Soul Path

chapter 6

Now the once peaceful town square has become filled with angry villagers with torches and pitchforks, quite literally. Looking around, the first thing that draws your attention is a huge wooden stage, and on it are three women tied to poles that are surrounded by logs and twigs at their feet.

As the crowd chants something in German, you see a priest and an altar boy walk up the stairs and onto the stage.

"Welcome, my children! We are here today to clean these filths from our god's glorious planet and have them judged and groveled at his feet! As we are kind people, we will allow the witches final parting words!."

Upon hearing these words, the crowd abruptly dies down. Out of curiosity, you have made your way to the front and can see exactly who's on the stage. The priest makes his way to the first victim, who is a young girl no older than 13 with shimmering red hair, pale skin, and warm green eyes

He asks her. "Have you anything to say for yourself, child?!"

She stays silent for a second, but you hear her silent sobs. She looks down at the ground, then slowly looks up, and be it by accident or not, she looks directly where you stand, and through heavy tears, she shouts."Please let me go!! I have done nothing wrong!"

Something grips you, something you thought died years ago; empathy, like a child's whisper, tugs at your heart, not making you act but simply saying, "I am still here.". You suddenly snap back to reality when the priest says, "Fear not, child, soon you will meet the maker, and he will clensure your blightful soul!!"

She doesn't try to fight it anymore but simply lowers her head again and sobs loudly. Sprinkling her with some holy water, the altar boy beside him is carrying her, and he carries on to the next woman, but your eyes still rest on the first, that damn tugging again.

"Tsk, why now?" You ask yourself, not expecting an answer, so you turn towards the second victim. It turns out to be an older woman, probably around 40. She has pale skin with flowing blonde hair and blue eyes. When the priest walks up to her, she kicks him right in the jaw, sending him toppling back.

Something that made you chuckle lightly, however, the villagers, on the other hand, are filled with blood lust, and one starts climbing onto the stage to attack the woman when he's stopped by the priest.

"No! She is a vessel for the devil; she cannot help herself; we may only set these poor retches free!" He says before he sprinkles some holy water on her, but this time smoke emits from the contact area, and she hisses at the priest.

As soon as she does this, he reaches for one of the torches from the crowd, puts it on the twigs under the two girls, and sets them ablaze.

Their screams of pain and agony are only drowned out by the shouting and cheering of the crowd of villagers; however, for you, the screams get louder and louder until you want the sound to go away so badly that you reach for the back of your head and start scratching it furiously.

Thankfully, the screams die down and you feel normal again. As the flames rage on, there is still one victim left.

Looking over, you are horrified to see Emilie, a little older now, but you can't mistake it; as the others burn, she carries on struggling and trying to get free of the restraints.

The priest slowly makes his way to the struggling Emilie, and all the while he doesn't even bat an eye at the burning corpses, something that even shocks you. When he reaches her, he turns to talk to the crowd.

"This heathen, however, is different; my children are different; she is not only a witch, but she has also birthed a devil spawn!"

He says that as he points into a crowd at a man holding a baby, the crowd moves over, and the man is none other than Hans Frienlich, the presumed father.