The park was on fire. Every tree and bush was alight, surrounding the community hall that stood in the middle, on all sides. Flames rose high into the air as frightened voices filled the night. The entire town was present. Half were doing what little they could while the other half stood frozen with fear. With everyone watching the fire, no one noticed the brothers arrived.
This couldn’t happen. Not again.
Kyllian grabbed Kyler as he surged forward. “Let me go.”
“You can’t go in there.”
“The hell I can’t.” He fought against Kyllian’s hold, his panic rising.
“There are at least a dozen people in there.”
“But only one that matters. Now let go.”
Kyan moved blocked his way. “You don’t mean that.”
Anger filled his veins. “Move.”
“No.” Kyan shoved him backwards. “Nobody in that building is responsible for what happened. You’ve carried the guilt of what happened to our family for too long, we all have. But if you rescue Selene and leave the rest to die, you’re no better than the founders. You’ll prove yourself the monster they condemned us to be.”
“And even if you decide you can live with what you did, can Selene?”
Kyllian’s quiet question stopped him cold. She’d never forgive him for not saving more of them. And the guilt of being the only one to survive would consume her, as it had when her parents died, only worse. He couldn’t do her. Kyler watched the scene before him as memories assaulted him. For a century he’d blamed this town, these people, for what they’d taken from him, but Kyan was right. None of them had betrayed his family; none of them deserved his anger or his judgement. It was time to forgive them, and himself.
“I need to get to the river.”
Unnoticed, the three of them skirted the edge of the fire till they reached the bank. Flanked on three sides by the town, the other side of the park ran along the bank of the river. Kyler stepped into the shallows and closed his eyes.
Blessed Goddess, grant me the courage to let go of the past, of my anger and guilt. Give me your strength to undo the sins of the fathers and bring peace.
The water swirled as Kyler reached for his magick. Initially, it rose freely as he drew it in from both upstream and down but then it rebelled and fought against him. The blood of his ancestors, still flowing within it, was refusing to give aid to those who’d wronged them. His eyes flew open as his magick drained away. No, don’t do this.
Through the sea of flames, he saw the hall, its roof burning. Even coming at it from the three sides, the fire trucks would never cut a path before it was too late. He had to do this, he had to.
Kyler pulled back his magick, fighting the ancestors as they tried to take it once more, but he wasn’t strong enough. Not alone.
One hand on each shoulder, Kyan and Kyllian joined him, to lend him their power
Magick flooded through him, releasing the ancestors hold. No longer fighting him, the water rushed to do his bidding. Behind him, it rose like a tsunami wave. He quelled the urge to cover the entire park, fearing the questions it would raise. Instead, he threw forward enough to blanket the space between the hall and the river.
Not a flicker remained as Kyler raced across the blackened earth towards the hall. A padlock secured the first door he reached, another secured the main door. Everywhere the stench of petrol filled his nose.
Sonofabitch.
Smoke billowed from the door as it swung open under his boot. He ducked beneath it, his eyes searching amongst the dark and debris. Panic threatened to overwhelm him as he called out. “Selene?” The smallest of sounds reached his ears.
Debris flew as he cleared a path towards the stage. Heart pounding in his chest he slid back the doors. Tiny frightened squeals flew at him, but he couldn’t see a thing. “Selene?” He scooted back as a figure crawled towards him.
Wide eyes met his face. “Kyler?” He toppled backwards as she threw herself at him.
Tears burst from her as several of his own escaped. “Hey sweetheart, I’m here, I’ve got you, but we need to go.”
Ana’s tear-stained face emerged, followed by several smaller ones. “Is it over, Miss Selene?”
Light flooded the room before she answered.
Frightened, the children cried out, several bursting into tears as fire-fighters barrelled through the now open door. They stopped, as their lights fell over the group. “Is everyone all right?”
Selene gulped back her tears and lifted her hand to shield her eyes. “I—I think so.”
