Hocus Pocus: Rising of a Little Witch

Chapter 14: The note

Another week and a half passed, and thankfully without incident.
The sisters carried on training me to use my
magic, though my progress was slow.
Mary and Sarah were usually pretty patient with me when I struggled to master the different spells and skills. Winnifred on the other hand struggled to keep her frustrations at bay, though I could tell she was trying.
I felt her and I had come to understand each other a little better. She was coming to no longer see me as her little slave girl, and I was beginning to no longer see her as a ticking time bomb that could explode on me at any second.
Slowly but surely, I was becoming a part of their coven.
We had been so busy with my training and just the tasks of daily life around the cottage, that it seemed like we had almost forgotten about the fire or the mysterious black cloak and torch. However, I never lost the feeling that someone was watching us all the time.
It seemed Winnie was also experiencing these same feelings, as I could often sense anxiety on her. Sarah and Mary, however, didn't seem as bothered.
  That was until, Sarah opened the front door one morning, and found something that evoked one of the most blood curdling screams I have ever heard in my life.
I was immediately pulled from my sleep. I bolted upright on my sheets and whipped my head in her direction. She slammed the door and backed away slowly.

"What is it?" I asked cautiously as I slowly pushed myself to my feet using the table next to me.
Less than a second later, I heard Winnie and Mary dash down the stairs.
"Sister?! What's happened?" Winnie asked frantically, quickly moving toward Sarah. Mary was close behind.
Sarah was now leaning on the table behind her. She had one hand on her chest while the other one shakily pointed outward towards the door. She was panting.

"L-look outside". She stammered.

   Mary moved to her sister and put her hands on her shoulders, while Winnie cautiously made her way to the door.
She opened it and looked out. Suddenly, she let out a horrified gasp.

What had her and Sarah seen?

I slowly moved away from my corner and walked behind Winnifred. I tried to crane my head to see what was out there, however just as I did, Winnie turned around and faced me. The stress on her face was plain as day.

"Observe Kaytrina." She said before grabbing my arm and pulling me to the doorway.
There on the front steps was a silver cross. It looked like the ones used during church services. I hadn't grown up in a church going household, but I had attended a few times with Mallory's family.
     At first I couldn't understand why that upset them so much. By the way Sarah screamed, I thought there was a dead body or something out there. Although, they'd probably like that.
After thinking about it a little more, leaving a cross like that at the door of witches seemed really threatening. It was obvious whoever did it, did not mean it in a friendly way.
I continued to stare in front of me and quickly noticed a folded piece of paper tucked under the cross. I grabbed it and turned back to Winnie.
"Look". I said, handing her the paper.
    She took it from me warily and unfolded it. As she read it, her eyes became saucers. Her hands began to tremble
What on earth did it say?
"Observe" she said, handing me back the piece of paper. It wasn't regular printer paper, it was old. Like 1600s old. I'd never physically seen something like it in my life. I looked at the writing. The way it was scrawled made it hard for me to read, but I could vaguely make out what it said.

"No child's youth can protect thou from me. Thou will soon be returning to hell where you belong. The little one too."

The little one? Was it referring to me?

    I looked up at Winnifred.
"Dost thou have any idea who could have written this?" I asked her.

She stared off deep in thought, a nail to her temple.
Sarah and Mary stared fearfully from where they stood by the table.