by Yume
* * *
It was most definitely the most miserable scene in the month, when all people gathered around the church not for prayer but for three funerals. Jesse was undoubtedly buried together with Valerie. As for Erica, no one seemed to have quite forgiven her for her sin. Standing outside the church, guarded by two soldiers, Hanzel stared in grief. As his cousin’s coffin was brought out from the church, he let out another sigh.
His fate was now in Margorie’s hands again. Either she appeared or not, he would be yearning for her. If she showed up, it would mean another life saved. If she didn’t, he would join her in death. It was sort of a contradiction. Yet, he knew she would appear, not because he had faith in her but for what she had told him.
“There’s still a long way to go before your death.” Margorie had told him.
Therefore, he reckoned she wouldn’t let him die yet. She would stop Detective Carter from executing him no matter what.
“Boy, where’s she?” Detective Carter mumbled from behind.
Hanzel did not answer. Instead, he kept glaring ahead. A cohort of villagers walked out of the church, following the three coffins. Flower petals were sprayed everywhere. The bells chimed one last time for the dead.
And then, it happened. Only for a swift moment, it happened. Still, Hanzel managed to take a quick glimpse. Following closely behind the group was an elegant yet eccentric young lady, dressed in entire black. Her graceful move sparked off Hanzel’s passion once more. She indisputably was his all time beloved woman. Her face was as colorless as the white rose on the floor. As usual, her dismal and dreary look frightened him a bit whereas her rare cold beauty tempted him.
“Margorie…” He whispered softly. Without a word, he rushed toward her direction. Detective Carter was alarmed as the two soldiers chased after the boy.
“Margorie!” Hanzel shouted. Being discovered, the girl turned abruptly and vanished.
Tracking the dark mist and shadow, Hanzel kept on running. Out of sudden, his leg was caught by acute pain. He tripped over and fell. A dart stuck to the bottom of his ankle. Blood began to spill from the wound.
“Leave the boy, search for the girl!” Detective Carter ordered. His two assistants nodded and scurried away.
“Don’t you think you can get away that easily, boy!” Detective Carter grabbed Hanzel’s shoulder and pointed a gun at his forehead.
“If the girl escapes, you’re dead.”
“Then, kill me!” Hanzel howled.
The gun fired but the bullet only passed through Hanzel’s arm.
“Next will be your ear.” Detective Carter smiled.
“Still having a frenzy killing the innocents?” A deep chilly voice echoed. Detective Carter dropped his gun immediately.
“Who’s speaking?” He commanded.
“I thought you were dying to see me, Detective Carter.” Vaguely, Hanzel could see Margorie’s smile glitter under the sun. Her face was exceptionally pale and her eyes were hollow yet beaming. She had not changed a bit since the last time he saw her.
“Margorie!” Detective Carter seized his gun once more and shot. The sound of the gun running off ripped Hanzel’s ears as if he was right next to a firework. He remembered watching fireworks with Margorie. That rumbling sound used to be a romantic proof but now it was the sign of death.
“Margorie!” Hanzel screamed.
Margorie did not die, indeed. She was not even harmed. She stood still as a statue, with fine flesh and skin. No one could ever believe she was actually a monster, for her look was human enough.
“I see.” Detective Carter laughed. “I must have missed that!”
With that, he shot for several times. Yet, each time, the bullet just passed through Margorie’s body and nothing else happened. She was not injured or hurt.
“Impossibl!” Detective Carter cried and kept on triggering the pistol until no more bullets came out.
“Detective Carter, as you can see, I’m pretty much immortal.” Margorie said. “Don’t waste your bullets on me next time.”
“Well, if gun cannot do you harm, we’ll see if sword does!” Detective Carter pulled out a long sharp sword and dashed toward Margorie. The sword went through her heart and remained stuck to her body.
“That hurts…” Margorie said.
Astonished, Detective Carter backed away and fell onto the ground. His face had long drained of color, immersed utterly in shock and horror.
“What…are you?”
“A demon.” Margorie said calmly. “Would you believe that?” Leisurely as if it was no big deal, she pulled the sword out of her heart. There was no blood around her wound and the lesion just healed automatically.
