Witch Way

Rachel runs through the tavern to the only person who ever believed in her. She kneels next to the blood corpse of her soul mate. “No, please don’t leave me. Not like this. Baby, stay with me. We’re meant to be together till the end of time.” Tears streaming down her soft cheeks, her nose puffy from crying and screaming for the men not to shoot. Salem had always been a place that witches could go to feel safe. At least that’s what Rachel thought.

Why now? Why did the hunters come back. I hate those families. I want them to pay. Rachel thinks before looking down into the eyes of the woman she loves. The woman reaches up weakly, wiping the tears from Rachels cheek.

“Don’t think that. We don’t want to be like them Rachel. We have to show them that they can’t get to us. Not like this.”

“But, they killed you in cold blood without even thinking about it.”

“I’m sure they thought about it.” The woman chokes out, “But you can’t kill them. Their family, like ours has been through so much. What they think is right and what we think is right just collide at times, it doesn’t mean that you want to cause them harm.”

“Always the voice of reason, even in death. How can you leave me now like this? I can’t do this without you.” Rachel chokes out through more tears at the thought of losing the person she loves more than anything in the world.

“You have to, Rachel. Promise me you won’t kill them.”

“I promise. But what do I need to do?”

“Go…” The woman breathes out heavily, “Go to the forest to that old well. Draw a pentagram on the stone, step in and think of where you want to go.” She takes a heavy breath before adding, “Go back to Salem to the witch trial and change it. Witches will be accepted, and I will come back.”

Rachel nods, leaning down, kissing the woman deeply. She whispers, “I promise. I will come back to you.” She stands up, without thinking about it, she turns and runs at full speed out of the tavern, through the town square, to the forest, bursting through the thick tree line. She runs at full speed to the well, messily drawing a pentagram on the stone. She watches in amazement as the well opens up and she steps in, thinking March 29, 1692. The well closed around her, covering her in darkness.

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Erin awakes from her peaceful sleep, panting as she looks around the small familiar room. Sweat dots her forehead. She drags the back of her hand along her forehead in an attempt to dry it off. Pushing the blankets off of her body, she sits up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Erin stands, her legs wobbling beneath her while she cautiously makes her way over to her vanity, sitting down on the small stool. She catches her face in the mirror, which looks both familiar and different at the same time. What is this feeling? It can’t be real. That dream just didn’t happen, did it? Erin thinks to herself while she brushes out her hair.

There is a light knock at her bedroom door, breaking Erin from her thoughts. She takes in a deep breath before answering, “Come in.” She did not recognize her voice either. It wasn’t the soft voice she had gotten use to. It was shaky and unsure.

The door opens and a woman, no more than forty standing in the doorway. She seemed to have notice the change in Erin’s voice as well. Her voice was full of concern, “Everything okay Erin? You were screaming and then it all went silent.”

Erin looks at the woman through the mirror before turning around in her seat, “Yes mother. I’m fine. It was just a bad dream. I didn’t realize that the night terrors were that bad. I’m sorry if I had woken you up.”

“It’s okay Erin. It’s mid-day. I’ve been up for a while.” The woman pauses before continuing, “You best get up and get your chores finished before your father gets home.” She leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

Erin gets up, taking in the room of old furniture, the cabin looking walls, the windowpane with no glass in it and no curtains. The bright light from outside coming in through the window, bringing full light to the entire room. Erin creeps over to the window, looking down at the other log cabin buildings. Nothing was like it should be, but it all seems familiar in some way. She shakes the thoughts from her mind and goes to her closet, grabbing out a floor length leaf green dress with a white apron and a bonnet. She pulls off her floral nightgown, setting it on the bed before pulling the dress over her head, zipping it up in the back. She ties the apron around her waist before brushing her hair back, twisting it in a tight bun on the back of her head. She positions the bonnet on top of her head and ties it into place.

Erin makes her way downstairs where her mother was in the kitchen, prepping food for the day. Erin gives her a smile before grabbing two pales. “I’m going to get water before I do the rest of the chores.”

