When the Truth Leads Me to Patricide

The mayor tossed me into the biggest snake pit in town. A large, cold snake coiled around me until I couldn't move. I could only watch as countless smaller snakes slithered toward me, nipping at my body.

It had only been a day, but my skin had grown purplish from the snake bites. I was covered in countless pock marks, as if I'd been pricked all over by needles.

No one came to save me. I didn't know how many days I'd been in here, only that my body was festering away. Not even the snakes deigned to touch me.

Practically on the brink of death, I blacked out. I was jolted awake when a tub of gasoline was dumped over me.

I slowly opened my eyes to find that I'd been tied to a stake in the middle of the town square. A pile of wood surrounded me.

The mayor had gathered all the townsfolk, crying out his intention to purge the evil that was me.

"A person like Elizabeth Seymour isn't worthy of living in this world! It is our town's greatest shame to have someone like her amongst us!

"Everyone! Only when Elizabeth has perished and been forever silenced will our town have everlasting peace!"

He raised a torch and pulled his arm back, ready to hurl it at me.

My childhood friend, Cameron Frask, stopped him in time. "Mayor, what are you saying? We're only mute because we're cursed to be! How is that Beth's fault?

"She's been the town angel since she was a child! You can't burn her at the stake without a good reason, sir! That's beneath us!"

Cameron's argument elicited a curious, displeased murmur from the townsfolk, but it didn't curb the mayor's intention to kill me.

In a moment of panic, Cameron hauled Dad out of the crowd. "Mr. Seymour, say something! Beth's about to be burned for no reason!"

Dad simply leveled a frosty look on me and said evenly, "She deserves to die."

My heart was too numb to feel anything toward Dad's statement, but Cameron and the townsfolk were stunned by it. Their words caught in their throats. They weren't sure what to say.

As the crowd fell quiet, someone roared from a distance. Her voice grew louder as she drew near. "How dare anyone pick on my precious granddaughter?"

It was my grandmother, who'd been out of the picture for a decade. She hurried forward and undid my bindings.

She'd come to save me, no questions asked. As I took in her wizened face, now more wrinkled than it had been ten years ago, tears streamed uncontrollably down my cheeks.

Grandma looked heartbroken as she carried me to the town clinic to get my wounds treated. Then, grabbing the crowbar beside her, she braced it on her shoulder with fury and purpose.

"I'll get them to talk and apologize. No one will lay a hand on you as long as I'm here, Beth!"

Before she left, I quickly grabbed her hand and signed the whole story about the hill.

She grew even more furious when she understood it and proclaimed with newfound determination, "I don't believe in superstitions or paranormal nonsense! I won't go to the hill, but I'll make them apologize for what they've done to you!"

Grandma had never been like the other women, and her words reassured me plenty.

My eyelids grew heavier. I dozed off with my guard down.

However, as soon as I fell asleep, someone kicked open the clinic doors. Townsfolk had gathered at the door in an angry mob. They were brandishing tools in their hands.

"I'll send you to meet your maker today, you filthy scum! I can't believe our town has produced a devil like you!"

"We're doing this for the greater good! Killing you will be a feat worth celebrating!"

Cameron's eyes were bloodshot. "The thought that we've been friends for so many years makes me sick!"

I backed away fearfully, curling into a ball as I prayed that Grandma would show up and rescue me.

Alas, I never expected the townsfolk to have rallied under Grandma's orders. Gone was her affection for me as she dragged me out of the clinic by my hair while gritting her teeth. "The Seymours will not claim a devil like you as one of us! I'll kill you and restore the town's peace!"

I was once again bound to the stake. I watched from the raised platform as everyone held up their torches, eager to kill me, and knew they'd all gone to the hill.

Suddenly, fierce resentment washed over me. Why should I endure this? Why should I be burned to death for no apparent reason, even after I'd spent my whole life being a good person?

Just as the flames were about to lick their way up my body, I broke free of the ropes that bound me to the stake and burst through the fire. I couldn't care less about the flames on my body as I signed furiously, "Take me to the hill, or I'll haunt all of you after my death!"

The crowd exchanged terrified looks. Grandma tossed her torch aside, bristling, and told Dad to bring me to the hill.

However, I'd only just taken a step past the hill's entrance when I collapsed on the ground like I'd lost my wits.