Hangman's Noose
I'll Be Back
"Nyssa! We need that noose by 3:00!" Mrs. Drack yelled down the cellar stairs, her whispery voice reaching my ears only seconds after leaving her mouth. My eyes traveled around the dark cellar of the place I call home.
My name is Nyssa and I make the nooses that are used to hang people in this fair town we call Devils Lake. There is a lake actually, but it's called Red Water. Mainly because of all of the murders down there.
"Ok, it's almost finished!" My voice carried up the stairs and slammed against the closed door. My fingers twisted the rope up and I set and dressed the rope quickly. The clock above me chimed 2:55. The cellar door flung open and I yelled up, "Ok! I'm done!"
"Oh, you better hurry your skinny butt up to those gallows or you'll be next Lil Missy!" Mrs. Drack said and laughed lightly. She's like the mother I never had. My feet slammed against the hard pavement as I ran to the Gallows.
The sky was a dark shade of gray and crows cawed endlessly above me. Vultures soared above the Gallows, preparing to be fed. People started to pack together and I had to shove them out of my way. Just ahed, the Gallows stood tall and proud. Two rapes hung from two different ones, and I ran up the steps and connected the final rope. The crowd cheered as I stepped to the side of the platform and the police (Killers as everyone else calls them) brought the man up.
He was as dirty as the ground I stepped on and his hair had live maggots tangled up in it. We called him the Lion, for his hideously unkempt mane. The Lion was accused of robbery of the first degree and murder of the second. Unlike all of the others that were to be hung, he was actually guilty.
The Killers wrapped the noose around his neck and stepped back.
Someone read the usual passage and finished with, "Any last words?"
The Lion turned and looked at me with an evil smirk painted on his pitted face. "I'll be back," he said with a smile that sent shivers rocking my spine. I grabbed the post and closed my eyes. The town clock chimed 3, and the floor dropped out from beneath him. The sickening crack that followed made bile rise in my throat.
'I'll be back.'
And for some strange reason,
I believe him.
My name is Nyssa and I make the nooses that are used to hang people in this fair town we call Devils Lake. There is a lake actually, but it's called Red Water. Mainly because of all of the murders down there.
"Ok, it's almost finished!" My voice carried up the stairs and slammed against the closed door. My fingers twisted the rope up and I set and dressed the rope quickly. The clock above me chimed 2:55. The cellar door flung open and I yelled up, "Ok! I'm done!"
"Oh, you better hurry your skinny butt up to those gallows or you'll be next Lil Missy!" Mrs. Drack said and laughed lightly. She's like the mother I never had. My feet slammed against the hard pavement as I ran to the Gallows.
The sky was a dark shade of gray and crows cawed endlessly above me. Vultures soared above the Gallows, preparing to be fed. People started to pack together and I had to shove them out of my way. Just ahed, the Gallows stood tall and proud. Two rapes hung from two different ones, and I ran up the steps and connected the final rope. The crowd cheered as I stepped to the side of the platform and the police (Killers as everyone else calls them) brought the man up.
He was as dirty as the ground I stepped on and his hair had live maggots tangled up in it. We called him the Lion, for his hideously unkempt mane. The Lion was accused of robbery of the first degree and murder of the second. Unlike all of the others that were to be hung, he was actually guilty.
The Killers wrapped the noose around his neck and stepped back.
Someone read the usual passage and finished with, "Any last words?"
The Lion turned and looked at me with an evil smirk painted on his pitted face. "I'll be back," he said with a smile that sent shivers rocking my spine. I grabbed the post and closed my eyes. The town clock chimed 3, and the floor dropped out from beneath him. The sickening crack that followed made bile rise in my throat.
'I'll be back.'
And for some strange reason,
I believe him.