“Okay, and if you see your brothers or father, tell them that they need to come home tonight. I don’t want them out hunting.”

“Yes mother.” Erin bows her head before heading out the door. She makes her way down the road, walking into town a little bit. It didn’t take her long to make it to the woods, sinking behind the tree line and out of view of anyone else in town.

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Rachel sighs as she looks around the woods, This can’t be. Did it actually work? This is not my hometown. She thinks to herself, looking around, listening carefully to anyone who might spot her. Hearing humming coming from somewhere, Rachel hides behind a tree, peering around it to see a young girl, wearing a green dress.

Rachel smiles to herself, muttering, “Oh shit, it worked.” She watches the girl walk up to the well, placing her pale on the leaver before lowering it into the water. Rachel peers around the tree, stepping on a branch, snapping it in half.

The girl spins around so quickly that Rachel didn’t have time to hide herself, “Oi! You there!”

Before Rachel could blink or move or anything like that, the girl stands in front of her, their faces mere inches from each other. Rachel swallows hard, her eyes matching the girl in front of her. They stand about the same height and weight.

Watching as the girl stands back a little, seeming to study the one in front of her. The girl continues, “You are dressed strangely. You are not from around here, are you?”

Rachel shakes her head, “Where is here exactly?

“Salem, of course.”

“I know that. But what year is it?”

The girl raises her eyebrow, “The twenty-ninth of March 1692.”

Crap. It really worked. But am I too late? Are they in full hysteria? I should have set it to earlier. Rachel gets lost in her thoughts, not knowing the girl was still standing in front of her. She breaks from her thoughts and looks around, ensuring that they were alone. “What’s your name?”

“Erin Cadbury.” The girl responds, her eyebrow stuck in the raised position.

“Shit.” Rachel mutters, running her fingers through her hair, turning away from Erin.

“What did you just say?” Erin asks from behind Rachel.

“Um, right, sorry about that. It’s just a complicated thing and it’s hard to explain.” Rachel responds, her back still to the young girl.

Rachel hears the crunch of the leaves behind her, feeling a small hand on her arm, “You can tell me. I promise not to tell anyone else in town. Plus, if I was going to, I would have done so already.”

Rachel turns to Erin, looking into her eyes, “I know you won’t tell anyone. You’ve never met me, but I trust you with everything I have.”

Erin’s eyebrows scrunch up, taking a step back, “How is that? You do not know me.”

Rachel nods before moving into the clearing where the well was, with the bucket still down in it. She takes the rope and starts pulling on it, the bucket raising. Hearing Erin follow her to the well, Rachel sighs softly, “I don’t know how to say this, but, I’m from the future. So in a way, I do know you and I know exactly what is happening right now with the town and the hysteria. Where everyone is being accused of being a witch.” She pauses once the bucket is fully raised and picks it up, setting it on the ground. She grabs the second bucket, placing it on the reel and lowering it into the well. “I also know that you’re a witch and your whole family is, but you’re keeping quiet about the whole thing, so you don’t go to the gallows.”

Rachel looks back at Erin, who’s mouth was hanging open.

Erin clears her throat, “Oh wow. So you do know me. But how did you get back here if you are from the future?”

“That’s a long story, bottom line is, the world sucks, witches have to stay hidden. I’m here to change that. You might have to hide for a bit, but after a while, you will be able to live your life as a witch.” Rachel lowers the bucket down, letting it fill up before raising it back to the surface.

Erin’s voice turns stern when she spoke next, “How do you suggest that we go about doing that? Because if you have not noticed. This town hates witches and will do anything and everything to them once they find out that witches actually exist.”

Rachel grabs the bucket setting it on the ground, “Well for starters, it might take a minute. I think this water is tainted, but I have to do a few tests on it first to see if we can fix it. But I need a place to work.”

“Um, I guess you can come back to my house. But you will have to wait till night when the town is sleeping. They don’t take too kindly to outsiders.”

“I know. That was the plan. But I didn’t know you would be here in the first place. I’m good with just waiting here. I have to do something first anyways. I’ll meet you at the tree line at dark.”

