by Jo Ho
"Try again," he urged.
Rolling her eyes, Marley raised her arm into the air again, exaggerating her movements. This time they heard something click in the wall in front of them. Suddenly the entire wall of brick slid to one side, revealing an enormous library concealed behind it.
The library was octagonal, with several diamond-encrusted low-hanging chandeliers that were suspended from the dome-shaped ceiling. The walls were lined with shelves that spread so high up they could only be reached by the ladders set on casters that flanked each side of the room. The books themselves were not the usual paperbacks found in bookstores. These were ancient tomes bound in leather or crushed velvet with spines of gold lettering that glinted in the light.
"What the hell?" Eve exclaimed, awed.
“Did Christian just tell you that was there?" Cassie asked.
Marley nodded, shooting him a look. “These don’t look like the sort of book you can check out in any old library,” she commented, noting the flush of guilt that spread over his cheeks.
"These books hold all the knowledge that we have gathered from the supernatural community over the centuries.”
“Why haven't you shown them to us before?" Cassie asked at the space where she thought Christian was standing.
"I wasn't really sure whose side you were on until now,” he admitted.
Outrage flooded Marley’s body making her shake. "Are you seriously telling me you thought we were working for Michael?"
"I didn’t know who you were working for, that was the point,” Christian replied, unwilling to shoulder the blame.
“But you’ve been with us for days now! You’ve seen us struggle to make sense of this, but all the while, you were hiding all this information from us?” Marley’s voice raised several notches as she fought to stay calm. “Jesus, Christian, demons have been coming after us!” She couldn’t believe he would keep something so big from them, especially when he had mocked their idea of going to Juju, when the information they had been searching for might have been here the whole time.
“I’m not going to apologize for this,” Christian replied, shocking them all. “I had to be sure you were trustworthy. Look what happened when I met you. I tracked Michael down and was about to kill him when you turned up, used your powers against me and killed me. Can you say you’d be any less suspicious in my place?”
Any outrage Marley felt against him was instantly complicated by her feelings of guilt. She knew he wasn’t using his death as a trump card, yet it didn’t help with the way she felt. Was she always going to feel this wretched anytime it came up? Not wanting him to know the turmoil going on inside, she turned to focus on an ancient book with what seemed like an inch of dust sitting on top of it.
“Why are there more computers in here?” Eve asked, having come into the library to check it out.
"These are hooked into our private network and may contain information that isn't widely available on the other ones, the ones outside.”
When Marley repeated his words, Eve’s confusion was there for all to see. “You have two tiers of computers in the one building?”
Christian barely contained his irritation. "As I've already said, we can't always be sure who the good guys are. We found it best not to give away centuries of magical secrets to anyone who just asked.”
As Eve wandered over to the new computers, having decided that the dust-covered book contained nothing of value, Marley moved closer to the nearest shelf. The books were organized by century, but other than that, the filing system left much to be desired. “Whoever categorized these needs to be fired.”
“I’ll make sure to index them to your satisfaction the next time I'm alive," Christian retorted, sparks flashing from his eyes. Realizing her blunder, Marley bit her lip and decided maybe it was best if she just didn’t speak for the rest of her life. Standing in front of the section covering the 17th-century, Cassie turned to Marley, a questioning look on her face.
“That ghost that keeps haunting you, the one that’s trying to help. You first saw her at the Common right? Where they hung all those people?”
“You think we should look at that Hanging Elm or the Common in general?”
“They do seem to keep cropping up,” Cassie said, pursing her lips thoughtfully as she pulled a book off the shelf, opening it. Marley caught Christian studying them and had to resist the urge to ask what he thought. Clearly, he had no better idea on how to tackle this or he would have volunteered — scratch that — forced it upon them. Marley sat down on the plush carpet next to her as she found a book of her own.
Eve turned on a computer, pleasantly surprised when it booted up quickly with hardly any processor noise at all. A state-of-the-art wireless printer-scanner that had come off the line only last year sat off to one-side, a small distance from the bank of computers. The Guardians knew their tech it seemed and had spent a small fortune kitting up the base with fast-running hardware. She spun around in her chair, turning to face the others. “Hey, Marley. Toss over your exercise book a sec, the one with the symbol you drew.”
Nodding, Marley fished it out of her bag, took aim, then threw the book to Eve who caught it easily. “Nice throw.”
To Eve’s surprise, Marley shot her a grin, flexing her arm. “Swim team, five years running.”
Scanning the drawing into the computer, Eve waited, biting on the corner of her lip, hoping for results to appear. The computer went through the motions before it returned with zero hits. A wave of disappointment washed over her. The symbol was possibly their best lead yet it wasn’t getting them anywhere.
“Anything?” Marley asked from across the room, looking hopeful.
Eve shook her head. “Nothing.” Marley’s face twisted with confusion.
