Escaped

Chapter Eleven

"Since today is Halloween, your assignment is to draw what scaaaares you the most!" Miss Jodie told us. It was the day after the Ball, and most of the students were quite hungover. I could practically smell the lingering alcohol emanating from them. 

I gathered all the sketching supplies- pencils, erasers, markers, etc- and placed a few large sheets of sketch paper on the easel. Luke was across the way, at his own easel, occasionally sending me funny faces, like he does almost everyday. 

"What are you drawing?" I asked with a smile.

"That, my French fry, is a secret, he winked at me. "And you?"

"Fine then! I see how it is," he feigned offense. I cold not help but laugh as I sketched. 

"Oh, hush up," I told him. 

"You're both, like, so annoying," Blake chimed in with an effeminate voice.

"What are you drawing?" Luke retorted. As they began playfully bickering, I focused on my own sketching.

The group of doctors on the thick, white page seemed so cold and calculating... which was what I was going for. It was perfect.

One held a clipboard and a pen at the ready. Another was halfway through pulling on a pair of latex gloves. The third held a video camera. The fourth was inspecting a blood stain on his coat, and the fifth held a container marked 'tools', and his hand was emerging, holding a shiny scalpel.

Though it was only a sketch, it struck a chord in my mind, sending shivers down my spine.

"Doctors?" Luke's voice came from behind me. I immediately covered it with another sheet of paper, though I knew he'd seen everything.

"Yeah," I replied with a smile, trying to maintain an air of casualty. He just nodded, and I followed him to turn my sketch in- as I did, I caught a glimpse of his own drawing... and was taken aback.

It was me. Only, I was dead... I guess. I was lying down, eyes closed, a red rose in my clasped hands. 

But... I couldn't believe that he was most scared of me dying. That made me feel very... sentimental towards him.

I'd been feeling that quite a bit lately- very affectionate and sentimental, wanting nothing more than to just be in his company. I found myself overjoyed to just wake up and see him either still sleeping, already awake and watching me, or up and getting ready for the day. I experienced a spreading warmth through my heart every time he smiled at me, or said my name, or called me 'Beautiful'. 

It was very odd- I'd never felt it before, so I could not pinpoint which emotion this was.

The bell rang, and we went on to History.

"Good afternoon, Flower," Father greeted me as I entered in front of Luke. I smiled, and hugged him tight.

"Good afternoon, Father," I said before taking my seat in the back. Once everybody was settled and got their pre-class chattering out of the way, Father clapped his hands.

"Alright, class! I've got a treat for you today! Since today is Halloween, I've prepared a slideshow of the most gruesome medieval torture- with pictures," he grinned wickedly. "Now, the administration sooo did not approve of this, so if anyone should ask, we discussed the Civil War today," he winked, shut off the light, pulled down the white screen, and started the powerpoint. 

"First up is England's popular method of execution- being hanged, drawn, and quartered. The victim was first pulled along the ground by horses to the place of execution. They were then strung up to a tree to hang for awhile. Some died during this stage, but most weren't that lucky. After that, they would be tied up and disemboweled. While their innards fell out, the genitalia were cut off- slowly and painfully. Other organs would then be torn out, and they were finally beheaded. Following the beheading was the dismemberment by four horses," he told us, while clicking through pictures. I was horrified- I could only hope the victims deserved what they got.