Death Sentence

Okay, this is my first posted story, but not the first story. I’ll update as much as I can. Enjoy!

This story was inspired by Machines of Malice

                                                                                   

Chapter 1

Friday night.

Midnight.

Normally, at this hour, I would be in bed, asleep like my brother and sister now were. But tonight I was slowly walking down the hallway to the stairs. I made it past Clare’s room and stopped in front of the stairs. Eight little steps. How could eight stairs cause me so much trouble? But I needed to face them. I carefully tiptoed down seven of the dreaded steps. I quickly jumped off the last one in triumph. It’s really too bad Jason didn’t see me master the stairs; which was a rare occasion for me. But I took one more step and tripped.

“Oh, the irony.” I mumbled.

I quickly got back up and crept into Jason’s room.

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Chapter 2

I must have slept for hours, because when I woke up, the sun was high in the sky. It must have been almost noon. My little stunt last night was perfect. Jason had $3 million in his bank account, he would never-

“JAMIE!!!!”

Jason shouted my name and it echoed through the house. Crap, he found out! He had so much money, how did he notice?

I ran down the stairs, tripping on the third one; tumbling down the rest of them. I got up and found myself face-to-face with Tyler.

“Busted.” He laughed

I glared back at him with my teeth bared. Tyler cried his scared little shriek and ran off. I walked to Jason’s room, everyone was staring at me. They must have heard Jason miles away! I felt my pelt turn hot with embarrassment. I hated being stared at.

I opened the door and peaked my head inside.

“You shouted for me?” I asked meekly.

Jason just growled, which is never a good sign. I walked farther in; Jason’s room was a mess as usual. I leaned over his shoulder, as he was staring at the computer screen. 3000 dollars were missing from his bank account. Maybe I should have just took some money from his wallet… But that wouldn’t be enough for what I needed to buy.

“Jason,” I said cautiously, “It’s only-“

“Only what?” He yelled at me, turning away from the computer. “It’s one thing to steal government money, but my money? Jamie, that’s the monthly budget that the bank lets the orphanage have! I’m not going tot be able to pay for food. What about the rent?”

Jason started rambling about all the things he needed the money for.

“Jason.” I said, trying to stop his gabber.

“And clothes! Tyler’s out of pant, again, and Amy needed…”

“Jason.”

“I still haven’t paid last month’s bills!”

“Jason!”

“What will Shannon think? Now she’ll have to pay and she’ll never say yes when-“

“JASON!!!”

“You.” Jason said, “This is all your fault.”

“Well…”

“You just don’t know when to stop, do you? But this time, I know just what to do.”

He grinned evilly and I hung my head. There was no way out of this punishment. I wonder what embarrassing torture he had for me this time.

“What’s the sentence?” I asked miserably.

“The death sentence.” Jason said with an evil grin.

I laughed once. “No really Jason. What will I be forced to say, do or to stay in for hours?”

“I’m not joking.” Jason said with a serious face. “You need to learn you lesson.”

He picked me up by the scruff of my neck, and carried me over to a large machine with a big steel door.

“Which is why I bought this. It’s a virtual reality chamber.”

“What? Does that have anything to do with-“ I swallowed nervously, “a death sentence?”

“Oh, not just a death sentence. Four deaths.”

“F-f-four?” I stammered, “What? How?”

Jason didn’t answer; he just opened the door and threw me in. Metal clasps grabbed my arms and legs, holding me in place. A helmet covered my head.

“Wait, Jason!” I cried before he closed the door. “Don’t you want to know what I bought?”

“I don’t care if you bought some cool new car or whatever it is. Just learn you lesson, damnit!”

Jason slammed the steal door, sending me into darkness.

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Chapter 3

I woke up to blinding sunlight. I was lying on some grass, damp with dew. I sat up, seeing a forest to the east, mountains to the north and endless plains to the south. There were some buildings off to the west.

I got to my feet. I felt much taller than I normally did.

“Oh my God!” I shouted. I was standing on only two legs. “I’m human!”

I was wearing an old fashion white blouse and a black skirt.  Brownish red hair fell into my view. W. O. W. I looked over to the town. The houses were so old fashion looking! Jason must have set the virtual reality to the early 1800s or something.

I reached into my pocket for my cell phone. It was still there, but I doubt it worked. No bars in the 1800s. But maybe, if I had enough power, just maybe I could hack the system and get the hell out of here.

I walked towards the town and tried to find a store. I was starving. As I Walked by, people stopped what they were doing and ran inside. That’s weird. I mean, people at the orphanage fear me, but not everyday people. They just see me as a little kid. But then I walked passed a column holding up a small store. There was a sign with a face that looked a lot like mine, only more human. It read “WANTED: Woman charged with murder and highway robbery. REWARD: $1000.”

Murder? Sure I’ve robbed, quite a lot actually, but I never have or will murder. But it’s cool that’s there’s a price on my head. I guess that makes me #1 on the 1800’s FBI list.

