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Fifth Piece-- That’s what friends are for

Jay, Lacey and I were getting to my house after dinner which was what we always did. Jay and Lacey were together since high school and Lacey had been my best friend since kindergarten.  When I first met Jay I thought he was a cool kid, and  I was grateful that he could get along with me so that way I wouldn't lose so much contact with Lacey. Eventually, we became a group of best friends, and we always shared everything, but of course we had our limits because of Lacey's relationship to Jay.

When we graduated college, Jay and I ended up working for the same company although we focused on different things in college. This brought Jay and myself closer because we had many things in common including work. Sometimes this meant some discrepancies between myself and Lacey because she felt left out. I have always loved her with my life which is why I always made my best effort to include her in our conversation as well as giving them space so that they could share as partners.

After some time Jay and I had been working for the same company for many years and I could see the relationship with Lacey was very serious. I had just recently started dating again because I decided that wasn't for me,  and I had met some very interesting guys. They were perfect really, but there was something that I just couldn't quite make out of why I didn't like them all that much. This did not make any sense to me because I was really making an effort to like them and they were gentlemen, they treated me with respect and wanted something serious with me. Later I would find out why I liked none of them.

One day at work, the boss announced that a new position had opened up and the specifications of it. It had better pay, more flexible hours, amongst other things, and the one who would get it, would be the boss of a large section of the company. After two days of that, we realized that Jay and I were eligible for that new job position.

“I am going to win, you know,” said Jay to me as he was passing by my office one day

“Yeah, sure, keep dreaming,” I answered.

The competition was getting tougher and tougher as time passed. Eventually the only ones who were left, and from whom the boss had to choose, was Jay and myself. This whole situation made us talk a lot more and share things, and I got to know the blabbermouth version of Jay. Eventually, I found myself smiling whenever he was around and being happy with this competition because it meant I got to see him more. I could also feel the anger sometimes in Lacey because of the left out feeling that she had and because she did not have something to share with us that was as interesting at that moment as the competition.

Jay and I got to do campaigns and we had to buy the boss by giving him gifts and things like that. One day, I stayed late at the office, arranging my campaign, and I thought everyone had left, but as I was tuning off the light in my office, I saw Jay standing on the other side of the room and looking at me. He had a soft smile on his face.

“ I really admire you, you know,” He said while coming closer to where I was.

“You should, Jay, I’m the most powerful woman to ever exist,” I jokingly said.

He chuckled, and was getting closer and closer, until he was standing right in front of me, a few inches away.

“No, but really. You have this glow in your eyes, when you are doing something you love. It just enchants me. And everything you say you want to do, you do it, not caring about anything else.” He tucked my hair behind my ear, and raised my chin with his thumb and the side of his index finger.

I realized then why I liked none of the other boys I had gone out with. They were not Jay. I knew he was going to try and kiss me, but I knew it was wrong.

“Jay, stop, we can't. What about Lacey?” I asked.

“I realize now, she is not the one I have properly loved all this time.”

“But she does love you, with all her heart, and you can't just do this, what if she is not okay with all this?” I argued.

“Okay, then. We will talk to her, but let me kiss you, just once. Please?” He begged.

He leaned in, and kissed me. There was really nothing I could do, I realized right then and there that I loved Jay, and that kiss was what I wanted.

After some time, we both decided to talk to Lacey about what was going on. Although she cried a little, she said she saw that coming, but deep down wished it didn't. She said she would happily step away. We had considered that had gone well and moved forward, everything was good between Jay and myself, and the campaign was moving forward for us too.

All was great for a few months until the day before the boss had to choose one of us for the job position, he said that he would need help deciding because he liked us both the same. We later came to realize that person would be Lacey. The time we did not talk she started working for a bigger company, and fast enough got a job in a very high position, which our boss looked up to, and both companies have had businesses together.

She was very obviously upset about the whole thing, and said to our boss she liked neither of us to fill the job. I especially felt devastated, mostly because we were best friends since kindergarten. It was horrible not talking to her that time. After the announcement, I tried talking to her, but she quickly cut me out and told the few people around her I stole her boyfriend, when she knew it was him who came to me.

Some time passed and the environment at work was very very hostile. Word had gone out that I stole Lacey’s boyfriend, and one afternoon, she was supposed to tell everyone who she had picked for the job position. We all went to the main hall, and she started her speech.

“After a thorough consideration of all possible candidates, I am pleased to announce who will get the new job position,” She waited a few seconds while looking around the room. When she spotted my eyes in the crowd, and then she continued. “That person is… Jay Dalton.” She announced very excitedly. “Come here, sweetheart” She told him.

Jay started walking towards her, and as he arrived, she hugged him and kissed him, as if the last few months had never happened, as if they were still together. My heart broke into a million pieces. I really had imagined a future with Jay. He began his speech of thanking everyone.

