The Witch Hunter

by Candace Adams

  My heart hurt watching the fire take his body. I would not bury him. His ashes would remain as they were for God to scatter into the wind of his own accord.

  I was lost in my sorrow. Everything I did, I did mechanically, pushed by my grief. Before I left that place, I took a small gold band I wore on my littlest finger and buried it at the base of Taryn’s cross.

  “I wish I could have put this on your finger while you lived. We knew each other for such a short time, but in that time, I discovered who I truly was, and what it felt like to be in love. You were truly my soulmate. God brought you to me, and the Devil whisked you away. I love you with all my heart and I hope God can find it in his heart to reunite us in heaven when I am gone from this place. I will dedicate my life to doing good and earning my way back into His good grace’s, just to see you one more time.”

  The ride back to the inn was solemn. I was back on my own mare, Jezebel, and I towed Delphine and Martha’s mare behind. We made our way with a slow walk. I was in no hurry to be anywhere. I was covered in mud and ash and I smelled like burnt flesh. It was a smell I would never get out of my nose. I didn’t know how to go on without her. I wished I had burned alongside her.

  Henry took all three horses from me. He looked frightened and his voice shook when he spoke, “Is everything alright, Sir?”

  “No Henry, it is not. And it never will be again,” he stood and watched me as I made my way inside.

  The thorn was empty save for Martha and Harold who seemed to be waiting on word. Martha’s face dropped when she looked into my eyes and saw there was no good news to be had.

  “They are all gone then?” she asked gently.

  I nodded, unable to speak the words out loud.

  “John Stearne amongst the dead?” Harold asked. Martha gave him a look.

  I nodded again.

  “I’ll make up a clean room for you, Sir, and a pail of hot water to scrub with. I know it won’t fix anything, but it will feel better to get all of that off you.”

  I wanted to thank her, but all I did was nod. I felt detached from my own body. I wasn’t even entirely sure of my name. I stood there, not moving until Martha returned and took my hand. She led me to a nice clean room, far from my original one and sat me in front of a pail of heated water. She helped me to undress and wiped the soil from my skin. I sat still and let her work on me. This was more kindness than my own mother had ever shown me. I started to cry again.

  “Now, Sir, it’s going to be ok. Let’s just get you clean and into bed so you can rest a little. You just need to rest and get your head back. You don’t need to be doing any thinking tonight. You have tomorrow for all that.”

  Harold fed me and allowed me to use the room indefinitely until I figured out what I was going to do now. I certainly was not going to continue on with hunting witches. I hoped to find a new profession that would have made Taryn proud. God, how I was going to miss her.

  Alone at last. I allowed myself to break down. I cried hard, until the vessels ruptured in my eyes and I could no longer see. My throat hurt and my tears were exhausted. Before I climbed into the bed, I got down on my knees and prayed to God harder than I had in years. I begged for his forgiveness, I thanked him heartily for the brief opportunity to love the strange woman from the future. However short it had been, it had been the happiest time of my life. I would be forever grateful.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Sam

  The white orb slammed back into my chest with the force of a sledge hammer, knocking me off my feet and rendering me breathless. I placed my hands over the entry point. I could feel the energy spreading out through my limbs, becoming one with me once again. My lungs inflated and I sucked air in like I had been suffocating. The floor of the living room was hard beneath me. I didn’t have the strength in me to raise myself up from my prone position on the floor.

  Images ran through my mind of the man my energy had been drawn to. He was trying to get to Taryn. His evil intentions flared around him like a halo of fire. I know I stopped him. Probably not for long, but I hoped it was long enough for her to be ok. The witch had other intentions though. She had ripped that effervescent ball, which had to have been my soul, from me to do harm, not to help, but I had fought against her, and I won.

  The pain returned to my chest as I thought about how much I loved Taryn. My sister still needed me.