Erin nods, picking up both buckets by the handles, “Yes once the town is bathed in darkness. I will have to wait until my parents are in bed before I can sneak out.”

Rachel nods.

Erin turns and carefully treads back through the trees, trying not to spill any water.

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Erin makes her way back to her family’s cabin, setting the water down next to the front door. She takes a deep breath before heading back inside, “Mother?” She calls out.

“Yes Erin?”

“Oh. I thought you would have gone to see father and my brothers.”

“No, not yet. But I was about to. It took you a while to get water from the well.”

“Oh, yeah.” Erin pauses, thinking of a good excuse, “It was particularly difficult today. There was someone else out there too.”

Erin’s mother, Mary, peeks her head from out of the kitchen, “Oh, really? Who was it?”

“Um…her name is Rachel. She is not from around here. But we had a good conversation. She knows what is happening in Salem.”

Mary comes through the doorway to here Erin is standing, “What do you mean, she is not from around here? Where is she from?”

“I do not know. She never said. But she said that she can help us not hide our magic anymore.”

Mary raises her eyebrow, “How is that?”

Erin shrugs softly and thinks for a minute, “I do not know.” She takes a deep breath, “She knew that we are witches. Actual witches.”

“Did she happen to say what happens to our family in the future?” Mary asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

“No. She did not.” Erin responds, biting her lip softly. “She is coming over tonight. I told her that I would wait until you were sleeping before I met her at the woods to bring her back here.”

“I need to meet her.”

Erin nods, “I agree.”

“Good, finish your chores and you can help me with dinner tonight. We shall make extras for her.”

Erin nods and goes back outside, making her way to the side of their cabin to the garden, grabbing the hoe and starting to pick the ripe vegetables.

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Rachel spent most of the day sitting in the woods, making sure not to let anyone else see her. She had a bag with her that she had some snacks in and a bottle of water. She made sure not to leave any trash on the ground and put it back in her bag when she had finished. She had a journal and pencil in there as well, which she pulled out after meeting Erin. She wrote a full three pages about the interaction and how Erin was. She knew Erin’s great-great-great-great-great granddaughter, or at least that’s what she’ll say if Erin were to ask. They are best friends and are in the same coven. Then again, the ancestors of the actual Salem witches found each other and were all drawn to Salem on the exact same day. Rachel shakes herself from her thoughts hearing footsteps approaching. She didn’t notice that the sky had grown dark.

Rachel looks up, seeing Erin come into view. She smiles, standing up, “Hey Erin. You didn’t forget about me.”

Erin’s lips twitch slightly in a small smile, “I would not dream of it.” She pauses, standing in front of Rachel now before adding, “I told my mother.”

Rachel nods, “I knew you would do that.” She smiles, “Let’s go. I can’t stay here too long.”

Erin turns without saying another word and starts walking back through the woods, going to town, Rachel following close behind her. Rachel says nothing, letting her mind wonder, I know she couldn’t come with me, but she should see how beautiful it is out here. The buildings, the sky, the woods, everything is so peaceful. Rachel let out a small sigh.

Erin lightly steps up her front porch and opens the door, stepping inside. Rachel follows behind her, seeing a woman and a man standing by the doorway, looking at her. Rachel gives them a reassuring smile, “It’s nice to meet you both.” Rachel takes a step towards the two adults.

Erin closes the door, looking from Rachel to her parents and back again. “You are not mad that my parents know you are here?”

Rachel let out a small laugh, “Of course not. I told you Erin, I’m from the future. I know you. Just as I know your family.”

“But how do you know our family?” Erin’s father is a burly man, standing nearly seven feet tall and towering over the females in the room.

“Mr. Cadbury, I’m from the future. I know your future grandchildren. I can’t say how, but I can help your family.”

“Erin told us, but I think we need to know the how?” The mother adds.