“Well, this is a surprise,” he said. “I really did not think I would get the job, thanks to the amazing competitors I had, especially Steph Copelanad. Without her nothing would have been possible. But I have something to tell you all. I know word has gone around that I left Lacey to be with Steph and reality is…” A loud sound was made, he stopped, and I could see something was really wrong. After a few seconds of intrigue, I saw his shirt filling up with blood that seemed to have come from his chest. He fell to the ground, and everybody screamed.

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Fourth Piece-- Roanoke

My friend Isabel and I were going to participate in a reality show. It was one of those where we went to a house built in the 18th century in North Carolina, in the town of Roanoke, in the middle of the woods and stayed there for a certain amount of time. Supposedly, it was haunted because it was close to the Lost Colony’s disappearance. The morning we arrived there, we did so together. There we met other people, amongst who was the celebrity of the moment, Kyle Fry. He was a singer, songwriter, actor and now an activist too. The other people, Kara Wallace, Rita Fitzgerld, Aaron Adams, Marvin Peterson and Vincent Hughes, were common people.

As a first impression, everyone seemed quite friendly, but I could notice some passive aggressive attitude between some of the participants and the directors of the reality show did loved that. Fortunately, I had someone I could be with among all those strangers. Isabel and I met in middle school, when she saved me from some bullies at school and we have been best friends ever since.The house we were going to stay in seemed pretty preserved to have been built in the 18th century, and when we first arrived, nothing appeared to be haunted at first glance, but I had never made a worst assumption in my life before.

The first night we stayed there, I slept with Isabel, and things seemed pretty quiet except for those passive aggressive fights some people have had, so we all went to sleep. The producers and directors had left cameras all over the house, but they were not there because they said it would not be as beneficial for the reality show, I think they were just scared.

“Rose, wake up!” I woke up to Isabel whispering next to me. It was three in the morning. She seemed scared.

I heard what she had been hearing, and we did not know where it came from. I slightly opened the door to our room and saw Kyle making out with this guy Vincent in the hallway, and others spying too as we were. I told Isabel that it was okay and to go back to sleep. The whole concept of the house was getting to her head. I went back to sleep too.

I was running, a sense of intense fear had covered my body. I was through the woods, and constantly kept looking back, as if someone or something was chasing me. I could see animal masks on poles as I kept running. I was desperate. I woke up sweating and not being able to breathe to the sound of a scream that in that moment I did not know where it came from; my dream or the house. As I gained consciousness again about where I was and what was reality, I got out of bed. Isabel was awake too, so I figured the scream came from the house, it was sometime after sunrise.

“You hear that?” I said to her, still confused from my dream.

We both went out and we saw Kyle on the beginning of the stairs to the first floor. He was on the ground. His stomach had been open, and the intestines and everything inside was hanging from there. I got shocked too, as did Isabel. She could not handle it though and she got sick, but the rest of us were there. We immediately looked at VIncent. He was with him the night before. After analyzing him for a while, and him showing he knew nothing about what had happened, we all concluded that he was innocent, and you could really see the desperation in his eyes, so we got to cleaning, and burying the body in the backyard. The producers were fascinated

Isabel, Kara, Aaron, Marvin and I went to the woods to get some firewood for the bonfire that night. We decided to go early so we had time, we took some of the cameras with us too, as we were required. As we passed, I realized that the woods in my dream were the same as we were passing then, only without the animal masks. Those were horrible. Almost as if they were made from dead animals.

When we got back to the house we had a surprise. On the porch of the house there was a pig, dead, hanging from the roof. Its insides were the same as Kyle’s that morning, and we ran inside to see if maybe Marvin or Rita had seen who put it there, but when we came inside, they were both hanging from the roof with the same horrible thing done to them. We were all shocked, and terribly afraid, not counting the stress of being endangered. We cleaned again and did the same thing, and began cooking dinner, while Aaron was taking care of the bonfire outside.

We suddenly heard Aaron scream. We went running outside and saw that next to the started bonfire, were some people standing next to it in kind of a circle, and we all screamed. It seemed that they were killing Aaron in a very sadistic way. There was a man that had the head of a real dead pig on top of his head, like it was a costume, it reminded me of the masks I had seen in my dream. They put the body of Aaron on a pole, like the masks on my dream were and they all standed in a line looking at us. They had a look that said ‘You never should’ve come here you’re next’.

They came towards us, and we ran into the house and hid in the kitchen with the door closed. We got all the knives we could. They eventually reached us and kicked down the kitchen door. The intense fear I had felt in my dream was feeling my body. I felt as if the dream was trying to warn me something, so I shared this with the others. Kara said it might have been someone who had died before trying to warn me so that I could live.

As they got through the door, we all tried fighting back. I tossed them some boiling water, Isabel tried knifing them, but they got to her and slit her throat, while another one of them got to Kara, and another to Marvin, leaving just me. They all stood in front of me, and the leader of them started speaking to me.

“You were wrong coming here. My name is Agnes Mary Winstead, otherwise known as The Butcher. You see, killing you people, and performing out our ritual allows us to be alive. It gives us life, and I know one of my useless, worthless witches was trying to warn you about your fatal future, but I cut her before she could continue. Now you're next.”

