The Haunted Orphanage

Chapter 68

Anti's POV

Upon hearing the clock tower strike noon, the three of us froze. I heard Dark mutter a quick, "Shit," while Felix and I stared at the door.

Felix spun around to face us. "J-Just because he was supposed to be executed at noon, doesn't mean we don't still have time! I'm going to run out there and be a distraction, so you two get ready to rescue Percy, understood?"

Felix didn't wait for a response. He turned back around and swung the door open before sprinting out into the courtyard at full speed.

Dark and I stared off after him. I sighed and shook my hands. "Alright, so we just need to find Percy and wait for Felix to do his thing, right?"

Dark blinked. "Um, yeah, that's what I recall."

I took a deep breath before taking a step toward the door and peeking through it. Felix was standing in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by knights, guards, and citizens, all of which were dead silent. He had his arms outstretched and seemed to be attempting to think of how to explain everything.

I noticed that the demons in the courtyard had already been circled around something before Felix had run out there. I squinted my eyes and peered between demons to try to see what I already knew was there.

One demon shifted his body and sure enough, I saw Percy.

The demons surrounding Percy began to walk away from him to face Felix, who still hadn't uttered a word. Once the last of them had moved, I got a clear visual of Percy. His neck was tied in a rope noose as he stood on a gallows. His hands were tied together behind his back. Upon squinting, I noticed that his eyes were red and he had tear streaks on his dirt covered face. He was staring at Felix in shock, but with a glint of hope in his eyes, as if his prayers had just been answered.

I couldn't help the wide smile forming on my face as I stared at the thirteen year old, about to be killed, who had kept a bit of faith in his friends. The boy who seemed as if he had stayed strong, however hard that might have been, while he was gossiped about, teased, and accused of doing so many things he never would have thought of.

I let out a short chuckle as I realized how similar I was to the poor boy. I hadn't even noticed the tears dripping down my face until Dark asked, "Are you crying?"

Despite being accused of such a thing, I simply smiled and turned to face him. "Once Felix starts talking, we need to go."

Dark smirked at my tear stricken face, but didn't comment on it. "I honestly think Felix is distracting everyone as best he can right now. Should we just wing it?"

I shook my head, wiped away a few tears, and turned back to the door. "Let's wait for Felix to start talking. We need all the attention to be on him so that we can sneak in. We should probably start thinking of ways to get Percy out, though."

Dark nodded, then frowned. "Percy's in the middle of the courtyard and Felix is right in front of him. Everyone's facing Percy right now. How the hell are we supposed to sneak him out without being seen?"

I clenched my jaw. "We really didn't think this plan through at all."

Dark sighed, but before he had the chance to say anything, Felix started speaking, "Uh, hi?"

The citizens in the crowd gasped, as if they thought they were imagining him. The guards and knights seemed clueless as of what to do.

"I guess it's a bit surprising to see me," Felix continued, "but I'm pretty sure the citizens are more concerned with why I look the way I do. To start this off, my father has kept me locked up in my bedroom for the past three months. He was also the one who sentenced Percy to death. These two orders were the last he gave before disappearing without a trace."