She stopped dead in her tracks, her heart starting to beat faster. Was this the truth of it? Was the Lottery and the pomp and circumstance surrounding it an even bigger sham than she had suspected? Is this what had become of her husband and her son? Had they simply walked into the gloom to be butchered like animals?
She took several tentative steps to her right, considering finding the edge of the platform and perhaps leaping into the water—but he merely countered her, striding confidently to stand before her and to prevent her from continuing any further. She froze again as she looked at his mask and into his eyes, the irises of which caught the light reflecting off his scythe and gleamed a sickly yellow. He stepped closer, calmly, in perfect control, and though she tried to tear her eye
