It was Teresa's.

(_()_)

*BAAM!!*

That was the last thing I heard, or will I say left?!

Like a snail, very slowly, I opened my eyes, for some seconds it was blurry and I couldn't see anything. My head hurts badly.

My eyes were very tired, I didn't know how I ended up like this, I... I.. sigh.

I closed and opened my eyes again, gradually and gradually my sight was getting better and when it was, I could see, I was in a wooden shaft, I am in a wooden shaft?!!

"Wha...t am I doin...ow! My head hurts." Maybe I should check if anyone is around, I thought at the moment. I looked around the old, dusty, and dirty shack, it looked very abandoned. That's the moment I realized I was tied up behind a pillar in the shack.

"What the...!!" I didn't know how I ended up tied up, thinking of which. "Wasn't I with Mrs. Teresa?... My body hurts so badly... Ah!!" I moaned quietly. Oh, I can remember now. She was talking to someone. I couldn't see the person, I think we were ambushed or something.

*Meanwhile,* it was already afternoon, and Amelie and Jonah had already returned back home. [Amelie] "Anon, we're back!!" [Jonah] "Anon, where are you? We have good news for you." [Jonah] "Anon!!, Anon!!"

[Amelie] "Anon!!?, Jonah, please check if Anon is sleeping upstairs in his room." [Jonah] "Check if he is, you know where." After minutes of checking around the house, they couldn't find Anon anywhere in the house. Jonah: "Is he there?" 

[Amelie] "No, he isn't. He can't even be there. He isn't with the keys to open it." [Jonah] "So where can he be now?" [Amelie] "Let's still check around." [Jonah] "Do you think he ran away?!!" [Amelie] "With all we have done for him, he wouldn't, he can't."

She notices something. [Amelie] "He hasn't eaten his food yet." [Jonah] "I knew it, he ran away, this is all.. " Amelie: "Stop being a baby, Jonah, and man up. First of all, he can't, all he thinks is we are the ones that kidnapped his friend, and secondly, he can't run when he thinks she is in the trapdoor room." [Jonah] "Oh okay, I get it, but where do you think he will be now since you are certain he hasn't run yet?"

[Amelie] "Maybe he went out, we just have to wait here till he comes back." [Jonah] "Or we can start looking for him.." [Amelie] "Shhhhhh!" [Jonah] "Don't sh...." [Amelie] "Aren't you hearing something?" [Jonah] "Hearing what?"

*Mild noises from outside.* [Jonah] "Oh, I can hear it, it is from outside, let's check it out."

As they progressed outside, they started seeing lights and as they got outside, there was a crowd of people, some holding torches with the fire on, some with sticks and some with other weapons.

Amelie went and asked one of the fellow villagers about what was happening. [Villager] "Teresa has found the person that has been kidnapping people from the village." Amelie looked at Jonah with surprise. [Jonah] "Are you sure it is the person?" Villager: "Yes, Teresa said she saw the person trying to sneak himself into your home while you guys were out."

[Jonah] "Hmm, you don't say." Amelie: "Can you take us to the place?" [Villager] "That is where everyone is going to, to see the culprit and the one behind the mask all along."

*****Back at the Shack*****

"Mrs. Teresa! Mrs. Teresa!!! Someone please help me!!" I couldn't shout louder because my head was banging more with any strength I used in shouting.

Anon, in a very low tone: "Can someone hear me?"

"Yes, I can," Mrs. Teresa whispered in my ear.

"Oh, thank goodness you are here, please untie me." [Mrs. Teresa] "Yes, I am here and have been here, but I will not untie you." "Why?" Mrs. Teresa: "What do you think?" "I don't know?!"

[Mrs. Teresa] "There is no need to pretend. In fact, everybody is on their way here to see the killer of their daughters, friends, relatives, and sisters."

"Assassin!!! What are you talking about?" [Mrs. Teresa] "I said no need to pretend, I saw you trying to go into Jonah's house, but little did you know that you were being watched and what you didn't know again is that they don't have a daughter yet."

I apologize for the confusion. It seems there was a misunderstanding. Here's the continuation of the story:

"I don't still get it," Anon replied.

[Mrs. Teresa] "If you like, play stupid or innocent and don't get it, but one thing you will get is burnt here in this shack!"

"I don't still get it," Anon repeated.

[Mrs. Teresa] "Since you are playing dumb, I will spell it out to you. You remember being hit at the back of your head? Well, I was the one that hit you."

"But why!? I didn't do anything. I am literally just seeing you for the first time," Anon protested.

