Chapter One

My name is Callum Gravdon, I know it’s a silly name but I gotta live with it. I am sixteen years old, and I live in San Diego California, or at least I used to. My parents decided to ship me off to my aunt Lucinda’s, that’s my mom’s older sister, and by older, I mean older she’s like almost fifty! Anyways, they decided to send me to live with her because Salem Oregon was so much safer, yeah right! This place is full of nuts and psychos! They celebrate this supposed witches execution, like seriously what sane person celebrates a death!? Aunt Lucinda says it’s a long tradition, she said the town has celebrated it for almost two hundred years now. “Well, it’s weird! Why does the creepy town have to celebrate something so creepy!” I exclaim as I play with the little red pendant that hangs from a silver chain around my neck. Aunt Lucinda heaves a great sigh and stops walking, “Because Callum, it’s just a tradition now drop it. We need to go into Mrs. Green’s to get some supplies for the witch scarecrow, if we win we get a pretty decent prize.” She says as she walks into the small store with a green awning to our right.

 I throw my hands into the air and say, “Why is this a thing too!? Why do you have to make the witch that was hanged! Why not make something else, like I don’t know an actual scarecrow!” Aunt Lucinda gives me this look that shuts me up real quick, I huff out an angry breath and cross my arms over my chest.  I walk away from my aunt while she talks to, who I guess is Mrs. Green, now that woman is pretty old. Mrs. Green’s hair is all silver and wiry, then her dark skin has wrinkles as deep as the Grand Canyon! I jump back in fear when a girl about my age jumps out in front of me wearing a witch mask, she doubles over laughing. “What the heck is your problem!?” I yell, the girl stops laughing and takes the mask off. A spark of familiarity strikes me when I take in the girl’s face. She gives me this big grin, I notice her black curly hair is tied into pigtails, and a small light pink and white top hat sits on her head. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember me, Cal! Has big bad California really changed you that much?” She asked.

 I blink and lean in closer to get a better look at her, slowly a smile creeps onto my face. “Addie! Holy crap you look different!” I exclaim as I pull my childhood friend into a hug. She laughs and returns my embrace, “I know right! Losing all that weight sure did help my image, you look different too! Finally got some muscles going on there!” She exclaims as she squeezes my right bicep. I roll my eyes at her sarcasm, “Oh ha ha, very funny Fitzpatrick. The only thing that changed about me is my tan, and my glasses, besides that I’m still the lanky shy kid from six years ago.” I reply with my own bit of sarcasm.

 Adeline wraps her arm around my neck, and drags me down the aisle I was walking down before she scared me. “So, did you move back? You and your parents?” She asks, her voice is full of hope. Her question brings back my earlier mood, I glare at the wall ahead. “My parents aren’t, but I am. They sent me to live with mom’s sister Lucinda, they said Salem was safer than San Diego.” I reply dryly. Adeline laughs and pulls me closer to her, “Well they’re not wrong! San Diego isn’t exactly the safest place in the United States.” She says. I roll my eyes and step away from her, “And like this place is? You guys celebrate some poor woman’s execution.” I reply hatefully. The hurt in my friend's brown eyes stabs at me. I shake the guilt off and frown, “You know...you used to celebrate it too.” She replies softly. I sigh and rub the back of my neck, she’s not wrong. Before we moved to San Diego, my parents and I loved Witches Day, but now that I’m older and have been to a normal city I see how stupid it was. “Look I know, but I’ve matured since then. I just don’t think celebrating a death is a good thing to be doing.” I say hoping to justify my earlier outburst.

