3. The Hunt

“ Fear makes people hurt other people and do things that end up hurting everyone”

Tina did not accept that I was a witch. She warned me to leave or she would tell the world who I was. I was now in tears. I do not know if you ever tried losing a friend. It is not easy. It is like the worse thing that could ever happen to a person. I quietly left Tina's home and went home and cried on the sofa.

Mum came once again with some warm chocolate and told me that she could guess that it did not go well with Tina. I asked mom does she think that Tina would tell everyone that I was a witch? Mom tried to console me by saying that no one believes in witches anymore. I could see that she was also worried.

I went back to being as normal as I could at school. I had no friends now, so I was very alone and just went from one class to another class. I tried speaking with others, but they would ignore me or walk away. I would hear people whispering as I walked by them. This was so hard for me. I never really had friends for some reason. I suppose it was enough for me that I was friends with Tina. She had the ability to make me smile and not to notice how others ignored me.

Mom told me to hold my head high. I was a good girl that could be anyone's friend. Mom did not understand what it was like at school. She could not understand the loneliness that was like a deep hole that I was in.

My teacher called me after class one day. Her name was Miss Danube. She told me that she noticed that I had no friends and seemed to be depressed.

“I hate to say this,” she said, “I think I know why everyone is ignoring you. Tina told everyone that you were a witch. I know this can't be true. It is some fear that Father Sullivan put in your head. I hope that you will be proud of who you were and know that there is a friend there for you.”

To make things worse, Miss Danube told everyone in the class that I was not a witch. She had a long speech that witches do not exist. Some people consider themselves witches but they had no real powers. She started asking my classmates if they thought it was Christian to alienate me and treat me as if I was something that I obviously was not.

I slumped in my chair and wanted the ground to swallow me up. I did not like being the center of attention. Now the teacher was asking my classmates if they would be a friend. I felt some anxiety and I started to sweat. There was silence in the class. Then the worse thing happened. My pencil went on fire. This made all the classmates look at my desk. It became worse when I looked around and some pencils on other desks started to ignite. This scared everyone and there was a stampede of people running out of class.

I ran home and locked myself in my bedroom. I was mad at Tina. She was my best friend and yet she ruined my life by telling others. Miss Danube did not make it any better, but she was just trying.

Mom came in and asked me what happened. When I did not answer, she told me there was a video of me igniting pencils on youtube. The video was going viral, I slumped in my bed thinking that things could not be worse. Now the whole world knew that I was a witch. Mom was also serious about it and told me that I was not to go to school. We had to think about what we would do now, as Mom was afraid of my safety.

This was something that I never thought about. Would there be a witch hunt? Would people try to harm me? Mom could see my anxiety and assured me that as long as I was home, I was safe as our ancestors protected our house.

The next few days were at home. Mom tried going to work the first day but was sent home, as they told her the old people were afraid of her. Still. Mom tried to be positive and tell me that there is always a rainbow at the end of a storm. I found it hard to believe in it. Being home was like being locked up and it was so boring. Mom told me that the only solution was that we left Salem and tried starting over in a new town.

I sent Tina a text message the night mom told me we would be moving. It was a blunt message that said that I hoped she was happy she ruined my life as we now had to move because everyone was afraid of us.

I expected this message to be a goodbye, and really did not expect Tina to respond. However, she did. I got a message if I could not meet her at the Church, so we could sort things out. She would meet me later that night at 10 pm.

I wanted to meet Tina and show her how she hurt me. I also knew that mom would not let me go out of the house. But this was something I had to do. I put on a hoodie so no one would recognize me while one of my ancestors appeared. She begged me not to go as it was not safe. She asked me could I even trust Tina? What could Tina even do? I could change her to a frog! The ancestor told me that it was too dangerous as It was strange Tina wanted to meet me at the Church. I would have no powers in a church.

I knew that my ancestor would tell my mom, so I quickly rushed out of the house.

When I came to the Church, there was no one outside. The door was open so I walked in. As soon as I was in the Church, two men held me and dragged me down in the Churches basement. They threw me in a cell in the basement.

