❝ I smiled.
We were under the same sky
at least ❞
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, I DIDN'T come all this way just to die," I blurted and everyone turned their heads to stare at me.
"Char," Cade started.
"This isn't fair. Don't we at least get a trial or something? You said it yourselves, the Gods made a mistake, not us, so why are we being punished?"
"So the Gods made you break your vow to your matches?" Oracle North wasn't having any of it.
"This is a very serious offense," Oracle South said, "And the verdict is capital punishment."
"Char," Cade started again and it was the same voice I used when I talked to animals. . . right before delivering the final shot.
"No," I objected, "There has to be another way." Why was he giving up? I still had so much fight left.
He grabbed my hand and squeezed.
"There's no other way. We took the risk and we got caught. We knew what we were getting into."
He was right.
We knew the consequences were death.
I looked over at Cade's dad, who was standing off to the side with the other eleven Selects. So far he'd been suspiciously quiet even though they were talking about his son's somber future.
"Aren't you going to say something?"
"It's the law. No amount of arguing will change it." He said stiffly. It was like he'd slapped us. There was no emotion in his voice, no reaction on his face, no sign of empathy. But even worse, it was as if Cade was just another criminal.
It was a hard pill to swallow.
"Then it is decided," Oracle North concluded, "Cascade of House Pisces and Charlize of House Sagittarius are both sentenced to death."
Death. . .
It didn't seem real until someone said it out loud.
"When do we—when do you—?" I was so shocked that I stumbled over my own words.
"The execution date will be three days from now." Oracle South answered.
"That soon?"
Oracle East nodded, "Unfortunately, once the death penalty is decided, we must enact it immediately."
"Bring them to their cells." Oracle North ordered.
»» ─────── ─────── ««
The cells were more like tiny, glorified bedrooms. There was a bed in the right corner and a table and chair in the left. The room was sealed tight, as there were no windows nor air ducts.
Before the two guards took the bracelets off of my wrists, they explained the rules to me. I got three meals a day and could leave my room up to five times to use the bathroom. A glass wall divided my cell in half. They told me it was used to see visitors if I wanted.
"You're allowed one visiting hour per day." The woman told me.
I spoke immediately, "Cade. I want to see Cade."
They nodded and within ten minutes, they delivered him to my cell. But they brought him to the other side of the glass.
"No," I objected, "This side."
"You're not allowed to be in the same room." The man disagreed.
"I just want to give him one last hug. How is that a crime?" I asked. "We're going to die soon anyway, the least you can do is let us be in the same room."
They looked at one another, appearing to argue with each other in their heads.
Finally, the man gave in, "Done. But those stay on." He pointed to my handcuff bracelets. I nodded and they shut the door.
Cade showed up at my door ten minutes later.
We hugged each other immediately and he kissed my forehead. At least his hands were free.
"What are you doing here? Did they kidnap you, too?"
"No, they tried to but I escaped and came here by myself."
"Why would you do that? You should've just stayed in Situla." He sounded mad but his gentle touch said otherwise.
"Right, like I could trust the people who betrayed us for money."
"Yeah but you would've been safe," he caressed my cheek with a feather light touch.
"There was no way I'd leave you." I kissed his lips and whispered in his ear, "We have to get out of here. I've already been thinking about some plans."
"I don't know, Char," he didn't sound too confident.
"Everything's going to be fine. We can convince your dad to help us escape."
"That won't work."
"Of course it will. He's a Select, he has the power to sneak us out of here and the connections to help us hide somewhere where nobody will find us this time."
"He won't do it. His duty is always to his job."
"Then we have to convince him to help us. Maybe your mom can talk to him—"
"No," he argued, "No more running. I'm tired of lying and hiding and pretending. We got caught and now we have to face our destiny."
"Are you saying you don't want to live anymore?" I couldn't believe it. He didn't even want to try.
In shock, I backed away from him. Cade pulled me back into his arms and gave me a sad smile.
"I don't want to spend our last days fighting." He kissed me again.
"But—"
"Just kiss me."
I agreed. I didn't want our time being spent on pointless arguing.
We spent the rest of the time holding each other on my bed and memorizing each other's faces. He had the most breathtaking hazel eyes and the most tender voice. One look and he sent me to another dimension, one word and everything became irrelevant.
"Time's up."
The same two guards came back and grabbed Cade by the arms, ripping him away from me. All I could do was watch as he disappeared behind my door.
Never had an hour been so short.
»» ─────── ─────── ««
The next morning, I'd asked to see Cade but my request was denied by my male babysitter.
"Why?"
"Someone else has already requested a visit with you."
"Who?" Who on earth could possibly want to visit after everything I'd done?
Sky kept her head down as she opened the door and stepped inside. When she looked into my eyes it was like she was looking straight into my soul.
"Thanks for coming. Did you get my voicemail?"
"You have no fucking idea how angry I am at you!" She spat at me vehemently.
Here we go, I thought, don't hold back. I deserved it.
