The Salem Sacrifice

It’s been almost 10 years… The 31st is inching its way closer, we must prepare. Shhh. Hush now child. The water is ready for her. It’s time. Yes… it’s time. It’s ready. It’s time for it to emerge, and finally... this way it shall come.

“Laddddddy. Something wicked this way comes… ”

I pull out my headphones and look up. I see the twins standing above me and smiling down, both their buggish eyes fixated on mine.

“ Mac. Beth. Cut the crap. I told you, none of that stuff scares me and you know it. Every Halloween season, I swear. Please come up with something better. ”

Mac and Beth avert their eyes from mine and look toward the Salem Harbor, intertwining their thumbs and giggling. They give me one last smirk and saunter away, finally leaving me at peace on my porch with my book.

I sigh and look up at the sky, closing my eyes and feeling the Massachusetts breeze tickle the back of my neck and billow through my long, tangled hair. I reach back to smooth my hair down and accidentally brush past my scar. I grimace as I quickly retract my fingers back. I squeeze my eyes shut as the scar begins to vibrate, causing my mind to get murky. And then… I hear it. I hear a muffled run trickle past my ears with an icy vibration against the scar. I bolt up, shaken, and look around me. Nothing. I see the Halloween decorations cluttering the lawns of all neighbors and sigh. The door opens behind me and I hear the light steps of my mother’s shoes from behind me.

“Lady! Get ready to hit the harbor with your father, bring the fishing rods and bait. ”

I head in towards the kitchen to my mother, observing as she makes her soup. Her long fingers clench onto the ladle as she stops stirring, almost mechanically moving her head back to glance at me. She cocks her head as she stares into my eyes, asking if I’m ready for tonight. I take a step back and ask why tonight would be different, and she just gives me a smile.

“Well, it’s the full moon today dear. I’m sure the water will be extra inviting tonight.”

I slowly turn around and make my way towards my father. I see him and the twins slumped on the couch watching an old witch film as I let out a big sigh. He turns around smirking, “Yes Lady. I know, I know. Witches aren’t real, you can’t wait to get out of Salem. You know, it’s in your history sweets. You have Wiccan blood! Just ask your mother.”

“Dadddd. Stop. C’mon, let’s go and get the fish before it gets dark.”

The twins jump up from their seats and put on their shoes. “We wanna come too.”

My father looks back, surprised, and glances my way. I’m just as surprised as well. Ever since my mother insisted on adopting them 10 years back, right after my incident, they’ve never wanted to go out to the water. Ever. And any form of water. I mean, I know they shower and all, but I’ve actually never seen them step out of the bath before. If I didn't know better, I'd think they were afraid.

“Well c’mon then. You guys can come along with me and Lady here.”

We make our way out to the foggy harbor and get the boat ready. As I steady the boat and get ready to release the rope, I see something dark in the water swish past the corner of my eyes. I slowly walk over and look down, taking a closer look.

Run! Something wicked this way comes…

My dad puts his hand on my shoulder and I nearly jump out of my skin.

“Lady. What’s the matter? C’mon, get the boat ready, we’re about to head out.”

I shake my head and take a deep breath, composing myself as the prickling sensation of my scar heats up my entire body.

As we drift the boat onto the water, I begin to allow myself to fully relax. The murky layers of the dark water have always been an odd form of comfort for me, it was like this ever since I was young… After the incident, my dad was terrified that I would fear the water, but to his surprise, I embraced it. To be honest, I don’t remember much of that night at all… The last thing I remember is waking up under the bright fluorescent lights of the hospital, my dad rushing over to me after leaving work at my mom’s call. But one memory that’ll always be embedded into my brain is the look on my mother’s face, it was a mix of both fear and… glee.

As my dad and I wrangle up the remaining fish into the net, he turns to the twins and asks them if they want to give it a go. They give each other a look as they intertwine their thumbs, asking if I could take them further out into the water to catch bigger fish.