  I had never read much of Taryn’s work. It had always seemed so boring to me. Too academic for my tastes and hard to follow. If I was honest, it was bland and read like a textbook. It was supposed to be factual though, not entertaining. With Taryn trapped in the world she had laid out in her writing though, I knew one thing without reading those dry pages. She was fucked. More than likely, she wasn’t coming back. How would I tell her mother and father what had actually happened to their daughter? Should I even try? They would probably think I had a mental breakdown and have me committed.

  I was determined not to have that conversation. Fresh energy surged through my limbs. “Get up,” I demanded to myself.

  I threw the front door open, running out into the pouring rain. The water quickly soaked through my thin clothing, but I didn’t feel the cold. I stopped in the middle of the deserted street, framed by tall evergreen trees. The moon just peeked out, large and full, from between the heavy rain clouds.

  Tossing my head back and extending my arms out to my sides, I screamed at the sky, “I don’t know the right spells, but dammit, you have to help me. I know you’re there and you hear me. You have answered me before. I need you!” my cries were met with silence.

  The rain was running off my body in thick rivulets. I wiped my eyes and looked up at the moon once more. “I’m going to have to do this with or without you. I have to save her. She is all I have. You have to do something. You’re all powerful right? If you can grant the power to that witch to hurdle Taryn back through time, then you have the power to bring her back,” my voice was becoming hoarse.

  Lights were coming on in the houses lining the street. People were peeking through the blinds at me as I screamed. I didn’t care. Let them look.

  I heard police sirens in the distance. “Oh fuck.” Someone had called the cops on the screaming lunatic standing in the middle of the street. I started to run, the rain blinding me. I screamed the whole way, demanding the Goddess to grant me the power to bring Taryn home, but I never got an answer.

  A bright flash of light gave me a moment of hope. Had she come to help? Was she giving me power? I heard the following thunder crash and my hopes were dashed. A surge of power took me by surprise. My world lit up behind my eyes like a hundred light bulbs bursting at once. I went numb, I lost control of my body and fell into the road flat on my stomach, smacking my forehead on the ground.

  I retained consciousness long enough to see the police cars pull up around me. They encircled me with their brilliant, red and blue flashes lighting up the dark night. I heard a car door open and close right before my eyes fell shut.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Sarah

  I was completely wrecked. I felt a sense of loss that I had not felt since I watched my mother pass and I had no idea how to handle it. My home lay in shambles around me, of my own doing, and I couldn’t feel anything for the destruction. I felt cold and empty, like a piece of my soul had been ripped away and a ragged, nerve lined hole formed in the hollow space, sending electrical shots of pain flickering through my limbs.

  “Goddess curse that girl, and condemn her for what she has done to me!” I knew my words fell on deaf ears. The Goddess was no longer interested in what I had to say. She had abandoned me.

  Warmth invaded my limbs. The hole in my heart mended and the nerves smoothed, leaving me feeling whole once more. I dropped to my knees as a wave of visions began to take flight through my mind. Not visions, memories. My heart began to pound frantically. The past changed, all the hate I had felt for Matthew Hopkins and the pain he had caused me, faded away to nothing as Taryn's willing sacrifi
ce changed history as it was.

  Matthew stopped the witch hunts. He stopped the crusade across the country to root out evil. He began preaching love, empathy, and understanding to anyone that would listen. His acts of good effectively changed the way people thought.

  I cried, laughing with tears flowing, as my childhood turned from an angry existence, filled with only haunting pain, to one that was normal, even happy. My mother still succumbed to the witch hunts, but the calm that followed allowed my festering wounds to heal over until they were gone altogether.

  The visions faded away gently. I was left feeling like a completely different person. The veil of sadness and hurt had been lifted finally giving me peace.

  “Oh, my Goddess. I have to get to Sam.”

