That was it, she knew it. The last few words would save her life. Already, she could see people in the audience coming out of whatever fear driven trance had ensnared them. Now, she saw all of them for what they truly were. A community of sheltered individuals who had never experienced pure tragedy in their lives. Sasha actually pitied them. They weren't evil. They were lost and misguided. She knew better than most what fear could do.
"No!" A scream from the bottom of the pile pierced the air. Carol Leighter stood there with a torch and lighter. She pointed the unlit torch at Sasha and sneered. "She must be punished for her crimes. Don't let this witch cast her spell on you. She is deceiving you all, just as she did our sheriff. Her ex-husband was probably another pawn of her black magic. Don't fall for the lies of a wicked woman who sold her soul to the devil."
Looks changed from sympathetic to angry, though not all of them. Clearly, those who wanted to let her go were the minority. There would be little chance of talking the rest of the group down. There was only one other option Sasha had and she had been hoping to not have to use it.
Carol held up the lit torch and motioned to throw it. The majority of the crowd cheered. Sasha let out one more scream for attention and nearly fainted when it worked. A dead silence fell over the crowd. All eyes were glued on the woman on the pile. The next words from her mouth were risky and she hardly wanted to say them but it was all she had left. "You all need to let me go," she started. "If you don't, I shall curse this town and everyone in it."
The flaming torch danced in the night as she spoke. Sasha could hear it crackle as she took a breath. "Test me, and you all shall die an unnatural and terrible death. Do not test my powers." Her voice was deep and menacing, scaring even herself. Some stared at her in bewilderment. Others merely shifted their eyes away. Carol, however, stood strong.
"Do not fear the ramblings of a condemned soul. No curse can live after the witch is dead."
Some of the town's folk had been convinced. Whether it had been the fear of a curse or common sense finally kicking in, Sasha could not know. Several members of the crowd stepped forward in an attempt to stop Carol from tossing the torch and lighting Sasha ablaze. There was a feeling of relief unlike any Sasha had felt before. To her horror, however, it was too late. Carol heaved the torch onto the pile and it lit almost instantly.
The heat was intense and immediate. At first, the flames only licked at her heels. Sasha tried desperately to kick herself away from the heat to no avail. Some townspeople ran to her aid, looking for a way to extinguish the flames. It was no use. The fire was too hot and too high.
Carol raised her hands with the rising flames as if she could control them. Someone in town tackled her to the ground, clearly misunderstanding what was happening. Sasha’s pants melted to her skin and she felt a heat, unlike anything she had ever experienced. Before long, the flames had spread to her torso and singed at the strands of hair dangling above her shoulders. Shortly after, they too caught.
Sasha let out an ear-piercing scream as the flames consumed her head. The smell of burning hair and flesh was pungent, though Sasha could no longer smell anything. From the ground, Carol averted her eyes as the thrashing body of Sasha burned and charred to a crisp. Her screams finally came to an end as the fire consumed her completely. The last thought she ever had was of her daughter, and hoping she had found safety. For Sasha, the pain and torture were finally over. But, for the town of Carlisle, it had just begun.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was well into the following morning when Tara found herself in the backseat of a police cruiser heading off down the road. She had wandered for hours the night before and barely reached the police station before passing out. Exhaustion had finally got the better of her. When she awoke, she was in the police station. A nice man in a uniform looked at her with a smile, handing her a bottle of water.
"By the looks of those shoes, I'd say you walked all night." Tara paid little attention.
"I need help. My mom is in trouble."
"Oh? Where's she at?"
"A different town." She pointed over her shoulder, hoping it was the correct direction. She had no clue which way the town she had come from was. There was little chance she would be able to tell from outside either.
"Closest town is Carlisle. Is that where your mother is?"
Tara thought about it for a moment. The sign she had seen as they drove in had said something about the past. She closed her eyes tight and did her best to picture it. The world Carlisle materialized in her mind's eye. Finally, she nodded.
"What kind of trouble is she in?" The officer pulled out a small notebook and prepared to write notes.
"There's no time. The town is trying to hurt her."
"The whole town? Did something happen?"
Tara shrugged. She didn't really understand why the town was trying to hurt her mother, she only understood they were. There had been talk of murders but she knew her mother had nothing to do with them.
"Please, we have to hurry."
"Alright, let's take a drive down there and see if we can't figure out what's going on, OK?"
Tara nodded.
Once they were in