I continued walking thought the town, which seemed to become empty. On the cobble stone streets I heard horse hooves behind me. I turned around on my heels and looked into the eyes of a police officer on a brown horse. His gun was pointed at me, but he didn’t say anything. I reached into my other pocket to see if I had a gun. I quickly pulled out an old fashion pistol and pointed it at the officer. This wasn’t really, so technically it’s not murder. Right?

With a bang, in the blink of an eye, my handgun was gone. The officer shot it out of my hand, without a scratch on me. Impressive. I thought. This guy was a good shot. I smiled, but I think he took it the wrong way.

“Put your hands up Miss.” He said, gun pointed at my heart. His voice was really familiar, like I had known him before.  “Your under arrest.”

I gingerly placed my hands over my head. Two other officers came out from behind the man on the horse. They walked towards me with handcuffs.  Just when they came a few feet of me, I jumped up into the air. I kicked them in the jaw with my human legs and they feel to the ground, unconscious.

“Get her.” The man on the horse said half-heartedly.

At least 20 officers lunged toward me I screamed, I kicked; I wouldn’t let these guys win for Jason. Even if it wasn’t real, I didn’t want to die.

But it was no use. I was hand cuffed and on the ground in a matter of minutes. They dragged me to my feet and walked me to a black carriage. An old fashion cop car. I looked up at the officer on horseback.

“Not even death can stop me.” I said smugly, with an evil grin. The officer threw me into the carriage and we drove of to the jailhouse.

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Chapter 4

We arrived at the jail grounds after two hours in a bumpy wagon pulled by a single horse. I could have broken out of the carriage, but the officers would have killed me on the spot. What fun would that be for Jason? Even though I contained it, I was mad. Really mad. My wrist hurt from the handcuffs and my left leg was bloody. Plus, I was wearing a dress!

We rode into the jail yard and the carriage stopped. The officer on horseback jumped off his horse and brought me out of the cell on wheels.

“So,” I asked the handsome looking man who held my wrists. “What’s the sentence?”

“Death.” The man said. Gosh, he must really hate this job. “By guillotine.”

I stopped moving. The man pulled at my wrist, but me feet were frozen to the ground.

“Guillotine?” I asked with a  shaky voice. My eyes were wide with fear. I moved my feet enough to get into my jail cell. The officer stayed and watched me.

But then I heard laughter. It sounded like Jason. I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. I slid it open, and Jason’s face appeared on the touch screen.

Jason was laughing so hard, he fell off the couch. And when he finally control, he saw my pissed off face and fell over laughing again.

“Jasonnnnnnnn! Stop laughing and talk to herrrrrrrr.” A small, whinny, all-too-familiar voice said.

“Shut up Tyler!” Jason turned toward the voice.

“Tyler’s watching!” I shouted in protest. Some of the other criminals looked my way.

“Not just me!” Tyler said, appearing on the screen. “The whole orphanage is watching for movie night! It’s super cool!”

“WHAT!?!?!?”  I shrieked.

At least 20 other kids were sitting in the living room.

“Jason.” Moaned a voice behind me.

I turned and saw the officer who brought me here. “Who are you?” I asked him.

“Oh, you should know him.” Jason said smugly, “He’s-“

“Don’t” The officer hissed at my phone. He sighed, knowing Jason would tell me if he didn’t. Poor guy. “My name is…”

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Chapter 5

“Taylor Jeremy.”

“TJ?” I asked. Why would Jason force TJ into such a horrible place? I mean, he does bad stuff, but nothing he could possible do would be as bad as this.

“Alright you two.” Jason laughed tauntingly, “have fun.”

The screen faded to black. Have fun? What a joke! How could Jason be so cruel? If he knew what I bought him…

“Oh, and Jamie.” Jason said reappearing on my screen. I glared at my phone. Jason just smiled wickedly. “You’ve got two days before…” He moved his finger slowly across his neck, imitating a painful death. A death that would soon me mine. I swallowed nervously.

“And don’t try to escape. I’m not letting you out until the electric chair.”

The screen blacked out again, this time for good. I’ve never seen Jason have this much fun when I’m miserable. Normally, Jason feels guilty when I’m being punished, because I’m just like he was when he was a kid. We were the worst kind of troublemakers.

“So,” TJ said to me, “What did you do this time?”

Was he mocking me? “I stole $3000 from Jason.” TJ didn’t seem impressed. Normally I wouldn’t either. “He’s all mad ‘cause that’s all the money the bank will let him have this month.”

“Oh.” TJ started walking away, his eyes shifted back to me nervously.

“Hey!” I called after him, “You didn’t tell me what you did.”

TJ sighed and walked back. “Well….I…Ummm…”

He was stammering. “Just tell me, TJ. Whatever it is, I’ve done worse.”

“Well, Jason took my guitar because I got an F on a math test. So I was really pissed off and slightly depressed. I kinda just wanted to forget that anything even existed. So I stole his ID card and sort of… well… I kinda got drunk at a bar…”

“Wait a sec… You did what?”

TJ just lowered his eyes, too embarrassed to look at me. “Police found me.” He growled a little. TJ hated the cops. “Anyway, they brought me to Jason.” He stopped and looked away from me. “I said some stuff, ‘cause I was somewhat drunk. So, Jason knew my weakness… And here I am, in the perfect punishment.”

