The Witches (Book #1)

𝔐𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔠 ℌ𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔟𝔦𝔯𝔡

I slide into the navy blue pleather bus seat, and Sehun slides in after me. Everyone talks excitedly as they arrange themselves in pairs. A field trip on a Friday—what could be better? It takes more than a few tries for Mr. Wang to get a word in.

When the class is somewhat settled, the bus lurches forward. I touch the small bandage on the right side of my forehead.

"Does it hurt?" Sehun asks.

I pull out my strawberry lip gloss and put it on. "Not really. More humiliating than painful."

"Everyone's saying Soojung cast some spell on you and that you literally flew across the hall, smashing into the lockers. So, basically, Manyeo's crazy, which we already knew." He offers me a sour candy and I decline.

I agree that it sounds crazy, and a week ago I would've laughed. But I can't deny that every time I get near her, weird things happen. "I sort of had an epic fall."

"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, that was some bad luck."

"Story of my life."

"Seriously, though, I've seen the Lineages gang up on people before. Don't worry; they lose interest. They just get off on people thinking they know magic. You're the perfect target for that."

"Maybe. It's just that the stuff with my house freaks me out," I say before I catch myself. I'm just starting to accept this friend thing, but I'm not ready to tell him about the rock or what happened last night. I haven't even figured it out myself yet. And it all makes me sound crazy.

Sehun's smile disappears. "What stuff with your house?"

"Okay, everyone," Mr. Wang  says from the front of tthe bus. "We are pulling into Soowoon Hill Park. And before we get out, I want to make one thing clear: You must stay in the designated areas. If you don't, you'll spend the entire field trip on this bus."

He ushers us out of our seats and into the parking lot.

"What stuff with your house?" Sehun repeats as we walk onto the circular grassy field surrounded by small hills and bushy trees.

I glance at Soojung and Kai in the front of the group. "I'll explain later."

"As all of you know," says Mr. Wang, "when citizens of Manyeo were convicted of witchcraft in 1692, they were sentenced to hang. Witchcraft was a capital crime, and people believed that if they killed the individuals practicing it, they could keep the devil from taking root in their communities.

"The court set group hanging dates, and Sheriff Chan was charged with picking the execution site. He was instructed that it must be outside the town limits. This location at the time was outside Manyeo proper, believe it or not. On their assigned hanging day, the convicted witches were bound with their hands behind their backs, placed in the back of carts, and pulled up this hill to my left. Shall we go up?"

We follow him onto a dirt trail and up a hill covered in tall trees. The path gets steeper, and my breath quickens. Through the branches to my right, the dark-haired guy watches me. I stop so fast, I almost lose my balance. A surprised yelp escapes my lips before I steady myself.

"They're just trying to mess with your head. Don't let it get to you," Sehun says, kicking the ground. I shift my gaze to our feet and to the last bit of a stick drawing in the dirt of someone hanging. Bae is written above it before Sehun destroys it all with his shoe. He obviously thinks it was Soojung and Kai. Maybe it was.

I look back to the trees, but the dark-haired guy's gone. Did I actually see him, or am I so on edge that my mind's playing tricks on me?

"Keep up, everyone!' Mr. Wang bellows.