“It’s okay dad, I got it,” I say, hoping to miss dinner with my mother.

He gives me a smile and shrugs his shoulders. We row my dad back to shore with the fish while I promise to have myself and the twins back before supper.

I row us back out to the water, squinting hard as the fog seems to have rolled over completely, engulfing the little shred of light remaining in the sky. Once we reach the center, I reach back to grab the bait and rods. As I turn around, I notice that Mac and Beth are both at the tip of the boat, leaning so forward that their faces are partially submerged in the water.

I begin to hyperventilate as I start screaming, my scar burning red with a prickling sensation. “Mac! Beth! Get out, get out! Get out now!!!”

They both lift their heads out of water and look back to give me a pitying smirk before jumping into the water.

“NO!!”

I throw the rods down and get ready to jump in, but the scar behind my ear begins to flare, feeling like a full blown fire and prickling every nerve in my body. I blink a few times as my vision doubles, I grab the edge of the boat to steady myself and look at my reflection in the dark, murky water. I see… myself, but it’s not. He’s male. My reflection stares into my eyes, his eerily familiar smile slowly stretching all the way to the sides of his face as he extends his hand out to me. Before I know it, I’m submerged.

It’s sunset. I’m running towards the boat on the dock, my little thumb intertwined with his. I can hear my mother’s laughter from behind us, telling us to wait for her. We jump onto the boat and row our way out further into the deep water, the sleepy fog immersing itself around the harbor and hugging onto the threads of our sweaters. My mother hands me a beverage and tells me to drink up, keeping a close eye on me to make sure I finish the last drop. When I begin to get sleepy, I look over and see that mother has her eyes closed, the tethered pages of her copy of Shakespeare’s Witch edging out of her fingers.

He looks over at her and starts smiling at me, telling me that we should look in the water for the secret coven of witches. I roll my eyes and tell him that stuff doesn’t exist, but he states that mother says it’s in our blood and starts sifting through the water as he scratches his scar from behind his ear.

As the fog thickens around us, I begin to hear whispers of voices around me. I feel the scar from behind my own ear burning, the sensation moving down to the pricking of my thumbs… I feel as if I’m out of my own body. I feel someone grabbing me and placing my mother’s book in my hands. No. No. I feel like I’m awake in a dream, I walk towards him until I’m right behind him. I feel the fog tugging at my hand and gravitating towards the back of his head…

“Lady… What, what are you doing? Why are you holding mom’s book? Mom, what’re you doing behind Lady… wait... mom!?”

Thud. Splash.

I break out of my trance and scream.

“DUNCAN!”

I open my eyes. Duncan. I open my mouth to scream, but realize that I’m still underwater. As I struggle to preserve my last breath, I force my arms to move and swim upwards. And then I see them. My eyes widen as I see Mac and Beth swimming towards me, smiles on their faces. They each grab my hand and pull me underneath as I struggle to break away. I kick them off, but stop as I see him. My twin. Duncan.

Duncan looks into my eyes as he extends his thumb out to me and I feel the foggy waters push my hand forward, touching my thumb to his. With our intertwined thumbs, he pulls me in deep and the faces beneath the sea slowly drag me deeper in as I surrender...

***

Dripping wet with each step, they walk past the shore and towards the house. They come to a stop as they see her on the front steps of the porch.

“Mac. Beth. Welcome home my dears. Well, better come in. Supper will get cold. I presume the deed is done?”

Mac and Beth glance at each other.

“Yes. It’s done. Lady and Duncan are together now.”

“And the water?”

Mac puts his hand on her and smiles. “It has accepted the sacrifice. The cycle is finally complete for this decade.”

Mother’s lips purse into a gleeful smile as she places her hands on the two.

“My new twins. My babies. Thank you. I’ll make sure the Salem witches are aware of this, this will bode very well for next decade's sacrifice. The water thanks you. Us Wiccans will live to see another day.”