She got so close to me I could smell her. She took out her butchering knife, and put it next to my stomach. She began putting pressure and I watched as my insides came out and she laughed. It all went blurry, and eventually, black.

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Third Piece-- Last Night

Tom was sitting in the bar he had always gone to since he turned 21 and was in college. When he was back home he liked going to a bar that was two blocks away from his parents house. In the bar he was sitting though, he had the best memories because he always made new friends, or that would be the starting point of crazy days for him with strangers, where they would come up with adventures like make a road trip to somewhere far away, and they’d only make it half way, but the laughs were always worth it.

That day, he was meeting with his usual group of friends from college; Jessica, a neuropsychology undergraduate, Josh, an economics student, and Jack, who was studying visual arts. Since they met, they instantly felt a great connection with each other, and that group was inseparable. That night they wanted to get their minds off of mid-term exams which were stressing them out. They agreed to meet there, hang out a while and then head back home because they had to study the next day.

Tom saw Jessica, Josh and Jack coming in through the bar’s main door, and Tom was finishing his drink. The three of them sat down beside Tom and they ordered some drinks. It all was good and chill while they were there, but suddenly, everything started becoming a blur for Tom.

He woke up the next day on his couch not remembering much from the night before. He got up, and started searching for anyone around.

“Jess! Jack!”

He got no answer. He moved to the kitchen in search of something that could tell him what happened last night.

“Josh!” He persisted.

When he got close enough, he saw a note on the kitchen counter. “I got you home. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.  - MW” the note said. It had a smiley face on the bottom too.

Tom got really scared and found his phone. He called Jessica. When she picked up, she was as scared as Tom. She said she found the same note in her kitchen counter and hers had a heart instead of a smiley face at the bottom. When they both called the other two, Josh and Jack, they too had the same note. Neither of them remembered who might have written it. They got more scared and decided to meet up. When they did, it all seemed different, it felt different, for all four of them. It was as if something was unlocked within them. After talking for a while, they decided to go that same night to the bar and see if this person shows up.

After sitting in a bar for a while, they did not have anything to drink, and were solely waiting to see what happens. No one seemed to enter and recognize them, and they were getting tired as time passed, so as they were getting up to leave, a young woman entered the bar. She seemed very energetic, and charismatic. As soon as she entered, she seemed to have recognized them, so she approached them with happiness and enthusiasm. All four of them were very very scared and worried. They did not know who this might have been. As she sat in the bar table next to Jessica, she seemed to have suddenly remembered something.

“Oh right! You guys don't know who I am,” She chuckled. It was as though this was very funny for her. “Sorry, guys, I meant to text you, but my phone died. Anyways, My name is Mia Wilson, I go to the same college as you do, but I am studying astrology. We met last night, and honestly it was the best night of my life. I am a witch, and have always known I was one, but could never do anything a witch does. Apparently, my powers had to develop before I could use them, and last night you all helped me finally achieve my full potential of my developed witch skills, which is why I was able to use them yesterday for the first time.

“Let me tell you a little bit of what happened yesterday. We met here at the bar, but when we met you all had a spell on, that made you groggy and numb. I knew what was going on when I came into the bar because I had seen it before,” As Mia explained, Tom and the others could slowly start to remember. “As soon as I saw it, I sat down next to you, and stayed some time, while people were entering and going, and after a while, I was able to identify the witch who was doing it. I took you all outside, and with some help you were all able to walk. so I took you into the woods.

“This woman was getting closer and closer, I think she wanted to harm you guys. I was getting very nervous, and did not know what to do. We could not walk any faster because of the spell she pun on you. She had this evil grin on her face as she got closer, and her face started changing, getting a darker tone. I did not want her to get to where we were because it was obvious she did not have great intentions. I reached a point where I was so scared and nervous, that I just closed my eyes, and suddenly it was as though I was freed, I felt free. I knew my moment had come to use my powers, and I said what I knew to remove the spell she had put on you, but as I was doing that, you came back, but I could tell something was different. For example, Tom started changing and getting a lot of hair, and becoming a little bigger. Jessica had this sudden shine and beauty on her, and wings started coming out of her back. Joshua started opening a third eye on his forehead, and his other two normal eyes began shutting. He became bigger too, and Jack grew two large teeth on his mouth, his eyes became red, and his skin very very pale. It was glorious seeing you all take your powers, and defeating that old witch. Although I don't know if it was a great idea to do that, because maybe someone can come after you later.”

Tom could not believe what this girl was saying, “Wait, so I became a werewolf, Jess became a harpy or some kind of big fairy, Josh became a cyclops, and Jack became a vampire? Don’t you think this is a little crazy? And we killed a witch? And we might still be in danger?”

“Yes, that is what I am saying, apparently, someone had put a block on you before, so you could not access your powers. It might have been another witch or a warlock, who did not want any of you to find out about who you really were. And yes, you could still be endangered, we don't know if that witch belonged to a coven or something.” Mia answered.

