The Witches (Book #1)

𝔑𝔬𝔴 ℑ𝔱'𝔰 𝔗𝔬𝔬 𝔏𝔞𝔱𝔢

My hands are folded in my lap. The sleeves of my black dress covered my wrists and make my arms itch. I hate wool.

"It should next be proved that witchcraft is!" booms a voice at the pulpit in the front of an old-fashioned church. It's the man from the woods. He looks too young to have that voice.

"The being of such a thing is denied by many . . . Their chief argument is, that they never saw any witches, therefore there are none. Just as if you or should I say, we never met with any robbers on the road, therefore there never was any padding there."

I glance to the side, to see if anyone else thinks this sounds crazy. I discover the pew is full of people wearing essentially the same crap as I am, and hair pieces, too.

"What the hell?" I say.

All eyes turn toward me.

"Do now call for things you do not desire," says the man, his eyes boring into mine.

He takes a few steps toward me. I push past the people in the pew and back down the aisle. A rope grazes my shoulder. I jerk away from and look up. A noose hangs from the ceiling. When my gaze falls back on the man, he's only inches from my face.

My eyes flies open and I grip the sides of my desk.

"Nice if you to join us," says Mrs. Huang, her lips pushed together like a cranky fish's.

To my left, Seulgi looks concerned. School. Right, it's Thursday morning. I rub my eyes.

"Sorry," I say, and look down at Bae Changbin's book on my desk. I don't remember taking it out of my bag. I'm really not getting enough sleep.

"As I was saying, those of you who are participating in the historical reenactment will report to the auditorium for first period. Mr. Wang and Ms. Eung asked me to remind you. It will be the same every Thursday for the next two weeks."

This is so not good news. A breeze blows in through the cracked window, bringing with it crisp fall scented air. The bell rings.

I rub my eyes again and put on my jacket. The Lineages are out of the room without a word. So much for civility.

I enter the hallway, walking at a slow pace toward the auditorium. As soon as people see me, they recoil, like they don't want to chance touching me. Damn that rash.

"Suzy," says Mrs. Linh, waving at me right outside the auditorium door. Her hair falls limply around her face and she has lipstick on her teeth.

Not this. "Is everything okay?"

"Peachy. But I will need you to come to my office after classes today."

"I thought our meeting wasn't until Monday," I don't really have time for this.

"Just the same. I've had a few calls. Not all of them pleasant." She straightens her duck brooch. "Parents worry. As we all do. Some of us more than others."

Great. This is only going to make things worse. What happens next time Yoomi is called to the principal's office? If Yoomi was telling the truth, they could expel me. And wish the way our relationship has been going lately, I wouldn't be surprised if she lets them.

The bell rings. "Okay, well, I gotta go to class."

I open the heavy door and walk the long center aisle to Mr. Wang.

"You're late," he says, and hands me what looks like a play.

Everyone is on stage already. And with Ms. Eung's class, there are twice as many people to watch me stutter through my lines. My mouth goes dry.