for her actions tonight-"

"Devil!! He brought the devil into our home!" A woman screamed from amongst the mob of villagers, her words dripped with cold fear.

"They've brought evil with them. I say we exorcise him!" A man shouted from the front line of the crowd with a mix of fear and red hot anger.

But one stood out in front of the mob of people and took charge. This man was clearly the leader, the one who made all decisions for the rest of the villagers for not only food provisions, but for their safety and that of their place of residence. The man looked wary and tired, old age was certainly showing through his grime covered face, sticking between the creases of his deep wrinkles that sliced through his forehead and neck. But even though he was an old worn out man, he still forced his voice to be heard, he still made sure to lace his tone with a sound determination. This man was an excellent leader for his people, he just judged way too quickly on my end.

The older gentleman was wearing brown cloth over his toros as was everyone else from this village. Attire for us was fur from the animals we killed and if we were lucky, our mothers could grow cotton or purchase it and make us a throw over or we were able to wear it on our feet. It seems that this place is just as poor as ours was, but ours seemed to be a little poorer than this village. Their color of attire is brown, at least they could afford material to have cloths they were wearing, that's more than we ever had.

"People, I will deal with this as I see fit. Now, he says his sister has a disease and the killing of one of our own could not be stopped, but I say a man could easily over power that of a woman!" He started getting worked up the more he ranted, and the more worked up he grew, the more ravenous the crowd grew. He went on about how my sister killed the young woman and I should pay for it, that I should pay for it with my life.

"Who's to say he and his sister did not come into our village with the intent to kill one of us, or maybe all of us? He brought a devil into our village, killed one of our own and she drank the blood of Lilac Polli, our friend and neighbor, your daughter and wife."

The mob began to scream and yell, spouting their words of disgust. Fire was frantically being jousted into the air, being waved through the air. Pitchforks and axes were jabbed into the air with anger fueling their strength. Faces were filled with disdain, some were fearful, and some were just plain murderous.