Step into Temptation

by Locket, V.

  I tried to throw myself out of it, but he was too strong. The man smelled of tobacco, bread, and metal. The pastor. I knew it was him even before I saw him. He was the only one missing from the horrific scene before me—Hansel, on the ground, being kicked by the three other men, my best friend, hiding her face in the corner, while the other girls stared at me with fear and excitement.

  “Jacob, over here,” the pastor said. One of the boys who bought apples every day from me came up beside me and grabbed my hands, tying them behind my back.

  “Gag her, so she can’t use her voice to bewitch us.” The pastor demanded.

  “What are you talking about?” I cried out. “Jacob, you can’t believe this! I’m not evil!”

  Jacob hesitated.

  “Don’t let the devil into your heart!” The pastor yelled.

  “Stop, please, you’re hurting me,” I whimpered as Jacob’s eyes grew hard and cold. Then, he silenced me by tying a gag around my mouth.

  Hansel groaned on the ground. “Gretel,” he whispered. “You’re wrong. She has nothing to do with this. It was all me—”

  The pastor silenced my Hansel’s speech with a kick to the face. “Lock him up until after the ceremony,” the pastor said before turning to Rosalind. “You did well, my child, to tell me one of our own was sinning.”

  “I had no idea...” Rosalind whispered, her shoulders shuddering.

  “Of course you didn’t. Who could conceive of such evil?” The pastor turned to the man who held me. My heart beat so quickly, and my body felt cold. “Bring her to the church.”

  Chapter 6: Into the Woods

  Hansel

  THEY’D LOCKED ME IN the town cell. It still smelled like the drunk who had been there last—probably no longer than a night before, given the puke that was still embedded in the straw beneath me. I tried to keep my breaths shallow to prevent my ribs from bruising any more. I’d pissed blood earlier, which was never good, but not something I could afford to think about.

  I bent pieces of straw and tried to pick the lock. I’d searched for something metal, but there hadn’t been anything. I really wasn’t any good at picking locks, and it was useless to try to do it with straw, but I couldn’t stop.

  They were going to kill the woman I loved. I had to save her.

  I wished I was small enough to push myself between the bars that caged me. For a moment, I’d thought I was able to, as I pushed my head against the bars harder, harder. Delirium was catching up to me. I’d already hallucinated that she was here, holding my head as I lay on the ground when they first brought me here. But no, they wouldn’t lock us up together. She was somewhere else.

  The church.

  And she was going to be burned.

  The lock jingled. My heart lurched in my chest. I shoved against the door.

  It didn’t budge.

  I slammed my shoulders into the door, kicking forward with my feet, ignoring the pain building up inside me. Why the fuck had I given in? Why hadn’t I just sent her away? Why did she always have to follow me? Why did she have to be so kind? Why did I have to love her? If I could have just ignored her, she’d still be alive. If I could have hated her, she’d still be alive.

  It was getting dark. Very dark. They hadn’t left a candle in here for me, so I’d be alone tonight with my broken body, the stone floor, and the smell of another man’s puke. Hopefully I was bleeding internally and would die soon. I wish I could be burned with her. I wish I could hold her as the flames consumed us both. No, I’d snap her neck when they lit the fire, and then just hold her as I faced the pain and the condemnation for our sin alone. It had, and always would be, my sin. She hadn’t done anything but follow me when I was upset and tried to ease my pain.

  Down the hall, I heard a door creak open.

  “Gretel,” I called out, even though my conscious mind knew it couldn’t be her.

  “Hansel?”

  Alright, that low baritone certainly wasn’t Gretel. It wasn’t a voice I ever wanted to hear again. “I wish you’d taken her sooner, Otto,” I admitted. It killed me to say those words—killed me to think that any man other than me would ever touch her—but if he’d taken her, at least she’d still be here.

  “I wish I had too.” He pulled a key out of his pocket.

  I struggled to stand, pulling myself up on the bars. “What’s that?”

  “I’m getting you out,” he replied shortly.

  “What?”