  I closed my eyes and concentrated, pleading with the Goddess to restore me so that I could pay back the laws of three and do good in place of the bad I had done. Miraculously, the Goddess granted my wish and hurdled me through space onto the street where Sam was lying, face down in a puddle. I duck down to avoid being seen. Her body was surrounded by police cars with their flashing lights on. An ambulance pulled onto the scene a moment later and she was strapped onto a gurney.

  “If the ambulance is in a hurry, then she is still alive,” I thought to myself. “Blessed be the Goddess.”

  My hair was plastered to my face. My clothing hugged each curve of my body like a second skin. The cold water did not penetrate to my bones, because there was a new and growing warmth inside. I wanted to protect it, to feed it, to stoke it into an inferno.

  Summoning my strength, I arose from my hiding spot and rushed to the ambulance. “Sam? Oh, God, what happened to her? Is she ok? Where are you taking her?” A gentle looking police officer walked to me, placing his hands on my shoulders, stopping me in my tracks. I pretended to comply and stood still before him, I struggled to see around him. “That’s my friend, I was supposed to meet her at her house, just up the hill. Her front door was open. I yelled her name but she wasn’t in there, then I saw your lights. Is she ok? Can I see her?”

  “You know this girl?” the officer asked.

  “Yes, Sir. Her name is Samantha. She is my best friend. Can I please go with her? I need to know that she is ok.” He removed his hands and stepped back, allowing me to pass.

  He whistled to the paramedic, “Let her in the van with the girl. It’s her best friend.”

  “Alright, let’s go then. We have to get her to the hospital quickly.”

  I jumped inside and buckled myself into the little fold down seat next to where Sam lay, while the medics went to work hooking her up to an IV and took her vitals. The door was slammed shut and the ambulance took off at breakneck speed with the sirens blaring.

  “What is wrong with her?” I asked meekly.

  The female paramedic crouched by me, keeping steady even though the vehicle had a terrible suspension. “A neighbor saw your friend running down the street screaming. She was pulling at her hair and crying, and she wasn’t making any sense. Something about a goddess and being sent back through time. The neighbor was scared so she called the police. We believe your friend suffered from a psychotic break but we don’t know what caused it. She is going to have to get some tests done to get those answers,” her eyes looked very kind.

  I prayed to the Goddess to keep Sam safe. I prayed for her protection. Another warm wave flitted over me. She was listening.

  We pulled into the hospital emergency bay and the doors swung open. I climbed out behind the rolling bed Sam was strapped to. Another ambulance came screeching to a halt as we were rushed inside. The body they rolled out was Taryn. Her flesh was red and blistered. Her hair was singed and the smell of fire hit my nostrils.

  “Oh, blessed be the Goddess! She brought her back!”

  Chapter Forty

  Taryn

  I awoke. I opened my eyes and for a moment I had no recollection of what had happened to me. I was in my bedroom, in my own bed, in pajamas I had purchased for myself years ago. My door was closed and all the lights were turned off. The light from a single candle burned on my desk beside my window.

  All at once memories started flooding back to me. From the moment in the restaurant when Sarah Goodfield pinned me to the wall and sent me spiraling back in time to 1647, to the very moment I laid my eyes on Matthew Hopkins, the notorious Witch Hunter General. All the time we spent together, and my friend who died because of me. Oh, God, Elizabeth. Her screams were echoing through my brain. All I could see was the fire consuming her alive. The smoke, the flames, and the look on John’s face as the dagger slid home between his ribs. I hope that bastard was enjoying his time in hell.

  I ran my hands through my hair, felt my face, and looked over the rest of my body. My skin was red in places and scabs from healing blisters were almost gone. I was home though. Physically at least. The empty ache in my chest made me well aware that I had left my heart with Matthew. I sat up and turned in the small lap I kept beside my bed. My room flooded with light instantly and I blinked a few times until my eyes adjusted. I wasn’t sure I preferred electric lighting over the soft beautiful flame of a candle.

