Death and Blood

The sky was breathtakingly blue, no cloud came to disturb its clarity and the sun shone with a thousand sparks, its heat spreading here below, forellaged a good day, especially for these children who were happy to be able to play outside, in such pleasant weather. The adults smiled at the sight of the latter, or rather, at the sight of all the excitement they showed. Their joyful cries were heard everywhere in the village, but it didn't seem to bother anyone. On the contrary, any inhabitant of this village could have said that the children represented a source of well-being and hope in these places. Elros Flayne, although sixteen years old, was still considered a child by most villagers. The latter knew him since his birth, so they had a lot of trouble seeing him grow up or admitting that he was growing up and getting closer and closer to a man. Elros was thin, with tanned skin, long and black hair and blue eyes. He was tall for his age and had no trouble surpassing most boys older than him. He apparently held his size from his father, who was at the time, one of the largest in the village. Since his death, many people had fun telling anecdotes about the latter to his only son, and the latter loved each of them. No matter how hard he tried with all his strength, he unfortunately could not remember his father, he felt like he had never known him, although he was five years old when the man tragically disappeared, leaving his wife and child behind. From what he had learned, his father, who liked to take on challenges and discover new things, had the idea of going on a trip, alone, with only the strict minimum to ensure his survival. He was confident, he said he could get out of it. He refused all the help that could be offered to him, never ceasing to wear a proud smile. He had finally gone, after kissing the one he loved, as well as his little boy. He had promised them to come back quickly and with his head filled with lots of new stories to tell, like every time he returned from a trip. Except that this time, he had no story to tell, since his return had not been done in the expected way... his body had been found at sea, only four days after his departure. The poor man must most certainly have been on his own ship during violent bad weather that occurred at the presumed time of his death, this was only the only hypothesis considered likely. No investigation had been conducted, no autopsy had been done, all had been satisfied with the cause of the accident. Regarding his mother, Elros had perfectly intact memories of him this time. He remembered almost every moment spent with her. He remembered how much she had been a brave woman, a woman who did not hesitate to give everything she had to her only child. He had never lacked anything, if not a father. She and Elros had never rolled on gold since her father's death, but they had always gotten away with it, they had been able to find the resources to grow and age like any other inhabitant of the village. Until the disease seized the only parent left to the young boy. Everything had gone very quickly from the moment she had contracted a high fever. Elros was eleven years old when he noticed one morning that his mother had not got up at dawn as usual. On his way to his room, he had found her lying in bed, sweaty and tired. She had asked him not to worry, that everything would be fine, that she would very quickly get back on her feet. Unfortunately, after bringing in a doctor as quickly as possible, Elros had learned that she had no chance of getting out of it. The fever kept rising, her condition deteriorated from hour to hour and quickly, she encountered breathing difficulties. Elros had been lying next to her for five days. Five days during which the roles had been reversed, he was the one who took care of her, he told her stories, tried by all means to make her smile, to make her think of something other than pain. He had spent five days hoping that she would get out of it despite everything, that a miracle would take place in order to spare her the loss of another parent, in vain. After these five days, Elros' mother had finally given her last breath, in her son's arms, after promising him to always awaken on him. The boy had been annihilated, he had lost the one he considered his best friend, the one who had promised him to always be present for him, never to abandon him. He was an orphan when he was only eleven years old. He had spent three more days with his mother, murmuring almost constantly that she came back. It was after only three days that the few adults once close to his two parents, managed to make him leave this house and finally managed to take care of him. After his mother's funeral, Elros had walled himself in a silence that had lasted almost two years. Of this always happy child, he had become a sad and silent boy, no one had managed to make him smile even once. He had spent these few months with his neighbors, until they told him that he was going to live with his aunt. Aunt whom he had never met before but whose reputation he knew by his mother. Although they are sisters, they had not heard along for many years and the last time they saw each other was well before Elros was born. The teenager had no desire to go, he preferred to live alone by far, than to live with this woman, but he was still far too young to make this decision, so he had no choice but to go with her when she came to get him. He had just turned thirteen when Elros had the knowledge of this famous aunt and, from their first meeting, he had understood that