The leader dipped his light. “We need to get everybody out. We’ve cleared a path, but we need to hurry.” He reached out a hand towards Jenna, but she shrank away, pressing tight to Selene.
The display of trust threatened to release her tears once more, but she forced them back. “It’s okay, Jenna. Simon says it’s time to find your mummies and daddies.”
With the fire-fighters lighting their way, Selene led the children from the hall, her hand clasped in Kyler’s. Water rained over them as the group raced along the makeshift path between the walls of fire.
Kyler reached for this magick, strengthening the flow of water gushing from the fire hoses. He pushed it further and wider, turning the tide of control from the fire to those fighting it.
Anxious faces, held back by emergency workers, hovered at the edge of the scene. They pushed through the barricade as the children came into view, and Selene’s small charges did the same. In moments each smoky, wet child, got swept into the arms of their relieved parents.
Paramedics swarmed to assess the children, tussling with parents who refused to let them go.
Ana went without protest, but Selene refused.
“I’ll see my own doctor, thank you.” One look at Kyler standing beside her and the paramedic didn’t insist. When he’d gone, she turned and buried her face in Kyler’s chest. “You came for me.”
His arms tightened around her. “I couldn’t lose you. Not today, not—”
“I knew it. I knew you’d be here.” Selene tensed in his arms as Troy approached. “This was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”
“Back away, Troy.”
Troy didn’t move. “No. I should have listened to Victoria. I should have stopped you.”
“Stop me from what? Saving them?”
Heads turned towards their raised voices.
“From trying to kill them.”
Silence fell over the crowd. Kyler tucked Selene behind him as he faced Troy. “You think I did this? That I’m somehow capable of murdering innocent women and children?”
The cold fury in Kyler’s voice forced Troy a step back. “I—I know the history. I know what today is. You’re here for payback.”
If not for Selene’s presence behind him, Kyler might have pummelled Troy in that second. “Payback? Now there’s an interesting phrase. Just this afternoon you were blaming me for a bunch of things. If anyone wanted payback, it’s you and you’d try to frame me for it.”
Troy paled, stumbling backwards as Kyler advanced. “No. No, I couldn’t. I would never—”
“Leave him alone... witch.”
A collective gasp went up as Victoria stepped from the crowd.
Kyler schooled all emotion from his face. “What did you call me?”
“You heard me, witch. Troy’s right. He knows it, I know it, now everybody else will too.”
Audible whispers rippled through the crowd. Parents stepped between their children while others turned their eyes away. Kyler’s hands fisted at his sides. One hundred years and nothing had changed. It didn’t matter he’d saved their children only moments ago, they would turn on him in an instant. He was tired of being judged.
“If I was a witch, I wouldn’t have needed to lock the doors from the outside, nor would I have had to drown the entire place in fuel to set it alight. I’d just snap my fingers and make it happen, right?” Everyone cowered when he lifted his hand, snapping his fingers. Hard to tell if it
was relief or disappointment that trickled through the crowd when nothing happened.
Victoria recovered quickest. “Well, of course, you wouldn’t, but how else would you make it look like one of us set the fire? You blame the founders for the fire that killed your family. They died, trapped inside the hall and you’ve come back to get your revenge.”
The faces of the townsfolk wavered between who to believe, at least until Kyler’s brothers revealed themselves. No one could mask their surprise, least of all Troy and Victoria, as first Kyan and then Kyllian stepped from the shadows to stand at his side.
“Fuck, there’s three of them.” Troy’s sentiments echoed those of the crowd who now appeared to be siding with Victoria’s version of events.
One, alleged, Everwood witch they might have handled, but three?
Ana moved to Kyan’s side while Selene positioned herself between Kyler and Kyllian.
“Your revenge theory has a major flaw, Victoria.”
The mute girl talking caught everyone by surprise. For a moment, Selene deflected attention from the brothers.
Everyone except Victoria. “Well, shocker. The freak speaks. I knew you were faking.”
Selene shook her head in denial. “I wasn’t faking. I stopped speaking the day my parents died. Until a few weeks ago, I wasn’t sure if it was possible to start again.”
