Price of Passion
© Aubrey Ross, October 2007
All Rights Reserved

“She was swimming naked in the forest pool,” Reverend Fatass added. “Some satanic ritual to be sure.”

“Now that’s just ridiculous.” Not the swimming naked part, just making skinny-dipping a satanic ritual.

“You deny baring your body to the moonlight?” the magistrate asked.

“It’s called a bath. You should try it sometime. The question is, why was a man of God lurking in the forest… or was he following me?”

“You’ve bewitched him,” someone offered.

“We are all bewitched.”

You are all ignorant imbeciles, who beat their wives and fuck their servants. She could put up with many things, but hypocrisy pissed her off. “I agree that my ways are not your ways. I noticed an abandoned cottage near the lake where I took my swim. How about if I stay there until the next supply ship comes? I promise not to ‘bewitch’ anyone else.”

The magistrate clutched his chest and staggered back a step. “Then you admit to bewitching Reverend Pendergrass?”

Damn, she had walked right in to that. “I do not.”

“She comes to me in dreams and torments me with… unspeakable acts of depravity. I have not slept through the night since she arrived in our village,” Reverend Fatass said. “Her evil spirits must be cast out or this community is damned.”

It was all she could do not to roll her eyes, but the pit of her stomach went cold and trepidation gripped her heart. As ridiculous as this all seemed to her, they fully intended to punish her for her “oddities.”

“Are you willing to submit yourself to Reverend Pendergrass? He will --”

“It’s either fuck that depraved old man or be drowned in the river?” She’d had enough of this farce. Shoving back her chair so forcefully it toppled over, she glared at her accusers. “Is that where this is leading?”

She ignored the startled gasps at her profanity. For three and a half hours she’d subjected herself to their questions and their leering gazes. She’d been calm and honest, carefully weighing every word.

“The fact that your mind immediately leapt to that conclusion is only further proof of your depravity.” Fatass turned to Ferret-face and shook his head. “She is too far gone. I can’t save her.”

Treena snorted. “I thought God alone could bestow salvation.”

“Drown the witch.” Someone near the back of the room whispered the phrase and it rippled across the rows like a putrid wave. Their lust for violence was palpable and disgusting. Treena’s heart slammed against the wall of her chest, launching her into action.

She shoved Fatass aside and dodged Ferret-face’s hands, running as fast as her legs would carry her. She would grab her things and disappear in the forest or hide in the mountains beyond the --

Halfway down the narrow aisle someone caught her around the waist, trapping her arms against her sides. She screamed and kicked back at her captor, twisting wildly. He laughed and shoved her toward the door.

“Drown the witch! Drown the witch!”

This couldn’t be real. Her captor was tall and strong, the blacksmith perhaps or a woodcutter. He propelled her out of the church, a mob following in their wake. Cold air stung her nose and snow crunched beneath her bare feet. She screamed again and someone slapped her hard enough to snap her head against her captor’s shoulder. Lights burst in front of her eyes and bile rose into the back of her throat.

“Please don’t do this,” Jack’s mother cried, hanging off the arm of Treena’s captor. He flung her aside and trudged onward.

Treena dug her feet into the frosty grass and scratched at her captor’s forearm. He ignored her fingernails and rushed her closer and closer to the half-frozen river, which meandered through their charming village.

“This is crazy!” she cried. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Silence, witch.” Someone thrust a handkerchief into her mouth. She tossed her head and pushed with her tongue, trying to dislodge the wad. They reached the river and Fatass leaned in close, whispering into her ear, “It’s too late to save your corrupted body. Concentrate instead on your immortal soul.”

The smug pleasure in the reverend’s tone reinforced her terror with fury. She renewed her struggle, kicking up her legs and throwing her weight forward. Her captor stumbled and others joined in. Hurtful hands and pinching fingers added indignation to the mix.

They forced her to her knees on the sloping riverbank and she managed to dispel the makeshift gag. “You can’t -- do this!”

The reverend knelt beside her and grabbed the back of her hair. “Admit your evil deeds and beg for mercy. I might yet spare your life.”

She looked into his lust-filled eyes and her blood ran cold. Fucking her was no longer enough. He would degrade her and abuse her in ways she didn’t want to consider.

“Go to hell,” she snapped. “I’ll meet you there!”

With the help of the other men, he bent her forward. She twisted and thrashed, sucking in a frantic breath before she hit the water. Icy liquid slapped her face and filled her nose. She jerked against their hold and fire branched across the back of her head, a shocking contrast to the frigid deluge.

Panic clawed through thought and speculation. There was no glorious light, no cosmic review of her life, just the dismal realization that she was about to die.

She was dragged from the rushing current. Gasping and sputtering, she frantically blinked the water out of her eyes.

“Are you sure death is preferable to redemption?”

“Fuck you,” she said with less conviction.

He forced her deeper, submerging her to the hips. Pain crawled across her skin as the freezing water rushed over her exposed flesh. She clawed at anyone she could reach and turned her head sharply to bite one restraining hand. Sound distorted, amplifying her thundering heartbeat. She could not die like this. She would not!

As if impacted by the ferocity of her desperation, her burly captor let go. The reverend was off balance and stumbled. His weight pushed her under completely. She elbowed him in the stomach and tugged her hair free of his hurtful grasp. With violent kicks and weakening strokes, she propelled herself toward the surface.