Modern Witching

It was Saturday, December 7th in the sleepy town of Ayres, Connecticut. Not only the Good Faith Baptist Church’s bicentennial but also the third anniversary of the Montgomery twins’ death.

The Montgomery twins were Reverend Montgomery’s youngest daughters, Elizabeth and Kelly. The girls died three years prior in a freak accident: they were skating on Howe Lake when the six-inch ice broke. Elizabeth plunged into the water and was supposedly swept away by a monster. Being the heroic sister she was, Kelly dove into the lake after Elizabeth then she, too, got swept away. The sheriff found their bloated, battered bodies a week later. They were frozen underneath the ice with contusions around their wrists and ankles.

The official cause of death for the Montgomery twins was an accident but no one in the town believed that. After all, how could the bruises be an accident? Even so, after the twins’ death’s, the town considered Howe Lake cursed, the home of Satan.

Exactly one year after the Montgomery twins’ death, the Green family moved to Ayres. They came from Boston, Massachusetts. The Green family was a spectacle in Ayres. For they were Buhhdist and they only had one child. A daughter, Emily.

The Baptist town of Ayres welcomed the Greens with open arms. Their daughter Emily was not as lucky. She was furiously teased by the kids in her class for her bobbed hair and her mala beads. Her only refuge in the town was Howe Lake, where she would spend her nights alone.

When someone discovered Emily at the lake, rumours began to spread like white pine disease. Her family had moved to Ayres one year after the Montgomery twins’ death, now Emily was practising some obscure meditations and unknown rituals on Satan’s Lake. That was a recipe for disaster.

Despite the rumours around Ayres, Emily continued to meditate and pray at the lake. Howe Lake was the one place in town where none of her tormentors dared to go, where she could find peace. She wouldn’t give that up.

About a year prior to the Good Faith’s Bicentennial another family became recognizable in Ayres: the Smiths.

The Smiths were a large family who had operated a small farm right outside Ayres for generations. They were a well-regarded family until their youngest daughter, Tegan, started to meet with Emily at Howe Lake.

Emily and Tegan’s meetings began exactly one year after Emily moved to Ayres. Exactly two years after the Montgomery twin’s death. Tegan heard the rumours of the Devil Girl at Howe Lake and decided to investigate. She discovered Emily there and they got to talking. Emily told Tegan about Buddhism and the path to enlightenment. Tegan spread gossip about the locals. Ever since that day, the girls met at the lake every night. They sat underneath the moon to meditate, read philosophy, or do their homework. Their meetings were innocent, but that’s not what the townspeople saw.

“Heathens! Witches! Blasphemous bitches!” Reverend Montgomery hollered at the top of his lungs.

“It’s no coincidence that my daughters were murdered two years ago today! The day that no-good Emily Green came to town, the day Tegan Smith was discovered at Howe Lake!” There was a roaring cheer from the parishioners present at that week's Sunday service. It was the night before the bicentennial. Neither the Greens nor the Smiths were present.

“It was them! Those two witches! They lured my poor girls to Howe Lake. Tegan and Emily broke the ice and dragged my girls down to hell! My Elizabeth, my Kelly are married to the devil because of those-those Satanists!” The Reverend paused to whip a tear from his eye. The whole parish seemed to be crying with him. He continued his voice now a whisper.

“It has been three years since my sweet daughters died, three long years without closure on their death. The time to act is now!” His voice transformed back into a deranged shriek.

“Now! We must bring these witches to justice before they can destroy our holy town! Can I get an Amen?”

“Amen!” The parish echoed in one strong, united voice.

“Can I get an Amen?”

“Amen!”

“Amen?”

“Amen!”

Tegan and Emily were sitting by the frozen lake the afternoon of the bicentennial. It was a rather joyous day for November; the sun beat down upon their pale skin. The grass around them was supple, bright green, and covered in a film of melted ice. Birds chirped to each other in the reddened maple trees.

“It’s such a pretty day,” Tegan said. She laid on her back with her hands behind her head, her shoulders pointing to the clear sky.

“Yeah, but it won’t be for long.” Emily was a few feet from Tegan, right on the edge of the lake where the slush met the dirt. A few moments earlier, her legs were crossed, her hands opened to the sky, her eyes were pressed shut, and she was reciting the ‘Om Mani Padme.’

“What do you mean?” Tegan flopped over. She propped herself up onto her elbows and gazed at Emily.

“The bicentennial is soon.”

“Your parents are making you go, too?”

“Yep.” Emily sighed and resumed her meditative stance.

