by Amy Cross
“You don't understand.”
“Then help me! Make me understand?”
“It would take too long. Besides, I don't want you to understand, because to understand you would have to...”
She waited for him to finish. “Stop protecting me.”
“Never.”
“Do you think he deserves to defeat you?” she asked. “In your sick, twisted mind are you refusing to fight him because you think that he should win?”
“Every time I've fought before,” Edgar replied, “I've known in my heart that I'm in the right. No matter what I faced during the war, I was absolutely certain that I was doing what I should do, and that I would rather lay down my life than stand idly by. But this time...” He paused again. “This time, I do not feel as if I'm in the right, and consequently I do not believe I have the fight in me.”
“Oh Jesus,” Madeleine muttered, turning to walk away before stopping and looking back at him. She watched his eyes for a moment, before realizing that she needed to try another tactic. “People are going to die because of your inaction,” she said finally. “Good people, honest people, people who live on this island and think that you'll protect them.”
“I never said I'd protect anyone.”
“He's going to kill the people in that town one by one,” she continued, “and then he's going to start on the people up here in your home. At what point is enough going to be enough, Edgar? When the town is filled with bones? When Nixon and Estella are dead? When I'm dead? When Kate Langley -”
“Enough.”
She stared at him for a moment. “Is that what it takes? You didn't flinch at any of the other names, but when I suggested that Quillian might hurt your precious Kate, you reacted.”
“Leave,” he replied firmly. “I want to be alone.”
“Everyone will die, Edgar,” she continued, “and then you'll be left here alone. Is that acceptable to you? Will you let everyone die, will you let the house fall and the Le Compte name wither, just because you didn't have the balls to stand and fight?” She waited for an answer, but again none was forthcoming. “You're pathetic,” she added. “You know that, right? For all your faults, that's one thing I never thought I'd have to say to you, but... You're totally, utterly pathetic.”
He stared at her, but he didn't even bother to argue.
“If you won't fight Quill,” she said finally. “I will. But if you sit this one out, don't ever expect me to look up to you in the same way again. Enjoy your bath.”
***
“Oh Kate, I'm so glad you're here!”
Bursting through the shop's door, Estella rushed toward the counter with a huge grin.
“We're not actually open,” Kate told her, “I just -”
“It's finally happening!” Estella continued, not listening to a word and instead hurrying around the counter and grabbing Kate's arms. “The dress is ready, the dinner plans are set in stone, and at the end of this week I shall be marrying the man I love!”
“You mean Edgar?”
“Of course I mean Edgar,” she squealed, as if she was putting way too much effort into trying to sound happy. “You've never been married, have you?”
Kate shook her head.
“I hope you get to experience this feeling one day,” Estella continued, heading over to the window and looking out for a moment, before heading to the counter and then over to the shelves. “It's the most wonderful thing in the world, I think every woman should get to go through it! It's as if the whole world is suddenly that much brighter and that much more wonderful, and the possibilities are infinite.”
“Okay,” Kate replied, “but can you do me a favor? Just stop shooting around all over the place, you're kinda making me dizzy.”
“I'm sorry,” Estella said, heading back to the counter, “I'm just so utterly thrilled!”
“Have you been crying?” Kate asked with a frown.
“Crying?” Estella wiped her eyes. “No! Whatever makes you think such a thing?”
“You just look a little -”
“They were only tears of joy! I don't know why, Kate, but a little while ago the whole thing just struck me and I realize that it's almost here! The day I've been waiting for since... Well, since forever! The day when all doubts, all fears, will be put aside and nothing can ever go wrong again.”
“And how's Edgar doing? Is he running around just like you?” She paused. “Actually, I'd quite like to see that.”
“You know what Edgar's like, he doesn't show his emotions in the same way, although I'm quite certain he feels them. Actually, I haven't seen him too much lately, I think he's rather busy with his own affairs. That's okay, though. Once we're married, we'll be together forever and then we'll have all the time in the world.” She paused for a moment, her eyes bright with some other thought. “We shall start trying for our first child on our wedding night. I think it's good to get right down to it, don't you?”
“Well -”
“Eight children in all. I know that might seem like a lot, but I want a big family and -” She paused, staring at Kate for a moment. “Oh, but I suppose you've met them, haven't you?”
“I have?”
“In the future. The children I have with Edgar... What are they like? No, wait, don't tell me...” She pauses. “Okay, tell me!”
“Estella -”
“Don't tell me! No... Do!”
“I'm not telling you anything about the future,” Kate replied, while trying to imagine how heartbroken Estella would be to learn how things really ended up between her and Edgar. “It's just a rule I have for everyone.”
“I suppose that's wise,” Estella continued. “Still, we shall start as soon as possible. Edgar and I have always been very compatible in the bedroom, I know we should have waited until the wedding but, well, Edgar's appetite is voracious and he just hasn't been able to keep his hands off me!”
