"I swung the nail, meaning to hit his arm, but hitting his neck instead." I finished looking at my father. As I had told my story we had sat down on the slightly muddy ground.

He held his head in his hands, as he took it all in. "How long, how long have you been sneaking out to meet this boy?"

I looked at my hands, where I fiddled with a stray hay straw. "Six months." I whispered

"Six months." He gasped "Do you know what would have happened if you had been caught?"

I looked back up at him, "Not something as bad as this." I responded

This took my father aback, as I never talked back, but as I had nothing to lose at that point, I went ahead.

"I suppose you're right." He responded His face then lit up, "Rose! Do you know what this means?"

"What?" I asked, very confused

"You're not a witch! If we tell them, they can't try you as a witch!"

"They can still try for murder." I said quietly, looking at the stains on my nightgown "If they even give me a trial." I added

"That's right." He murmured, "Brusco is very adamant about killing you."

"Besides," I said surprising myself with how calm I was, "If you do tell them, they'll just think I bewitched you."

He nodded solemnly in agreement, "There aren't many ways around this Rose."

"I don't this there is a way around it."

"Rose-"

"No Father. Forgive me for interrupting you, but there isn't a way around this. I'm going to die. You should go. I'm sure mother wants to know what has happened."

With nothing left to say he got up, turned and left.

I had no more visitors for the rest of the day, besides the guard that brought me breakfast. He tossed a wooden slab in my cell with a small piece of meat, that smelled a few days past due, and another stale piece of bread.

After eating my sorry excuse of a dinner, I curled up and tried to sleep. Though it was much easier said than done. Every time I shut my eyes Thomas appeared. Sometimes it was when I stabbed him, other times I saw when he attacked me. Either way, I knew sleep wasn't in my near future. I leaned my head against the rock wall and listened to the many crickets just outside the cell. I stared at the small window at the top of my cell. I couldn't see much, just the dark blue sky. I continued to stare at it as the night went on.

Suddenly a black fog passed by my widow. I sat straight up and kept my eyes on the same spot, unsure if I had imagined it. Then another passed.

I jumped from my spot and ran to the window, and tried to jump up to look out of it. Unfortunately I was too short, and even if I jumped, I couldn't see anything.

As I struggled, I heard yells from the guards, and maniacal laughter. I ran to my door and tried to see what was happening.

When all sounds of struggle quieted down, a man and woman I'd never seen appeared in my cell. The woman's hands were coated in blood, along with her grimy torn dress. It gave me a good impression of what had happened to the guards.

Both of them had an unkempt look about them. Long messy hair, neither had it pulled back. Their eyes had a mad hollow look about them.

Them woman grabbed my arm, causing me to let out a scream of terror, them the man held on to my other arm. The same terror that filled me when Brusco grabbed me, returned. I wasn't sure what was happening, all I knew was I wanted his hands off of me.

I screamed and pulled back with all of my might, but neither paid me any attention. They dragged me out of the cell and outside. The woman clasped and hand over my mouth, and led me into the woods. The man let go and went ahead, giving me some piece of mind, though I was still scared out of my mind. The longer we walked the darker the forest became.

Within an hour I couldn't see anything, but my captors seemed to be able see fine. We continued to walk until my feet hurt, and then we continued to walk. I didn't dare ask to take a break.

The woman had removed her hand from my face, I knew that there would be blood smeared across my face, only adding to the blood I was covered in. The two didn't say anything to each other, and neither said anything to me.

As we continued to walk I wondered if they were going to kill me, and if so, why hadn't they already. They obviously had no problem with it. Finally, when I had started to stumble from exhaustion, we reached a seemingly small cave, The woman pushed me forward to climb in, so I did as I was told. I crawled on my knees for a few feet, until the cave opened up into a surprisingly well lit cavern. I vaguely wondered how the light hadn't bled into the forest.

The woman pushed me forward, and I fell out of the hole. The many people stared at me as I got up to my feet. They all had the same unkempt mad look about them. I tried to avoid touching them as the woman pushed me through the crowd, to another woman. She stood at a fire pit, that seemed to be the only light source for the entire cavern. She looked around the same age as my mother, though it was hard to tell as her entire face was sunken in. The only thing that prevented me from seeing her bones was her skin that hung loosely on her like clothing that was to big.

She stared at the fire, and clutched a black knife in her hand.

"M'lady." The woman that had taken me said in a hoarse scratchy voice, when we reached the fire. 

The woman turned her head, looked me up and down, and laughed.

"You must be joking." She laughed. Her voice was just as scratchy and hoarse.

"No Lady Mira. This is the girl."

Mira looked at me again, "You are telling me that this is the girl that killed my son?" She snapped "Ha! She doesn't have the stomach for it!"

"I'm sorry M'lady." The man said "We are sure that this is the girl."

Mira looked down at me, "What is your name?" She asked

When I didn't answer immediately she asked again, that time yelling.

"R-Rose W-Winslow." I stammered

Mira's mouth became a thin line "This is the girl." She hissed and turned away from me.

"I'm sorry." I said taking a step forward, "What exactly did I do?"

She spun around far quicker than I expected "YOU KILLED MY SON!" She bellowed

"Y-your son?" I stammered "Y-You mean Tho-"

"Don't you say his name!" She hissed at me. She turned to the crowd of about twenty people around us, "What should we do to her?" She yelled at them

All at once they started answering. All yelling over each other trying to be heard. The ones I heard were worse than even Reverend Brusco would suggest to do to me. One man wanted to tear me open and spill out my organs. Another wanted put me in a hole and see how long it takes me to starve. A girl that couldn't have been much older than me wanted to cover me with boiling hot tar.

It was when a man, that looked far too old to be alive said that they should kill time the way I killed Thomas, that they quieted. They seemed to like that option.

Mira tapped her chin with her index finger, "That would be the perfect way to avenge him."   She turned to me with a wicked smile, "I'll stab you in the throat with a rusty nail, except I'll do it slowly, so you feel every second of the pain!" She started laughing, and the crowed started to cheer

When the noise died down she looked at the man that had taken to me, "Daimhin, take her to the hole. She'll stay there until everyone is back. I want this to be a public event!"

Daimhin grabbed, and dragged me to a back dark corner of the cavern, me screaming the entire way.

The hole, was properly named, it really was a hole in the ground. Deep enough that I would have to jump to get up out of. Of course I would have to be insane to try to escape. I tried to sit down, but if even if I were small enough to do so, the floor and walls of the hole were extremely jagged and sharp.

I pressed my forehead against a flatter part of the hole, and accepted my new prison.