Ava fiddled with the wooden bracelet she had held tightly under her foot a few days ago. She couldn´t see what it looked like now that she was back in the cell, but for some reason, the bracelet's look was already familiar to her. Every small bead of wood, where it had cracked and the carved figure into each of the wooden beads; she knew what it looked like, without being able to look at it.
Ever since Ava had gotten escorted back into her cell after the failed attempt of saving the elderly woman, she was allowed to sit without restraints. The guards had even brought in a thin mattress for her to sit on, and she couldn't help to think that she was getting special treatment. Why did Ava get special treatment? She had no idea. Frankly, she didn't care.
All she cared about was how the bracelet felt in her hands. If she tried to put it away, it always compelled her attention back to it. Right now, the bracelet was the most addictive drug in the entire world, and she was addicted.
She had tried her best to distract herself by trying to figure out why the woman had died. She could think of a dozen of sicknesses that would make the skin get boils in that color; but had no explanation as to why her temperature was like that, why she had smelled the way she had done. The last thing she could understand was how the body had burned on its own.
Ava flicked the bracelet onto her arm as the cry of the hinges cut through her chain of thoughts. She covered the bracelet with the sleeve of her blouse and leaned back against the wall as the fire slowly but surely, got closer once again.
"Ava Davies?"
"Yes," her voice was worse now than it had ever been. She realized the strain of being silent and how it reacted on her vocal cords.
"You are free."
Ava´s eyes widened in shock as the door opened. It did not add up to her how she had been in this cell for days, and now she was suddenly free to go. It sounded too good to be true. Nonetheless, the man held the door open for her without moving as she walked out.
People in the halls stayed silent as she got escorted out of the dungeon towards sunlight and freedom. The sunlight burned in her eyes. Out of reflex, her hand attempted to shield the sunlight as she got outside. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the bright light. As her eyes managed to adapt, she could now see the crowd in front of her.
From what she could tell, the entire town had decided to show up as she was released, most of them carrying an item; intended to be used as a weapon. The crowd carried torches, shovels, pans, kettles, and fruit, all of them having murder on their minds.
With her heart beating rapidly in her chest, she turned her head over to the man standing beside her wearing a dark cloak and slicked-back grey hair. His cape matched the dark look in his eyes, which he used to look out upon the crowd with a displeased mine. She recognized him effortlessly as the town's priest and had listened to him countless times.
A year ago, she had even saved his son from an infection, which had turned into a high fever and blood infection. He had turned five now, and she could even see him amongst the crowd with snot running down into his mouth, mixing with the salty tears and his cries.
"Ava Davies, you are hereby found guilty of witchcraft."
She already knew it before the priest said it. There was no other way that all of these people would be standing in front of her now if it wasn´t for them to be able to see a witch die. They had all decided she was guilty, even without her being present to defend herself.
As she stood in front of the crowd, she had never felt as lonely as she did now. She had saved most of them over the years. Her hard work was now equal to horseshit in their eyes - even less.
As the priest read up on what she got charged with, it all came down to the old woman and her death. He continuously brought up her past as a doctor; and her track record of surviving patients. It all ended up with a conclusion that her perfect record was due to witchcraft.
Ava lowered her head as she waited for the final verdict as to how she was about to die. Was it hanging? Beheading? Burned? Stoned? Drowning? The choices were many, and people would never be satisfied no matter how she died.
All they cared about was the fact that she got the blame for their dying children; the boils which had appeared out of the blue, the dying acres, the lack of fish, the rotten animals in the forest - everything.
Guess it was easier giving the crowd an end to the mass hysteria than taking the time to figure out the truth. The truth was that there was a witch among them but that they were trialing the wrong person to death.
Hanging. That is the act that would end Ava´s life. A rope tied together by horsehair and thrown over the bridge.
"Any last words, witch?"
The priest asked as her legs lined up with the brick bridge wall behind her. Ava looked him directly into his eyes, realizing that he wanted her to beg. They all wanted to laugh as she was pleading for her life. Nothing will give her as much satisfaction as she would refuse to provide what they wanted.
"I have never begged for anything, sir. I am not going to start now."
As she got the rope around her neck, cheering appeared. Ava let out a silent scoff at the reaction, which again caused an uproar. People started to stomp into the bridge, and she could feel the stones shake beneath her cold feet.
With her eyes glued to the sky above them, she knew that she didn´t want to beg out loud. She had never believed in heaven nor hell, yet she had questioned her faith over the past ten days. If she was going to question if the Devil was even real, she had to bet on the fact that there was heaven too.
So, she begged for someone to save her life as she felt herself in free fall.