When they went, I tried using every power I could think of. I tried moving the door and even tried burning it. I tried to teleport myself out. Nothing worked. The ancestors were right. I had no powers in the Church. On top of that, I had to accept the fact that Tina deceived me so I was now a prisoner under the Church!

The cell was dark and cold. It was also moist. There was only a mattress on the ground, a sink, and a toilet. The only thing I could do was sit on the mattress. I knew why I was in the cell. They did not like witches. The question was what they would do with me? I should have been comforted that I was on Church property. However, I did not feel safe.

I will be honest and admit I was afraid. I was also mad at Tina for being part of this trap. I was so stupid. My ancestor tried to warn me and now I should not meet her. I sat on the moist mattress. I would just have to wait until they let me go. I was also sure my mom would be on the warpath. She was an experienced witch and knew how to save me.

I had to wait for nearly 26 hours to be let out of the cell. They even put handcuffs on me which made me feel like a criminal. I was led to a dark room with a big cross. The room looked like a courtroom. I was led to a huge chair and told to sit on it.

“Let me out of here!” I screamed and pleaded, “I did nothing wrong and it's against the law to do this to someone. Let me go and I promise I won't tell anyone that I was here.”

Father Sullivan stood before me and told me that I was going nowhere. I was now the center of a witch trial in which they will find out if I was a witch or not. I started crying and mumbled that I was only a teen. How could they make me go through this? I did not tell them that I was terrified. I did not tell them that I thought they were all evil and crazy!

Father Sullivan did not care that I was crying and afraid. He asked in a very loud voice if I was a witch. I did not answer. He just kept on asking and asking. I knew that if I admitted that I was a witch, they would do something bad. So I just sat in my chair and tried to call my mum and ancestors in my mind.

Father Sullivan just showed the video that was on youtube. He showed the so-called judges how I could make a pencil burn in flames. I must admit that it looked cool and impressive, The judges just looked at it with their mouths wide open.

After people calmed after seeing the video, the priest called on some professor to testify. He explained that the Salem trials in 1492 did not finish the job. In fact, he said that today witches are celebrated and honored, even though people do not believe in them. Hollywood had made witches something cool like they are doing with vampires and other demonic things.

“There is no such thing as a good witch” the professor testified.

Father Sullivan thanked him and spoke with the judges, “You have a hard job here. You are to say if you think that this girl is a witch or not. You must be sure that she is not innocent!”

My teacher Miss Danube was there and shouted, “You men hide in a church playing a game of life and death with a teenage girl. She is innocent. She has not hurt anyone and I know Julia for years. Maybe this girl is a witch, but should she not be judged on her actions and not our fears? Is this the love that Jesus taught us about? No. This is a group of men that likes power and making a teen girl afraid of them. It's about a group of your screwed up puritanic views. Its not a witch hunt, but giving this girl the worse experience a girl her age can have!”

Father Sheehan told Miss Danube to sit down and called for Tina to come up and testify.

Tina spoke in a low voice and never looked at me. She told the judges that she always knew that I was a witch. I showed her since I was a small girl about my powers. She told me that I tried to move her in front of a car and hoped that the car would run her over. She said that I planned to burn down the school. However, she persuaded me not to when everyone left the class after their pencils started burning. She also said I planned a spell on everyone that went to church with some sickness.

I was no longer afraid or sad. I was getting frustrated and mad. Why did Tina lie? Not one thing she said was the truth. I saved her life. I was never so mad in all my life. It was just as good as I could not use my powers. I think I would not be able to control them. I never considered that I had a temper. The feelings of anger and frustration and wanting to get revenge was new.

The priest stood up and told everyone that it was time for the verdict. He reminded them that they were not to be tolerant or politically correct. They were to judge on the facts that were presented. There was no room for tolerance.

If they said I was a witch, I would not be burnt at the stake or drowned. I would be sent to a convent in the alps and locked in a cell for life. Father Sullivan told them that this was a much more humane sentence than death. The Church would control my powers and they would control me.

I felt my anger build up as the verdict was announced.

They said that I was a witch and dangerous for all humanity

To be continued