A New Era

Chapter 3

The crowd in the bar murmured quietly. A thick tension hung over the guests and the bartender was worried. Violence was almost palpable, especially at the large group near the fireplace. One man stood in front of the others, talking hastily.

The bar cat was curled up in the corner of the fireplace, purring lightly. She seemed unfazed of the hassle around her, her ears twitching every now and then in her sleep.

"You shall not allow a sorceress to live." a bald preacher claimed, rising his bible and pointing on it. "For those who defy the name of the LORD we know an old way to make their souls pure again." Little spitwads flew of his mouth during his speech and the first row retreated a bit to avoid getting spit. The man got even more enraged. His white geneva bands vibrated visible.

"FIRE" he screamed. "FIRE is the way to purify a witch. It is within gods will that all witches need to burn. Slowly the fire should consume them from toe to head while they scream for mercy they will never receive. BURN THE WITCHES. Like our ancestors burned the witches of Salem we shall burn them in our days."

The quiet murmuring of the people gathered in front of the fireplace became louder and more fierce. The bald man pointed at one of the women. "Didn't she curse your child with Autism? And didn't the curse even defy the fiercest prayer?" The woman nodded eagerly. "And wasn't it the wicked doing of the witch who made your kid sick when he get his remedies?" The woman nodded even more, she started to cry now. "Yes, YES. My child was a good child until this curse came over him. Then he went Autistic, it all was the curse of the witch. My child was healthy, he was healthy. HE WAS HEALTHY." she sobbed freely now and the bartender saw the satisfied gleam in the eyes of the preacher.

The bartender became even more worried. He really wanted to get rid of this crowd as soon as possible. The preacher came here almost every night, but there was no reason for him to ban him from his bar, as long as he didn't create any mischief. But it seems like he would cross the line today.

One of the men sitting at the bar lifted his head. "Oh come on Maddie. Your kid was born with Autism, there is no "curse". And you tried to bleach the autism out of him with this chlorine bleach you bought in the internet." The man shook his head and took another sip of his beer. Maddie turned around and screeched: "No child of mine has Autism. It HAS to be a curse. There is no other way. BURN THE WITCH. And my son will be healthy again."

She turned again to the crowd and started a chant: "Burn the witch. Burn. Burn. Burn. Burn. Burn her..." the little crowd followed the entrancing chant. Unfortunately that was the moment the cat took to wake up. She lifted her head and stretched. The little animal tried to jump down on the floor, when the preacher took her by the scruff. The cat screamed and struggled to get away from the man, but there was no avail.. "And those animals are the minions of the witches. Shapeshifter and witches are all the same. They are abominations of god. THEY SHALL BURN. LOOK HOW THIS THING IS FIGHTING! Let us purify this little devil." He turned around and aimed with his arm into the fireplace to throw the poor little thing into the burning flames of the fireplace when a sharp noise and a scratch let him stop dead in his tracks.

The bartender held his gun, aiming at the preacher. "David, let the cat go." he ordered. The preacher smiled at him maliciously. "Or else? You can't kill us all?" he said smugly. The bartender didn't bat an eye. "No. But you are the first one to get down. I know how to use this thing. LET THAT CAT GO!" The preacher swallowed heavily and radiated hatred. He flinged the cat in the direction of the bartender, who already awaited such a dick move. The cat slammed into the shelves with the heavy alcohol before falling down on the floor and stayed silent. The bartender looked at the preacher. "Out. Now. And don't ever set a foot into this building ever again, or I will shoot you for trespassing."