Moving the cursor to search the hard drive, Eve typed in “Boston Common.” The computer took a second to pull the information before what seemed like thousands of files flooded the screen. Stunned by the sheer number of them, Eve clicked on the first file.
She read through story after story about the innocent people — mostly women, though it wasn’t always so — who had been murdered for the most ridiculous of crimes. In some cases, all it took was for a woman to be outspoken. If she dared speak out of turn, it was declared that the devil had possessed her. Eve read about one particular woman whose husband hadn’t wanted to be with her anymore after she had put on quite a bit of weight following the birth of their eight children. He killed her himself by setting her on fire in the common, “to protect his children.” A week after her death, he married a younger girl.
Eve read horror story after horror story, struck by how terrible history had been to people. Cassie and Marley too were overwhelmed with the stories they uncovered in the books.
They read until their eyes stung from dryness, yet still they hadn’t made a dent in the search. Eve wasn’t even close to getting through the files. Doing it this way would take an eternity. Since they didn’t have that much time, she decided a different tack would serve them better. Clearing the menu, she thought back to their visit to Juju’s, to what they had learned from Helena.
Despite knowing how common the names were and not having any other context to put them with, Eve typed in her ancestor’s name “Esther.” As expected, the results went several screens down. She scanned them quickly, hoping to find something of note, but there wasn’t anything particularly interesting or relevant that she could see. Sighing, Eve typed in all four names into the search bar just for kicks, not expecting anything to come up. Drumming her fingers on the table, she waited as the screen froze, as if it were struggling to find the information.
Then the download of information came thick and fast.
Hundreds upon hundreds of hits flooded the screen, so fast that they blurred in front of her eyes. Eve shot up in her seat, clicking on the top headline article. Scanning it quickly, she gasped so loudly that Marley’s head whipped up.
“Did you find something?” Marley asked hoping desperately t
hat it was information they could use. They’d been at this for so long that she was losing the will to live. Eve spun around in her chair, eyes wide with amazement.
“Those four women, our ancestors? They were the last four people killed in the Salem witch trials. "
Chapter 8
MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY, 1693.
Mary and her sisters flinched as another village slammed its door in their faces.
The last few months had taken a turn for the worse. With rumors spreading fear like wildfire, people had become scared of their own shadows. Strangers weren’t to be trusted, particularly those who matched the description of witches. For the first time since The Four had dedicated their lives to helping others, they found themselves pariahs, cast out from those who had so readily accepted their help before. As they had never taken payment for their services, they had no food or money. Seeing how faint with hunger her sisters were, Mary worried for their lives.
They huddled around a weak fire, roasting the one small rabbit Esther had managed to catch. She felt awful for killing the little one: the sisters tended to eat only what they could harvest from the soil, but they were on their last dregs of food. What few crumbs of bread they had were stale, the cheese rotten. As Esther broke off pieces of meat, passing them around the fire, a great clap of thunder roared overhead, making them jump. All day the sky had been covered with gray clouds, but Mary had hoped they would pass over. Her hope died the second a fat drop of rain landed on the ground by her foot.
The heavens opened as a torrent of rain poured down onto them, soaking them to the skin, snuffing out their fire. Jumping to their feet, they hurried towards the edge of a forest that they could see on the horizon. They were too late to save their drenched clothes but maybe they could find somewhere to shelter until the storm passed.
The ground became slick with rain, their long skirts dragging through puddles of water, making it difficult to traverse. As they neared the forest, Catherine pointed to a lone building to the West. It wasn’t much more than a shack, but there was a plume of smoke rising from the roof. It was a home.
The sisters shared a look of hope as they hurried towards it. When they arrived, Mary rapped on the rickety wooden door with her knuckles. A few moments later, it was opened by a young man who could not have been a day older than thirty if he was that. One of his feet was barefoot but the other leg ended at the knee. Several days of growth shadowed his face, and if the dark rings beneath his eyes were anything to go by, he had not slept in days. Seeing the women he couldn’t hide his surprise.
“I am sorry to disturb you sir, but might we trouble you for some shelter from the storm? My sisters and I have been caught out in it. We have nowhere else to go,” Mary beseeched.
The man looked uncertain, though not in the way they had grown accustomed to. His expression was not hostile, more concerned. Conflicted.
“It is not a good time,” he began when an anguished cry came from the back of the house. Hearing it, he sprang into motion, hopping towards whoever had uttered it. “I am coming, dear,” he cried, his worry apparent to all.
Left at the door, Mary shared a frown with her sisters before entering the home. She followed the man to the sleeping quarters, which wasn’t more than several animal hides that had been sewn together on the floor. A heavily pregnant woman lay there with flushed cheeks, sweat beading on her forehead. Seeing them, she became alarmed. Mary spoke quickly, not wanting to cause her any more undue stress.
“We mean no harm. We just wanted shelter from the storm, though perhaps God has brought us here for a reason. We are healers and skilled with birthing. If you will let us, we can help you bear your child.”