“Well, at least we’ll be together, huh?” Tegan asked. Emily nodded mid-prayer. Tegan rolled back over. the girls continued on with their rendezvous as the festival grew ever closer.

The Good Faith Bicentennial was like any other fall festival. There was an apple bobbing booth, a pie-throwing booth, a Biblical costume contest, and even a play about the founding of the church. Whilst all the parishioners enjoyed themselves outside, the real celebration would be happening inside the supply shed a few hours later.

Tegan and Emily arrived separately, careful not to draw attention to themselves. But an hour into the festival, about thirty minutes before the Reverend’s big sermon, they met at the back door. The girls sat close together on the cold brick stairs, savouring each other's warmth whilst they shared a blunt and conversed about the energy of the universe.

Ten minutes before the sermon was to start, Tegan put out the blunt and the girls walked back to the front lawn and separated again.

Emily never found her family, for Missy Golvich, the church composer, stopped Emily before she could get ten feet away from Tegan.

“Oh, Emily, darlin’?” Missy said.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“One of the violinist strings just broke and Reverend Montgomery wants us to play an opening song before the sermon. Could you fetch me a new set of strings from the supply shed?”

“Of course, Missy.”

“Thank you so much, honey!” Emily nodded. She made her way to the shed whilst the outside festivities came to a close.

Tegan found her family by the concessions booth with Mr. Friar, one of the church deacons.

“Hey, Tegan!” Mr. Friar said, “Just the face I wanted to see!”

“Excuse me?” Tegan asked.

“We’re about to start the sermon but we’re running low on water. Could you go to the supply shed and get me a case?” Tegan glanced at her father; he nodded to her.

“Go ahead, honey. We’ll be inside.” So Tegan went to the supply shed whilst everyone else rushed to the pews.

The supply shed was located behind the church, past a thin tree line. The shed stored everything a church could need from extra hymn books and bibles to crazy glue and duct tape. Although it had everything one could think of, there was no apparent organizational pattern which made it nearly impossible to find anything.

Emily arrived at the supply shed first to retrieve the violin strings. The strings were in the back corner of the supply room. Emily went over to the giant pile of boxes labelled ‘music,’ and started digging around inside the box on top.

At that moment, the door opened again and Tegan entered. As soon as Tegan saw Emily in the back, she felt a chill on her skin.

“Hey, Em.” Tegan said as she crossed the room to Emily, “Did you get sent to find some obscure thing, too?”

“Yeah, looks like this is where the Baptist banish the blasphemers?” There was a hint of seriousness behind Emily’s quip.

“I guess. What did they send you to find?”

“Violin strings. What about you?”

“Water.”

Outside, a group of fanatic parishioners gathered; led by Montgomery himself. The group was clad with bibles, a can of gasoline, and a lighter. The zealous herd marched from the foot of the church stairs to the wooden supply shed.

“I think the water is by the door.”

“Alright, thanks.” Emily was right. There was a box labelled refreshments to the left of the door. Tegan squatted and went to open the box when she heard the clinking of a chain from the other side of the door.

“What the hell?” Tegan muttered. She stood up and pushed on the door. The door opened a crack. She pushed again, harder this time, but the door didn’t move any further.

“What’s wrong?” Emily asked.

“The door, it won’t move. I think someone locked the chain.”

“What?” Emily ran to Tegan’s side. The girls put their weight against the door to no avail. They were trapped.

“Real funny.” Tegan hollered at the wood. “C’mon guys! Let us out!”

Tegan’s words fell on deaf ears. The zealots got to work with the girls trapped inside. One of the zealots placed bundles of sticks around the perimeter of the shed, another soaked the bramble in gasoline, then Montgomery himself finished the job. He marched up to the bramble and struck his zippo. The flame illuminated his glorious face. He wore an extremist grimacing smile. He dropped the lighter and the flames exploded.

Montgomery and the parishioners left then as the flames devoured the shed.

Inside, Tegan and Emily shrieked with horror. The fire started slow. It licked the walls and crisped the dull paint before hopping onto the cardboard boxes within. The smoke came next. Billows of black came from under the door.

“What do we do?” Emily screamed, her eyes were wide and terrified. Tegan’s head shook with disbelief. She looked around her. The flames were everywhere. There was nowhere to go. There was nothing to do.

The smoke got thicker now. Tegan and Emily could hardly breathe. The flames started to approach the girls. Tegan and Emily exchanged one last look. Tegan pulled Emily into her arms. They stood there in a swaying embrace as the light swallowed them.

As the shed burned to the ground, The Good Faith Bicentennial was lit with fever. Finally, the witches were gone. Little did the town of Ayre know, the true sinners remained.