Hangman

P R O L O G U E

ORION

       Her body hit the ground with a wet thud, the rain intermixed with the blood, turning the muddy puddles ruby red. Her gray, lifeless eyes stared up into the clouds. Her chest was unmoving and slick with blood. An agonized scream tore through the sky, causing Orion to startle.

      "You monster!" a woman's voice cried, she crumpled beside the fallen witch, tears falling down her cheeks. She pressed her lips to the witch's, closing her eyes tightly as she did. "She did nothing wrong," her voice wavered, she pushed the witch's hair away from her eyes. "She was good. Innocent."

      "She was a witch, and witches need to be eradicated. What needed to happen, happened. I'm sorry for your loss, ma'am," Orion dragged his blade across his thick cloak to remove the dark blood. He turned swiftly on his heels, only to hear a small voice come from behind him.

      "She wasn't the witch. She's not Elvira." The rainfall seemed to freeze around them, chills ran up his spine. "I am." Orion turned as quickly as he could, extending his blade outwards, only to have it knocked from his hands. The witch stood before him, tears glossing her green eyes. Her dark hair hung in her face, creating a dark mask. An invisible hand clawed at Orion's neck, pushing him into the air and against a tree. His lungs cried out for oxygen, claws dug at his stomach, tearing open his flesh. A strangled cry slipped past his lips, lingering in the air. "May you be ruined forever, and if anyone come to love your hideous features," fingers tore at his hair, tearing his scalp. Sharp claws broke the flesh on his face, his veins burned as if doused with fire. "May they die in the harshest ways possible." The hand released his throat, causing him to fall to the ground in a painful heap, his spine arched forward painful, bones began snapping and pressing against his skin. Black spots bled into his vision, he could barely hear the witch over the sound of his heart pounding. "May their blood boil until their veins burst, their ribs constrict and snap until their heart is pierced, may they bleed from every pore of their body until they're nothing but a limp rag doll. May everyone who's ever loved you bleed out slowly. Orion Foster, you will never be loved again. Not even death will serve as release for you."