(5) Prepared for Death

The man looked into my eyes with an unfathomable expression. I opened my mouth to tell him what I thought about the Beast's plan, what he could do with his potion, and most of all...that there was no way in a thousand years that I would give the Beasts any information. Before I had more than one angry syllable out of my mouth he poured the orange liquid down my throat. I spluttered angrily and would have cursed at him if he hadn't shaken his head sadly at me and held a finger to his lips. I didn't really need the gesture, the potion had a debilitating effect on my ability to speak.
I was spinning into a world of orange oblivion. Blue and green stars burst before my eyes and I lost all connection with my physical body. My thoughts automatically jumped to the thing that brought them the most comfort: John. The Beast's must have known this would happen, but they underestimated a young woman's love and what that could enable her to do. In my spinning delirium I snapped my mind away from all truth relating to John and fell back to old stories, hear-say, and general myth. I wove a tale so brilliant that I defied even the Beasts to discover it's falsehood before I was dead and the secret dead with me. Locked inside my head forever.
I only hoped John would escape from the Beasts forever. This was all I could do. This was all I could give. I would protect him in the only way that I could. I felt the delirium lessen. Blackness was creeping in around the edges of my mind. I was fading. Where was that light at the end of the tunnel people always spoke of? I guess it was just a story to help the weak face death with more courage. I was prepared to die. I was more than willing to die for the one I loved. The blackness was almost completely enclosing me now. "Goodbye John" I thought. "I will..."
Silence in her mind. She thought no more.