he would never get along with her. He was not mistaken. She had been unpleasant with him from the first day. She had no children so obviously she had no experience with them. She did not hesitate for a single second to demand things from her nephew, she only gave him ungrateful tasks and did not bring him any form of affection. Elros knew that she did not like him and the feeling was shared, he knew that she had no choice to collect him from her although he did not know the cause, but he had sworn to leave without ever coming back once he had the opportunity. Today Elros was therefore sixteen years old and like every other day, he had spent many hours taking care of the house. He had completed all his tasks and therefore planned to go and read at the foot of the largest tree in the garden, as he was used to when he had free time. On leaving, he looked at the sky and took a deep breath before heading to his favorite place. He slowly let himself slide along the trunk and looked down at his book for a few seconds, before looking at the sky again. "Hi mom..." He smiled as if the latter had answered him and he remained so for a little while before finally looking down at his next reading. When he was little, Elros had often been the victim of a few of his comrades, because he spent there too, most of his free time immersed in books. He didn't play much, preferring to travel in the extraordinary adventures he read. He had returned much more than once covered in mud, his sad face and his books with the pages torn in his hands, but his mother had always known how to cheer him up. She liked to invent stories just for him, stories in which he was the hero. She had made him promise more than once to never give up her passion for reading and if she were still of this world today, Elros knew it, she would be proud to see that he had not broken this promise despite his teenage status. He breathed a slight sigh by gently turning the pages until the first chapter and as he was about to start reading it, he heard noise in the house that prevented him from doing so. It was a noise of broken dishes, the kind of noise that would cause him problems if his aunt were to realize the damage. An additional noise forced him to close his book to get up without leaving the house with his eyes, he did not know what to do. "Aunt? ” He approached the door to the kitchen carefully and it was only when he put his hand on the kitchen's handle that he heard voices rise. They were deep voices, men's voices, accompanied by a woman's voice, that of her aunt. He entered the house to see what was happening there and he came face to face with the one who hosted him, in the company of two men. Elros did not know them, but you didn't have to be a genius to guess that they were part of the security forces. "Aunt, what's going on? Why are they here? I heard some of the dishes break, is everything okay? ” He took the time to observe the room in its entirety, it was only in a corner of it that he noticed the glasses in a thousand pieces spread out on the floor. Elros hurried to go to the damage after catching something to pick it up. "I'm going to clean all this. Didn't you hurt yourself? ” He was taking care of her, as she had never been for him. Elros hated her, but he didn't know how to be other than kind to her, he didn't know the reason. "Aunt? ” He turned to her again to see that she was looking at him, just like these two men. The teenager then straightened up, forgetting the household he was about to make. "I..." "They are here for you. ” He frowned, looking at his aunt in turn, then these two strangers without understanding. "For me? ” She slowly nodded her head. "How is it "for me"? Aunt I'm not sure I understand..." She did not answer this time and the tallest of the two men therefore took permission to address the boy on his own. "We have to take you. ” "No! Why? ” "We have received the order. ” "To what purpose? From whom did you receive the order? Aunt, you can't let them take me. ” He was looking at his aunt again hoping that she would say something, anything that would be enough to prevent them from taking her. Unfortunately for him, she brought him nothing but a black look, devoid of any empathy. "You should have thought before Elros. ” No matter how much the boy thought, he didn't understand what she meant. "Think about what? Aunt, I..." "We have been ordered to take you so that you can receive the judgment you deserve as a result of the crime you committed. ” He couldn't believe his ears. A crime? Elros had never committed the slightest small crime in his entire life, he had always made sure to stay on the right path, he had never allowed himself the slightest deviation and now he was accused of having committed a crime? "A crime?! No, there must be an error on the person. I'm not the one you're looking for. ” "Elros Flayne, is that right? ” "Yes. ” "So we didn't make a mistake, you are the one we came to look for and you must follow us now. ” "Aunt! Tell them there's a mistake! I didn't commit any crime, I don't even leave this house or its garden! Aunt!! ” She looked at him with disdain. "I knew you would create problems as you grew up, that's why I didn't want to take care of you. ” While the security forces approached Elros to catch him by an arm, the latter was still in shock. He didn't think he would live this kind of situation one day and even less that his aunt would let people take him when she knew he was innocent. Elros felt like he was in a bad dream, he had always lived a life without a story and now he found himself