Rachel grabs her backpack, opening the zipper, hearing gasps from around the room. She looks up, her hand buried in the bag. The people in the room all look shock at what she has. Rachel pulls out a vile and a test tube before standing back up, “Um, I need to test your water supplies in order to be able to tell you what I might need to do to put an end to this hysteria.”

“Oh? How do you suggest on doing that?” Erin’s mother asks, watching Rachel closely.

Rachel looks over at Erin, “Do you have some water left from the well?”

Erin nods and makes her way into the kitchen. She grabs a bucket, half full of water now and sets it in front of Rachel.

Rachel smiles, “Thanks.” She kneels down, dipping the vile into the room temperature water, filling it up. She pulls her hand out of the bucket, standing up with the test strip. She dips the strip into the vile, looking at the strip turning a bright shade of green. Rachel sighs softly, dumping the rest of the water back into the bucket with a little plop. She puts the vile and test strip back into her backpack before looking around at the expectant faces.

Erin is the first to speak, “What does that mean?”

Rachel shakes her head and mutters, “It means that I wasted a trip.” She clears her throat, speaking louder for the rest to hear her, “It’s nothing. It’s basically just bacteria in the water, which comes from the underground well. It’s seen in all of them. It’s not what I was hoping to find. Something to explain the hysteria.”

Erin’s father puffs out his chest, “The hysteria is nothing more than girls who got jealous of a man being married and started a rumor.”

“I know. But I’m trying to stop nineteen deaths here and I thought it was going to be a lot easier than it is.” Rachel sighs softly, starting to pace back and forth in front of the Cadbury family. Her mind racing, She was sure that this would work. It had to have been something in the water. What am I supposed to do now. What needs to happen? She sighs, her vision going blurry while she racks her brain with a way to stop the trials.

After a few moments, Rachel feels a hand on her arm, stopping her in her tracks. She looks up, her vision coming back into focus, seeing Erin standing in front of her.

Erin rubs up and down Rachel’s arm discreetly, their eyes meeting. “Nineteen deaths? That is a lot. I know Salem is a small town and all, but that is a lot of people.”

Rachel sighs, “I know. It is. I need a minute to think.” She takes a step back from Erin, looking around, “Where’d your parents go?”

“They went to bed. But they said that we will help you out with whatever needs to be done.” Erin gives a reassuring smile.

“Thank you. Your granddaughter that I know in my time is just like you. So sweet, so determined.” Rachel turns away and sit down in a chair, “I think what we can do is cast a spell over the town that whenever someone accuses another person of being a witch, the town locks the accuser up for an extended period of time. But I just don’t know how that will work. We might have to do something with the water and let everyone forget about the trials.” She shrugs, looking down at her notebook. After a few minutes, she looks back up at Erin, “You should get some sleep, we can decide in the morning.”

Erin nods and heads to the back of the cabin, going into her room.

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Erin wakes up at daybreak the next day, going back into the living room, seeing Rachel still sitting in the same spot she had the night before. Did she stay up all night? And what is in that journal she keeps reading. Erin thinks, making her way into the kitchen, muttering, “Still here?”

Rachel’s tired voice sounds through the downstairs, “Yeah. I told you that I can’t leave here till the future changes.”

Erin peeks her head around the corner, looking at Rachel, who was now slumped back in the chair with her eyes closed. It looks like she was barely breathing, her chest delicately rising and falling. “No. You actually did not tell me that. Why can you not go back until you change the future?”

Rachel lets out a sigh, opening her eyes, sitting up, slipping the notebook back into her backpack before responding, “I made a promise that I intend to keep. I can’t tell you more than that, please Erin, don’t ask me again.”

What is she hiding from me? And why do I have this strange feeling like I know her. Erin thinks, sinking back into the kitchen, starting on making breakfast with the little lintels they had left. She hums quietly to herself, her mind racing for what had happened the night before and the strange feelings she gets from being around Rachel.

The pan was sizzling from the lintels and meat when Erin felt a hand on her shoulder causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. A light focus chuckles behind her, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Erin turned around, seeing Rachel’s bright face looking at her, “It is okay. I do not startle easily. Dinner should be ready soon, and mother and father will be down shortly.”