  “Then we’re going to save her.”

  My heart started hammering in my throat. “Gretel,” I whispered.

  Otto sighed. “I would kick you, but it looks like you’ve taken enough punishment already, and I don’t want to send you to your grave until she’s free. Come or stay there. I’m not waiting, and I’m not carrying you.”

  I forced myself onto my feet, wincing with every step I took. But I followed him out the door, into the night, towards the glowing red church.

  ***

  Gretel

  I HUGGED MY KNEES to my chest, trying to ignore the splinters in my feet and back. I’d gotten them from trying to kick the crate open. I also had splinters in my hands, from where I’d tried to claw it open. But it was hard to ignore these things when the wooden crate cut into my sore, puffy body, pressing against old wounds like steel bars.

  Far above, I could hear them moving and shouting. It sounded like they were chanting, and my heartbeat hammered to its cruel, frightening rhythm. I couldn’t see anything in the dark. They’d locked me in the crate, and then locked the door to the basement of the church. Then, they’d gone upstairs to start the ceremony.

  I didn’t know much about it. Only that they’d needed wood and fire.

  No, I knew too much about it. It was only that my mind tried to ignore the reality of what was to come. I was going to be burned alive.

  The only thing that gave me hope was that Hansel was not here. He would survive. They didn’t want him. It was only me who was considered a witch—me, who had corrupted him, and I guess they were right. There was something about my presence that unnerved Hansel, and when he’d begged me to leave I’d stayed. I wanted to be the object of his dark obsession. I wanted his pain and torment for myself. I wanted to be the cause of it, and the only thing that could relieve it. I wanted to wrap him in a world that was separate from the darkness that hid in both of our hearts.

  Perhaps I was a witch. Innocent girls did not have such thoughts. They did not desire their stepbrothers. They did not feel that delirious ache when they were called a little whore by them. They did not spread their legs further when they were pushed onto the floor, making their cunts tight for their stepbrother’s dick. They did not stay quiet while he fucked them, so that their parents, sleeping peacefully in the next room, would not hear. They did not want to be a man’s little whore.

  No, I was not an innocent girl. I’d always wanted Hansel. To possess him. To keep him near me. For him to look at no one but me. And I did not care who I had to hurt to get it. I would ignore Otto’s love. I would steal my own stepbrother from my best friend. I would follow him until he was as delirious as I was, until he could not see straight, and force him to confront this obsession that had somehow insidiously grown between us. I could have left at any time—I should have left, but I didn’t and so now both of us had to suffer.

  When I’d first been thrown in the darkness I’d cried. I did not cry now, though old tears had dried on my face, making it feel tight and making my eyes as puffy and red as my bloody hands. But from here on out I’d try to be strong. I would face the pain of the flames and make it my own. I would sacrifice my body for him. I would, once again, turn that pain into his pleasure, until the sin was mine alone and he could live.

  Because Hansel would live. He had to. All I wanted was for him to be happy.

  The lock jingled. It was almost time. Though I couldn’t see anything, I closed my eyes. I focused on the taste of each breath. On the feeling of my body as I breathed. These routine, basic gestures
felt almost sacred now. Soon, when I took a breath, I would smell smoke, and feel only the heat of the flames scorching my lungs before I felt them on my body. I’d be too afraid to breathe slowly—too afraid to find comfort in doing something so simple, or to remember how wonderful it was.

  The door opened.

  My heart leaped to my throat, and it beat so quickly that darkness seemed to pulse. Two bodies approached, one so tall he almost blocked out the other, who was slouched over and dragging his feet.

  “Gretel.” I heard the voice as the slouched over figure fell to the ground. “Are you in here? Is that you?”

  I was too startled to answer for a moment. Was I hallucinating? Had I already died, somehow, and was now in heaven? If that was true, why was he here?

  “Are you there?” The voice asked again, this time louder and more desperate.

  The larger body pried open the crate. “She’s here. Just scared,” he said softly.

