The Salem Witch

Chapter 1

"She's a witch"

I almost jumped as I overheard a conversation while walking down the street. Did they know what I was? I searched the minds of the citizens around me and found the two that had the words: "She's a witch" fading in their memories. I lingered around the two men who had uttered the words, listening both physically and mentally. Relief washed over me as I realized that they weren't talking about me, they hadn't even noticed me, they were talking about a woman called Tituba. Nothing concerning me.

I turned to leave, passing houses that looked like boring duplicates of each other, triangular roofs, with an exterior made of dark wood. The sun behind me reflected off the windows painfully, and I looked away. I caught another thought about witches, but this time about a woman named Sarah Osborne. Why is everyone suddenly worried about witches?

I myself was a witch, and I knew that we held great power. But everyone in Salem was scared of us for another reason. They believed we worked for the devil, that may be true, but not all of us did. I just wanted to be able to have magic without being targeted for it. Then a thought hit me, Was there another witch in Salem? Did they- find me?

"We're going to die, there are witches among us!" I was pulled out of the grasp of my memories as I heard a woman whisper to her friend. "What's happening?" I asked, confronting her. She eyed me warily, but replied, "Betty Paris and Abigail Williams have been cursed by witches-" but she was cut off as her friend moved her away. Betty Paris and Abigail Williams? Wasn't Betty the daughter of the minister? Samuel Paris, right?

I returned to my walking. I have some questions for them.

                                                        ·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

I observed the minister's house from high in the sky on my broom, dark purple with brushes that were like crow feathers and a violet gem at the part where the shaft met the bristles. I had changed into a more witchy attire, a simple black dress with a black witch hat, as well as black leggings.

Alright, let's interrogate Betty Paris. I jumped down from my broom, catching hold of it as I fell, and its magic gently brought me down to the entrance of Betty Paris's house. Her house had the same basic build as everyone else's, two stories tall with windows equally spaced on each side. The basicness somehow made it fancy and imposing, and the dark colors didn't help.

I placed my hand on the metal doorknob, which was cold to the touch. A tingle of power flowed through my hand as I magically unlocked the door, turning the doorknob silently and pushing it open slowly. Thank god the door didn't start creaking like crazy. It always seems so loud when it does that. I walked in, holding my broom like it was a staff, taking slow steps to make sure I didn't awaken anyone. Should I take my shoes off? One unbalancing movement could make my steps much louder. The moonlight shone through the window, giving the room a pale gray filter, making it possible to see, but barely.

I stepped up the stairs, pausing after each step to listen for any movement, and my heart leaped when the floorboard creaked under me. I froze for a good minute or so, my ears searching for signs that the Paris's had been awakened. I let out a sigh of relief, silently though, as I realized that they were all asleep.

I crept onto the second floor, and searched for Betty Paris's mind. Since they were all asleep, I couldn't tell which mind was who, but two of them were together in the same room and the other was in solitary. I would be taking a risk, but I chose to open the room with one person, it would be more likely that Betty was sleeping by herself.

I sneaked to the bedroom door where Betty was presumably. I silently turned the handle and pushed the wooden door open an inch. If any of the two parents were in this room I would be screwed. Thankfully, the body in the bed was small and curled together, with curly black hair falling to its shoulders. I walked over to Betty's bed, draping a thin veil from my hat to cover my face, while still letting me see. Then I paused. How do I wake her? After a minute of standing there and cycling through the options, I decided to prod her on the shoulder, not sure how else I could do it.