The man’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Please. She has been this way for two days now. I do not know how to help her,” he said, his voice cracking at the end. Tabitha took him gently by the shoulders.
“Come back into the other room and rest. We will see to it from here.”
Mary had already rolled up her sleeves, feeling the woman’s forehead for her temperature. She noticed that the woman had a large birthmark on one side of her face that caused her skin to look as if it had been burned. The other side that remained free of the mark was beautiful. She could see that even with her sweat-drenched locks. “We will need hot water and some clean rags.”
The young man nodded, eager to perform this simple task. This he could do. He started making his way into the other room before Catherine stopped him. “What are your names?” she asked kindly.
He ran his hand through messy hair, his eyes dazed. “I am Ben. My wife’s name is Sofia.”
The birth was long and difficult.
It was Sofia’s first. Had they not arrived when they had, it was likely that neither mother and child would have survived. Ben must have known this himself, as when Mary finally presented him with his daughter, he broke down in tears. Staring down at his child, he did not seem to notice that she bore the same facial disfigurement as her mother. He loved her from the second she was born.
Later, while Sofia rested with the babe in her arms, Mary and her sisters sat in the living area with Ben. Tabitha had made a stew out of what she could find and the five of them sat eating, celebrating the new life as Ben explained how, until he had met Sofia, he had not been whole.
As a young boy, his leg had been eaten away by disease. He had tried to live a normal life, but his village considered him lacking. Rather than focus on his abilities, his parents’ were ashamed of what he could not do, while women refused to even speak to him. Ben knew that if he stayed there, he would live out the rest of his days alone. So he left, deciding to travel the world, doing whatever work he could. It was while he labored on a farm that he met Sofia. Like him, she had suffered from a physical ailment, though hers was but a simple birthmark. The villagers did not consider it harmless however, crying that it was the mark of the devil, that she was a witch. When they had cast her out Ben had already fallen in love with her. He could see her beauty even when no one else could.
They made a simple life here together and until that day, Ben had not wanted any interaction with the outside world. He thanked The Four, knowing that had they not appeared in so timely a manner, his family — his life — would be lost.
Hearing the babe cry, Ben went and fetched her from her mother. Cradling the baby in the crook of his arm, he beamed down at her, his beautiful little girl, while Mary and her sisters smiled, bathing in the love around them.
Had they known what was to come, The Four would have not set foot in that shack. They would have let the storm do its will, coldness be damned.
They would have left that poor family alone…
Chapter 9
Hunger made them call it a day.
As they went back to BU where Cassie had decided to treat them to takeout, Marley had been plagued with questions that had entered her mind ever since Eve had suggested that their ancestors were tried as witches.
Their research had shown just how many people had been accused of being witches and murdered. In a majority of the cases it simply hadn’t been true. Which could mean that their ancestors had been innocent and weren’t witches either. On the other hand, as they had personally experienced, magical powers weren’t restricted only to witches. Demons had them as well…
A shudder went through her as she considered that maybe their powers descended from much darker beginnings.
Then there was the fact that her ancestor, Mary — if Helena’s spell was correct — was likely to be White. She didn’t know why she hadn’t considered that before, though it was probably because she didn't really identify with her Asian side. Her mom had left when she was just a kid. Marley felt detached from her, the part of her that was Asian. She identified with being Caucasian, so it hadn't struck her until now that if her ancestor was one of the last witches who were killed in Salem, that would mean her powers came from her dad's side.
Which threw all sorts of problems into the mix.
Her dad hated talking about his family, to the point where Marley literally knew nothing about them. Whenever she asked, he always clammed up, changing the subject until she learned to leave that conversation alone. Well, she had no choice now. She’d have to find out about them, even if it made him uncomfortable.
And it would. It wasn’t only his family issues that would be a barrier, Paul was also super religious. He attended church on the weekend — had done so all her life — and helped out with whatever they needed, be it Sunday classes or summer bakes. Any mention of witchy goings-on would be sacrilegious to him, even if she could raise that particular topic with him. He already thought she was crazy; she didn’t need to add more fuel to that fire.
They had arrived back at the school a while ago, but Marley hadn’t joined the others at the dorm, instead taking the short walk to the history block where her dad kept his office. Having been here once before, she knew her way around immediately. She’d always had a great sense of direction. If she'd been to a place once, she could usually find it again. It was an uncanny knack that she'd always had, but now Marley wondered if there was more to it than that. Maybe it was part of her powers?
A couple of students passed by, having finished with their professors. When Marley reached Paul’s office, she saw with disappointment that the door was closed, the lights off. Still, on the off chance that he could be there, Marley wrapped her knuckles on the door. There was no response. She knew she could call, but what was she going to say to him? She had never been very good at lying to him, and not wanting to tip him off or give any reason to escape this conversation, it was probably best if she tried again another time.
Until then, her questions would just have to wait.