Tom was really not believing what this girl was saying. To him, she might have just drugged them and maybe stole something from them or something like that.

“You know what I don't believe you, I think you are full of BS”

Tom got up from the table, and left. His friends left behind him, although to Jessica it made some sense. She had always felt out of place, like something was missing from herself. Josh, Jack and Jessica tried calming Tom down. He was not feeling alright, so they were getting him to breathe and clear his mind.

While the boys were at it, Jessica went back to where they left Mia. She was not there anymore, and on the table was another note. “I knew you’d come back looking for me. You should know they are all making a terrible mistake, they could really be in a lot of danger. Call me if you need anything, you have my number on your phone  -MW” The letter said. Jessica got a little nervous and had a very bad feeling, but she pushed it aside and went to help calm down Tom, and did not say a word about what had just happened.

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Second Piece-- Salem

“Bye, sweetie!” My mother said as I got into the carriage car.

I was finally able to afford to travel, after a long time of working as a secretary of state. It was a big deal when I became secretary of state because it was 1690 after all and women are expected to stay at home and take care of the children, but I managed to get the job, although it was not easy. Two years later it still was not easy to maintain the job and fulfill each and every requirement.

I have always felt unaccomplished in certain aspects of my life compared to my friends. They all are married now and having kids, which is not going to happen any time soon for me. On the other hand, I am the first female secretary of state here, which made me feel a little better.

People in my hometown, Kittery, do not travel for pleasure; they think that there was no point in doing so, because of the enormous amount of money necessary to feed the horses and general maintenance of the carriage along with accomodation and food for the travelers. Despite this, in the only other trip I had done before, I did find the change of daily setting to be relaxing, which is what I am hoping to experience this time round too.

I was excited to go on this trip. Partly because I had an important reunion with the governor of New York, which if goes well, will provide new funding for Maine’s new project: a small pocket watch factory, and partly because I am intrigued by how this whole experience will make me feel. My mother too was excited because of this trip. When I first told her, I was afraid that she might not like it because of some murderers that had been around according to some of her friends.

My final destination was New York, so I had to go through New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. We wanted to see how far we could get until it got dark, and then we would make a stop to rest and eat. I started to think about all of this as the carriage car went further and further away from my home. Eventually, I fell asleep to the thought of what the meeting in New York will be like.  

When I woke up, it was dark and my coachman was asking me where I thought we should stop.

“Where are we?” I asked, half asleep.

“We have just entered Kingston, in Rockingham County, ma’am,” he politely answered.

“Elijah, I have asked you not to call me that, you make me feel old,” I said in a rather absurd manner.

“Sorry, Cordelia. Habit,”

“Well, at least we made it to New Hampshire. I believe the house around the block could serve us two rooms” I said.

He guided the carriage to where I told him, and after taking care of the horses, Elijah took my luggage out and into my room, while I talked with the lady in charge of the house, asking her to please provide us with some food. She seemed hesitant to give Elijah a room since he was considered a slave, but to me he is like every other human being.

After a while of us settling in our rooms, I hear a knock on the door. It is Elijah.

“Aren't you going to say good night?” he asked after a few seconds of him staring deeply into my eyes right after I opened the door.

“The lady downstairs was not pleased to give you a room, you should behave yourself,”

He glared at me. “You should have told her only one room then, and I could have slept here, pretended I went to sleep with the horses. It would have saved you a lot of trouble,” he said jokingly.

I chuckled. “You’re right there, I’m not gonna lie.”

He entered my room after checking if anyone was eavesdropping, or spying. He stayed a little longer while we talked about how nervous I am about the meeting and how the road there was. Eventually, he stopped talking and smoothly stared at me with his eyes glowing. I hate when he does that, and he knows it. I can't think of anything or anyone else. All I can do is look back at him. He has this charm and confidence when he stares at me like that, that really makes me nervous.

“Well, Cordelia, it has been a lovely evening, but I believe it is time for me to leave,” He said while still staring at me like that.

He had these beautiful brown eyes with long lashes that have haunted me since I was 18 and he arrived in my hometown where my father bought him as a slave. He had always been polite to me, but delightful and self-assured despite the hard times as a slave that he has gone through, and always with a smile on his face when he addressed me. Which is why since I have been able to gain more control over my family’s assets, I have prioritized to give the slaves and especially Elijah a more humane treatment.

“Good night, Elijah.” I said as he left my room.

The next morning after my breakfast, I managed to give some proper food to Elijah since the lady in charge insisted on treating him as what he is; a slave, which is why she only gave him some small and old bread. We left really early in the morning in order to get as far as possible before we had to stop again. The ride was pretty much the same as always. I could not talk to Elijah normally because he was guiding the carriage and the horses, so I decided to prepare some things for the meeting meanwhile and later fix my dress which got ripped when I went into the carriage.