"This is beyond the worst thing you've ever done. You left me twice, and for what? For some guy you've only known for less than a year while you've known me since forever. It's like you're a totally different person. You skipped graduation for him. You ran away and abandoned everyone for him. You're going to die for him. And what on gods given earth did you do to your hair?"
I flipped my dyed black hair over my shoulder. The roots were starting to grow in so it looked like a poor attempt at being trendy.
"It's my new look. You like it?"
"Char, can you be serious for once?" Her dark eyes shimmered with tears, "You're going to be executed in two days."
"Don't you think I know that? All I do all day is think about the fact that I'm going to die and how I'm the only one to blame." If I had to guess, I barely got five hours of sleep last night because everything was starting to hit me like a train.
"I don't want you to die," her voice was broken.
I wanted to hug her and comfort her but the glass separated us. All I could do was put my hand on the glass.
Sky met my hand and the glass transmitted her warmth.
"Was he worth it?"
"I love him," I said weakly, "I don't remember falling in love with him. All I remember is that it hurt so much when I had to let him go."
"You're so stupid," she was laughing and crying at the same time.
"How's Kingston? And Noah?"
"We actually fought about who would get to see you. But then I brought up how many years I'd known you and they all shut up."
"I miss them. I wish I got to see them one last time." The last time I saw Kingston, he was happy with his new boyfriend and the last time I saw Noah, he'd given me a burnt cookie from the bake sale.
"They said we couldn't give you any gifts but we all pitched in for your birthday," she held up something rectangular in her hands and I squinted to see it more clearly, "It's a scrapbook. I know we only have an hour so I'll just show you the best ones."
She flipped through the pages and nostalgia pierced through my heart.
The first were pictures of me, Sky, Kingston and Noah at our ski trip to Nashira. Then of us at the school's sports games. There was one when I'd just met Noah and was judging him for the first time. I'd given my approval a few days later and we became fast friends. Sky showed me a whole page of us at her skating matches, the time she won gold for the first time and we went for fondue to celebrate.
Farther back still, she showed me photographs of us at the height of our friendship. Birthday parties, sleepovers, camping trips, beach days, lazy days. . . it was all there.
Moments of us smiling at the camera were thrown in with candid shots that were taken when we weren't looking. We were so young then, who knew the end would arrive in two more days.
"You don't even know much I'm going to miss you." Sky burst out into full-on sobbing. She grabbed some tissues from her bag and started wiping her eyes furiously.
"Me, too. You're my best friend, Sky," my voice shook and some tears trickled down my face.
"There has to be another way."
"There isn't."
But my honesty only made her cry harder.
»» ─────── ─────── ««
I'd never seen my dad cry. It was very Sagittarius to smile instead of letting others see how broken we truly were. We called it blind optimism, while others called it a white lie.
When they opened the door, tears were already in my dad's eyes.
"Your mom wanted to come and see you, too, but they only let one visitor in." I hated seeing him so depressed. He was usually so upbeat and could joke about anything.
"Is it true the Zodiac burned our house down?"
"They did."
"Because of me?"
"It wasn't your fault. You weren't the one to set it on fire."
"No, I just poured gasoline on it," I couldn't even look at him, I was so ashamed, "If it weren't for me you wouldn't be homeless."
"We're staying with Aunt Katelyn and Uncle Sonny. We have everything we need."
"But we lost everything. We lost all of our money, our things, our memories." The house we grew up in, celebrated every birthday in, and spent the seasons living in was ash now. Photographs, vintage ceramics, stuff that's been passed down generations.
Dad shook his head and his hands trembled.
"Those things can be replaced, Char. But you can't."
Gods, now I wanted to cry.
"So you talked to them?"
"What were you thinking?"
I said the same thing I told Sky, "I love him."
"Then you should've told me or your mom or your siblings, you have two of them! We could've helped you, we could've done this together!" He raised his voice but I was expecting that.
"You wouldn't have and you know it. You would've rather killed me than see me with him."
"We would've rather seen you alive more than anything else."
I got up from my chair to face him, "I hated lying to myself. Everyday it felt like I was trapped in a place I couldn't be free of. I'd rather die than torture myself any longer."
"How did you even meet this boy?"
"We met while I was out hunting. I didn't recognize him then but he was in some of my classes. There was just something about him that made everything make sense. It was like he'd was the one I'd been waiting for all my life." I couldn't put that feeling into words. "And as time went on I knew we were supposed to find each other."
Dad shook his head, still confused.
"I tried giving Mars a chance. I really did. But I waited and waited and it just proved we weren't right for each other. The oracles even said it themselves that Cade and I were originally matched to each other, but they couldn't let us be together because we weren't compatible."
What I liked about my dad was that he listened. He didn't zone out or ignore my words, he listened to the whole story and waited to voice his thoughts.
"The stars chose you to be with this boy? That's what they said?"
"Yeah. And his name's Cade."
Time was winding down yet I had so much to say.
"Tell Mom I love her and that I'm sorry. Tell Austyn and Remy I love them, too, even though they were a pain to deal with," oh no, here come the waterworks again, "I'm s—sorry I'm such an ungrateful d—daughter; I should've just told you instead of r—running away but I was scared of what you'd say. I didn't want to disappoint you or make you mad."