 Adeline rolls her eyes, “Whatever you say, Cal. A couple weeks here and you’ll see how fun Witches Day really is.” She replies as she walks out of the store. I groan and fidget with my pendent nervously, I swear she still has that way of making me regret things. I walk towards the back of the store and frown at the various masks of witches, “Remind me why I used to love this stupid holiday.” I mutter to myself as I poke the green face of one of the masks. “You’re alive! I knew you would come back to me!” A soft feminine voice whispers excitedly in my ear, I jump and do a full three-sixty around. Nobody was near me, I furrow my brows in confusion. “Hello? Aunt Lucinda are you back here?” I called, but when I peeked around the corner she was still at the front counter talking to Mrs. Green. I frown and walk down a few more aisles, there was nobody else in them. “Maybe I’m just hearing things,” I mumble as I walk back to the front of the store. Mrs. Green hands to paper bags to my aunt, “Oh, Ida you always have my supplies ready.” I hear my aunt say as she takes the bags from the old lady. Mrs. Green gives my aunt a toothless smile, “How could I not dear, you always buy the same supplies.” She replies as she takes the twenty my aunt holds out to her.

 I clear my throat, the two women look at me. I give my aunt a bored expression and point to the door, “Can we go now?” I ask. She frowns and says goodbye to Mrs. Green, we walk down the sidewalk in silence. “Callum why can’t you just pretend to be happy? Being here is not all that bad,” My aunt finally broke the silence. I frown and look at her, “You want me to be happy about an execution? Not happening.” I say. She sighs and stops walking, I stop and turn to look at her. “I don’t want you to be happy about an execution, I want you to be happy because you’re home.” She says softly. My frown deepens, “Because I’m home? This isn’t home! My home is back in San Diego!” I yell. We stand there for a moment and just stare, I sigh and walk away from my aunt. I can’t deal with this, I just want to go back to a normal town, with normal people. I stuff my hands in my pockets and sigh, I kick a stray rock and frown.

 “I’ll have to apologize later,” I mumble as I walk up the walkway to Lucinda’s single story house. I never did like her house, when I was little I always got a creepy vibe from it. I try to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. “Seriously she locked it?” I ask myself as I try again. I groan loudly and sit down on the steps. I play with my pendent as I sit and wait for my aunt to get home, she shouldn’t be far. “My sweet Gideon please speak to me...it’s urgent.” The voice from earlier whispers in my ear again. I jump up and look around, it’s just me here no one else. I growl softly, “O-Okay seriously! Whoever is doing that needs to stop!” I yell. My outburst is met with silence. I drag my hand through my hair and laugh, this town is messing with me. “Callum honey are you okay?” My aunt's voice startles me for a moment. I turn to look at her, she looks concerned.

 “A-Ah yeah I’m alright, I’m sorry for yelling...I just miss being home.” I reply softly. Aunt Lucinda just nods and walks past me so she can unlock the door. I rub the back of my neck and follow her inside, “So...when are we going to make the witch?” I ask. She looks at me and c***s her left eyebrow, “I thought you said celebrating Witches Day was ‘creepy’.” She asks slightly amused. I roll my eyes and take the two paper bags from her, I walk into the kitchen and set them on top of the granite counter. “It is, but I might as well join in for old times sake.” I finally reply. She laughs, “That’s the spirit, Cal! We’ll make her after lunch okay? She has to be done by tomorrow.” She says as she ruffles my hair. I smile, maybe this isn’t such a bad thing. The whole process of stuffing the witch was irritating, we had to unstuff and re-stuff her at least five times before her body was just right. Then the mask was the second most irritating thing about it, the string had broke so we had to glue the mask on. The glue had made a big mess, it was all over my hands and some of it even got into my hair. Aunt Lucinda laughed at me, she asked, “What’s wrong city boy? Can’t handle a simple scarecrow?”

 I huff and put the pointed black hat on top of the witches head, “I can! It’s just been awhile okay?” I reply annoyed. My aunt throws the old black and white maid's dress she had bought for the witch at me, I catch it and hold it up. “We have to dress it. Are you kidding me!” I yell as I throw my hands up. She smiles and shrugs, I groan and take the hat off so I can slip the dress over the scarecrow's head. I pull its arms through the holes and pull it all the way down, I place the hat back on her head. “There! She’s all done, thank you very much Cal for helping me.” Says Lucinda as she picks the scarecrow up and carries her out of the kitchen. I lay my head on the table and sigh in relief, “When did making a scarecrow become so hard?” I mumble as I lay my cheek against the cool wood of the table. “Oh my sweet child, you are wearing my necklace. You must get rid of it, hurry.” A cold chill shoots down my spine when the voice from earlier whispers again. I lift my head and look around, Aunt Lucinda is still in the other room. It’s just me in the kitchen, “Who keeps speaking to me?” I say softly. My question is met with silence.