“Demon…”Detective Carter stuttered, crawling backward as Margorie approached.
“Anyway, this kind of things is rubbish to you.” Margorie grinned. “You don’t believe in witch or voodoo. I don’t see a point of you believing in demons and devil too. Aren’t I right?”
Margorie picked up the gun on the floor and pointed it at Detective Carter.
“But,” She smiled. “You’ve to believe I can make impossible things to happen, such as filling this gun with bullets.”
“No…please…”Detective Carter pled, shaking his head badly.
“No, Margorie!” Hanzel shouted.
Suddenly aware of his existence, Margorie turned to face her friend.
“Hanzel, I thought I told you to mind your own business.” Margorie said. “You deserved that shoot.”
“Yes, I know…” Hanzel whined. “I deserve to die as well. If I had done that, I would have gone to hell with you. You would never have become a demon!”
“It’s too late, Hanzel.” Margorie stated and stared back at Detective Carter. “This man is to be executed.”
“No!” Detective Carter screeched and ran away.
“Oh, you let him escape, Hanzel!” Margorie sighed and dropped the gun. She began to stroll towards the direction in which Detective Carter ran.
“No, Margorie!” Hanzel begged, gripping her ankle. “Stay!”
“Hanzel, get your hands off me.” Margorie warned.
“No, I won’t let go anymore!” The boy insisted. But before he could say more, Margorie lifted a finger and he fainted.
“Just…rest for a while, Hanzel.” Margorie muttered and then moved on.
Detective Carter fled to the moors. As an abandoned farmhouse came to his sight, he kept running towards the shelter without turning back.
He locked the door behind him and crouched in one corner. The farmhouse was filled with unbearable choking odor but he could care less. All he knew at that time was to hide from that girl. The demonic girl…
“Detective Carter…” Margorie’s voice did not leave him though. It kept on ringing around him like annoying alarm clocks.
“No!” The man shouted and covered his ears with both hands. Still he kept hearing the girl’s husky voice.
“Detective Carter, you can’t run away from me…” The demon smirked. “You can’t run away from death….It’s your time to face your doom.”
“Shut up, bitch!” Detective Carter shrieked furiously but Margorie didn’t hush.
“You don’t even know how to be a detective to be honest, Detective Carter.” Margorie’s laugh echoed in his ears. “A true detective solves the mystery with wisdom, but you, boast about solving crimes when in fact you are the worst criminal of all.”
“Shut up!”
“No, I won’t.” Margorie went on. “You keep slaughtering the innocents. You threaten people and extort confessions. You forced the innocent to admit their guilt. You watch with joy and deceive everyone, thinking that finding someone to be executed is all you need to achieve your job. What a cruel living devil you are!”
“Margorie, please….” Detective Carter could not take it any longer. He knew he had sinned but never had he expected to be punished this way. He had committed more crimes than any criminals out there. He had betrayed people’
s trust in him and murdered the innocents. He had deprived others’ life illegally and destroyed lots of souls. And the worst of all, his sin five years ago was the most unpardonable.
He remembered executing a girl for robbery. He knew well she was guiltless but still, he made her nod in front of the judgment. The girl had a dear friend, who tried several times to rescue her. Regardless of her pleads; he separated the two friends forever with his own cruelty. And the dead girl’s friend was- Margorie.
Margorie Walker…
“I will never forgive what you’ve done to my friend, Detective Carter.” Margorie stated. “It’s a pity I can’t kill you myself or else I will surely point that gun at you.”
“What? You spare me?”
“I never say so.”
And then, it was the end.
The abandoned farmhouse finally met its fate. With the aged pillars and decayed walls, the house could no longer hold the roof. The entire construction collapsed in a flash. Pieces of bricks fell like snow. The wall peeled off and roof broke down. In his last seconds of life, Detective Carter looked up once more, only to find an enormous white plank detaching from the ceiling and falling right onto his face.
Dead as could be, Detective Carter lay still on the ground. Each part of his body was covered with bruises and cuts, just like the way all his victims often ended up.