After a very long time, we arrived at a town named Salem. The carriage seemed to have broken down, so while Elijah tried fixing it and calming down the horses, I went looking for a place we could stay. It took me a while, but I found a really nice lady who said worked for the governor of Massachusetts, and who would gladly house us both, and provide some food. It is the beginning of January, so I believe people are more willing to have a better attitude this time of the year.

With some help from other slaves, Elijah said it would be a while before the carriage was fixed, which led me to ask the nice lady if we could stay a little longer than predicted, and she was happy to guest us there.

After hearing of my arrival, the minister of Salem Village, Samuel Parris went to pay me a visit along with his daughter, and asked about my work trip. I had heard some gossip about how Samuel Parris wanted the founding from New York as bad as I did, so I tried being very polite, to try and gain some more information about this. We were talking normally, when he started being a little too invasive with his questions, and insinuating I was never supposed to be a government official because it was a job for men, which I was not doing very well also taking into account that I ‘help’ slaves revolt and be more independent, treating them differently than anyone else.

This really bothered me because I am tired of not having the support of anyone but my mother and Elijah to do this job, because even my father was upset when I got the job, saying it was not something for the ladies to do and that I should have gotten married to a boy who proposed to me a while back, but I said no and refused to get married. This all made my father unrecognized me as his daughter, leaving me and my mother alone.

Because of this, I got into a more defensive tone, and the minister’s daughter jumped in, defending her father and being ruder than him.

“I will not stand this disrespect!” I yelled, sparked with rage, but quickly realized it and lowered my tone. “I am going to have to ask you both two leave. I am a person who deserves respect, and will not stand by while you people say anything you like about me without even knowing if it is true or not, so please, leave.“

They both got up from their seats and left without saying anything else, but I could see in their faces how the respect for me was still not there.

Still filled with anger and disgust, I opened the door to my room when Elijah knocked, and went back to where I was sitting. He followed me, and said he got the carriage car somewhat fixed, but there still are some things left to do.

“What's wrong?” he asked once he realized I did not feel like talking.

“The same disrespect and imposed decadence and rudeness as always,” I said in a dispassionate manner.

“Cordelia, sweetheart, you know we don't have to care about what people think, and despite everything, I do respect you and honor you and encourage you to do anything you like because your only limit is yourself. I will never get tired of telling you how capable you are and you have proved me right, you just have to believe in yourself a little more, okay?” He reassured as he sat really close to me, giving me that look that he knows makes me melt away, and I instantly felt a lot better.

“Thank you,” I whispered as I got closer to him. “You really did change my life, you know that, right?”

“I will always be here for you, no matter what,” He started whispering too.

I was starting to feel his warm hands up against my face when we were disrupted by a knock on the door. He sat up, quickly and I hid him in the closet to open the door. It was the lady in charge of the house, who said worked for the governor, she seemed pretty upset and worried. She told me to beware not to have the government officials form Massachusetts as my enemies because they are dangerous people. I did not give that as much importance as I should have.

Time passed and we had to wait until the carriage car was fixed up so we could leave. I had to postpone the meeting in New York some time, and we stayed with the nice lady all that time, until it all started going south.

Apparently, after our meeting, Samuel Parris’ daughter and niece, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams began having fits, including violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming. They have been keeping this a secret to not create chaos amongst citizens, but after some time the symptoms continued, they went to a doctor, who diagnosed bewitchment for both of them. As time passed, more and more girls from the community began having the same symptoms, and it had just come to light that the police was investigating who might have bewitched them.

Elijah and I were in our normal lives, exploring what salem had to offer to us, and exploring where our relationship might be at, when one late February morning, it became known to the public that arrest warrants were issued for the Parris’ Carribean slave, Tituba, along with two other women--the homeless beggar Sarah Good and the poor elderly Sarah Osborn, who were accused by the girls of bewitching them.

After being arrested that same day, the three accused supposedly witches were brought before two magistrates and were questioned. Their accusers were there in the courtroom while the witches were being questioned, and made full display of their symptoms, which were clearly visible to the whole public, not painting a good picture for any of them.

In a moment of despair, when asked for an acknowledgement of their guilt, and while Sarah Good and Sarah Osborn denied it completely, Tituba decided to falsely confess, unleashing without knowing a series of events damaging events for the village.

It seemed as though Tituba thought she was saving herself from conviction by acting as an informer, and she claimed that there were other witches acting alongside her. People in the community then reacted with hysteria and chaos was unleashed even to the rest of the State. This is when a bunch of other people were accused of being witches, including people who were regarded as upstanding members of the church and community. Even the daughter of Sarah Good was accused of being a witch.

While all this was going on, Elijah and I were not able to leave, because of the chaos within the community which prevented some slaves to go help him fix the carriage car, and I was afraid that if we left in that moment, it would have become much more suspicious and word could travel fast back home, creating a lot of problems for me in the future, which is why we decided to stay at least until things calmed down a little bit.