 Later that evening, I kept feeling so uneasy. It felt like I was being watched, like I wasn’t completely alone. At one point I could have sworn I saw something out of the corner of my eye, but when I looked nothing was there. I thought about asking my aunt about it, but I decided not to, I’ve already caused enough trouble. “Callum? Are you okay honey? You seem jumpy.” My aunt asks when we sit down for dinner. I nod my head and take a bite from the lasagna she made, now this is one thing I love about being back in Salem, my aunt's famous lasagna. I don’t notice her frown right away, but when I do I c**k my eyebrow questioningly. “I know when you’re lying Callum, what’s wrong sweetie?” She asks again, I swallow down my bite of food and sigh. “I saw Adeline at the store today, we got into a fight.” I wasn’t really lying to her. Aunt Lucinda reaches over and grasps my hand, she gives it a light squeeze. “Oh, honey why didn’t you tell me? Maybe you can go see her tomorrow? She still lives in the house in front of mine, I’m sure she’ll hear you out.” I nod my head.

 That night I couldn’t sleep at all, I kept tossing and turning. Quiet whispers kept me awake, some of them were the ones I had heard earlier, than the others were more...frightening. The more frightening ones, were of a man whispering, “May God have mercy on your soul.” The voice sounded old too. That was the one that really stuck with me, when I had managed to finally doze off, I had a strange dream. I was in the front yard, but my aunt's house wasn’t there like it should have been. Instead there was a huge oak tree in its place, on the branch of the tree a noose swung from side to side. I take a step back and reach for my pendent, but it’s not around my neck. Fear seizes my chest, “W-Where is it!? O-Oh god mom’s going to kill me!” I exclaim as I look around for the necklace. A quiet giggle catches me off guard, I blink and turn around. A girl that looks about twenty is standing there, she’s really pale, her red hair really stands out against her skin. She’s wearing a really old looking black and white dress, and around her neck is my necklace.

 “Hey! Give me my necklace back you creep!” I yell as I take a step closer to her. She blinks her pale blue eyes in shock, gently she grips the pendent in her hand. My feet stop moving when I notice the bruises on her neck and wrists, “What...what happened to your neck and wrists?” I ask hesitantly. She places her hand on her neck and frowns, her blue eyes lock onto my green ones, “I was hanged for something I did not do.” Her quiet reply makes my stomach drop. My mouth goes dry, I swallow the lump in my throat. Slowly I point a shaky finger at the woman, “A-Are...a-are you the witch that was hanged?” I stammer. She gives me a sad smile, I feel dizzy. I take another step back, this time she takes a step forward. “Please do not be afraid Master Gideon, I do not wish to hurt you.” She says. I frown and take on a defensive stance, “M-My name isn’t Gideon you weirdo, it’s Callum.” I reply with false bravery.

 The woman gives me another sad smile, “Yes, that is right. Master Gideon is dead, you must be his nephew, he was murdered by my horrible mother...of which I was accused of.” She says. I double over and laugh, okay there are two reasonings for this. One, she is totally insane, or two I’m totally insane. “Why are you laughing young Master? This is not a humorous thing.” She says again. Slowly my laughter dies down, I glare at the woman. “I am not your master, so don’t call me that! Who in the world are you?” I ask again. She smiles and takes another step forward, and another until she is right in front of me. “I am Alica Paine, the faithful and loyal maid and wet nurse to the Gravedon family. I am the one who was wrongly accused of a crime in which I did not commit. I was convicted as a murderer and a witch.” Her reply made me feel sick. This isn’t real, this cannot be real! I laugh nervously and take a step back, “R-Right, sure you are. Well, I’m just going to go now.” I say. Before I could leave the woman had wrapped her cold hand around my wrist when I tried to pull away her gripped tightened. “I am not lying to you young Master, I need you to listen to me.” She says.

