Evil - Chapter 22
Well, that didn’t go well. Not only did I get myself sentenced to death, but I was also responsible for the death of Madam Fantasmo and her three helpers as well.
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.
It's not easy being the Antichrist.
Anjelica’s mother never told her that she was a demon. Now, all she wants is her old life back, but that’s not possible for her. Not after what she’s seen.
Anjelica used to be a popular cheerleader with an awesome life, but that was before an evil cult of demons tried to use her blood to open a portal to Hell and start the Apocalypse.
She was rescued from that fate, barely, and because of the imminent threat to her life, her saviors ripped her from Los Angeles and brought her to a safe house in the middle of nowhere.
They said it was for her own good, but she would rather be dead than stuck in boring, old Bronard, Missouri. She was from the big city, so a sleepy, rural life wasn’t for her.
She longed for excitement.
So, when she met a young witch with a mysterious past who promised to show her everything she knew about opening portals and traveling between distant lands, they bonded immediately
I mean, what’s the worst that could happen, right?
It’s not like they would open an intergalactic gateway to another planet and get thrown into a brand, new world with no way to get back to Earth, right?
Join Anjelica in her own solo adventure and find out what happened to her immediately after the events in Magic.
This day was not going as planned, and it might have been the worst of all the ones I’d had in recent memory, including the time I was kidnapped.
“I’m so sorry,” I said as I sat in a small cell in the basement of the prison with Madam Fantasmo and her helpers. They had been stripped of their big hair and their garish outfits, and now, like me, they wore little more than a thin, brown dress. They were so much smaller than I had realized. Gone was all of their confidence; their shoulders caved into their chests, and their heads hung low. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t want any of this to happen.”
“It’s okay,” one of the women said. “We knew the risks.”
“Did we?” another piped up. “Did we really? Cuz I sure did not think this was gonna happen.” Her thick, posh accent had vanished since our last meeting, and she now sounded high-pitched and nasally. “I never should have left Bisyl.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I feel I should know your name before we die together, especially since you’re going to die helping me.”
“Kim,” she replied. “It’s short for Vorkim.”
“I know a Kim back home, though hers is short for Kimberly.”
“That’s a dumb name,” Vorkim grumbled.
“I like your name.”
She sighed. “Not gonna matter soon.”
The girl next to her smirked and held out her hand. “I’m Quince. It’s not short for anything. Some people try to call me Quincent, but I hate it.”
“Some people, right?”
“Totally.”
The third girl stayed silent, and when my eyes met hers, she turned from me. I didn’t push the issue. I turned to Madam Fantasmo.
“Is Madam Fantasmo your real name?”
“Gods, I wish,” she replied. “I’m Grimble. Born to a humble miner family in one of the Free States, back when they were really free. That’s my dead name now, though, which is ironic, given that I’m going to die with my new name, too.”
I smiled at her. “I like Madam Fantasmo better. You made the right choice.”
“Shut up, honey. I know it.” She smiled at me. “I don’t want you to feel bad. This is just what happens here. We who speak on behalf of the accused…we share their fate.”
“Then why did you speak for me?”
“Your picture,” Madam Fantasmo said. “You were—are—so young, and your eyes. I saw the terror on your face.” She turned to her girls. “I asked them all, despite what they say.”
“Hey!” the quiet girl who refused to introduce herself said. “I never thought you would lose. You’ve never lost before. Excuse me for trusting you.”
“That’s my fault. I got cocky.” She looked at each of the girls. “I regret involving you in this, I do.” She turned to me. “I don’t regret sticking up for you, though. I still think you’re innocent, even if the king’s word is the only truth.”
“I appreciate that. I mean, I would appreciate it more if we weren’t going to die, but I appreciate it all the same.” And then I did something I didn’t expect. I started to laugh—at the pure absurdity of it all. It took control of me, and by the time I stopped, everyone in the cell stared at me. “Sorry, it’s just…so ridiculous. If you only knew what I’ve been through this past month.”
