The dead can't testify

Cold air hit the boy's face as he stepped outside. Looking up at the dark grey sky he sighed and shut the door, then walked down the street.

It began to rain and the light faded. The boy walked and walked and walked, never once looking up from the ground until he stopped and once again looked up at the sky. Then he turned left and opened the iron gates of the old cemetery.

He slowly walked past the graves in the front and made his way to the very back where he stopped and sat down on the cold and wet ground. Next to him was a really old tombstone, so weathered that the engraving was barely legible.

The only line that hadn't been effected that badly and was still decipherable said "forever in our memory".
Forever had seemingly not lasted very long since the grave was in really rough shape. Sure, it was from 1835 but most other graves that old were in better condition.

The boy now leaned against said tombstone with his eyes closed. He looked calm and at peace. Nothing could disturb him in his relaxed state.

Not even the howling sound and the rustle of leaves that he heard. It could have been the wind. But that wasn't the case. A really pale girl, about 17, appeared behind him. She looked down on the boy, then raised her hand and gently touched his shoulder.

The boy's eyes flew open at the unexpected touch and he jumped onto his feet. Panic was in his eyes as he looked around only to be overcome with horror as he saw the girl.

The girl no longer looked like a 17 year old girl that had pale skin and wore an old fashioned dress. Instead, she now had blood stains on her clothes and a rogue around her neck. Her skin looked like the skin of a very old corpse, all dry and shrunken up.

She began to walk towards the boy, her hands grasping for him. He quickly backed up, panicking.
"What are you?" he managed to choke out.

She lowered her arms and stopped. Her mouth opened, some of the old skin ripping with the movement. "I'm...innocent" her raspy voice sounded. "Why did I have to die? I'M INNOCENT!"

The girl screamed those last words. And with that she threw herself at him, encasing both of them in a flash of white light.

A church. Everybody in town was there, listening to the priest's sermon. A few sunbeams shone through the tinted windows.

The organ began playing and the people began to sing. Everybody. Except for one little girl in the last row. She looked around happily, smiling when her big brown eyes fell upon a little boy.

But something wasn't right. The little boy had tiny wings on his back and a halo over his head. The girl waved to the little angel. He waved back.

The song ended and the girl's mom quietly scolded her for not singing along. "But mom, the angel --" the little girl whispered.

Her moms face got red with anger. "That is devil's talk! How many times did I tell you that you'll go to hell when you lie? There was nothing there! Don't you ever use the Lord or his angels to excuse your devilish behaviour!" she whispered back.

The scene froze and became blurry but was replaced with another one.

A woman held the hand of a 12 year old girl, both standing in front of the altar in the same church. It was the little girl and her mom but some years must have passed since the prior scene.

The priest came down from the pulpit, joining the woman and the girl in front of the altar. The woman quietly talked to the priest and seemed to be asking something. However, he just crossed himself and then stared at the woman in shock.
She began to cry, fell onto her knees and begged the priest to help her.

And all the while the girl was quietly talking to the angel who seemed to also have grown older. Her mother and the priest looked at her like she was insane, they seemed disgusted with her behaviour as they couldn't see the angel sitting on the floor and talking to the girl.

This scene got blurry too and went over into the next one.

A market. A few women were whispering with one another. Most of it was inaudible but the things that could be heard were dark. "Devil's child", "abnormal" and "witch" were repeated frequently.

Every once in a while the women would gaze over to the girl, now a 17 year old, sitting on a bench, talking to the angel. Both were laughing but still nobody could see the angel.

Again, the scene was blurred out and the next scene took place on the main road.

It was raining and the ground was muddy. Two men were dragging the girl down the road. She was gagged and bound and fighting for her life. Behind her walked all the people in town, their pitchforks high in the air.

Words were being yelled, "witch" and "devil worshipper" were yet the nicest ones. Some tried to throw stones or rotten food at her.
Her mom walked closely behind the girl, her expression blank and facing the ground.

The girl was dragged to the centre of town, were the gallows stood. A judge climbed onto the gallows and she was quickly blindfolded so he wouldn't catch her stare.

The prosecution was read, she was accused of being a witch and worshipping the devil. For that, the judge sentenced her to be executed by hanging.

She was pulled onto the gallows and the rogue was fastened around her neck. Just before she was executed, the angel appeared at her side, dried the tears from her eyes and took her hand.

She was hanged before everyone's eyes, then buried outside the cemetery, for a witch, a devil worshipper couldn't be buried on sacred ground. They didn't even mark her grave.

But at night, when everyone left, the angel stood at her grave. He blessed the ground she was buried on and put a tombstone on it. Strangely though, he neither put her name, nor her date of birth and death.
The only thing written on the tombstone was "The Misunderstood, 1835. Forever in our memory."

He sat down at the grave and cried, his tears mixing with the raindrops that fell down on earth. Then he got up and walked away, never looking back.

None of the inhabitants ever knew about their mistake. Nobody ever found out that she was neither a witch, nor a devil worshipper. The angel never returned to the city but her spirit has been looking for him ever since.

The cemetery was still quiet when the boy opened his eyes. His head was spinning from the horrible images, the glimpse in the life of "The Misunderstood".

The spirit sat next to him and was looking at him. She looked calm and nearly peaceful. "Now that you know my story...can you make me a promise?" she asked.

The boy nodded. "Anything" he said quietly.
She smiled. "I showed you everything because it's the only way I can find peace. Someone needed to know the truth. Promise you'll write down my story?"
She began to fade away into the distance, soon she was gone completely.

The boy looked down at her grave. "I promise" he whispered.