Escape

The lights were almost blinding as I made my way into the ballroom. I squinted past them, and let out a soft gasp. It was beautiful. The lights sparkled off the glassware and tinsel streamers that were strung between the stone pillars. A warm light suffused the room bouncing off of small silver stars had been hung from the ceiling and slowly spun on their almost invisible strings, giving them the illusion of simply hanging in mid-air. Almost like magic, but not quite, I thought to myself.

The people too were everything I had imagined. The other women in the room wore sparkling dresses and extravagant masks to hide their faces while the twirled about the dancefloor or stood to the side chatting and laughing together. The men wore their suits, coattails trailing behind them as they led their partners about the dance floor, their black shoes shining in contrast with the rest of their more subdues ensemble. All in all, it was exactly like I knew it would be, a New Year’s party for the upper class, and I was part of it! Being here made it all seem worth it. 

A waiter appeared with a tray of slightly yellow liquid drinks in slender glasses and I took one, sniffing at it before taking a small sip. So bubbly! Was this what they drank all the time? It had to be, and it made sense. It tasted a bit weird, but that was probably because I wasn’t used to it, so determinedly I took another slightly larger sip and let it sit for a second, contemplating the feel in my mouth, and the slight yellow color of the drink.

A soft sound returned me to the room, and I looked up to see one of the young men looking down at me with his head cocked to the side. I blinked, and he was instead a grizzled older man in blue clothes, head cocked to the side.

“Come along now,” he said sternly, “finish that.” I glanced down and still saw the glass in my hand, bubbly liquid partly gone. I took a few more sips, the chains on my wrists causing me to bring both hands up as I finished the glass. 

“There now,” said the man as he took the glass from me and he and another man in blue clothes took me by the arms and began steering me through a metal door and down a corridor. The lights were so bright, they almost hurt to look at.

They were bright, but the arms of the gentlemen escorting me through the ballroom were steady. I must have had a little too much of that bubbly drink, as I was a bit unsteady on my feet,  but the arms kept me upright and walking forward through the crowd of well-dressed party-goers.

Then I could see him. Slightly taller than the other men in the room, his mask better made, his suit of better material, and soft to the touch. My escorts seemed to fade away as he took me in his arms and held me for a moment, his warmth enveloping me as I held him back. The room fell silent for a moment that seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Then with a few soft taps from the conductor’s baton, the orchestra began to play. The music flowed through the room, the melody guiding the two of us through the steps as we twirled and spun, weaving through the other couples.

The stone hallway had a few carts and some people I had to step around. They took one look at me and stepped back, giving me as wide a berth as they could. Not that it mattered, I couldn’t reach them even if I wanted to. The white jacket they had enveloped me in prevented my arms from moving more than an inch or two from my back, from the facsimile of a self-embrace they forced me into. I wondered if it was designed that way to provide some sort of comfort.

It was comfortable in the man’s arms as we spun again across the floor, but soon the music came to an end, and I held him there for a moment before he extracted himself and took me by the arm. We started walking toward the stage, my arm gently held in his as we climbed the stairs to the stage and strode to the middle. The faces all looked up at me, their eyes meeting mine-

-and they looked away. Most of them anyway, unable or unwilling to keep eye contact with me through the windows they were seated behind, watching as I lay down on a metal table and the men in blue strapped my wrists down next to me.

“As per state-mandated sentence,” one of the blue men began, “Jill Willow, at exactly midnight tonight will be put to death for the murders of-”

“-for the exquisite actions that led to the redemption of those two children who had lost their way in the world,” said the MC. The hand holding my wrist was a little tight, but I didn’t care. This had been where everything was headed. I was about to finally get my reward for all my hard work.

“In a minute here, at exactly midnight, New Year’s Eve, Jill will receive a painless injection that will end her life,” said the blue man,” then turning to another man in white said, “proceed.”

The applause was deafening as I stood on that stage, and the first chime of the grandfather clock in the corner began.

I felt a small prick on my arm and looked down as the counting began.

10

9

8

I looked up and saw the hatred on the faces through the window.

The tears on the mothers’ faces, the anger on the fathers’.

7

5

4

I looked at my adoring crowd and waved a little.

The world was going dark, and I closed my eyes, silently counting.

3

2

1

0