The Witches (Book #1)

𝔐𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔢𝔬 ℑ𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔏𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔒𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔓𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔰

I make a left onto Geom-eun Sae Lane, dreading the idea of going home. It's Friday night, and the only thing waiting for me is a ghost who hates me. And Sehun . . . I can't even think about him without getting sick with embarrassment. The only thing I have to look forward to is finally visiting my dad on Sunday, when they transfer him to Suwoon.

I stare at my door without opening it. "Screw this," I say to the house.

I drop my shoulder bag by the side door and turn toward town. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm sick of feeling like someone's going to attack me all the time. I need some space.

I travel down the sidewalk, looking at the pretty hanoks and quaint shops. People have already started to put out Halloween decorations even though it's mid-September. Coffee sounds perfect, I think as I stop in front of a little café named The Brew.

I open the door and a bell chimes. Freshly ground beans and holiday spices fill the honey-colored shop. No one is in line.

"Pumpkin latte," I say to a girl with a high ponytail behind the counter.

"Yup," says the girl, and grabs a cup. "Last name?" she asks with a marker in hand.

You've got to be kidding me. I go into the one freaking coffee shop that writes your last name on the cup instead of your first? This is just not my day.

"Bae," I say quickly, and hand her my credit card.

The recognition clicks. Great. Usually when I have a bad day like this, I put on my jams, get in bed with some mint chocolate chip ice cream, and watch funny movies until I feel better. But the last place I want to be is in my room.

"Iced Americano for Bae!" announces the girl.

Really? You need to yell that? I snatch my americano and give her the stink eye. The cup holder has a coffee stain on it that looks remarkably like a noose. I glance around the shop suspiciously. A few of the customers eye me with thinly veiled judgment. Is it gonna be like this every time I leave the house?

"Why, yes," I say to the judgy starers with a dramatic accent. "I'm one of those Baes." The few people not watching now turn toward me. "We do eat babies, but only on Fridays. Oh, wait. It is Friday." One woman grabs her boyfriend's hand and walks out.

"Afraid my curse is going to rub off on you? Oooh!" I wave my hands, americano included, in the air. Then I stick my tongue out at the lot of them and stamp out. I know there was nothing mature about it, but it did make me feel a little better.

I zigzag through the streets until the sun goes down, counting hanoks and houses and how many shop names allude to witches or witchcraft. By one of the antique iron lampposts on the edge of town rest a bouquet of roses and an unlit black candle. Someone must have died here. Probably a car accident. For a moment, I think the roses are black, too, but when I get closer, I realize they're dark purple.

A few kids from my school walk past me on the sidewalk headed for the lit-up shops. They point and whisper. I pull up my hood, hoping to disappear in its shadow, and keep walking. This sucks.

I cut through an alley and wind up at the entrance of Old Burying Point. It's surrounded by trees and the backs of old wooden buildings, oddly tucked away in the center of town.

It's cold, now that I'm not speed-walking. Also, it's way darker. Where did the lampposts go? Large gray stones line the ground before the cemetery. I step onto them, leaving the brick of the sidewalk behind, and realize there are words engraved under my feet. I bend down.

"I am wholly innocent of such wickedness," I read out loud.

"Baek Meiwoo said that at her trial," says a girl's voice. I turn to find Seulgi standing behind me, wearing a black ballerina dress. How did she know it was me with my hood up? Was she following me?