Freedom

Going through with the plan

"But.... But... they're my family.. I can't possibly murder them..." A now young woman named Britannia muttered as she stared at her pale hands. "And? They brought you into this mess, and this is the only way out." The voice inside her head whispered. "Fine.... I'm only doing this because I want freedom.." The voice inside her head laughed at her. "Once you do it, you will be free. And I will come and take you to Paradise, okay?" The voice said. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and put her white floor length cloak over her black dress. The building was having its big weekly meeting tonight, and she was required by THEIR law to go. Who is THEY you may be asking? Nobody knows, as nobody has ever seen THEM without THEIR mask on. THEY are a single person, yet everyone in the building worships THEM as a god. Walking out of her family's small wooden house, Britannia made her way to the church.

Once she arrived at the building, she saw a lot of people entering. Walking into the row with her family, she sat next to her mum. "Britannia dear, this is the big weekly meeting. Pay attention closely, and watch what the priest does." Her mother said and she nodded her head in obedience. A few minutes later once the clock striked three, everyone fell silent as the meeting was about to start. The leader went up to his podium, and spoke into the microphone. "Welcome one and all to The Building's weekly meeting. Today, we will be showing the sinners the right path. Bring them in, please." He said and some nuns brought in two people, a guy and a girl. They dragged them to the front of the old building, so everyone could see. The leader began to speak once more. "Now these two very special people here have sinned. They have burned our Holy Book, and taken THEIR name in vain." Everyone started shouting, and yelling at two people. "How dare they!" One said. "Burn them at the stake!" Said another. Everyone kept shouting, as the two people whimpered in fear. The priest spoke once again, and everyones shouting stopped. "Now, you all know what we do to sinners. These two will be tortured for their crimes against THEM!" Everyone erupted into an applause and cheer, and the people looked terrified. One of the nuns handed the priest a bag full of tools. He pulled out a knife, a scalpel and a spoon. "As a special treat for all of you obedient followers of THEM, you'll all get to and be required to participate in the rehabilitation of these two people!" The two people were tied down to a table, and everyone ran over to get a tool out of the bag to help in the rehabilitation of the people. Everyone except Britannia that is. She quickly ran to the church's washroom and locked the door behind her. She took a deep breath as she muttered something under her breath. "I.... This is wrong. Everything they are doing is wrong. Those innocent people shouldn't be tortured just for their beliefs.." She head a chuckle, and realised it was that voice in her head again. "Then you must do what I said. You need to do it as soon as you leave this room, while they are all in one big place. It may hurt to see the ones you love die, but they brought you into this. They ruined your life. You deserve better Britannia, and you need to escape this hell. I will help you every step of the way." The voice told her and she felt like she was being hugged, despite nobody being there. "Now take these matches, and this jug of petrol. Dump the petrol in a pool by where the people are gathered. Then, light a match and throw it into the pool of petrol. Once you are done, escape or die with them. But you won't die if you stay here. You will just pass out, and I will rescue you and take you to Paradise. Do you understand?" The voice asked, and she nodded her head. "I... I do." She could hear the voice smirking. "Good. Now go get your freedom, Britannia!" And with that, Britannia stood up and grabbed the can of petrol and the matches. She put them in the pocket of her robes, and left the washroom.

Once she was in the main area of the church, Britannia put her hood up, hiding her short brown hair and concealing her identity. She made her way towards the table, where the 'sinners' looked like they were almost dead. She hid behind a pilar and took a moment to look at everyone. Her family, some of her friends, her neighbours, strangers, everyone. They were all going to die in a few minutes, and it would all be her fault. Taking a deep breath, Britannia stepped out from behind the pillar and ran behind the table. She crouched down, and opened the can of petrol. Her light green eyes watched as the petrol spilled onto the marble floor. The voice inside her head returned once more. "You are doing great, Britannia. Now all you have to do is light the match and throw it into the pool of petrol. I will rescue you and bring you to Paradise, where you will be rewarded. You will not die." As she pulled the match out of its package, her hands began to shake violently. She felt like she was going to cry. But she had to be strong. She stroked the match against the side of the box and watched as a small orange flame formed. Her hands shook even more, and she thought they were going to fall off. But she took a final look at the crowd, and threw the lite match into the pool of petrol. She watched as a small fire began, and nobody noticed yet because they were too busy torturing the 'sinners'. As the fire grew bigger, it spread through the building and engulfed the table, as well as the 'sinners' on top of it. Britannia ran towards the back of the building and hid, watching the chaos release in front of her very own eyes. "What is happening? THERE'S A FIRE! WE ALL MUST ESCAPE!" Someone yelled, but nobody else noticed as they were all under a spell, THEIR spell. That one person continued to yell, but nobody noticed or cared. Once they died by the fire, everyone cheered. But they did not know they died by the fire, and instead by their own hands. The flames engulfed more, and more of the building as well as the members. As they came to their senses, they all screamed. Loud, blood curling screams.

Britannia began to panic. Her body began to tremble, and she had tears in her light green eyes. "Oh.... Oh my god... What did.... What did I do...?" She seemed so confused, and so scared. She saw a shadow behind her, and it put a hand on her shoulder. "Now now... You did nothing wrong, Britannia." She stared down at the ground, and watched as the flames came closer and closer to her. "Remember me? I was that voice you heard in your head. My name is Cecelia, and I am a demon." Britannia's eyes widened, and she was in too much shock to talk. The flames approached them even more, and began to form around their feet. "I know this is a lot to take in all at once, so I will keep this quick. You did so well, so, so well. I am very proud of you." Cecelia said. The flames began to rise up their bodies, but Britannia could not feel them. It was like she was immune to the pain. By now, almost all of the building was drowned in the flames. The demon could notice her panic by the flames, and placed a hand on her shoulder. The flames rose up past their hips and within a minute, the flames were up to both of their necks. But Britannia could still feel nothing. As soon as she took a breath, she became disoriented. "Ive got you now..." Cecelia whispered and picked the human up gently. As soon as she was picked up, everything went black.

Once she woke up, Britannia realised she was not dead. She stood up, and looked down. Her skin was ghost white, and her fingers long and slender. She had a long bright purple unicorn tail, a grey sharp horn and unicorn ears. She screamed, and was immediately approached by someone. That person was Cecelia. "No need to panic, Britannia. You are in Hell, and this is your new home. You are a unicorn demon also. You didn't sin, but everyone comes here due to Heaven's overpopulation. Do you understan-" And before she could finish her sentence, Cecelia was being hugged by Britannia. "Thank you... thank you so much for helping me get freedom." Cecelia smiled. "Anytime Britannia. Anytime."