Before I could explain further, the door opened, and two men walked in, both wearing black silk hoods to match their black suits. They beckoned us forward, and I wondered if we would fight, but Madam Fantasmo simply stood and walked out of the cage. Suddenly, a rage bubbled up in me. Seeing them, seeing her…knowing what would happen.
“No!” I screamed. “This is stupid! I’m not doing it, and if you want me to go with you, you’ll have to force me.”
“Don’t,” Madam Fantasmo said. “If you fight, they take it out on your family.”
“I don’t have family,” I replied. “At least not wherever the hell this is.”
Quince stood up. “Well, I do, and they’ll take it out on mine if you resist. It’s over, anyway. Might as well make it quick.”
The silent girl followed her, and finally Volkim, who looked at me with a sad smile. “Hey, at least we don’t have to worry about tomorrow anymore.”
The four of them stood outside, sad and pitiful. I wanted to fight. I wanted to rail, but what good would it do in the end? I was just one girl. Besides, I didn’t want anyone else to be hurt. It was bad enough the four of them were going to die because of me, and I didn’t want their families to be hurt as well.
One of the black suits led us out of the room. I dragged my feet. The sounds of a crowd swelled as we walked toward a pinprick of light. The light washed over us when we reached the cobblestone square outside of the palace.
If hundreds of eyes looking at me filled me with fear, then thousands, jeering and screaming at me, should have filled me with terror. Instead, I felt a sudden calm rush through my body as we walked through the crowd. They threw rotten tomatoes and old garbage at us. They taunted us and screamed obscenities. Some exclamations I understood, while others were foreign to me.
In the middle of the square, a hangman’s platform had been erected, with five nooses hanging from it. When I saw it, tears started falling down my face. My chest heaved as the truth of what was happening fully dawned on me. Before, it had all been academic. I knew I was going to die, intellectually, but now that I saw it, it hit me deep in my core. Now, it was really the end.
I turned to run, but the mass of limbs from the crowd grabbed me and pushed me back into a guard, who kicked me back to my place in line.
“No, no, no, no, no. I can’t—this can’t be the end—I won’t—this won’t—I have to—” I muttered under my breath, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Madam Fantasmo, and her steadfast resoluteness made my heart stop racing so fast, and her smile stopped my chest from heaving.
“It’s going to be okay,” she said. “Believe that.”
But I didn’t. I couldn’t. I was about to frigging die. Yesterday I was complaining about being stuck in a house with people who loved me, and now I was in a different dimension or something, about to die. So, no, I couldn’t believe that everything would be okay. Nothing would be okay. And there was nothing I could do to prevent it.
My feet kept stepping forward even though I didn’t want them to, even though everything in my body screamed to run. I knew it was useless. I plodded up the creaky, wooden steps and stood with the damned in front of a squad of guards holding machine guns, one for each of us in case we wanted to run. The lead black suit pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and walked forward.
“These five have been convicted by our just King Ulthar of crimes against the kingdom. Of kidnapping, of murder, of sedition, of treason, and of heresy! They are to be hung by the neck until dead for their crimes, as an example to all that any crime against any in our kingdom is a crime against the king himself and will be punished as such.”
The guards pushed their guns into our backs, leaving us no option but to walk forward.
“Please,” I muttered back. “You don’t want to do this. I’m not a bad person. I’m not bad. I’m not—”
Metal connected with my nose as the guard slammed the butt of his gun into my face. I stumbled forward, and the guard pulled me by the hair with one hand and tied the noose around my throat with the other.
“No, no, no. Please.” I choked on my tears as the noose tightened around my neck. “Please, please, please.”
The others were weeping as well, but it was hard to make them out over the cheers from the crowd begging for our heads.
“By decree of King Ulthar…you are condemned to death for crimes against the crown.” The black suit said. “May the gods have mercy on your treacherous souls. Let this b—”
I looked over at the black suit to see blood seeping out of his chest. He let out a gurgling sound and fell to the ground, dead…and that’s when all hell broke loose.
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.