THE GIRL kept quiet, watching as the townspeople started accusing her. Whore. Sinner. Whore.
"If she is innocent?" Christopher had suddenly spoke up, standing in frustration. "How dare you accuse my wife of something so... immoral?"
I am immoral.
The Meeting Hall grew silent. Christopher never spoke during meetings, opting to listen instead. This was the first time they've heard him. "Why do you people never wonder if Thomas be innocent? Is the accuser always holy now? Was he born this morning as clean as God's fingers? I'll tell you what's walking the Union—evil is walking the Union. You do not summon the devil by dancing. By drinking."
"That settles it then!" A man yelled. "The girl is innocent!"
They started clamoring after that, and she wasn't too sure if they were agreeing or not.
But it seemed like Thomas didn't care. "Look upon your children. Look upon your wives!" he glared at Natsuko. "For they will bear the Devil's mark!"
Thomas once again got off the stand, allowing Elijah Goode to take his place on it. "Yes, witchcraft. But just as my brother Solomon heroically expelled the darkness among us by killing our afflicted pastor, we too will punish and surmount this evil! As survivors, our faces always will remain towards the sun."
Natsuko grasped onto Lizzie, feeling her heart beat faster. Was it her doing that summoned the Devil into the Union? Was she and Isaac the cause?
A man who she did not recognize stepped onto the platform next. "I traced it on my patrol! This scourge centers on Union proper. I've searched the woods. It does not extend beyond the settlement. It's here! It's in Union! We are being punished, and I have a list of names!"
People began shouting, screaming, demanding the list of names. The girl felt like her own heart was going to explode: to them, she and Isaac carried the biggest sin.
"Enough! Enough! Listen to yourselves! Speculation! Chasing shadows! Imagined curses! I ask... do you have proof?" he glanced at the man. "No. Or you?" Thomas only scoffed at the question, as if it was idiotic. "Or any of you?"
She felt herself relax a bit. She was extremely relived to hear Solomon's voice.
Until Caleb stood. "I have proof!"
The people urged him to give them the proof, so Caleb started to walk up towards the platform, a grim look on his face.
There were a bunch of possibilities running in her mind: had Caleb seen them kissing, or was this about something else?
"It was some nights back when the full moon had risen just beside the sun. As I lay sleeping, she came to me. She witched me and led me to the woods. She was naked... and riding a red mule. And the red mule became a horned man. And she made me watch as she lay with the Devil. As both of them lay with the Devil."
"Both of them?" Elijah questioned, believing Caleb completely.
Caleb nodded. "Hannah Miller and Sarah Fier!"
"No!" Hannah's mother cried in agony while Sarah's father stood. The people were angry, clamoring, and Natsuko felt her breath hitched.
"Caleb lies," she mumbled to Lizzie and Abbi. "We all saw what had happened. Sarah and Hannah never laid with the devil."
But the townspeople seemed to back up the lie. At first it was Jakob, then Elijah, a couple more kids who were there that night— and soon, everyone believed the lie Caleb made out, except for the three girls, Christopher, Isaac, and Solomon.
Caleb was back on the stand, talking, until he had suddenly turned his head before pointing his finger out at the sight of Hannah and Sarah watching from the windows. "Witches! The witches!"
...
Natsuko rushed out of the Meeting House, with Isaac, Lizzie, and Abigail trailing behind her. She watched as the men of the Union walked behind a large building.
"Silence! Check her for marks." Someone had screamed. This caused her blood to turn cold— that probably meant that either Sarah or Hannah got caught. She glanced at her friends, before running over to see what was happening.
The three teens then landed beside her, only to be met with an awful sight.
Caleb was ripping off Hannah's shirt; Sarah was no where to be found. The girl immediately shut her eyes tight, not wanting to watch as her friend suffered in the hands of that prick, Caleb.
"We must help them." Natsuko mumbled, the screams of Hannah still ringing in her ears. "We must help them. Hannah... Sarah... they did nothing wrong."