Kate forced a smile. “I think that might be too much information for me.” Hearing someone opening the door, she resisted the urge to say “Thank God” as she turned and saw that Benjamin Wood had arrived.
“Perhaps one day,” Estella continued, heading over to him and grabbing him by the arm, “you and I shall be related by marriage, Mr. Wood. If you intend to make an honest woman out of Madeleine, of course.”
“She's already pretty honest,” he replied. “Kate, I need to -”
“You'll have to dress better, though,” Estella added, making her way around him and grimacing a little as she saw his faded old work clothes. “I do hope you've got a nice suit all ready for the wedding. It's going to be a lavish event and we don't want anyone letting the side down, now do we?” Hurrying to the door, she pulled it open and then turned to Kate. “I'd love to stop and chat, but I must go and see how the flowers are coming along. This whole wedding has to be absolutely perfect! If even one petal is out of place, I shall notice immediately!”
Sighing, Kate watched as Estella ran across the courtyard and disappeared from view.
“I don't think I could have handled much more of that,” she said finally, turning to Benjamin. “I'm glad she's happy, I really am, but that is one huge case of over-compensation. She's hiding something.”
“Have you seen what they've built in the town square?” Benjamin asked, heading over to join her at the counter.
“A stage for a trial,” Kate replied, feeling a shiver run through her body.
“Not just that. They've built a gallows too.”
“For -” Kate paused, hoping against hope that she'd misunderstood. “That's insane! How can there be a fair trial if the rope's already being prepared?”
“It's not going to be a fair trial,” Benjamin replied. “Listen, I don't know the details of what Jennifer Kazakos did or didn't do, but I know that a public execution is the last thing this island needs. If she's guilty, she should pay an appropriate penalty, but the way Quill's whipping everyone up into a frenzy is plain wrong.”
“Where I come from,” Kate cont
inued, “we don't execute people. It was banned years ago.”
“I believe in execution sometimes,” he told her, “but only when it's necessary. From what I've heard about the Jennifer Kazakos case, this is more to do with Jonathan Quill trying to gain supporters on the island.”
“I tried to ask Edgar for help,” Kate told him, “but he's too wrapped up in other things, and he won't come down here to face Quill.”
“That's what Madeleine said too,” Benjamin replied, “which is why she asked me to come and get you. We're going to...” He paused, checking over his shoulder for a moment to make sure that no-one was outside the window, and then he took a pistol from his pocket and placed it on the counter. “We're not going to stand by and let a woman's life be taken away like this. Madeleine thinks she's coming up with a way for us to deal with Quill, but we're going to need a little help. There are risks, but I don't think Quill can stop us. Are you with me?”
Kate stared at the gun for a moment. “I'm with you,” she said finally. “If Edgar won't do the right thing, then the rest of us have no choice.”
V
Hearing footsteps nearby, Jennifer didn't even flinch. She stayed on her knees, with her eyes closed, whispering the same words she'd been whispering for hours now:
“Please God, if you're there, look after Anna. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay, but look after Anna. Please God -”
“It's time.”
She froze for a moment, before opening her eyes and looking over to the cell door, where Quill was standing with a set of keys.
“For my trial?” she asked, her voice trembling a little. She'd sworn she wouldn't show any fear, but now she found that she couldn't control herself. No matter how strong she tried to make herself, her body was starting to shake.
“There will be no trial,” Quill said calmly, as he began to unlock the door. “An executive decision was reached. As the sole judicial representative on Thaxos, I have exercised my right to convict you and pass sentence. All of that has been done in accordance with the rules, and now...”
Behind him, Joshua Wood stepped into view with a cautious, solemn look in his eyes.
“I have already hired an executioner,” Quill continued. “There's no need to drag this out a moment longer, Ms. Kazakos. I'm sure you'd rather get your death over with as soon as possible. Let's get going. The town square awaits.”
“But my trial -”
“I told you, the trial stage has been completed in your absence and you have been found guilty of the murders of Evangeline Mediaci and Inspector Oliver Tarud. Each of those crimes alone would merit the death sentence. Combined, they leave no room for mercy.”
She stared at him, feeling a sickening, tightening sensation in her chest.
“Please,” he continued, stepping back from the door, “for your sake, won't you come willingly? I would so hate to have to use force.”
***
“This isn't just about Jennifer Kazakos,” Madeleine explained as she, Kate and Benjamin made their way along the street. “It's about control of the island. Quillian's making a point, he's gathering support, and he intends to make Edgar seem toothless.”
“He's doing a good job of that so far,” Kate pointed out.
“Ordinarily I'd knock your lights out for saying something like that about my brother,” Madeleine replied, stopping at the corner and turning to her, “but today, I kind of agree with you.”
