Cogs Of Fate

The Fateful Hour

Amy's head throbbed painfully as she groaned. Slowly blinking her eyes open, she felt her heart race as she saw complete darkness surrounding her. She swallowed nervously. The smell was musty, old, and earthy. She quietly called out, "Emma?"

The sound felt muffled to her. Confusion struck her mind as she reached out only to feel coarse wood a couple of inches away from her. She slid her hands down the length of it. Her heart stopped and her stomach fell as the reality came crashing down upon her. "Emma!" she screamed.

Panic rose in her chest, bile churning in her stomach. "Rowan! Rowan! Help me!" Amy could feel the hot tears streaming down her face. It didn't take her long to realize that Emma had buried her alive. Her mind raced to think of a reason as to why Emma would do such a thing. She did everything she was asked by the woman.

Memories of the graveyard came rushing forward. She recalled the bells tied to the gravestones with the small hempen rope that led into the coffins - the sign that being buried alive was almost commonplace in this era.

Amy fumbled around the dark, feeling for the rope. Her fingers grazed along the side of the rope and she grasped it. She released a short happy laugh, feeling hopeful that she was about to be found. She tugged on the rope to hear the bell scrape along the inside of the coffin.

"No...no-no-no," she muttered, the panic rising again. She pulled the rope again, hearing the bell next to her head. "No!" she cried.

Emma had removed the bell from the grave she was buried in to make sure no one found her. Amy couldn't stop the tears from falling as she sobbed. She didn't expect to die like this. In someone else's grave.

After a moment, Amy forced herself to stop crying. She took a couple of deep breaths of the stale air. "Okay..." she sighed. "Okay... think...It's going to be okay..."

She closed her eyes to steady her nerves. "No one is coming to save you...You've got to do this yourself." She opened her eyes after releasing a short exhale. "Okay...think..." She grabbed the bell with her hand, gripping it tightly.

Her breathing picked up as she worked herself up for what she had to do. She slammed the bell into the wooden lid of the coffin she was trapped inside. She continued to slam it, hoping to break through. The sound of the bell slamming into the wood clanked loudly. She could hear the wood splintering slightly. She had no idea if what she was doing was making any difference.

With her arm growing tired, she dropped the bell and reached out to feel the lid. She could feel the dents left behind by the bell. She couldn't feel any breaks or holes that came from her efforts. She could feel the tears rushing back, falling out the corners of her eyes.

Another memory came rushing back to her. She was standing in the woods during a storm. She saw a shadow of a man approaching her before searing pain engulfed her lower abdomen. She saw the gun and the blood seeping from the wound. She reached down and felt the place that her memory said she had been shot. She sobbed quietly, realizing she was going to die.

Rowan scoured the town while the townsfolk were busy watching the sad excuse to defile an innocent girl's remains. He checked all the places he could think Amy might have gone. He came up empty-handed.

He sighed, running a hand across his cheek, showing his frustrations. His eyes darted down the avenue of the town, praying some sort of sign would come to him. When his eyes landed on the Time Team being escorted away from the cemetery by the lawmen, he realized the only place he didn't cover within his search had been the very place Amy was last seen in.

He rushed toward the church, careful to avoid any lingering glances back from the Time Team as he snuck back in. He ignored the display that still went on with the Brown family and doctor. He spotted Paul still watching with some sick curiosity. He didn't see Emma.