Chapter 16
"And may God have mercy on your soul." The skull faced preacher finished the last rites by making the sign of the cross near the woman's forehead.
Several guards rushed into the cell to seize Irma Vep and pull the condemned criminal away from the berth, her last supper finished. Out the door was the hallway where the cat burglar was dragged kicking and screaming to her final destination. Fellow female prisoners screeched like harpies from their locked cells.
Madam Guillotine stood expectant on the raised platform ahead. Irma knew this moment would one day befall her, given her criminal activities. However, now it had come, she felt intensely frightened. A mighty effort to break free of the guards dragging her down the hall turned out to be futile; their hold on her arms was strong and professional. Her struggles barely slowed down the trip by meager seconds.
The hallway ended in a wide indoor area. Several personages were attending to see her long awaited comeuppance. Phillipe Guerande, the crime journalist who exposed the Vampires' order was among them eliciting a look of hate her way. The Tiger Brigade, a heavy-handed police unit were there to view their triumph. Judex stood on the sidelines shaking his head negatively at her plight.
As she reached the stairs, another onlooker stood out in the staring crowd, it was Fu Manchu in a gold silken robe, his arms folded ending with each hand tucked into the opposite sleeve. He bowed then broke into a sinister smile framed by his tendrilled mustache.
Fear was worsening with each step taken to the death machine and the masked executioner, patiently standing by the vertical frame. Irma tried to throw herself backwards to break her escorts' hold, but more guards seized her and lifted her bodily up the stairs.
She made out one more face in the crowd. It was Dr Totenkopf, the German scientist she was assigned to find. What was he doing here? Where is M and The League? How did I even get here? Totenkopf laughed as she futilely tried to answer any of those questions.
The heavy angled guillotine blade was raised to the crossbar on top, ready for its fast descent. A curt signal from the executioner had the guards place the condemned on the Bascule, he clearly had no mind for dramatics. Irma tried desperately to keep her arms apart, but the strong vise like grips of her guards forced them together behind her back and securely bound them. She was tied to the wooden teeter board her neck over the edge. The executioner drew a series of lateral dashes across the back of her neck. Irma's hair had been cut short for this moment.
Tearful protests born of fear blared from the condemned women, but they all seemed to fall on deaf ears. Her struggles to break free were equally futile she was professionally secured. The bascule she was tipped to became horizontal, it was pushed towards the guillotine's frame; Irma's head cleared the vertical gap then had stocks closed over her neck.
A drum roll began it would soon finish. Irma Vep noticed tears dropping on the basket beneath her. Throughout her criminal career she figured that if this moment eventuated she would face it proud and strong; but strangely, now that it was happening an intense fear had broken her down into an embarrassing pathetic wimp.
The tears she abundantly shed were black, they formed a dark pool underneath her. She then realised that her black eye shadow was still on her face. They would never have let her keep it on.
Suddenly the drums fell silent; the release lever clicked.
"This isn't real." She shouted.
The sound of the blade descending was cut in by the noise of a window opening. Irma awoke in a dark room soaked in a feverish sweat; she pressed her back against the wall and breathed frantically. She was free of any guillotine and her head remained on her shoulders, the nightmare was over but she was still frightened; of what, she didn't know anymore. The window had an inviting breeze and bright daylight, she stuck her head out and felt her fear subside. She climbed outside to soft grass and a freshening wind.