He sighed, clearly depressed. But being a cop wasn’t that bad. I mean, I know he hates them but there has to be something more.

“Trust me, my end of the deal is a lot worse.” I shuddered at thought of my soon coming death.

“No, trust me. You’re the lucky one.”

I just glared at him. All he had to do was watch me die a few times. I was the one actually dying! But TJ wasn’t going to give in, and I was the one locked in a jail cell.

 

After TJ left, I was alone. I waited, sitting on the hard, cold floor. Hours passed and soon the sun was setting in the west. A prison ward silently unlocked the steel bars. I didn’t bother trying to escape; there were several guards blocking my exit. The ward gave me a tray with moldy bread and a bowl of muddy bread. The least they could give me is a cup.

“What do I look like?” I shouted at the ward, “A dog?”

He just snorted and walked away. Jason would get a kick out of that comment. I picked up the water bowl and caught a glimpse of my reflection. Even in the dim light, my green eyes sparked. Light freckles dotted my cheeks.

I quickly drank the dirty water and swallowed the bread whole. And then I waited, the hours passed slowly. I tried to fall asleep, but when I did, it was a nightmare.

…

I was chained to a wall and a guy in a black cloak was walking towards me. It was like he could smell my fear. When the hooded figure was a few feet in front of me, a scythe appeared in his hand. The hood fell backwards, revealing Jason’s face. He was smiling an evil smile I had never seen before.

“Time’s up.” Jason said wickedly.

He swung the scythe, which would have normally beheaded me.

…

I woke up screaming.

I wouldn’t let my dreams torture me, Jason already had that under control, so the idea of sleep vanished. The hours passed slowly and I didn’t see TJ. After a while, I reached into my pocket to call Amy. But Jason had disabled my phone in this strange virtual world. A ward walked by, so I asked him for a phone.

“Excuse me,” I asked the old, fat man, “Is there a phone I can borrow? I deserve my one phone call.”

“Phone?” The man asked me, sounding confused.

Suddenly, the man turned black and two-dimensional. Green ones and zeros appeared, like in the Matrix. Then the blob of black and green faded into the background.

“A glitch!” I said excitedly.

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Chapter 6

Unfortunately, Jason heard my discovery. Back at home…

“A glitch?” Jason asked annoyed, “Hey, Amy. Come here.”

My sister sighed and walked to Jason and his computer.

“You can fix this glitch, right?”

“Well… Jamie’s the expert with computers… I’m not sure…”

“I thought you were the smart one.” Jason said, edging her on.

“I am!” Amy protested.

“Well, if you can’t fix this glitch…”

“I can! I just don’t want to work against Jamie.”

“Do you want to work against me?” Jason glared down at her.

“No.” Amy whispered nervously. She held out her hand in defeat. “Give me the computer.”

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Chapter 7

I created an escape plan and quickly put it into action. I took a deep breath and got ready to explode with rage. I thought of all the jokes and taunts that would come my way after everyone I knew had seen me killed and captured four times. Now I wasn’t just thinking about it, it seemed real. I felt the anger, no, the rage, bubbling inside of me, and my hands clamped into fists. My eyes glowed a crimson red. I didn’t want to lose control, so I focused my powerful energy. I kicked the solid brick wall and created a large hole in the brick.

“Sweet.” I said before I fell to my knees. I couldn’t stop now; freedom was so close!

I got to my feet and ran from the jail yard. I heard shouting coming from where my cell was and then a siren went off at the jail yard. I didn’t stop running and I didn’t look back.

I ran for over an hour without stopping. I could see the village in the distance. I needed a rest, so I collapsed into the grass. The sky was darkening, with evening coming. The darkness would be perfect cover.

I got up and started walking towards the town. I walked onto the cobbled streets just as the sun had disappeared. A bakery door was open and the lights were out. I crept inside and snatched a cookie. I could almost hear Jason laughing as I ate my chocolaty treat. Wait a second, I really could hear him! I grabbed my cell phone and glared at Jason’s face.

“What do you want?” I whispered angrily.

“Jamie,” Jason said. A few more faces peaked onto the screen. “You can’t run. They’ll get you.”

“That’s what you think.” I retorted as I took another bite of my cookie.

Jason just laughed; and I heard a few more people join in. He was really aggravating me. I threw the phone into a wooden wall and it shattered into thousands of pieces. I’d buy a new one later.

But then, I felt something fall into my pocket and I pulled out my phone again. There wasn’t a scratch on it. I dropped my phone on the ground and jumped backwards a little, scared to have my phone reappear. I could hear Jason laughing even more.

I ignored the phone when I heard horse hooves on the road again. I didn’t even stop to turn; I just ran. I’m fast, but I couldn’t out run a horse for long. The horse stopped in front of me and I feel backwards in surprise. I got up to run but the man on the horse leapt on top of me, pinning me to the ground.

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Note: I am now getting rid of the comments rule. I’ll just be updating whenever I can. But I would still love comments!