Past Truths

by Em Pitts

  I let my tears fall as they may, and I hardened my stance despite what the people were throwing out at me. Let them chastise me, let them cause me pain, I would stand tall. If for no one else, I would stand for Hope. She deserves nothing less. And let them find out the reason I am here is that I saved their lives. When everything falls, I hope the "righteous" people they claim to be, realize they are condemning people to death who would die to protect them.

  I don't know how many minutes it took to make our way through the crowded room, but eventually, we were pushed to an open space to stand before them all. The judge and minister stood high on the platform. Nick and Raynor's father stood up there with them.

  As soon as we were all through, Alexander joined the others. He moved slower and I could see the toll the night had taken on him. I have to give him credit though, he stood tall despite the lethargy he portrayed.

  Hector stood off to the side looking ready to intervene at a moment’s notice. His face was determined at the moment and I turned my attention to the next person rather than try to figure out what he was thinking.

  Jayne stood close to the edge of the crowd watching us. A boy who barely reached her shoulders in height, was between her and Willoughby. Sammy was perched on Willoughby's hip. The sneer that Willoughby held for me didn't surprise me. Jayne kept her face perfectly blank and that was scarier.

  Ellyne shouldered her way between them with Hope holding on tight. I smiled at Hope as she sought me out again. She turned her attention to her Uncle Ollie, and I faced forward. It hurt to see the pain she was holding.

  Would Ellyne tell the truth to her daughter? Will she know he was an innocent and good man when he died?

  The hush in the room had my heart rate picking up speed. I looked up at the platform to see the ministers hand raised to quiet the uproar. I survived the trials given by a demon at the divine cave and now we faced the trials of men. Let the trials begin.

  34

  "We are gathered here today for the crimes of Tessa Woods, Oliverus Thornburn, Raynor Ford, Nickolas Ford, and Isaake James." Judge's voice carried through the room. He held his hand up quieting the crowd, before the murmurs turned into the deafening volume from earlier. "The four are being accused of destroying a sacred ritual we have held for over a hundred years. The trials in the divine cave have been polluted by dark magic.

  “I caught them myself using this dark magic. Alexander is my witness. This magic—this witchcraft—has tainted their souls and condemned their fate." Cries of outrage rose around me. I saw Ellyne clutch her chest in disbelief. "How do you plead, Mr. James?"

  We actually got a say in this? Maybe I could speak up and tell the people the truth. Maybe they will believe me this time?

  "I am only guilty of destroying the dark magic that you used." Isaake's voice rang clear with the truth. The angered cries grew in volume.

  "Mr. Ford, Mr. Ford," Judge nodded to each brother in turn. "How do you plead?" Silence descended in the room as the people waited with bated breath.

  "To which accusation?" Nick asked. "Did we stop you and the minister from killing people? Yes. Did we use dark magic? No." Nick answered. The crowd roared their displeasure. Clearly, the thought of us accusing their beloved figureheads was pissing them off.

  "My answer doesn't matter, you won't listen," Raynor responded next. It was true. No one was listening.

  "Mr. Thornburn, how—"

  "Fuck you," Ollie spoke bluntly. Nick laughed outright and even Raynor chuckled. Isaake and I didn't join in the humor. It was my turn next.

  "Ms. Woods, how do you plead?" The judge's eyes were intense as he stared at me.

  All attention was focused on me and the silence of the room was more intimidating than the time I had to sit down and explain sex to Abby. I didn't know how to answer him. The men had answered correctly. They spoke the truth and said outright that our answers didn't matter. I thought maybe I could talk to the crowd but looking around at the anger and accusation from this room of strangers made me realize that my words were useless.

  "I have done no wrong," I stated to his face. He knew that. The crowd picked up again.

  "Where is the proof?" A familiar woman's voice called out. I looked behind me to see Granny standing tall daring the judge to respond. "You saw this dark magic? Did Alexander witness it as well? She has been living in the tavern for weeks with no sign of dark magic. The men were raised here and have lived their whole lives without showing signs of dark magic. Where is your proof?" She demanded. I could kiss her right now.