accused of something he had not done. "Madam, do you want to know where your nephew will be taken? ” "No, just take him only, his fate no longer worries me, that he fully assumes his actions. ” Elros refused to believe that despite the total lack of love she had brought him, his aunt had so little to do with the teenager's fate. He refused to believe that she was not worried about what could happen to him. He had grown up near her, they had spent a lot of time in spite of themselves together, he refused to believe that all this was insignificant in his eyes, that his nephew's life represented so little in his eyes. No more time was wasted before getting him out of the house and as they headed towards the vehicle that had brought these two men here, the neighborhood was already agglutinated around the house in which Elros had lived until then. "What's going on? ” Had asked for a man with graying hair. "Leave this poor boy alone, he has already experienced so many difficult things. He is a teenager without a story. ” Elros was watching this only woman who had dared to defend her. He didn't think he had already spoken to her other than to say hello, but she was the one who, in a single sentence, had already done more than her own aunt. "Get away. ” "Where do you take him? ” "This boy must be taken to a cell pending his judgment. ” "In a cell?! What judgment are you talking about? ” "I'm sorry, only family members are allowed to know more. ” Elros felt his heart beat hard in his chest, he was going to find himself in a cell... behind bars, in a place undoubtedly abominably dirty... "We have to go now. ” He could in no way oppose the decision taken for him, Elros did not have enough strength to fight against two men as baraque as those who held him. It is therefore totally upset and under the gaze of surprised villagers that he was going to his new home, he hoped to be temporary. ~ A slightly too strong pressure on his back had been enough for Elros to lose his balance and not fall on the dusty ground of the cell that had been attributed to him while waiting for his judgment. Without getting up, he turned his head towards one of the men. "Could I now know what I am accused of?! ” The man was now giving him a bad look, a look devoid of kindness, a look that had nothing to do with the one he wore a few moments earlier. "You should know this since you are the perpetrator of the crime of which you are accused. Stop playing with us, you will not escape what awaits you, no one will have mercy on you when they discover what you have done! ” The teenager frowned, always in total misunderstanding. "What could I have done that caused me to be here today? ” Elros received nothing but a kick in the face for any answer. A c***k was heard and he could feel a hot liquid flowing from his nose at the same time as the pain awoke. He uttered a moan before bringing a hand to his face. "Hey! Calm down, you don't have the right to hit him! ” The other man who had not said anything for a while before, caught his colleague to keep him away from the boy whose blood was spreading on the floor in the form of coarse drops. Once his aggressor was far enough away, Elros dared to raise his head to see the one who had somehow defended him, approach him. He crouched down and handed him a piece of fabric that the injured man grabbed to place it at the level of his nose, on which a deep notch had taken place. "I think you have a broken nose. ” Elros sighed in frustration. "What am I accused of being treated in this way? ” The man in front of him frowned. "You really don't know where you're playing with us? ” The youngest shook his head slightly. "I don't know, I was at my aunt's, all I was about to do was read. I didn't do anything else, I hardly go out, I couldn't do anything. ” They looked at each other for a few seconds before the man finally sighed. "You are accused of the murder of a twelve-year-old teenager, which occurred two days ago... ” Elros widened his eyes and straightened up suddenly, he had trouble swallowing his own saliva and even almost choked. "I... a... a murder?! Am I accused of a murder?! ” The man did not answer and Elros felt his heart begin to get carried away at the same pace as his breathing. A murder... he was accused of a murder... the victim was a twelve-year-old girl... he couldn't believe it. He who had always made sure to stay straight... he who had always made sure not to betray any rules... he who had tried to always be kind, understood with the people he hardly liked, he who gave the impression of a shy big boy... was he who was accused of a murder today? The beating of his heart did not seem to want to calm down and it was only when he felt his ears buzzing and his sight blurred that he knew that this was a real shock for him. "It's... it's a mistake... I... I'm innocent... ” This was the last sentence he could pronounce before his mind forced him to flee reality for a while. He fell heavily to the ground and lost consciousness even before his head hit the ground. ~ The first thing Elros noticed when opening his eyes was the fact that he was no longer on the floor but lying on a much less comfortable bed that caused him back pain, forcing him to change position, but unfortunately for him, it was not better and he breathed a long sigh before slowly straightening up. He brought a hand to his always painful nose and frowned when he noticed that it was covered with a wide dressing. How long had he remained unconscious? What happened during that moment? Had his aunt come to see him? He sketched a weak smile, already