I try to hold my breath. Every footstep outside the door makes the room quiver and groan. I listen to them pace back and forth,searching. I silently slide my hand down into the pocket of my over sized animal skin jacket. I grope about for my
knife that I made out of hardened wood. I brush my hand against an old wrinkled piece of paper and the footsteps outside the door stop, then I hear them fade as they rush out. I hurry and yank my knife out from the bottom of my pocket and
wait for what comes next. I stop as I hear many pairs of leather shod feet tromp in. Then everything falls silent. There is a shuffling pair of footsteps that clatters
across the floor. I hold my breath again not daring to move a muscle. Not even daring to blink. I faintly see the out line of the knob turning and a little knot of
dread sits cold in the pit of my stomach. The door swings open revealing a dimly lit room filled with dark figures that stand stock still. A hobbled old man is leaning
against the door frame. He grins and the light of the moon reflects off his yellow teeth. He gestures to me and manages to rasp out," There she is, there's the witch!" he turns back to the group of men and proclaims," She's the one who's
been witherin' all our crops and killin our cattle! What ll we do bout this heathen?!"
Then the men roar," Bind her!Burn her! Death to thee enchantress!" I shrink back as one of the men surges forward with a long length of rope. He grabs for me and I
stab at him with my knife. The blade connects with his wrist and blood splatters from the slash I created. More men come forward, this time with pitch forks and
scythes set firmly in front of them leaving me no room to escape. Two men charge at me and manage to wrestle my knife out of my hand. Pain spikes up my arm as the larger man twists my arm into an unnatural position. I scream in pain, fear, and frustration but the sound that came out of my mouth isn't human sounding. The men back away from me. The decrepit old man yells at them to grab me. A hulking beast of a man pushes through the crowd and rushes at me. I see spots behind
my eyes and taste blood in my mouth, then everything goes black.

I wake up lying face down in a pile of sticks with a horrible throbbing sensation in my head. Blood is pouring down my face making it hard to see and breathe. Every
movement I make sends a fresh wave of blood coursing down my face. My hands are bound behind me making it impossible to escape. Figures dance in and out of my limited view. Fire flickers about casting shadows. Illuminating and hiding the faces of the figures about me. I hear a little girl scream ,"Lizzie!" Then there is a
smacking sound and a little yelp that's followed by the thud of a body hitting the ground. It kills me but I crane my head around to see my 9 year old little sister
crouching on the ground holding her cheek that is rapidly turning crimson. She looks up to me and I can just barely make out the words that tumble of her lips,"Lizzie please don't leave me." She breaks down in tears and sits there until a gruff looking house maid has to carry her away. I think I am crying but I can not tell. I hear a cheer go up from the crowd and I feel a searing pain rapidly crawling
up my legs. I shriek which makes my head bleed even more. The heat is
unbearable now and I writhe trying to break free from the ropes that are beginning to chafe my wrists. I thrash about blinded by pain then everything goes dark. I still
hear the cheers and I smell smoke that's mixed in with the pungent smell of charred flesh. I feel calm and I have a strange weightless sensation. I drift for a
while and then a voice whispers in my head," Be at peace." And I am.