Roll with the Wind

9

Antonio opened his eyes slowly.
"Lovino!" He yelled. No reply.

Where the hell was he?
Antonio was kneeling on the gravelly ground in the darkness. Why was he outside? It didn't take long before the memory of what had happened a few hours earlier came flooding back. The villagers breaking into his house, chasing them over the cliff, Lovino hanging from the tree by his wing screaming Antonio's name.

A few seconds later, Antonio tried to move and realised just how screwed he was. His wrists were chained to the wooden pole he was kneeling in front of and the gravel all around him was drenched in blood. But whose blood was it?

He looked up to see feathers. Light brown feathers. Lovino's feathers.
"Oh thank God you're okay."
Antonio muttered. It wasn't until he properly looked at them that he realised just how wrong he was.

The first thing that seemed off was that the feathers were above his head. He craned his neck to get the full view of them and felt a sick sort of twisting in his stomach. Lovino's wings were hanging limp above him, nailed to the wooden pole to which Antonio was chained.

Oh and one other thing:
They weren't attatched to Lovino's body.

Antonio leaned forward and regurgitated bile onto the blood-stained gravel.
"Oh Lovino what have they done to you?" He whispered, tears dripping down his chin.

Antonio heard a groan from behind him and turned his head to see. His eyes fell upon the bare back of Lovino, two blood-drenched, feathery stumps jutting out of his shoulder blades.
"Lovino!" Antonio yelled.
Lovino gasped.
"Antonio..." he croaked, his throat dry and hoarse. He tried to turn to look but agonising pain shot through his back.
"Ah! A-Antonio. I can't move."
"It's okay. You're okay." He soothed.

Antonio pulled himself around the wooden pole and kneeled next to Lovino.
"It's okay. I'm here." He whispered.
Lovino sobbed.
"It hurts."
"I know. You just have t-"

Antonio was cut off by a yell from behind one of the nearby houses.
"They're awake!"
"NO!" Antonio screamed, tears welling up in his eyes. He knew what was coming next.

Before he knew it, Antonio had been uncuffed and was being dragged away from Lovino in case he tried to free him. He watched helplessly as thee men took hold of Lovino and yanked him into his feet.

"Leave him alone!"
"Shut it!"
Antonio grunted as he received a hard blow to the head.
His vision blurred but he fought to stay concious for Lovino's sake.

The men shoved a weak and exhausted Lovino towards a huge wooden stake surrounded by dry branches from trees. Lovino now had the strength of a crippled old man so he didn't bother struggling. He did as he was told. He went where they made him go, which at this point was standing with his bloody back against a huge wooden pole. One man walked around him with the rope to secure him in place.

Antonio screamed as loud as he could for them to stop. Over and over. But they wouldn't. They believed Lovino was a demon, and they would stop at nothing to eradicate him.
"What about this one?" The man holding Antonio called to the others. One of the men called back:
"He was in bed with the demon when we broke into his house. Sexual appetite for the same sex. Do what you must."

"So that's what you've been hiding all these years, huh? I knew there was something wrong with you."
Antonio scorned.
"The devil is inside you, you unnatural... creature." He spat.
Antonio struggled but the man holding him was too strong.

He was dragged over to the tree with the rope swing as a crowd gathered around to watch the entertainment.

One of the men brought a wooden stool for Antonio to stand on as they looped the rope around his neck.
"You disgust me," the man hissed into Antonio's ear.

But Antonio wasn't thinking about that. He was watching in horror as a lit torch was thrown into the pile of logs surrounding Lovino, who yelled out in panic for Antonio.
"Lovino I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" He sobbed, clutching his stomach. "I'm here! It's okay, I'm here."

The flames rose quickly and Lovino kept his eyes locked onto Antonio until the very end. Until the panic set in. Until the flames licked at his body. Until the screaming and pain started. Until the smell of burnt flesh drove all the love for life from Antonio's heart. Until the crowd cheered and Lovino's wild screams could bearly be heard.
"I'm here, Lovino!" Antonio yelled, desperate for him to hear it. "I love you!"

There came no reply. Not even sounds of pain. Silence. Silence that hollowed out Antonio until he just didn't care anymore. He just didn't care.

The wooden stool he was standing on creaked uncertainly and the noose Lovino had called a swing felt rough against the skin of his neck. The villagers looked confused as to why this seemingly innocent village boy was to be publicly executed.
"A homosexual!" The man announced. "His unholy sexual appetite will be abolished and the demons will be driven from our village!"

A cheer arose from the crowd.
Antonio didn't hear it.
He closed his eyes and wept silently for Lovino.
He would be with Lovino soon.
Forever.

He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky, watching a bird.
He would be with Lovino soon.

The man approached him with a grin and grabbed the edge of the wooden stool.
With Lovino soon, Antonio thought, forever...

The stool was pulled from beneath him, and he felt himself start to fall.

~The End~