"You've been accused in front of everyone, Nat!" Lizzie, who was always the voice of reason in situations like these, said in a hush whisper. "It was a bad situation. You know these people— if we try something, they would accuse us as well."
"Then let us do something without people finding out." Natsuko persisted. There was no way she was letting them hang Sarah or Hannah, not after the acts of kindness they continuously showed them.
"Got one!" Caleb shouted suddenly, combined with the sound of Mad Thomas' cackles that were directed at Hannah, grabbing her face between his hand as she was pulled over towards the front of the Meeting House.
"Oh no," Isaac mumbled, eyes drawn together in concern.
"As sure as the sun rises, we will purge Union of this..." Elijah Goode grabbed Hannah's arm, shoving her as she stood with chains tied around her body. "... wretched pollution!"
"We will search every house, every inch of wood! We will not rest and we will not have mercy!" Elijah continued riling up the people, and many screamed no mercy evident in their voices. "So help me, God, we will be cleansed of these anathemas!"
Natsuko held herself softly, hoping that Isaac didn't leave any dark red marks that could pass as a witch's mark. She did not want to be hanged.
"We will have our justice! We will find Sarah Fier!"
Lizzie, Abbi, Natsuko and Isaac shared worried glances as they watch Hannah be pulled from the ground. The townspeople began clamoring, grabbing fires and pitchforks as they began their search, chanting Sarah's name like she was some evil entity.
"Come on. Let's go to my house." Natsuko mumbled, grabbing her skirt and lifting it a bit higher as she ran towards the stone house she and Christopher lived in. The ground below her was muddy, but she gave it no attention as she ran as fast as she could, passing by the screaming civilians.
"Natsuko," she felt her heart drop when she hears the voice, but the shock quickly registers it as Christopher's. He was sitting in a chair, wrapping some medicine up for some unknown reason when the teens rushed inside. "Why do you bring them in this house?"
"We need to do something about Sarah and Hannah." Isaac spoke up, talking a seat down on a chair. "Caleb is lying. Everyone is lying. You must trust us."
"I know."
Abbi made a double take. "You know?"
"I'm giving this medicine to Hannah Miller." Christopher informed them, hands tightening around the knot. "It's not much, but it would help her. But I am afraid that this is all we can do— you know how the Union is."
"No," Natsuko persisted, roaming around in circles. "There must be another way to help them."
"You're too reckless, Natsuko!" Chris whisper shouted, taking pre-caution in case there were people listening outside. "After Mad Thomas' revelation, everyone suspects you now. My word would not sway them. And now... you're going to get yourself accused of witchcraft. It's just too—"
"I cannot stand here, doing nothing, while they hang my friends." Natsuko replied firmly. The girl pointed out the window, leading to the search hunt. "Look at them, Chris! They are doing this with no proof. Sarah Fier is innocent. Hannah Miller is innocent. It is not a sin to love."
At the last sentence, Christopher seems to soften up a bit. It is not a sin to love.
"But what if they find out?"
"Whatever plan we're going to do..." Isaac suddenly spoke up, causing the rest to turn their heads to the boy. "Lizzie and Abbi, you two must stay here."
"No!" Abigail hits him, "We are to be of help!"
Isaac shook his head. "No. It must only be Natsuko and me. If we do get caught, we have a plan."
Natsuko stops pacing, lips curling up into a smile. The happiness is infectious. It starts as a tingle in her fingers and toes, much like the feeling she has when she's anxious, but instead of worrisome it's warm. The girl feels it pass through her like a warm ocean wave, washing away the stress of the current situation to leave her refreshed inside.
"Plan?" Lizzie repeats, still wanting to help her friend. "And what plan is this?"
"We would run away." Natsuko stated. She knew the perfect place to go— a place that was empty of people, and buildings, and far, far away. A place covered in blood-red earth and sleeping life. A place longing to come alive again. It's a place for disappearing. A place for getting lost... and for getting found.
Somewhere that wasn't near the Union.
"Are you dolt?" Abigail exclaimed, not believing her own ears. "But... Your parents. Your husband. What?"
"My parents do not care for me." Isaac declared proudly, although he knew that it was a bit sad.