“Oh, please. You expect anyone here to believe that? You played us, just like the witch—the witches are playing us now. I heard the song same as you. That’s exactly how it happened.”
“You’re wrong, Victoria. The hall didn’t burn, it was a boat.”
Victoria laughed. “That’s your story? There was no boat, freak—”
“Yes, there was.”
Cane in hand, Penelope Peterson abandoned her gopher and made her way across the soddened ground.
“Ms Peterson, I heard the song. You said—”
“Oh, do shut up.”
Victoria jerked in surprise.
“Grandmother, have you lost your mind? Apologise.”
Penelope smacked Troy with her cane. “Don’t you ever tell me I’ve lost my mind, nor to apologise to that idiot.”
“Now look here, you old bat.” The crowd gasped, but Penelope didn’t react. “It’s in the song. ‘…Locked up tight inside the hall, we’ve set a trap to catch them all. Light the fire, watch it burn…’, they burned the hall—Ow,” Victoria clutched her arm where Penelope’s cane connected.
“You are as stupid as your great-grandfather. The song mentions a fire, but it wasn’t the hall that burned, it was a boat, just as Selene said.”
“Grandmother, you weren’t there, you—”
“But my father was.” Penelope’s raised voice silenced any further interruptions. “My father was the town minister when it happened. He recorded it all.” She waved her cane at Victoria. “Your great-great-grandfather, Richard Hughes, was a greedy man. It wasn’t enough he was mayor, he wanted the land Everwood estate sat on. He pushed his son Byron into a relationship with young Celeste Everwood in the hope he’d figure out how to take it from them.
“Besotted with Celeste, one night Byron crossed the bridge, hoping to spend a few stolen moments with her. When he arrived, he heard the music and from amongst the trees, he saw them, dancing and singing, activities frowned upon if they took place on the Sabbath. Idiot son he was, he ran home and told his father. The mayor seized on the information, declaring the Everwoods to be witches, for who else would defy the Lord’s teachings in such a way.
“Under the guise of an engagement party, Richard lured the Everwoods to the community hall where he and his posse ambushed them. He had them bound and gagged and taken to an old boat moored on the bank. Every tale said you had to burn a witch to kill it, and the mayor wasn’t about to risk his precious town, so he tossed them on the boat and set it alight. A spark burned through the mooring rope, setting the boat adrift. It floated downstream until it got caught on the bridge that separated the town. The fire destroyed the wooden bridge.
“Many of those involved, took it a sign they’d wronged God, and fled, never to return, but Richard felt no such remorse. A few days later, eager to stake his claim, he tried to cross the river in his boat, but it capsized, and he drowned. That was when my father realised he’d made a grave mistake in not warning the Everwoods ahead of time. He’d known what the mayor planned to do, but Richard had threatened my life and that my mother, should he interfere. Now God was punishing them all for their sins.”
Nobody uttered a sound as Penelope’s story ended, but many shuffled in place in place, uncomfortable having the town’s and their own disturbing history revealed in public.
“So the only question remaining is: why? Why did you set the fire, Victoria?”
Chatter flew through the crowd once more, Penelope’s accusation stirring them to life.
Victoria blanched. “Me?” She gestured wildly. “It was those freaks over there.”
“No. If this was revenge, a re-enactment, then I doubt they’d have screwed up something as important as the location. So if it wasn’t them, and it wasn’t Selene, that leaves only one other person, besides myself, who knew the story who could have acted on the information. So, I’ll ask again, Victoria, why?”
Every eye rested on Victoria. “It wasn’t me. Anyone could have found the song. It’s called the internet.”
Penelope shook her head. “The depth of your ignorance knows no bounds, does it? It’s not online because I’ve checked. Those who took part buried the story deep, desperate to forget what they’d done. My father only wrote the journals to purge himself of his guilt, but he never let it go. It ate at him and was the reason he took his own life.” She turned to face Kyler and his brothers. “For what little it’s worth, I am sorry for my part in this. I’m sorry your family has once more had to suffer at the hands of this town.”
