Assassin of Dimesca

Hang

It was an early morning. The town was still covered in fog as the snow fell on its stone pavements and cold dirty alleyways. The sun slowly crept its way into the sky and with its glow added gloom into the small town of Rivera. Its inhabitants, risen early, was then filling up the cold streets all headed to the town's plaza.  

The plaza was filled with men and women alike, all finding a good spot so that they could get a clear view of the upcoming ceremony. The children were left at home for they might get disturbed for what they might see. But, as the old saying says, no one could stop an eager boy from knowing what's true. So the little boys from their homes started crawling into the plaza, hiding behind crates, under benches and behind walls, peeping into its cracks. All were silent. All were patiently waiting for something to arrive. Then, from behind the church in front of them, a man came and gave the signal. 

One by one the cursed and accused started filing down into their positions. The soldiers tightened the ropes and gave a final check on the gallowses. The villagers looked carefully through their faces. 

"Where is he?" a man shouted. The people of Rivera started looking at each other asking themselves the same question. All of them seemed frightened. All of them were searching everywhere. Faint mumbles began getting louder. "Where is he?" "Show him to us!" everyone was shouting. "He might had escaped!" Then everyone was in chaos. The soldiers tried calming them but none of them would stop. The soldiers were outnumbered and they kept on shouting. The crowd will be out of control if none gave an answer to their worries. 

"Silence!" Everyone stopped. A man at the top of the church stood, while holding a man whose hands were tied and face was covered with a sack. He pushed the man into another gallows atop the roof of the church and removed his sack. "Is he, whom all of you were looking for?" the man shouted. The people cheered loudly and cried "Hang the Devil!" For just a moment they were afraid then all of a sudden they were cheering as if they won a war. The crowd made noise for a short while only to be silenced when the guy above the church once again spoke.  

"These men are a curse to mankind. These men will bring no good to the world. They are weak, wicked, evil beings who deserve to die!" the villagers started cheering again while the man continued his speech. 

Evil, penalty, execution and death those just might be the final words he could hear. With his blue eyes slowly fainting, he looked down from the church and saw the other prisoners to be executed. The man besides him continued his long damned speech. He was shaking badly, he was tired and exhausted, and his cold blue eyes were getting dim as it stared at nowhere. Then the speech had ended. A sound of a rope that's been abruptly pulled was heard. The people cheered. Then he heard another one. The cheer got louder. One by one the prisoners were hanged. The cheer got louder as of every man dead. His shaking got more intense. He wasn't ready yet. He wanted more time to prepare but it was all too late. The last man had been hanged. He was the only one left.  

"Now for the main event!" the crowd yelled the loudest cry they did. The ropes were placed tightly on his neck. He could feel the rough edges of it crawling through his neck. He could feel the wood in his feet, his cold sweat dripping from his forehead and the cool breeze of winter wind hitting his face. He could feel the whole world. "Maybe this is how death feels like" he said to himself "the world brought us here. It gave us life out of raw materials. From the sands of the earth, from the waters of the seas we came to be. Now I am becoming one with it again." He closed his eyes. Grabbed hold of his locket one last time and embraced destiny. The guy touched him in the shoulder and was about to push him, then he remembered something. 

"Before the final seconds of a man's life, his mind gets clear of everything that is currently happening thus giving way for his memories to be savored for the last time, to be remembered in a single flash..."  

- Lazarus