"Christopher can make up some disease. Listen, we mustn't discuss this now. We must do something to help Sarah and Hannah."
"I have an idea," Christopher perked up, running over to a room before returning with a bag of coins. "It would only support them, but this all depends if Sarah or Hannah would make it out alive."
"Hold on, you approve of this?"
Isaac was wide mouthed, brow raised. He expected for Chris to disapprove. Although he was still going to run ay with her with his permission or not, he was still surprised.
Christopher looks at Isaac, a smile dancing on his face. "Of course. She was never mine and I was never hers— but she is a person I care about, truly, and I only want the best for her. Even if that means never seeing her again."
—
Both Natsuko and Isaac had been careful to not be seen by others. It took a lot of wondering and speculation in their behalf to find out where Sarah Fier ran off too, but they somehow ended up here.
In the woods.
Natsuko found the situation quite amusing. Sneaking out into the woods at this time was basically nothing to her and Isaac, since they always went in there for late night clandestine meetings. They knew the woods like it was the back of their hand, and a light wasn't even needed for them to navigate the place.
"We have been searching for minutes," Isaac whined like a child. "Are you sure that she is here?"
To be completely honest, she wasn't sure anymore. The woods were huge— and the chance of finding Sarah was a tiny spectacle, but they still needed to persist.
Suddenly, the sound of rustling leaves rung out.
Then, in a flash, Sarah appeared in front of them, removing her black cloak that concealed her in the night. "Natsuko? Isaac?"
Natsuko looked at him through the night. Although he could barely see her, she still wanted to gloat.
"You must run away with Hannah." Isaac said in a rush, grabbing the big bag of coins in his pocket and handing it to her.
"What?" Sarah mumbled in confusion, taking it from him, "This is too much..."
"Christopher has a friend that lives in a place that exceeds the settlement." He was a boyfriend, technically, but Sarah did not need to know that. "He owns a bunch of carriages and horses. Chris talked to him. Get a horse, and run away as far as you could. And..."
She took a larger sack, handing it to the curly haired girl. "This contains medicine. Bread. It would last you a few days in your journey. I gave you some of my clothes as well. It might be a bit short for you, but it ought to do."
"Goodness... thank you. How can I ever repay you?"
"Get out of this town. Live the life you always wanted with Hannah." Natsuko replied firmly, knowing full well that was what Sarah deserved. "Now go!"
As Sarah thanked her once again, she disappeared into the woods.
After a few seconds of silence, Natsuko softly took his hand, eyes still set on the place where Sarah Fier had once been. "I had just come to a realization of something."
He squeezed her hand back. "What is that, darling?"
"I do not tell you enough how much I love you."
She could hear the confusion in his voice. "You do."
"No I don't," she turned, placing her hands on his cheeks. "You deserve verbal affirmation. A love that grows with assurance. Where you can sleep peacefully at night knowing that you are an important part of me, feeling the haven that comes from the fact that you are mine, realizing that the next thing you'll do in the morning is to accept and give love that is declared and acknowledged."
He melts under her touch, the words igniting a deep fire in him. "Natsuko—"
"You deserve concrete words." she whispered softly. "Words that aren't tangible but make your mind sane. Words that remind you of your worth. Isaac, you are easily the best thing that has happened in my life."
Isaac was about to say something, but he was quickly shushed by Natsuko. "When we run away, we would have long conversations to that degree where even silence brings you ease and pleasure. There will be no room for fear and uncertainty. There will be no second thoughts and what-ifs. You know where you stand, and what you are to me. You know where you're going. And if ever you get lost, that string attached to me will guide you back to where you belong."
Turning, he gripped her cheek tightly with his free hand and brought his mouth down onto hers. Natsuko tilted her head and parted her lips as he kissed her. She found her body pressed tightly into his, her hands fisted on his chest and her eyes shut as the sensations and tingles floated through her nerves and body leaving her feeling as though she was levitating.
"I enjoy this, truly..." Natsuko panted, giggling a bit as she moved away from him. "But we must go back."