  Members in the crowd were murmuring. Bridget planted the seed in their head that these men have always been around them and shown no signs of what Judge accuses. Maybe they will listen to her.

  "The proof is all around you." The judge called out. "The minister's daughter, Susanna, has suffered unexplained fits for some time. Her thrashing fits have confined her to the bed, unable to walk or speak. They have been worse since Ms. Woods has joined our town and been working within the Winters home. You yourself saw her use witchcraft when she attempted to weave dark magic into a doll."

  Another gasp from the crowd pulled my attention to the chandler. Walter was gaping at the idea that the doll I handed him might have dark magic in it.

  "I've done no such thing!" I spoke up outraged. And what thrashing fits was he talking about? "You can't possibly blame seizures on me either. That's a medical condition!"

  Susanna must have been inside the closed room at the Winter’s home. I’ve heard her name mentioned a couple of times by Margrete and Benjamin, but I didn’t put two and two together until now.

  "She admits to knowing about the seizures!" A voice cried from the crowd. I gritted my teeth to keep from speaking out again. Arguing with idiots never ends well. I'll never be able to win.

  "The men have shown no signs," Granny argued back.

  The judge sighed as if in pain. "It was a mistake of the heart that led Mr. James to fall for a witch. She is the one who manipulated the men into dark magic. I'm afraid there is no way to bring them back from the darkness now." More outraged cries. The crowd was eating this shit up.

  Bridget remained silent after that and I turned to see her expression. She was holding herself together well. When her eyes met mine, I saw determination. She nodded her head at me. What was that supposed to mean? She believed me, or she thought I was guilty?

  "We find the five guilty of witchcraft! You are sentenced to be hanged and will be held in the dungeons until such a time." The judge's voice snapped my attention to the front. The crowd cheered.

  "Hang the witch!" Jayne called out. The crowd followed her chanting "Hang the witch". Followers. That is all everyone was doing. The one with the loudest voice persuaded the crowd and they followed regardless.

  My men were grim as we were pushed out of the room. This time no one dared touch the witch and her men. They spewed their words hard enough to hit anyway.

  My mind was in a fog as we were led to the dungeons. Our footsteps reluctantly shuffled down a hallway inside the jail before a man opened a door leading down the stairs. The very dark stairs. I was worried about tripping as I followed the man.

  Nick must have sensed my fear because he grabbed onto the back of my shirt and kept hold as we descended. The quiet, closed space made it easy to hear the pained noises Nick tried to hide beneath his breath.

  When the darkness seemed to be closing in, the man in front of me held up a flame similar to Ollie's. At the bottom of the stairs he built the flame larger and it encompassed most of the room with light. His Fire broke into pieces as it lit the three torches. He extinguished his flame and the room was left with softly flickering light.

  I almost wished we would have been left in the dark. There was a barred cell room to our left like the two upstairs. On our right, there were chains and hooks dangling from the walls. Before they could determine where they wanted me, I decided to take the choice away from them. I walked towards the cell, not liking the idea of being chained to
a wall. The cell gave me space to sit down and walk if I wanted.

  "To the wall, Woods!" The fire man barked out. Fuck. Guess I was not going to be getting any walking done.

  "What happened to Ms. Woods?" I muttered sarcastically as I made my way to the chains. He ignored me and pushed me when I wasn't going fast enough.

  Nick lunged at him and the man's fist plunged into Nick’s stomach causing him to bend over. Nick was pushed beside me into the wall as the rest of the men were placed next to us. His treatment and pain were sparking my anger and helping drive the numbness away. The judge stepped off the last stair with a smile, giving me someone to focus my anger on.

  "How do you like it? I'm thinking about calling it witch's jail from now on. Dungeons just sound too bland." He mocked.

  The fire man grabbed my chained hands and held them above my head to attach them to the dangling hook. I looked up and saw a chain holding the hook, that could be pulled and tightened. At the height it was set, I couldn't reach to get anything undone. The clinking of metal continued as my guys suffered the same fate.

