Part of me wanted to listen to him, to make things easier for me but then I thought back to my realization from a few moments ago. They had already sentenced me so there really was no reason to listen to them anymore. Besides, I already knew that the way I pushed myself in my work and my duties showed that I had no interest in what was best for myself.
"Why would I care about what is in my best interest? If I cared about that, I wouldn't have thrown myself heart and soul into my job. I wouldn't have worked practically non-stop when things began to get bad, and I certainly wouldn't have fought against the Angel of Death when he tried to take some of my charges from me. But I didn't think of what was best for me; I thought of what was best for my charges and I fought to save them. And you know what, I won. So now you want to condemn me, and for what? For something that I have no recollection of doing, for something you say you have a witness for. How do I know that I can trust what you're saying? You could be making something up, spinning untruths to set me up. But why would you want to do that? Unless you are just looking for someone to pin all of this on so you can move on with your fantasy world."
"Silence!" Samuel practically roared at me. I had never seen him or heard him react that way before and part of me actually felt thrilled at pushing his buttons. "It is clear that nothing can be done for you. I'm sorry that this has to happen now but I can see that there is no chance for recovery."
He looked at each of the other Leaders and they each nodded to him, resigned to their decisions on my punishment. "Your sentence has been decided. For the crimes you have committed against the Resurrectors, there is only one possible punishment and that is death. However, Resurrectors and Leaders especially are against death and could not intentionally cause the death of another being."
I blinked. What? Death, but they couldn't do it? What were they going to do then? They could always imprison me for the rest of my life. Or maybe they would send me to live amongst the humans, where I would be susceptible to all of their illnesses and injuries…even death.
Samuel cleared his throat. "In circumstances like this, as much as we may dislike our counterparts, we find their services to be incredibly helpful. The death sentence will be fulfilled."
There was a knock on the door and I turned to look at it. They were really serious about this? They were going to kill me for something I didn't do. At least I didn't think that I did it.
"Let him in," Samuel ordered.
The door opened and a tall figure in a long black robe walked in, a hood covering his face so recognition would be impossible. I was frozen to where I stood, unable to move as the figure walked over towards me. It felt like I couldn't breathe. Death. I was being sentenced to death for a crime I didn't remember committing.
My legs felt week, I felt myself wobble for a few seconds, and then I fell to my knees, still staring up at the black robed figure before me. He stopped and I thought he was staring down at me, though he said nothing. A gloved hand moved out from inside the robe, reaching towards me. I took a few shaky breaths. This wasn't happening.
"Take his hand, Tamesis."
Samuel's voice cut through the silence. I didn't want to die, not yet. I still had so much life to live, so much I could do. Now it was just take this figure's hand and…? It would all be over. I would sink into oblivion and…then what? I wanted to believe that there was something after death but I hadn't seen proof of it.
"It will be over soon, I promise. Trust me," the figure's honey sweet voice said softly, reassuringly.
I stared up at him, having recognized his voice. It was Thanos. I would remember his voice anywhere, and surprisingly enough I did trust him. From what I could remember he had never done anything against me to make me feel as if I couldn't trust him. Plus, there was something about his voice that completely calmed me. There was nothing more I could do but give in to the situation and accept what was happening. Slowly I reached out and placed my hand in his.
The shock that jolted through me seemed to fill me with a strength I hadn't known before. It also seemed to jump start my memory and in that moment I remembered what happened at the mall. I could see Thanos perfectly and hear his voice as he told me to trust him. I remembered that jolt as our hands touched, even through the gloves he wore. Everything had gone dark after that and I couldn't help but feel that somehow, because of that, he had saved me from meeting the fate of the eighteen other Resurrectors that day. I had spent all of that time thinking that whatever he had done had caused me to react in such a negative way towards the Resurrectors, but just as he had promised me, no harm had come to me that day. In fact, it was the Leaders who were actually harming me, not him, never him.
Nothing could have prepared me for the wave of nausea that swept through me after that and I was actually really glad that I had not had anything to eat recently because I certainly would have thrown up all over Thanos’s shiny black shoes. That sensation was followed by a searing pain throughout my body. I hunched over and clenched my jaw and my fists, feeling as I squeezed down hard on the hand I held. My thoughts were starting to swarm around and my focus was definitely off-kilter.
Everything seemed to be swirling around me, fading in and out, making me incredibly dizzy. It got to the point where I could no longer stand and I dropped to my knees. Somehow I was aware of him though as he held my hand. He was like a lifeline, keeping me tied down to the ground, keeping me from drifting away. I watched as he knelt down in front of me. "Let go," he whispered. "You are ready."
My heartbeat sped up suddenly and I found I couldn't even take a breath in. Within moments my lungs were burning. I wanted to scream from the pain but I couldn’t unclench my jaw. My entire body felt as if it were on fire and being ripped apart at the same time.
There was only one thing to do now. I placed my faith and my trust in the man before me and I let myself go. The last thing I felt was my body falling to the ground and then everything fell into a peaceful and dark void.
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Project Death: Resurrection Page 16