  “Otto,” I whispered, grabbing the arms that fished me out of the crate. A ball formed in my throat. I couldn’t bring myself to say that other name—the name of the person I’d hurt so much. The name of the one I loved.

  Hansel hugged me—or rather, hugged Otto, who had his arms around me. “You’re safe,” he whispered.

  “Not for long. We have to get to the woods,” Otto reminded us. He set me down, and the three of us dashed to the door—or rather, they dashed to the door, and I limped behind them.

  “Gretel, are you hurt?” Hansel asked. I hated the tight tone in his voice.

  “I’m not wearing shoes,” I explained.

  “Get on,” Otto said, crouching over.

  “I should be the one to carry her,” Hansel demanded.

  “You can barely walk yourself,” Otto replied.

  It was true. Down the hall, someone had lit a candle, and even though the light from it was dim, I could see Hansel’s puffy face. His shirt had been torn, and beneath I could see welts on his skin, black bruises, and dried blood.

  What had they done to him? “Hansel,” I whispered, reaching out to him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize—”

  “We have to go,” Otto interrupted. I hopped on and he carried me on his back. It reminded me of the piggy-back rides Hansel used to give me down the dirt road to our house in the summer. Back then, I’d scream and shut my eyes and he’d call me silly for being so afraid and...

  And I could feel the heat from the fire outside, the shouting, the cursing. I’d never been so afraid in all my life, but I didn’t dare make a sound now.

  I clung to Otto’s neck. It wasn’t until he tapped my forearm that I realized I was choking him.

  We crept silently behind the back of the church. The people were so close. At any moment, they could come to get me. At any moment, someone could walk to the side and see us. We were crossing into the woods. If they saw us, if they heard us, it would be over. The forest would give us some cover, but we were wounded. Hansel couldn’t run, and Otto couldn’t run fast enough with me on his back. Not fast enough to outrun all of the other townspeople. If they saw, he’d have to drop me, and then Hansel and I would be at their mercy...

  I should have shut my eyes. I should have looked away. But I couldn’t. I looked at the fire.

  The bonfire flared high into the sky, but that wasn’t where I’d be burned. They’d tie to me a stake a few feet away, and then set it on fire. It would smolder for a while, and everyone in town would watch—all those people I used to think of as friends, as neighbors, as...

  The intensity of the heat lessened. We were in the woods, but we weren’t safe yet. Otto crept, and slowly the light from the fire was replaced by shadow. Both of them were silent. My heartbeat sounded so loud—even louder than their footsteps and the occasional snapped twig. I thought the townspeople would be able to hear it—that my heart would give us away.

  We walked for five minutes. Or maybe thirty. And then I heard something in front of us, moving in the dry twigs.

  I almost fell off Otto’s back. I bit into his shoulder, to keep myself from screaming.

  “Otto?” The small voice said.

  I sucked in a breath. “Rosalind?” I exclaimed, a bit too loudly, given the circumstance.

  Everyone shushed me.

  Rosalind swallowed. I could see the outline of her small nose in the moonlight. She was holding baskets. Two of them.

  “I was worried you weren’t coming, that you were caught,” she began quickly. “I...” She looked down. “I’m so sorry, Gretel. I had no idea it was you. I only meant to shame him and scare away whatever girl he was with. I never even though it could be you. I just...”

  She turned away from us. Otto sighed, and for a moment there was silence. What could I say to her? I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was hurt. That she didn’t want any of this. That a part of her hated me, because I’d taken the one she loved.

  I could understand that. A part of me had hated her too earlier today. Maybe that part would always hate her for once having the one I loved.

  “I brought you shoes.” She crouched. “I should have given them to Otto earlier, but I forgot, and then I remembered that when they found you in the shed you weren’t wearing anything on your feet, and...”

  Trust Rosalind to remember something like that. She was so observant. Such a good friend. I was foolish and petty for hating her.

  Otto set me down and I put the shoes over my blistered feet. They wouldn’t take away the pain completely, but they were something.

  “There are medical supplies in one basket,” she continued, “and food in the other. Otto said you would have to hide out in the woods for a while, before you could return.”