[Mrs. Teresa] "If you like, play stupid or innocent and don't get it, but one thing you will get is burnt here in this shack!"

"You want to burn me! This must be a misunderstanding. Someone help, help!" Anon pleaded.

[Mrs. Teresa] "People will come, but none will help you. I assure you that."

"But I live with Jonah and Amelie now. They found me lying on the ground in the woods at the point of death, and they cared for me," Anon explained.

[Teresa] *Claps* "How long did it take you to think of that? You can't fool me with your cheap lies."

Some villagers arrived.

[Teresa] "As you can see, I have caught him. He is the one harboring our daughters."

"I swear, this is a big misunderstanding. I didn't capture anyone. I myself am looking for my friend, a female," Anon pleaded with the villagers.

[Villager] "Shut up!"

[Teresa] "What cheap lies. His lies can't move us. You have caused us so much pain, and today you will receive the wrath of those you caused the pain to."

I could tell that the crowd was much due to the people outside chanting "kill him," and for some reason, everyone here thinks I am a presumed killer. Not even one wants to delve into this more and find out if I am truly the culprit. Their eyes filled with rage, I couldn't feel anything but fear.

[Teresa] "I knew he was the one when I informed him about the tradition, but instead of acknowledging it, he said it was a dumb thing."

"I didn't say it like that, but what does that have to do with it?" Anon questioned.

[Female villager sobbing] "You killed my daughter! You will be ended today, once and for all," she accused Anon.

She slapped him hard and went back.

Anon tried to explain himself again, "I'm very sorry ma'am, but I didn't..."

[Male villager] "My younger sister really wanted to be a sorcerer and go to the academy, but you just came and spoiled plans. You are evil!" he shouted.

Anon tried to apologize again, "I am very sorry for your loss, but I didn't..."

[Male villager] "SHUT UP!" he interrupted, and without warning, he kicked Anon hard in the stomach.

The next moment, Anon coughed out blood. The villager kicked him so hard; Anon was sure a rib or two broke. He continued kicking with all the strength he had, and no one pitied him, and no one came to help. This is the moment Anon wished he chose death over coming back.

He kicked Anon's guts nonstop, and then other villagers joined him.

[Villagers] "It's all his fault! Let's beat him up."

"Yes, all those precious souls, gone for nothing!"

"Beat him, beat him!"

The villagers joined the beating. Anon felt pain so terrible that he couldn't even react to what was happening to his body. He was being booted, whacked, and stomped on. No one cared if he died right there.

Some started bashing Anon's head into the pillar he was tied to. He never imagined he would see himself bleed like this again. The last time he was like this was, well, the first thing he could remember.

Anon felt like dying that instant, but it didn't come. He realized why. (ANNALISE: "I AM ANNALISE, DEATH ITSELF. IF I DON'T GRANT YOU THE DEATH YOU DESIRE, HOW WILL YOU DIE? I HAVE THEREFORE ORDAINED YOU IMMORTAL.") Curse you, Annalise.

They didn't stop hitting Anon; they enjoyed it.

[Mrs. Teresa] "Okay, that's enough, guys."

[Villagers] "This is not near enough."

[Mrs. Teresa] "I know, but how will someone feel the pain of being burnt alive if he is dead?"

[Villagers] "Oh yes, we should stop."

[Teresa] "Nice decision. Now let's go outside and burn it from there, but before that, I will untie him. Let him drown in his blood."

She untied Anon, and they left him to burn the shack. Meanwhile, Anon was, as she said, drowning in his pile of blood.

He couldn't even move a muscle. He was there like a dead man, the only difference was that he wasn't dead.

I was in the shack when he noticed the smell of something burning. Immortality is the worst punishment to give a mortal.

Anon was in a state of stupor, paralyzed on every muscle. Though he couldn't die, he guessed this was the end.

"Ah... (groans). Ah..." He would blackout immediately.

___________________

After the excruciating pain, Anon woke up in what he knew as his room, it was Amelie's house.

"How did I get here?" he wondered. Anon noticed his wounds had been dressed and didn't hurt like before. He looked like a mummy, judging from the bandages all over his body.

Anon stood up and was on his way downstairs, but with all these wounds and bandages, he wasn't comfortable.

*gbmm*

That was the next sound he heard as he saw himself on the floor downstairs; he fell.

"Ohh! Anon, you are awake?!" The voice was familiar but not Amelie's; it was Teresa's.

[Teresa] "Let me help you up."

Anon was shocked and terrified to see her.

He stood up in haste, "I swear I didn't do anything!"

Is she messing with him right now?! What is she doing here now? Oh! She should have come to kill him because obviously he is still alive.