“Is there no chance that he'll come down and help us?” Kate asked. “Surely, when push comes to shove he'll realize that he has to act and -”
“He's ruined,” Madeleine continued. “There are cracks in his soul, and Quillian's making sure those cracks get wider and wider.”
“But the Edgar I know in the future isn't like this,” Kate told her. “He's a little darker, a little more brooding, but it's like he's a coward. Whatever's happening at the moment, he will recover from it.”
“Oh, you bet he will,” Madeleine replied, taking the pistol and checking to see it was loaded. “I'm going to make him recover.” She took a deep breath. “Let me guess. In the future, I'm pretty much the boss of Thaxos, right?”
“I...” Kate paused. “It's complicated.”
“In a good way?”
“In a complicated way,” Kate replied, thinking back for a moment to the wheelchair-bound, bandaged woman she'd met not longer after her arrival on the island.
“We only get one shot at this,” Madeleine continued. “You two have to get the woman down from the gallows. I'll be busy taking a pop at Mr. Quill.” Holding up the gun, she paused for a moment. “I've never fire one of these things before, but I guess it's the best way to make a point.”
“You don't actually think shooting him will work, do you?” Benjamin asked. “I mean, if he's a vampire, you'll barely scratch him.”
“Exactly,” she replied. “He's gathered a big crowd in the town square for the trial and execution, but instead the crowd's going to see proof that Quill's not human. After that, we should be able to pick him off. We just have to make sure we don't play into his narrative.”
“Narrative?” Kate asked.
“The one where the Le Comptes are bad and Quill's the man who's come to save the island. I can see what he's doing, but it's not going to work. If Edgar won't make a stand, then I guess it's my job.”
***
As soon as she reached the edge of the town square, Jennifer froze. A crowd of around fifty or sixty people had turned out, and a makeshift gallows had been set up near the cantina.
“No,” she whispered, suddenly filled with fear. Taking a step back, she began to panic. “No, you can't do this!”
“Take her up there,” Quill said calmly.
“No!” she shouted, as two men grabbed her arms and began to lead her forward. “No! Someone help me!”
***
“Edgar?” Estella called out as she made her way along the corridor. “Darling, where are you? I have so much to ask you about the wedding!”
Reaching the door to their bedroom, she found Edgar standing naked by the window, looking out at the view of the island. She immediately felt a strange chill in the air, as if something was wrong.
“Edgar?” she said cautiously. “Darling?”
She waited for a reply, but he said nothing. Stepping closer, Estella saw to her shock that he was dripping wet.
“Edgar, whatever's the matter?” she asked as she reached him. Stepping around to look into his face, she saw something she'd never seen in his eyes before: pain, and fear.
She reached out and put a hand on his chest.
“Edgar, what's wrong? You've been so busy lately, and so distant... The wedding preparations are almost complete, there are just a few more things to get done but we're more or less ready. All that's really left to do is get dressed on the morning in question and then meet at the altar.” She waited for him to smile, for him to tell her that he loved her and was excited, but as the silent seconds passed, she realized something else was on his mind. “Everything will be okay once we're married, you know,” she continued, putting her arms around him and holding him tight, despite the fact that there were still drops of water on his skin. “All the doubts will vanish. All the pain. All the fear. You know that, don't you?”
Ignoring her, Edgar continued to stare out the window, watching the town.
“Things might seem difficult now,” Estella continued, wiping a tear from her eye, “but once we're man and wife, everything will be perfect forever and ever. I promise, Edgar. I promise.”
“The children of Narm,” he whispered finally. “They screamed as they died.”
“Whatever happened in the past,” she replied, “let it stay in the past. You know I never ask you about your life before we got together, and I think that's how things should be. It's terribly easy to let such things overcome you, but you mustn't give in to the temptations. Be strong, Edgar. Focus on the present and the future. Focus on making our life together perfect.”
***
“No!” Jennifer screamed as she was lifted up and the rope was placed around her neck. “Please, no!”
Joshua slid the stool under her feet and then took a step back.
***
“Come on!” Kate shouted, as she and Benjamin ran along the street. Looking over her shoulder, she suddenly stopped as she saw that they were alone. “Where's Madeleine?”
“She's gone to get into position,” he replied. “Come on, we don't have much time!”
***
Quill nodded.
Benjamin kicked the stool away.
***
“Anna?”
Sitting at the back of the classroom, Anna barely noticed her name being called. Staring down at the book on her desk, she felt gripped by the sudden feeling that something was terribly wrong, something that struck right at the core of her existence. She'd never felt that way before, not even when her father had died, but now it was as if a great, yawning chasm was opening up in the pit of her stomach and reaching its spindly fingers through the rest of her body.
“Anna?”
Nearby, someone laughed.
“Anna?”
Footsteps approached.
“Anna Kazakos,” her teacher said suddenly, whacking a wooden ruler against the side of the desk, “what are you daydreaming about, young lady?”