  My heart sunk when Hansel said the words I feared to hear the most. “I don’t think we will return.”

  “Well of course you can,” she responded, “once things die down a bit.”

  We were silent.

  “We have to get going,” Otto said.

  “But I will see you again, won’t I?”

  I didn’t know if Rosalind spoke to me or Hansel. I stood and clutched my Hansel’s hand, and he squeezed back. “I’m sorry,” he said.

  Rosalind looked down. “It’s alright. I’m being silly. We’re wasting time. I just...” She swallowed. “I’ll miss you both. I really loved you.”

  Suddenly, she stood on her tiptoes and gave Hansel a kiss on the cheek. Then she looked away again. “Don’t forget the food,” she said. “I’ll go down this way, it might confuse them once they try to follow your trail.”

  Hansel and I said nothing to her, for what was there to say? Goodbye seemed too rushed, too informal. To say that we loved her seemed like a betrayal of that love she had for us, for we’d already made the fact that we chose each other above everyone else clear, and it hurt her.

  With a tight throat, I watched my best friend disappear into the night.

  “You ready?” Otto asked. I wanted to ask him how long he was going to run with us and if he was going to abandon the village as well. I wanted to know if we really would never be able to go back. I knew nothing about our plan, or if there even was one.

  And then we heard the gunshot.

  There was screaming in the distance, shouting, and the great sound of rushing feet.

  “They’re coming,” Otto said. He picked up the baskets, grabbed my hand, and started to run.

  We no longer cared about being quiet. Otto pulled me along and Hansel tried to keep up. All three of us were breathing heavily, though Hansel and I were a lot worse off than Otto. My legs were cramping. Each movement was agony as I moved another muscle that had been hit and constricted in the crate. The sores on my feet were killing me. I bit through my tongue trying not to scream. Every time I stumbled, Hansel was there to catch my hips while Otto pulled us forward.

  I was slowing them down. The boys would not say it, but I knew I was. Even Hansel, in the shape he was in, could move faster than me.

  And then the shouting grew closer
.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something glowing. A torch. How far away was it? My vision blurred. I couldn’t think...I started to panic.

  Hansel and Otto exchanged a look. “Take her,” Hansel whispered. “I’ll circle back around and try to hold them off.”

  “No!” I hissed. “If they see you, they’ll kill you. They’ll know you helped me escape.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Hansel grit his teeth. I could tell he was lying. That he was trying to be hard to push me away again.

  Otto grabbed me. “Put me down,” I whimpered, beating at his arms.

  “Stop being such a child. Do you want to die?” Hansel asked.

  I didn’t. Of course I didn’t. But I also knew, somewhere in my heart, that if Hansel left right now, I’d never see him again, and the thought of losing him was worse than death. “If you don’t let me down, I’ll scream and let everyone know where we are.”

  Otto’s grip loosened.

  “You’re bluffing,” Hansel said.

  I glared at him. “Try me.”

  Otto set me down. “Do you love him, Gretel? Do you want to be with him? Is that what will make you happy?”

  Hansel pointed to the glowing distance. “We don’t have fucking time for this!”

  “You’re right, we don’t,” Otto answered. He grabbed my shoulders and kissed my forehead. “Take care of her, Hansel.” I felt his chest rumble with his deep voice. “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

  And then he let go, turned, and took off running as if he were afraid of what would happen if he looked back for even just one second. Hansel let out a sharp breath and grabbed my hand, pulling me in the opposite direction of Otto and the ominous glowing lights.

  We ran in zigzags through the forest. Each of us had a basket around our arm, Hansel the medical supplies and me the food. I tried not to think about everything we’d left behind. My bed I would never sleep in again. My mother’s kind smile, and father’s understanding silence. Had they joined the mob? Did they even know? Or were they huddled together, distraught, and praying silently for our safety in their small bedroom? Did they understand my love for him? Would they ever understand? I’d probably never know. I’d probably never see them again. All we could do was keep running.