"You could never disappoint us, Char. You're our daughter. We love you. We'll always—" he started choking up and I couldn't keep a stoic face anymore.
If I could go back in time and fix anything, I would tell my parents instead of guarding my secrets. I always thought I was so alone but that had never been more untrue.
»» ─────── ─────── ««
Today was the day. The day I never thought would come and the one that would change my life forever.
Somehow the last three days had both been insanely short and torturously slow. Trapped in here to think only made the trepidation worse.
I spent the whole morning wondering who my last visitor would be. Who would visit me today? Who was left?
The door to my cell opened and I did a double-take. It was the oracle of the west, and she was holding a tray of food which I assumed was my breakfast.
"Your parents told me your favorite food was maple glazed chicken and fluffy brown rice." She set it down on my table while she stood by the entrance with her arms by her side.
"It is." It looked delicious. It smelled even better.
My last meal. . . and I wasn't even hungry.
"What are you doing here?"
"Your food's getting cold,"
I didn't touch any of it yet and probably wasn't even going to take a bite.
"I'm not that hungry."
She nodded, "You can ask me anything you want and I will do my best to answer."
"How will they do it? Kill us, I mean?" I asked quickly.
"Slowly and painfully," she replied, "They'll tie you to a wooden pillar and set you ablaze. Most die within seconds of inhaling the smoke though sometimes it lasts up to ten minutes."
"Oh. We don't get lethal injections?"
"No."
I gulped.
"How many people will be there?"
"Your family, friends, relatives and teachers are all allowed to come."
So they'll all watch me burn to death. I'm sure my enemies will love to see that.
"When you met me, why didn't you give me Cade as a match?" I asked.
"When I was yet to be an oracle, there was a couple who fell in love. Their story was akin to yours and your Cascade there—both very young and devoted to each other—but they were not compatible, so they attempted to hide it." The oracle explained. "They were incredibly careful and believed that nobody would ever discover their secret. But the Zodiac always finds out."
"What happened to them?" I asked even though I had a feeling of what happened.
"They were executed. As you will be."
Fantastic.
"You aren't special, Char. You may believe that what you're doing is just, but there have been many before you. . . and there will be many more after you."
She didn't have to tell me that we weren't the first ones to rebel but I'd hoped that we were the first ones to change the law.
By then it was too late for me to realize that it was impossible.
"Open your hands," she told me and I obeyed. She gave me a tiny white capsule the size of a grain of rice.
"What's this?"
"For the pain. Take it now."
"Did Cade get one, too?"
"I don't know."
I dropped it onto my tongue and swallowed.
Just as I'd washed it done with a glass of water, the two guards opened the door and locked eyes with me.
"It's time."
Everything was numb.
"I guess it's time for the show to start." I stood up and put one foot in front of the other. I wouldn't let them see how terrified I was.
Oracle West trailed behind us as they escorted me to the elevators. Someone hit the top button and we soared up to the cloudless sky. They pulled me along and I walked around aimlessly. We walked out of the tower and the midday sun lit up my vision. It would've been a beautiful day to see the rest of.
There were more people than I thought would show up.
Mom and Dad were the faces I saw first. It looked like they'd been crying all day and night, with eyes so red and empty. Austyn and Remy were next to them with serious expressions for once. Their stares stabbed my heart so much that I forced myself to look away. It hurt to look at my family the most, partly because I knew I'd let them down and partly because they'd done so much for me and I was repaying them by dying.
I wasn't surprised to see Sky standing in the first row, Noah and Kingston beside her, of course. They looked devastated. I met each of their eyes but kept walking forward. Hudson, Daphne, Peter, even Bennett and Veronica showed up. A few of my relatives and teachers were watching as I passed them. Many people from Cade's family were in the crowd as well, all crying and solemn. I wondered who Cade's mom was as I'd never seen her before. Some out of sector people were standing there too, like Esme, Zayn, and in the very back I saw Fiona's golden curls.
It took me a few seconds to find him but Mars was there—standing next to Angelina wearing an emotionless mask. He'd looked better. I remember when we first met how attractive I thought he was and how hopeful I was. But now whenever I looked at him I felt nothing.
About half of the Selects were standing by the people watching, as if they were bodyguards preventing anyone from rescuing us—not that we had a chance anyway. We were up so high in the clouds that the only way we could escape is if we jumped.
By then I'd reached the prominent wood pillar in the center of the tower. The four oracles were present and two were tying Cade's wrists together. He looked at me and I looked back.
His face was the last I saw before they turned me around and tied my body to the pillar. No escaping now. I closed my eyes and felt a tear slip down my skin.
"We almost made it," I whispered and tried to grab his hand but my hands were bound too tight.
"Almost," he whispered back.
But almost was never enough.
Time moved in slow motion as Oracle East grabbed the burning torch and moved to touch the flame to the embers below our feet.
No last words. Just the heavy sounds of our breaths.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe the pill was powerful enough to eliminate the pain. Maybe it would just be like falling asleep.
Except it was worse than anything I could have ever imagined.