  "I'm thinking you are taking the witch thing a bit too far," I answered him. "I thought you wanted in my pants. Now I'm thinking you just wanted me for my ideas. Shame you stole the witch title. Couldn't come up with your own ridiculous name for accusing innocents?" Mocking him probably wasn't a good idea. It couldn't really get much worse for me though.

  "You're no innocent, Tessa Woods. You destroyed a tradition loved by the people. You stole their power."

  "I stole YOUR power." I corrected him. "Were you amassing power from the deaths you created to cause a war? Maybe it was because you were hoping it would grow your dick longer. Spoiler alert asshole, if you're not pleasing your wives, more power won't change that." His face tightened in anger at my words.

  "Out!" He ordered the three other men who followed us in here. I didn't even know who they were. More blind followers, as proven when they listened and left, stomping up the stairs.

  The room was silent until we heard the door shut and click. The torches whirled from the change before going eerily still. Everything seemed still. That's when I realized it was the calm before the storm. Shit was about to get worse. We were all chained to a dungeon wall and he was free to do whatever he wanted with no witnesses. And I was smart enough to piss him off.

  "You think you're better than me, don't you Tessa?" He started off. Really, we were going with the cliched crap? "Because you're from the future with your fancy things, you think us savage idiots from the past?" Just you in particular, actually.

  He was stepping closer to me as he spoke. Homing in on me like his newest target. He ignored the men beside me, didn't pay them any attention at all. His sudden grip on my chin was pinching and hurtful. Nick thrashed beside me.

  "Get your hands off of her!"

  "I'll skin you alive!" Raynor followed up. The chains rattled as the men struggled, sensing a danger I wasn’t even fully aware of yet.

  "You are in my time now, Tessa Woods. This is my town, my rules. I just turned every person against you." He brought his other hand up and trailed it down my cheek in a sickening caress. I uselessly tried to pull from his firm hold. "You are mine to do with however I please until it’s time for you to die. Then I'm going to take you right on top of that hill and place a rope around your pretty little neck before I push you off the cart. You'll suffocate with everyone watching you and there's nothing you can do about it. Because despite your future with its fancy things, here you are, no more than the rest of us. And you'll die like the common peasant you pretend not to be." He jerked away from me throwing my head backward into the wall.

  The back of my head ached as a faint ringing flowed in my ears washing out the world for a few bliss moments. Then everything filtered back in with a snap.

  "…going to rip you limb from limb!" Ollie's voice echoed around the room. I realized all the men were yelling at him as he was threatening me, but at the time I could hear nothing but the promise in his words. The promise that he would do whatever he wished with me, then kill me himself.

  Judge looked amused at the men's rant. He rolled up his sleeves slowly as they continued trying to break free. Raynor had now taken to pushing off the wall and pulling down on the chains. Despite the creaking and groaning, nothing was happening.

  "I think I just figured out what I'm going to do first, Tessa." He smirked as he made his way over to me. "After all, you're a witch. We haven't even checked to make sure you don't have any of the dark magic dolls on you, have we? That was a nice touch, wouldn't you say? Alexander heard you talking about making your doll. No matter now. No, now I think I'll have you strip for examination." He leered.

  Fuck. No.

  My screaming and thrashing didn't matter. Ollie's outrage, Raynor's fierce desire to maim and kill, Nick's desperation, and Isaake's cutting fury, didn't matter. We were chained and left to Judge’s mercy. The men's gifts were chained just as the physical cuffs held us at a disadvantage. And the judge was a sick man.

  He stepped forward grabbing onto my dress in satisfaction. I twisted around and brought my legs up to fend him off, hitting him in his legs and stomach. Nick was trying to do the same from his side, but he couldn't reach. We were too far apart.

  There was a feeling of entrapment as something formed around my chest to hold me to the wall. I struggled more and broke through it. Dirt fell away. The judge was trying to use the Earth to hold me, but he wasn't as strong as Ollie.