  I caught my reflection in the mirror above my dresser across the room from me. I looked like the same girl I had been before this all began. Maybe my eyes looked a bit older, more worldly. I guess that was totally understandable. I mean how many people can say they were burned at the stake? I’m assuming I’m the first, since everyone else stayed dead afterwards.

  What became of my sweet Matthew?

  I hope he knew how much I loved him.

  I had nowhere to mourn. I couldn’t go visit his grave to feel better. I didn’t know what to do with myself.

  There was a soft knock on my door. I instantly wondered, what if, and hoped he would somehow be on the other side. “Taryn, are you awake?”

  I was so happy to hear Sam's voice. My heart did a little flutter dance in my chest. I had missed her so much; I really needed my best friend right now. “Yeah, come in.” I said.

  The door opened and her blond head peeked around the door. “You sure you want company?” she asked.

  “Sam, get your butt in here. I need my friend,” she smiled, opened the door the rest of the way and plopped herself down on the bed beside me. She laid her head in my lap like she had been doing since she and I were kids, and I ran my nails through her hair, brushing it away from her face and pulling apart little tangles. I wanted to tell her about Matthew so badly, but where would I even start. I wanted to cry and spill it all out and have her tell me it’s ok.

  “Are you okay?” she asked me.

  I didn’t really know how to respond to that. “I don’t honestly know anymore.”

  “The hospital thinks you were struck by lightning. They said you were lucky to be alive,” Sam looked up at me from my lap. “That’s the only explanation they could come up with for why you were covered in burns and unconscious for days.”

  “Must be what happened then,” I said.

  “You know it’s not.”

  My hand paused in her hair, “What do you mean?” I asked her. She sat up and took a seat beside me.

  Her blue eyes met mine and all her love reflected back at me. “The night you disappeared at the restaurant; the witch stopped me too. She told me she was punishing you for your love of the witch hunts. I did everything I could to try to get you back, Taryn. I even tried working with her because she seemed like she wanted to help. But she lied. She tried to use me to kill a man that was covered in innocent blood.”

  I held my breath, “You saw John then?”

  “That man was evil.”

  “Yes. He most definitely was. He was the reason I was covered in burns. Sam, he burned me at the stake, along with nine other women. He killed me. But somehow, I was resurrected here when I died in the past.”

  Sam wrapped her arms around me protectively. “I’m not sure how you got back, but I’m so glad this is over.” She had tears in her eyes and I wiped her face wit
h the sleeve of my pajama top. John wasn’t the only one I saw, though,” she smiled at me with an impish grin.

  “Oh yeah, who else did you see then?”

  “I saw you with Matthew Hopkins. You slept with him.”

  I bowed my head, “Do you believe in soulmates?”

  “I guess so.”

  “Matthew was mine. I’ve dreamt of that man since I was a kid, but I had no idea who he was until the witch sent me there. One look into his eyes and I recognized him. It kills me now that John took me away from him. I’m sorry, I love you, but I never would have left his time if I had been given the choice.”

  Sam hugged me again, “But what would I have done without you?” she asked.

  “You did just fine without me,” I smiled.

  “Sure, if by just fine you mean I learned magic, passed out in a puddle, narrowly avoiding being arrested, and was held for three days for a psychiatric evaluation. Yeah, I guess I don’t need you after all.”

  We both laughed.

  “You learned how to do magic?” I asked her. “How did you manage that?”

  “Well, after the witch magically stopped time in a crowded restaurant, I figured if she could do it, I could too. So, I got on the computer and googled spells. Turns out I have a little bit of a knack for it. Really pissed the witch off when I overpowered her spell.”

  “That’s just like you, taking over in a tight situation. Pissing off witches is new, but there is a first time for everything.”

  Sam laid back down in my lap, “I haven’t seen her since I forced her out of my mind. She screamed and disappeared. Hopefully that’s the last of her.”

  I just shrugged.

  “I know you miss him. I can see how much you’re hurting, but I’m glad you made it out alive.”