One morning I was having my coffee after breakfast, waiting for Elijah to go get something he needed from his room, and I was about to go looking for him when two gentlemen, dressed in black, tall and with a mysterious aesthetic, approached me.

“Are you Cordelia Davis?” One of them inquired, addressing me.

“Yes, sir, that would be me. What can I help you with?”

The other one got closer to me and tried to put handcuffs on me. I resisted and jerked back, but the one who talked to me joined the other and they took me into their carriage car even while I was fighting back. Inside the carriage car, they covered my face, so I could not see where they were taking me.

After a while, we arrived, and the two men who got me into their carriage car took me out and removed the cover from my face after walking a little. I was standing before the magistrates that questioned the three women initially accused of being witches. They started questioning me too, assuming I was a witch as well.

I found out that apparently, some neighbor from where we were staying, who was accused from being a witch because of this never ending cycle that Tituba began of accusing each other, supposedly saw Samuel Parris’ daughter and himself leaving where we were staying, and she said that right next day the girl and her cousin began having these horrible symptoms. She said she had heard the screams, and immediately knew something was wrong, and when she knew about the health state of the girl, she felt in her bones it was me who did it.

I argued with the magistrates that this was not the case, but the evidence was clearly against me as the questioning went on. They also brought up the fact that they had questioned the lady owner of the house where we were staying as a witness, and she confirmed everything the neighbor was saying. She also brought up the topic of me apparently having an affair with my slave, which was very badly regarded in our society. I again argued against it.

As I was facing my seemingly inevitable destiny, I saw Elijah in the courtroom. That just made me feel bad because of how I felt I had disappointed him, especially with what he had said before about me, how I was capable of anything. If only he knew, I might not be able to free myself from this.

“I love you, you can do this,” He mouthed at me, smiling

I don't know how he is always capable of giving me strength. Those words were all I needed to keep defending myself. I got enough arguments for them to let me make a letter. I decided to write to my mother and I broke down while writing that letter because they too had great arguments I could not argue with. They let me go to the bathroom to clean myself up. There was Elijah waiting for me with a smile on his face. He said my name, and hugged me as tight as the first time he did it. That just broke me even more. I was very very scared.

When I got back to the courtroom, the magistrates asked me if I was guilty or innocent. I knew I could not get out of this as easily as other people, so “guilty” would not have been of any use for me because I could not act as Tituba, and I could not stand another woman taking my place, so I decided to just say the truth; “innocent,”

The public and the magistrates seemed all disappointed and shocked. Elijah was silently cheering for me in the background where nobody could see him, except me. It seemed that the magistrates got very very angry and declared I should receive capital punishment, and that I should be hanged along with two other witches, the next day.

The same men who took me inside the courtroom got to me again, and did the same thing as before. They covered me and handcuffed me. I decided I would not take that, and I began fighting them back, kicking them and trying to get free from their grip. It did not work. I got to the cell where I would spend the night. It was filthy and dark, and as I entered there I felt a great sadness.

The other two witches who were going to get hanged with me were in the next cells. They heard my despair and tried helping, but nothing worked. I found a sharp stone on the corner of the cell and decided to try to cut the bars from the cell. I spent all night doing that.

The next day, after a long long time of me trying to cut the bars, and as the sun was rising, I was able to cut a little from one of the bars. I was able to make it thin at the middle so with a hard push it would definitely break. I was achieving that point when I heard the guards coming to get us. It did not matter to me, I kept trying to cut the bar. They were getting closer and closer. I got more nervous too. What if this was something they could use to torture me instead of just killing me, I kept thinking. What if they put some consequence on the other women who were there with me, since they saw I cared about other people? All this was in the back of my head, but my desire to get out of there and at least fight for my life were all I could feel, all that kept me going. The desire to see Elijah again, to see my mother.

The guards were closer, and I tried finally pushing the bar to see if I could break it. I pushed as hard as I have ever pushed something in my life. I pushed so hard, my clavicle broke, and I was in a lot of pain. Just when I heard the bar making a sound as if it was breaking, the guards arrived.

They saw what I had been doing, so they unlocked my cell first, took me out, pushed me to the ground, and started kicking me and punching me. At that point I was numb. I could hear one of the other women who were there with me, begging them to stop. I liked her, she and I would have been good friends if this hadn't happened. All I could hear in the back of my mind was Elijah encouraging me, telling me I’ll be fine. I was able to gain some strength back, and pushed some of the men who were on top of me. They were starting to undress me too. I got on my feet, and tried putting back on the clothes they had ripped off of me, while trying to run, to find an escape.

After analyzing some of the paths I could have taken, because that was like a labyrinth, I saw one that led to a door, it seemed to me that was the way the guards came in. I ran to it, and wondered why no one was coming to get me, why they were all relaxed, and stayed behind. When I reached the door, I quickly realized it was locked, and they knew it, so there was no point in chasing me in there.

