“NO!” Evelyn screamed. “Please… it’s just a misunderstanding!” She pleaded for the guard to let go of her hair.

“Silence, witch!” The bulky guard tightened his grip and pulled harder on her hair. She screamed another bloody curl. “There is enough proof that indicates you are a witch and nothing more! A demon sent from hell! So you must – and will – be sentenced!” He made another pull and dragged her out of the cabin she had been hiding in. “To death!”

Screaming again and again, Eve couldn’t see clearly anymore due to the water filling her eyes and streaming down her face. All she could see, blurry, was that her family, her mother and father whom she had trusted so much, were hiding in the shadows, watching everything but not coming to her rescue.

Then her vision went black.

“Brother, please.”

“No.”

“Then you leave me no choice.” Chanyeol slid down his horse.

“You can’t just walk up there! It’ll expose us all!”

“Then why won’t you help me? All I asked of you is nothing more serious than what I am going to do.”

“What you asked –“

“What I asked was just a little rain, Suho.” Chanyeol glared into Suho’s eyes.

“And then run up to rescue her?”

“Yes, Baekhyun.”

“Do you not realize that if you run up to rescue her in front of everyone just the time as rain miraculously appears, you will be suspected? We will be suspected?”

“Chanyeol, let’s just ask Tao to –“

“Tao’s not here, as you might have forgotten. M is on the other side if the world now.”

“Then let Kris fly him he –“

“How long will that take?! A few hours? And even if Tao freezes time, we will be frozen, too! So Kris can’t fly him here while he’s freezing time!” A ball of flames appeared in Chanyeol’s right hand as anger swelled up in him.“She’s about to be burned alive! I have to save her! Fire doesn’t do anything to me, so I’ll just run up there when every villager is far away from the fire and save her and run off!”

“Nonsense!” Suho raged. “You will be seen –“

“I don’t care.” Chanyeol started walking out of the forest. Determination shone in his eyes. “I don’t care if I get us exposed. I don’t care if everyone will then have a death bounty over my head.” He glanced back to the 5 boys behind him. “All I care about is her who’s going to be burned to death.”

“Kai,” D.O. said peacefully, “can you…?”

“I’m terribly sorry, but I can’t. She’s tied to a pole and it’s stuck to the stage which is stuck to the ground, and I can’t carry all that. It’s just too heavy. I can teleport beside her but might have trouble untying the ropes.”

Suho studied Chanyeol’s back that was getting more and more harder to see. He sighed. “Very well. Kai, go with him. As soon as he frees her from the rope, teleport them back here. We will be hiding in this forest in case there shall be a need to run.”

“Thank you, brother,” Chanyeol shouted.

“Do not thank me; thank the gods. And if – if you get back safely, thank everything you believe in.”

“It’s just a rescue; what is there to worry?”

Eve couldn’t move. She couldn’t even open her eyes, for she was beaten so badly it hurt to even breathe. This is what I deserve, she thought. This is what I deserve for following my betrayal heart. For not listening to Mother.

{Flashback}

Looking at the people from her window, Eve sighed. “Mother?”

“Yes, child?” Her mother didn’t even bother to look up.

“When can I go out to play with other children? When can I go to school?”

“Maybe someday in the future, child. Now close the window.” 8-year-old Eve sighed again and closed the window.

“Mother?”

“Yes, child?”

“Why do I have to hide? Because of my silver hair? Or my violet eyes? Or my magic talents?”

“You foolish child!” Eve curled into the corner as her mother raged. “What is in your body is no magic; it is a demon! A demon who has already taken my real daughter! You can never go out and show yourself or we will be doomed! Never again question your hiding, for you are a burden!”

{Flashback End}

A tear dropped from Eve’s eyes. A burden. That’s what I am. That’s why mother didn’t even bother to give me to the guards to spare her own life. Her breathing became heavy as the guards tied her up on the stage with piles and piles of wood around, ready to be lit up, ready to take away a little monster claimed to be a witch’s life.

Then she heard fire crackle. She hung her head low. It is time… “It is time!” A man’s loud voice boomed through the whole village. “It is time for all to witness this witch, Evelyn Hallmington, to be sent back to where she belongs! To HELL!”

Villagers holding torches and pikes cheered.

Goodbye. Eve gave up fighting. Goodbye, to everything I thought could be trusted.

Goodbye to the boy I had once met in the woods.