Dead to You (BxB)

Chapter 30: Burn the Witch

Three months after the Outbreak.

Above the funfair, the sun rose amidst the clouds. Green leaves in trees turned to orange. A yellow iris of fire burnt within the body of dark fog and projected five rays of light. Between those beams was Honeybeard, a restaurant where families used to would take a break between two rides. Some tables and chairs had been thrown upside down. Only spiderwebs were left unharmed. Scratches and splatters of blood tainted the floorboards. Near a trash bin, a black mounted dear head had fallen while a young girl had been impaled on its antlers.

"Get her out." David snapped his fingers at a man who carried the corpse away.

The muscular man was at a round table with a chandelier on it. In front of him, there was Michael. The young man had his arms crossed and glared at David. The former's complexion lacked any dark vein.

"So Mikie, what do you prefer, strawberry or orange juice?" asked David with a glass in his left hand.

Michael clenched his jaw. "Your head on a spike," he said.

David huffed. "Orange then." He gestured at the same man who poured a bottle inside Michael's glass. "You know, I missed you."

"I didn't." Michael stiffened his scowl.

David clasped his hand around his glass, which soon shattered.

"Oh, well, that's embarrassing." David watched the shards sunk in his palm. "I just... I love when you sulk, Mikie, it could perhaps scare me one day." David laughed as he pulled the glass out of his skin.

Michael tapped his fingers on his forearms. "Why am I here?"

"Why?" David lolled his head to the side. "Why a man would bring the one that he loves to a restaurant? Hmm, I wonder..."

"You don't love me," Michael said through his grounded teeth.

David pinched a shark in his knuckles and picked it. The skin of his hand stretched up with the glass until it snapped back.

"You know Mikie, there's a limit to my patience." David wriggled his fingers as his his flesh regenerated.

"What have you done to Summer?" asked Michael.

David smirked. "Follow me."

The man extended his hand to Michael, but the latter slapped it away. David bit his lower lip and seized Michael by the left arm. Then, he dragged the young man outside. A pile of furnitures and rubbish had been set around a siren pole. Around it was chained a woman, Summer.

Michael tried to move, but David yanked him close to him.

"You didn't listen," David whispered in his ears, "I told you what would happen if you disobey to me."

To the right, there were three men with glocks and assault rifles. Behind them, Jack, Ariel, and Peter watched the pyre with clenched fists. On the other side, Ben was held by two guards.

"Not her, not her, it was my fault!" Bob shouted until he gagged with a piece of cloth.

David shook his head. "Tsk tsk Bob, you're such a disappointment."

Creaks of wood resonated as a man stepped on it. He unscrewed a bottle of lighter fluid before he poured it on Summer and then around her. The woman just batted her eyes and whipped her hair to both sides.

"Summer Madison, you were found guilty of treachery and witchcraft," David announced.

Summer chuckled. "David, always playing the chieftain act."

David cracked his neck. "You're hereby sentenced to be burnt at the stake."

A guard with gloves arrived with a lightened match.

"Any last words?" asked David.

Summer grinned. "Ashes to ashes, we all fall down." She winked at Ariel and Jack.

Both of them contemplated her with wide eyes. David nodded at the guard who threw the match on a flag string. A small flame manifested on the banner before it trailed up to candy wrappers, magazines and smashed battens. Soon, the flame became a fiery crescent moon. Summer let out graceful coughs as smoke floated to her face.

"Richard Blackmores, Solomon Eramus, David De Plancy..." She let out a dry breath. "You were found guilty of treachery, heresy and hubris."

David laughed. "It's not a seance, stop your reading already."

Summer shot daggers at him while a mystic circle of fire formed at her feet. "I curse you David... I curse you to scorch in an inferno stronger than mine." The conflagration danced at the rhythm of her voice. "I curse you to the spears of Gungnir, to melancholy and destruction!" A pall of sparks and fog covered her face. "I curse you to die under the hands of the one you love the most."

A dress of flames illuminated her as Summer looked up to the sky. Yarns of her skin were unknotted by the fire while her flesh was offered to the hot layer. She glanced at Bob and smiled. Summer closed her eyes and her body became a supernova. Her existence cremated into a cloud of small stars that flew above and joined the sun.

A breeze blew dead leaves off some branches to announce the start of Autumn.

David observed the funeral pyre with twitching eyes. His grasp on Michael shook. An air of pure wrath flawed his face. With another yank, he pulled Michael back into the restaurant and slammed the door close.

"This bitch!" David punched his left fist on the closest wall. "She thinks she scared me. Ah! As if I believed in her mumbo jumbo."

"But you do." Michael paused. "Isn't that right, David Sewall?"

David turned around with a panicked expression. "How? How do you know?!"

Michael smirked. "The Sewall family founded this town, only a Sewall would know about its secret bunkers." He slithered his fingers behind his back. "Your most famous ancestor had spent his life hunting down witches." He crawled his feet toward a table. "Of course that you're scared of her." Michael stretched his hand toward a knife.

David lunged at him and grabbed him by the hands. "Nice try." He snickered. "In case your cute little brain forgot, I cannot die."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Michael directed his eyes at David's right cheek. "Those scratches on your face. You wouldn't let people see that you got injured so blatantly."

David's breath was loud. "And? What's your point?"

Michael grinned. "My point is that you cannot heal from every wound."

The tall man pushed Michael away and groaned. "Of course I can!"

"Then do it. You got the power to heal from everything after all, those are just tiny scratches." Michael faked a pout. "You should be able to fix them, if you were as strong as you pretend to be."

David glared at Michael before he tackled him against the table. He put both of his hands against the young man's neck and choked him.

"I AM STRONG!" he screamed. "I'm stronger than you and anybody else in that miserable town." He shoved Michael's face against the table. "I could have killed you many times, but I did otherwise only because you entertain me." David let go and thrusted Michael to the floor. "Do I have to remind you that your sister and your boyfriend are here too?" he asked. "If Summer wasn't enough, one of them can be the next, perhaps both."

Michael grunted and sprung at David. "If you hurt them, I-"

"You what?" David rose an eyebrow. "You don't make threats, I make them." David clasped his left hand under Michael's chin. "One more insubordination and I kill them. Understood?"

Michael nodded.

"Good boy," David said and patted Michael's face.

The bulky man released Michael and walked toward the door.

"A man should come with a suit for you," David told him.

The young man tilted his head to the left. "A suit, for what?" he asked.

David smirked. "For the wedding. We're getting married."