I sat down crying, and one of the guards came to get me. They put handcuffs on me and covered me, just like before. I heard the other women being taken out and told to behave themselves. we eventually arrived where we were going to get hanged. The hanging tree where many other women accused of being witches were hanged. Strangely, as we were getting our necks tied with a rope, each of us on a different thick branch from the tree, a local lullaby from back home came to my mind.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

They strung up a man

They say who murdered three

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be

If we met at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Where dead man called out

For his love to flee

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be

If we met at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Where I told you to run

So we'd both be free

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be

If we met at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Wear a necklace of hope

Side by side with me

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be

If we met at midnight in the hanging tree

I thought about how strange it all was, but I started singing, The magistrates and some people from the courtroom, who I guess have privileges, were there witnessing how we were getting hanged. They all looked at me with a troubled look, they seemed to not have liked my singing or the song itself for that matter. That just made me want to sing louder and louder.

I heard as the main magistrate give the order to release the bottom, where we were standing, and a tear came down my cheek, as my singing stopped and I felt the lack of air coming to my lungs despite every cell of my body screaming for it, thinking of all the great things I had, and will never see again. Then, everything went black...

[majocreativewritingblog]

First Piece-- The Moon

Joelle was sitting, eating dinner with her family, as always. It was the typical boring dinner where her father tried coming up with something to talk about, but was quickly pushed aside by her mother, who was enraged at her daughter because she had skipped class, again. Dinner was some chicken her mother was able to get at the flea market with beans, since big supermarkets have had no food suitable for eating for weeks now. People were trying not to panic, and the governor was trying to keep everyone relaxed, despite the situation. No one knew what was going on, why suddenly livestock started dying and getting awfully sick, as did many people, why days were darker, or why everyone seemed to have changed out of nowhere.

She was sitting there, kind of playing with the chicken, her mother talking to her in the background, while she was thinking about how before this apocalyptic setting occured, she was a happy kid. Even if she was just about to enter college, and senior year at her school is known to be harder and more demanding, she was happy. She enjoyed going to class, being there, learning new things, doing homework, being the best of her class. But then it was as if overnight everything changed. She was not herself anymore.

Joelle then went to her room and got her phone. There were some messages from Trinity. She was this cute girl from school who had just started talking with Joelle, they have been having a good time getting to know each other. Trinity was kind, thoughtful, creative, and had the same sense of humor as Joelle, which eventually really bonded them. The messages were the same as always, they were talking about how they missed class together to go snoop their noses into this confidential project the government had just outside of town, and how they saw the guards and got too scared to keep going. Joelle was really starting to like this girl.

After a while of them talking, and some messages some of her other friends had sent Joelle, She went to sleep. Normally she would have done her homework, but since she did not go to class, and since she was not feeling herself, she decided not to get it done.

Joelle was sound asleep when the vibration of her phone woke her up. She saw the time. It was 3 a.m. It had a government alert-”DO NOT LOOK AT THE MOON”. Joelle was beyond confused, and as she was looking around her room. The light entering the windows from the moon was the brightest she has ever seen. Her phone kept vibrating. She looked down to it, hundreds of random numbers, and some known numbers from distant friends and family were sending the same message to Joelle; “It is a beautiful night tonight. Look outside”. Although she knew she should not look outside, she had this urge becoming bigger and bigger inside of her. As time passed, she was coming to a point where she couldn't control it.

She did not know what she should do, so Joelle went to her parents’ room. They seemed to be asleep, but not like they normally were. They were sitting, looking out the window, but asleep. As Joelle approached them, Joelle could sense that something was not right. A dense vibe took over the room, and she felt like she had to leave. Now. Joelle continued approaching her parents, and as she got a glimpse of their faces, she saw they were purple. But a dark purple. Almost black. She was starting to move her arm to touch her mother, but her mother turned around at what seemed unearthly speed. Fighting back the feeling of loss and sadness arousing inside of her, Joelle tried moving towards the room door, but when she turned around, her father was standing there. Ironically, all she could think about was Trinity. She had not received a message from her, or at least she thought so. Joelle tried moving as fast as she could, and was able to grab a chimney poker. Her father was slowly approaching her, though she knew he could move a lot faster if he wanted to. Both of her parents eventually cornered her, and regardless of her pointing the poker at both of them, they did not back up, she could see how hollow their eyes seemed. Almost as though her parents were not there anymore, despite her gut telling her this since she entered the room, but she had to see it for herself to believe it.

Joelle closed her eyes, and decided to fight for her life. Out of nowhere, she gained some force and speed and was able to hit her father with the poker. Her mother was coming for her with her unearthly speed, but surprisingly Joelle was able to respond faster than her, and was able to hit her too. While this was happening, her father got on his feet again and stood by the door, determined not to let her live. Joelle moved towards him and distracted them both by throwing her father to the other side of the room where her mom was, and she left.

With tears in her eyes, and doing her best not to look at the moon, she got outside the house, and into the car, where she just broke. She couldn't believe her family was gone, but after a while she decided she had to try and save as many people as she could. Joelle checked her phone. It was Trinity. She was worried about Joelle. Her heart warmed up and she started the car engine and got on the road to see her.