  A green light formed in his palm. Fuck he was going to use his lightening! I stilled at the presence of the deadly ball of energy. Judge was panting from the struggle and his grin of triumph was sinister.

  "Now, just hold still and I won't have to hurt you." He straightened himself out and spoke calmly as if I was a crazed person for trying to fight him off.

  Yeah, just hold still while you strip me. That didn't sound pleasant at all. I feared the ball and what it could do making me a coward as I held still. He sensed his victory and used that deadly energy to cut through my clothes with ease.

  No.

  My heart was beating erratically and the tears fell uselessly in paths down my bruised face.

  No.

  Before I knew it, I was standing naked in front of a mad man as four other men desperately tried to free themselves. Dirt was falling from the ceiling around Raynor as the clanking of the metal matched the uproar of the inevitable. Raynor might actually get free soon, but would it be soon enough? The judge seemed to notice the same thing.

  Judge snatched my chain from the hook above me and placed that deadly little ball next to my face at the same time. I stared at the sparking energy and barely jerked away in time when a strong grip on my arm tugged me forward. The cell door creaked as he yanked it open in his haste to push me inside.

  "You got what you wanted; I'm not carrying anything! Put me back on the wall!" I pleaded.

  The cell didn't sound fun anymore. I knew where the rest of this story ended. He yanked me close enough that my body was against his. I trembled in revulsion and felt my stomach tighten in dread. I was going to be sick.

  "You are mine to do whatever I want with Tessa. Remember?" He whispered.

  No. No, no, no.

  Fuck it, I'll die by the ball.

  I used my body weight to push away from his just as the torch lights flickered. The door was opening. Help.

  "Help!" I cried out loud. “Help me, damnit!”

  The judge sneered and harshly threw me onto the ground. The cell door clanged shut at his retreat and the sound of him locking me in was like a death sentence. My breath whooshed out of me as I landed hard on my side. I scrambled up quickly to face the room.

  Stomping on the stairs announced whoever was coming before they were visible. An aging face lined with the hardships from her life came into view. Granny.

  Her face was stricken as she looked at my naked body in the cell. She noted the men chained to the walls, still screaming and yanking on those damn
chains, before she turned to Judge.

  "This is how we treat prisoners now?" She sneered at him.

  "This is how we treat witches." He refused to rise to her bait. "She needed to be examined for weapons or dark magic items." He reasoned. "Why are you here?" Granny stood taller at the question. A deeper voice answered for her.

  "She wished to see the woman who betrayed her." Hector stood behind her. "She has the right, after having a witch living with her for two weeks. She needs to know if there was dark magic used at the tavern." The judge clenched his jaw but nodded jerkily.

  "Alone." Granny's voice was strong.

  "You need me here in case she uses magic." He rationalized.

  "The cuffs prevent her from using magic. You didn't want any witnesses for whatever the hell just happened. I don't want any witnesses for what might happen soon." Granny sounded furious.

  Was she implying she was going to hurt me for betraying her? I slunk down to the floor in defeat. Bridget was on their side.

  "I'll stay with her," Hector spoke up. "We will call out for help if we need to."

  I didn't look up but listened as the judge trotted up the stairs and the door closed again. The judge left and the torches went eerily still. The men were quiet waiting on the fallout to happen.

  Bridget wailed out and dropped grabbing the bars. "How could you?" She cried out. I refused to look at her betrayal. “You saw what he did, and you let him leave? You should have killed him for it!" She hissed. I jerked my head upright. She was talking to Hector. Her arm was reaching through the bars towards me. "Come child. It's okay. It's going to be okay." She cried. I didn't understand.

  I scooted to her hand and she grabbed onto me with a surprisingly strong grip, pulling me as close as the bars would allow. She held me murmuring nonsense through the bars. She was comforting me?

  "I thought you were angry," I whispered out.

  "I'm furious." She agreed. "Not at you. Never at you. I've got you." She tried rocking me, but it was awkward with the bars. "Release her already Hector!" He jumped at her command and went to the bars trying out keys.