Chapter 4

“Explain to us what happened again, Strio.” Mayor Ress repeated for the fifth time.

“I told you, this whole thing is sketchy. Fifteen minutes ago, I was talking with Capri and Anthony. We all agreed we had to find Brian to find the cure to the disease. Anthony was all for it, and was trying to find a cure, and I told him the only way to cure the disease was make the raw unheated version of the invisibility potion. Next thing I know, I watch Anthony throw the potion at Brian.”

“Did you actually watch him throw it?”

“No… but the potion landed behind Brian and Anthony’s hands were out, and Brian looked really scared and was leaning down really low as if to avoid being hit.”

I sat in the town capitol building, with guards blocking the doors. Brian sat in a back corner while Strio and Capri were in the front of the room with the mayor and other important people.

“Brian? I’d like to hear your side of the story.”

“Like Strio said the whole thing was kinda weird. One second Anthony was telling me that we’d been looking for me, and the next he had a murderous look in his eyes and he threw the bottle at me. Not only did he try to hurt me, he broke the vial with the only created invisibility potion inside it! He knew that the only way to cure the sickness was to create the raw strain of the potion, and we could’ve reverse engineered the potion to create the cure to the disease, and still he broke it! That’s treason, and punishable by death!”

Reds grimaced. “I don’t want to kill anyone, but I think you are right Brian. We need to retain order, and if we let Anthony off the hook with this, bad things will happen everywhere by people who expect no punishment. It’s necessary, as much as I don’t want to do it.”

“Are you sure? Death is really extreme, I don’t think that’s necessary, maybe just some time in jail instead…” Capri stammered.

“Capri,” I whispered. She turned to me with a pained expression in her sharp, light blue eyes. I shook my head.

She stood up and stomped out of the room.

“Anthony will be executed a week from now at 10 am at Brines Square. Until then, he will stay in custody. Does everyone agree with the verdict?”

Murmurs of agreements sounded throughout the room.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” I asked.

“Quiet.” A guard muttered.

I stared at Strio, but he just avoided my eye contact.

“Your parents are waiting outside. If you’d like to say goodbye, do it quickly.”

Taylor stood in front of the building with my parents, sobbing. “Anthony! I know you didn’t do it, you can’t die! Come with me, I’ll find some way to hide you, you can’t die…”

“I don’t plan on dying Taylor,” I whispered in her ear. “I’ll find a way out, don’t you worry,” But I was lying through my teeth. I had no idea if I’d come back or not, or what would happen a week from now.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“How about I just come with you?” She unburied her face and looked me in the eyes. It took all my willpower to look away.

Since we were little kids, I’d been both parents to Taylor. Neither of ours could care less about us, though they did feed us and clothe us. With me gone, she’d have no one.

“I love you Taylor. You know that right?”

“If you loved me you wouldn’t go,” she insisted.

“Just remember I’m I love you. I’ll be back soon.” And the guards led me to their van.

I looked through the rear window and saw Taylor fighting against my parents to follow me. “Anthony!” she screamed. Then she did something neither of us had done in years. She tapped her shoulders with her pointer fingers, then she touched her lips, and her shoulders again. We used to use it when our parents were around and we had to tell each other something. Having used hand motions so often, the message was evident. I love you too.

I repeated the sign. “Taylor.” I whispered. “Taylor.”

----------------------------------------

What I had expected for the premises I was staying on were nothing like the reality.

It was a dungeon. The guards escorted me inside the building, and down long flights of stairs to a small, locked room. The only thing inside it was a small four-poster bed. To make matters worse, they handcuffed one of my arms to a post and locked the door behind them.

A week can go by extremely slow, but when you know it may be your last week, no matter if you are alone for hours upon hours, it goes by way too fast.

The day of the execution came. I wasn’t going to be able to keep the promise I made Taylor. At dawn, I was finally un-handcuffed from the post. Two guards held onto my arms, and a sack was roughly stuffed over my head, only removed when we arrived.

At Brines Square, a large group of people were already forming. Whispers sounded as I passed. What did he do? How is he going to die?

I was petrified. Was my life really over?

Then I saw it. A large chair right leaning against a building. Wires produced from the chair and slinked inside while a large lever sat on the nearest wall. It had an upturned helmet and straps all over. Though I’d never seen it before, I knew exactly what it was. An electric chair.

There was no wait to get me strapped into it.

“Better cherish your last minutes Taryn.” One of the guards said to me. “Got any last words?”

I shrugged. “Tell my sister I’m sorry.”

At 10 am precisely, Mayor Ress arrived at the square. “Good morning, one and all. We are gathered here today to watch the execution of Anthony Taryn. Recently, you all saw him create an invisibility potion!” he said with gusto, “But an accident occurred, one punishable by death, and we cannot let it stand!” spittle flew from his mouth.

“Let this be a lesson to you all.” Ress finished and nodded to the men. A hand was on the lever, I really was going to die, it was all over-

“LOOK!” Someone screamed. A fire, just like the one that had happened in my lab, was thriving in a building across the street. All of a sudden, all the people in the square started screaming and running. The guards temporarily ran to fetch buckets of water to douse the fire.

A lady, about my age as well ran up to me. She had soft red curls that cascaded down her shoulders and bright blue eyes. The lady began fingering with the straps and broke me loose. “Come on, follow me.”

We ran for a while, finally settling inside an old, abandoned barn. The lady crawled behind a haystack. I had so many questions. “Who are you? Why did you save me? What’s going on?”

She shushed me and yanked me behind the haystack with her. Her melodic voice whispered in my ear, “I’ll explain everything later. Right now you have to be quiet so nobody hears you.”

“Why don’t you have to be quiet?” I said, a little annoyed.

Pride played on her slender features as she replied, “Nobody ever hears me.”

We sat there for hours, until finally I drifted off to sleep.