Victoria threw up her hands. “Halle-bloody-lujah, someone who gets it.” She faced the crowd. “The guys aren’t witches, um hello, they’re guys. Any idiot knows there’s no such thing as a guy witch. No, they’re innocent victims, like the rest of us.”
Nobody reacted, Victoria’s complete one-eighty on her accusations confusing everyone.
She eyed the crowd again. “How can you all be so blind?” She whipped back around pointing to Selene. “It’s the freaks who are the witches.”
“Don’t.” Only Kyllian’s quiet whisper prevented Kyler surging forward.
She pointed to Ana. “That freak put a spell on my brother and I know that because my brother doesn’t go for fuglies.” Kyan reached for Ana as the barb hit. “It didn’t matter how often I begged him to fire her, he never did. Thank fuck she’s useless at being a witch or she might have convinced him to date her or some shit. But that one,” she levelled a hateful gaze at Selene.
“She’s got you all fooled. First, she pretends she can’t speak to make you all feel sorry for her, then she miraculously starts dating the hottest guy in town when he could be with me? Please, like that wasn’t some kind of spell. Then she convinces him to get rid of Troy by pretending he attacked her, and to steal the cafe from my father to keep her freak friend in a job. Who else but a witch could do any of that? She’s out to get us all. I was doing this town a favour. I was protecting all of you.”
Faces that had earlier regarded Kyler with fear now gaped in horror at Victoria’s admission.
Troy included. “You, set the fire? But Vicky, there were children in there. Innocent children.”
The first sign of discomfort showed on her face. “Well, that was unfortunate. I hadn’t realised they’d be there until it was too late.”
The police chief and several other officers moved in to surround Victoria. “Victoria Hughes, I’m arresting you on the charge of attempted murder. You have the right to remain—”
Victoria’s eyes widened. “Me?”
“—silent. Anything you do say—”
She struggled against the officer who grabbed her
from behind. “What’s the matter with you people? Did you hear what I said? They’re witches.”
“—can and may be used against you—”
“Let me go. You can’t do this.” The crowd drew back as the officers led her away, her protests swallowed by the dark, Troy hurrying after her.
Kyler surveyed the crowd. No one had moved. Confusion and disbelief filled many of their faces as they tried to come to terms with the events of the past hour. First the fire, the false accusations, and then the disturbing betrayal of one of their own, it was 1918 all over again. History seemed determined to repeat itself, but Kyler wasn’t about to let that happen. He hoped his brothers would be on board with what he was about to do.
“Folks, might I say something?” When no one turned and ran in the other direction, he took it as a sign to continue. “Most of you have never met me. My name is Kyler Everwood, and these are my brothers, Kyan and Kyllian. The story you heard tonight about our family is true. One hundred years ago, the founders branded them as witches which back then was a crime punishable by death. But rather than a humane ending, they bound and burned alive. If I’m honest, the knowledge of what happened to them has made me distrusting of this town and of people in general. For the hatred and violence caused when they act out of fear of people or things, they don’t understand.
“For one hundred years, bad blood has existed between my family and the people of Red River. In my books that’s long enough. Given what’s happened here tonight, I imagine plenty of you are questioning why we’re here, and what our intentions are. Me, I run the animal reserve on the far north side of the Everwood Estate. It’s a place where formerly captive and also endangered animals, from all over the world, are brought to recover and repopulate.
“My brother, Kyan, has a clinic in town specialising in alternative medicine. Meditation, aromatherapy, acupuncture, that sort of stuff. Kyllian runs the Everwood Estate. While we might not have lived here until a few months ago, dedicated staff have continued to maintain Everwood in our family’s absence. The Estate produces much of the fresh produce available in the local market and produces three varieties of wine sold both here and around the world.
A Paranormal Easter: 14 Paranormal & Fantasy Romance Novellas Page 36