 My heart thumps wildly in my chest, I’ve never felt this scared before. “L-Let go of me!” I yell as I try to pull my hand away again. She wouldn’t let go, “There is something coming for you young master. It wishes to take your amulet, our amulet. You must destroy it or get rid of it, you are in grave danger Callum Gravedon.” She says. “Callum wake up!” My aunt’s voice startles me awake, a gasp for air leaves me when I sit up. I look at her with wide and fearful green eyes, I could barely see her though. I reach over and grab my glasses with shaky hands and slip them on, “W-What’s going on?” I ask breathlessly. My aunt looks concerned, “You were screaming honey, did you have a nightmare?” She asks. I take a deep breath and look down, I’m not sure what to tell her.

 The next morning, Aunt Lucinda kept bugging me about what had happened last night. I keep pushing her off, in hopes of her just dropping it. After about two hours she finally decided to stop asking about it, I decided to go over to Adeline’s. I needed to apologize to her for yesterday. I knock on the black wooden door and wait, the door flies open. Standing there in his white boxers was George Fitzpatrick, Adeline’s father. His shaggy black hair was a mess, and his tan face was unshaven. “Hi, Mr. Fitzpatrick. Is Adeline home?” I ask as politely as I could manage. He frowns and looks over his shoulder, “Adeline, that Gravedon boy is here to see you.” He says. Adeline’s head pops up from behind him. She almost gives me a smile, almost.

 “Go ahead dad I can handle him.” She says as she shoos her father away, he gives me one last glare before he wanders back into the house. “You got five seconds nerd,” she says as she holds up her hand. Slowly her fingers began to go down, I rub my neck and sigh. “Look Addie...I’m sorry okay? I didn’t mean to upset I swear, it’s just been awhile since I’ve been here and it’s taking me a bit to get used to it again.” That was a terrible apology, but it will have to do. She appeared to be thinking over my little apology. She hums and sways from side to side, I groan. “Would you just put me out of my misery already!” I exclaim as I throw my hands up.

 She smiles and pulls me into a tight hug, “Apology accepted dweeb, but if you upset me again my dad just might rip your head off.” She says while laughing. I laugh nervously and rub my arm, “So, what are we doing today Mister Gravedon?” She asks. I chew on my lip in thought, maybe I could ask her about what she knows about the witch that was hanged here. “Actually...I was wondering if you could tell me more about the witch, I can’t remember the story of her.” I say hoping she would believe me. Her brown eyes light up with excitement, “Of course I can! Her name was Alica Paine, they say she killed her master’s infant son using witchcraft, and well back in those days that was a crime worse than anything.” I nod my head, “The judge at the time, Mister Calter sentenced her to be hanged.” She continues. My mouth goes dry suddenly, I grab my pendent and fidget with it nervously.

 Adeline gives me a Cheshire Cat-like grin, “Best thing about it, is that she was hanged on the property where your aunt’s house is.” She finishes. All color drained from my face, my grip on my pendent tightened. “A-Adeline...I think s-she was in my dreams last night.” I reply softly. We stare at each other silently, the silence was broken by Adeline’s loud laughter. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment, “I-It’s not funny! I-I saw her! She...s-she said I was in danger!” I yell. Her laughter stopped, she looked at me with a ‘are you kidding me?’ Kind of face. I shake my head and glare, “Seriously, Cal why on earth would a two-hundred-year-old witch want to do with you?” She asks. I throw my hands into the air and yell, “I don’t know! All I know is that she said that she was a maid and wet nurse to the Gravedon family and that she was accused of killing her ‘young master’ Gideon Gravedon and was sentenced to be hanged! She had the bruise on her neck to prove it too!”

 Adeline slaps her hand over my mouth, “Shh! People are going to think you’re crazy! Look, we’ll head to the library and do some research okay?” I groan and nod my head. We don’t need research, we need some stinking answers.