'Is she going to die?' he asked whispering too.
'Can someone dead speak through the phone?' he asked rhetorically in impatience.
He obediently nodded. He took one last look at his wife and daughter who were still in tears with their arms wrapped around each other. 'I love you; both of you…very much,' he said and then he ran off into the road until he was concealed by a building nearby.
'No!' Mrs. Patricks shouted and began to run after him.
Samantha followed too but Brendan called her back. She stopped after having run a few yards. Her face was bowed low and covered in tears. She turned her face towards Brendan, 'That's my dad!!' she shouted at him. Her face was red with grief.
'The Marauder knows…he's doing this for your own safety.'
'How is this for my own safety?!'
'Do not question his judgment, little girl!' he snapped at her. This was enough to keep her quiet.
Meanwhile, the Finch was looking on with awe-filled eyes.
Brendan walked up to her.
'Are you going to free her too?!' one voice shouted from the crowd.
'No,' he answered. He grabbed her by her legs and pulled on them, making her fall face first into the ground. He stepped heavily on her legs causing them to break in the process and making her yell out in pain.
There was no visible beauty left on the Finch now. One would even think that she was just a hopeless vagabond being tortured by ruthless thugs for stealing. She now lay face down, defenseless and in agonizing pain.
He turned his face to the multitude. Journalists had arrived, their hands trembling in excitement whilst taking pictures of this scene. 'She is now yours to judge,' Brendan said to the multitude, 'he has crippled her joints so you need not fear her anymore.'
'With all due respect, Anonymous…She's a freak!' one citizen shouted.
'The Marauder says that the witch may not be dead, but she is. Even if the Marauder were to leave her here, she will still die on her own. But if you take her up yourselves and burn her, it would seem a triumph for you, to have her watch you burn her in her final moments.'
'But can fire hurt her?' one asked.
'No. But it would elevate your ego, to think it does.' He began to walk towards Samantha at a steady pace.
The citizens roared in an uncontrolled frenzy and ran past Brendan towards the Finch. They lifted her up and began tying her up and pouring gasoline on her.
'I curse you Marauder!!!' the Finch screamed. 'My son will avenge my death!!! Pernicious will show you the true power of a Versatile!!! You shall not step a foot out of this city until you have tasted his wrath!!!'
A man poured petrol into her mouth and she choked on it. 'Shut your witchy mouth,' the man said.
Another man carried her on his shoulders with the multitude following behind him, cheering on with sticks and drums of gasoline and petrol in their hands. No one tried to stop them, not even the police; they were actually playing a part in this execution.
'The witch is finally getting what she deserves,' one man said before taking a swig from his bottle of whiskey.
'And what is to become of my fate?' Samantha asked Brendan.
He looked into her eyes. They were still full of tears that were ready to burst out in vengeance. He turned his eyes to the people carrying the Finch away.
Simon and Owen were moving with the crowd. 'If only Brendan was here!' Simon told Owen.
'Yeah… he always misses out on the fun!' Owen replied.
'Hello! Did you hear me, sir?' She waved her hand in front of his eyes to make sure he got her attention.
'The Marauder heard you perfectly the first time,' he responded.
She pulled her hand away quickly when he spoke as if she was afraid her arm would be ripped off her body.
He suddenly carried her in his arms and unnoticed, ran using his heightened speed until he reached the very border between Dasa and Bradwield. The place was secluded and deserted except for the railway. He put her down.