“Great, is there a place that I can freshen up for the day and maybe change my clothes?”

“Oh yeah. My room is just down the hall. The door is still open, help yourself.”

Rachel nods before disappearing back through the living room. Erin turns back to her cooking, the flames on the stove licking the bottom of the cast iron skillet. She keeps looking into the pan, humming to herself once more.

Taking a deep breath after breakfast, Erin looks to Rachel, the rest of her family did the same. “What do we do now?”

“We need to do a spell, something that will stop this from happening ever again. It has to be during the day with both me and Erin. No men can be there. By the well. I believe this will help the hysteria die down and make it to where witches no longer have to hide who they are from the world. It’s not much different in the future. We still have to hide. I’m hoping this spell will make it to where we don’t have to anymore.”

Erin nods before standing up, “No pressure or anything.”

Rachel lets out a chuckle and gets up, “Let’s go. I don’t wanna spend much more time here than is necessary.”

Erin nods in agreement, following Rachel out the front door.

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Rachel leads the way into the woods, carrying her backpack, careful to keep it hidden underneath her apron. Once they reached the woods and are a few trees deep, she pulls it out, throwing it over her shoulder. Rachel smiles back at Erin, who stayed close on her trail, making sure no one were to spot them. Please let this work. I cannot lose her. I cannot lose the love of my life.

It takes a few more minutes for them to reach the well. Once there, Rachel sets her backpack down next to it, turning to Erin. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more than that. There’s only so much that I can do.”

“It is okay. I completely understand.”

Rachel nods, taking Erin’s hands, pulling her into a tight hug, squeezing her close. “You will in the future. I did this for you.”

“For me?” Erin asks a little shocked by the words Rachel spoke.

Rachel shakes her head, pulling away, turning to look into the well. She takes a deep breath feeling Erin stand next to her. Rachel gives the young woman a reassuring smile, taking her hand, tilting her head back, looking up at the leaves above their heads. “Repeat after me.” She pauses, intertwining her fingers with the girl from the past. “What is past is past.”

“What is past is past.” Erin Repeats.

“In the future everything changes.” Rachel continues.

“In the future everything changes.” Erin raises her eyebrow.

“What is done is done.”

“What is done is done.”

“Take the present and make it no more.”

“Take the present and make it no more.”

“Okay, together now and concentrate.” Rachel says, not looking towards Erin, starting the chant once more, Erin joining her this time. “What is past is past. In the future everything changes. What is done is done. Take the present and make it no more.” They repeat the chant another two times. Rachel lowers her head and looks over the well just as lights start to rise from it. The light shoots straight up and like a firework, bursts in invisible light, scattering everywhere over the town.

Rachel turns to Erin and smiles softly, “That should be it. Go back and go about your day. If you ever get into trouble, I will know.”

“This is it? You have to leave now?” Erin asks with a hint of sadness to her voice.

Rachel nods, “I have to go. I have someone waiting for me at home and I miss her.”

“Well then, safe travels.” Erin wraps her arms around Rachel in a gentle hug again before pulling away and making her way back through the woods.

Rachel lets out a breath of relief, “See you soon Erin.” She mumbles. She grabs her backpack and reaches inside, pulling out a small pen. She places the tip of it on the well and draws a pentagram. Looking down into the water, watching it sink and the well open up, creating a portal that she steps into. Rachel closes her eyes, thinking loudly in her mind, June 15, 2132.

The next moment Rachel opens her eyes, she is met with a tight hug. She smiles, hugging the woman back, holding her close, “It worked!! I can’t believe it worked!!!”

“You know I wasn’t sure if it was going to or not. But I’m glad it did.” The woman pulls back and smiles at Rachel.

“I had to at least try, my love. I couldn’t let them take you away from me. Not after everything we’ve done.” Rachel brushes the woman’s blonde hair back. “The bonnet didn’t suit you Erin.”

“I’m glad we don’t have to wear them anymore either.” Erin leans into Rachel’s touch, their lips pressing together in a soft, tender kiss.