knowing the answer to this last question. She would never have bothered to come somewhere for him, even less now that she knew he was accused of something so horrible. "I am innocent.. ” It sounded obvious to him. Everyone must have known it, almost everyone knew him, they all knew what kind of teenager he was, he loved his loneliness too much, he loved the tranquility of his aunt's garden too much. Everyone knew it, Elros had no friends, he himself had already proclaimed it loud and clear several times, he did not feel the need to have it and therefore, nothing forced him to walk the streets and other public places. In addition, how was it certain that he was the culprit? Who could have identified it as such? He sighed before observing the tiny cell. He noticed that outside the bed on which it was installed, there was a sink that seemed to be about to collapse from one second to the next, as well as a toilet whose cleanliness left something to be desired. The bars of the cell were all rusty and their solidity was no longer very certain, Elros knew it, sufficient strength could make a few of them give up, but he knew what a fugitive was at risk and he did not want to take this risk, even if he did not know what his presence here would have in store for him. Elros sighed once again before getting up from bed to approach the bars, he examined them for a few seconds before finally putting his hands on them, then he raised his head to the sky. "Hey mom... ” He smiles, no longer detaching his gaze from the gray sky. "I'm sorry you have to see that mom... it's... ” He lowered his eyes for three seconds, letting out a faint laugh and shaking his head, then he refocused on the sky in order to address his mother again. "It's ridiculous, you know it as much as I do... I didn't kill anyone... I didn't leave the house... I'm innocent... you know it mom... you know it as well as I do... ” He hoped to observe a sign showing that his mother was near him, that she supported him in this ordeal, but unfortunately, he was indeed alone, alone against those who thought he was guilty. Elros was the kind of person unable to hurt others, understood if he was hurt himself. He was far too kind, far too calm, far too reserved for that. His mother had very often asked him to defend himself if we attacked him, but he never knew how to do it, he let himself go and never complained about it. He did not understand how he could find himself in such a situation, he never went out very far, he did not talk to anyone, he did not even rub shoulders with teenagers his age, he was always alone, understood during his classes. He was accused of murder... how was that possible? Who was the victim? Did he only know her? Who accused him? Why? He would have liked to be able to get answers to his questions, but he felt that he would not get any so soon. He was alone in this cell, he was not even sure that someone occupied the neighboring cells, he heard no noise and no one even passed far in front of them. He had a whole view of the sun that was soon no longer present, so Elros had spent many hours unconscious, he hoped that someone would come and get him out of this place as soon as possible. ~ The evening had now arrived, Elros was still in this cell, leaning against the bars, he was looking in the distance, when a noise made him jump and get out of his thoughts. His gaze crossed that of the man who had in some ways his defense a few hours earlier His closed face did not foreshadow any good news, Elros had guessed it, he would not leave here as a free man. "Your judgment took place a little earlier in the day. A decision has been made." "My judgment?!" Elros was surprised, how could we judge him when he was not even present? How could we make a decision without even questioning him? "Yes, apparently we didn't want the case to take too long. We therefore decided to place it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, you were unconscious so it took place without you." "And... and they..." The teenager could not formulate correctly, fear began to take hold of him. "You were found guilty." It was a first shock for Elros. Guilty, he had been found guilty during a trial he had not been able to witness, for a crime he had not committed, on a victim he had surely never even met. "You were sentenced to the death penalty... they planned that you would be hanged tomorrow morning in the public square, at noon." New shock. Elros had a backward movement, he placed a hand on his torso, his eyes wide open. He, Elros Flayne, the orphaned boy with an angelic appearance and of a more than discreet nature, was accused and sentenced to death without any proof of guilt. He couldn't believe it. Only sixteen years old, he therefore lived his last hours of life, he who dreamed of traveling and taking on challenges just like his father in the past, he who dreamed of going to find and read the rarest books he could find, he who dreamed of one day having a wife and children by his side. So he was going to leave this world, so young, without having had the slightest chance of achieving one of his life goals? Was life so unfair? What could he have done to deserve such a fate? What would his parents think? Were they observing all this from where they were now? Elros asked himself a lot of questions to which he could not find an answer. Everything was jostling in his head and the only thought that was formulated in a very precise way was: that the next day at the same time, it would only be a memory. His existence will have ended for no reason since he was innocent.