As Joelle was pulling up in Trinity’s house, she saw windows were broken, as in the rest of homes around there. The door was open, so Joelle just entered, and started looking for Trinity. Because Joelle had never been to the second floor of the house before, she did not know where to start looking for her. Joelle had only been inside there once because of a party, and she had brought Trinity home multiple times after they started talking, but she had never been to the second floor, let alone in the dark, which is why she decided to start calling out for her even if this could be a little dangerous.

After a while, she found Trinity's parents’ bedroom. It was all messed up, but they were not there, and as she called out for her, Trinity came running out of the bathroom towards Joelle. They hugged and felt each other’s relief. They were both confused, and did not know what was going on. Apparently, Trinity too received a bunch of messages from random numbers telling her to look outside, along with the alert of the government.

After a talk about what happened in Joelle’s house, and in Trinity’s house, which was very similar, they decided to go to where they had gone a day before, where the government had the confidential project right outside of town.

When they arrived, the scene seemed right out of a movie. Everyone had special suits on, no one could look at the moon either, there were helicopters flying above, people with guns running all around. It all seemed apocalyptic.

They parked the car a significant distance away, so they would not get caught, and they started walking. They used the distraction of some guards, who had guns, to enter, and once in, they silently went to a room that seemed to be the concierge’s. There were some clothes which they used to blend in, along with their hair, which they had to tie up.

After walking around for a while, they found an area which led them to a huge room where everything was lit up and there was a machine in the center that seemed to be a flying object. Above it was a flash of light that seemed to be coming from the moon through a hole in the ceiling. They saw a room from which everything seemed to be controlled, although people in there looked like they were panicking, like something went wrong. Joelle, while she was standing there, looking at people becoming distressed, she felt a need to go inside the flying object. She felt intensely drawn to it, so she started walking in that direction. Trinity panicked;

-- “Calm down, we have to pretend to work here, remember?” Trinity said.

-- “Wait, I just have to make sure of something.” Answered Joelle

Trinity was getting more worried as Joelle got closer to the flying object.

People around were starting to notice them.

-- “Joelle, we gotta go. Now!” Insisted Trinity as she tried grabbing Joelle’s arms and jerking her backwards.

Joelle got to the door of the flying object and she tried opening it, but it was locked from the inside. While she was busy trying to get it open, people started going to get them with guns in hand, and yelling things that Joelle couldn't quite make out.

Suddenly, the door went open as the guards were approaching them, and Joelle was blinded by the intense light that was inside the ship. She felt a warm feeling starting to arouse within her, as she felt lighter and lighter. Joelle closed her eyes and ignored the world around her, and a few moments later she could not feel her feet touching the ground. She was floating. She turned to look at Trinity, and she had this shocked and almost scared look on her face. Joelle did not understand, what could Trinity be afraid of looking at her?

-- “Look at your hands,” Trinity said.

Joelle locked down and she was shining too, all of her, but the color of her light was different. There was something wrong. It did not feel right for Joelle.

Joelle was starting to look around to see the reactions of the guards of what had just happened, and they all seemed terrified, ready to put up a fight against her, and as they were positioning themselves to bring Joelle down, she heard a voice. It was powerful, but peaceful, like it came from a superior being, as if it had authority and was wise, but also did not want good things.

-- “What you know as right and wrong is just a social and moral construct taught to you by your fellow partners,” the voice said. “Everything you know to be real will soon change. This isn't who you are, Joelle. The experiment you have just successfully completed shows the courage and strength you have always had, just now you were required to apply your innate knowledge to a completely new setting.”

Joelle was breathing really fast, she was thinking maybe she was having a panic attack, so she tried lowering herself, but noticed she couldn't. She could feel something bad coming.

-- “Now, as a final test, you will have to kill Trinity along with the rest of humans here, so you can go with us. Don't worry, soon you will have all the information you are now longing for.”

[majocreativewritingblog]

Bio Page

The author of this blog is Maria Jose, but she likes to be called Majo. To write this, she sits where she always sits to do her homework, whether it is on her father’s desk, or her own, she likes to change between these places to prevent feeling overwhelmed and unmotivated.

She has an artistic side that every now and then comes out and she paints, or writes or something like that. She is a curious person which leads her to a love to learn new things and always appreciates the beauty in little stuff and in what could be insignificant to others. She is someone who is honest, and lately she has learned to be honest to herself which is the most important. She also has a worldview that makes sense to her and that lets her act accordingly and in a coherent way, creating a positive relationship with her surroundings and people around her.

Although she also has many flaws, she likes to view things with optimism, positivity, and hope. She is used to writing mainly things related to her life, which is why her writing has not been very creative, but she hopes to learn to develop more creative writing skills throughout this blog.

She invites you to read her Creative writing blog, and explore the new and fascinating stories and worlds she has to offer, which belong to different genres.