🎵 Music reminder!

On a stone table, a woman cloaked in bandages laid strapped upon her death bed.

Beside her, a single window casted a dull, fluorescent light on her sprawled out figure. Nearby, a silhouette of a voluptuous woman was tinkering with tools: a scalpel, a gleaming gem, and a bowl. Books were scattered across the floor, one open below the victim. Broken potions lined the messy bookshelves. A brewing storm shook the table.

A wicked smirk danced across the woman's lips, her movements confident and daring. She eyed the victim, ready for action. She sauntered over with her scalpel. 

Lighting struck. 

The woman grasped her captive's chin as silent tears flowed down her face. Her victim made no effort to escape, as the woman sliced open her chest.

She ripped into her body, tearing out her heart in one fell swoop. 

☆━━━━━ Salem's Witch ━━━━━━☆

"Mom, are witches really as bad as everyone says?" asked a girl with vibrant pink hair.

As she vigorously swiped through the crinkled, yellowed pages of a children's storybook, the strings of her frog hat swayed with her every movement. Unlike a more typical citrus aroma of an average eleven-year-old's room, Rory's freckled, button nose was enveloped by the scent of words beyond her years from the library of books she had meticulously curated. The tops of neon sticky notes peaked out behind the spines on her shelves, carefully noting all the thoughts in her head that often go unheard by outsiders.

Anticipating the start of another one of their common arguments, Rory's mom quickly closed the blinds and shut her daughter's bedroom door. The bang caused one of Rory's countless drawings to fall to floor. Letting out a groan at the sight of Rory's messy room, the middle-aged woman set the artwork on a wooden desk on top of a stack of papers.

Brigid ran her empty hand through her greasy blond hair and sighed as she felt an eager presence peering at her from behind. In her opposing hand, she held a crumpled map which outlines all of the villages in the Kingdom of Salem with bright red x's scattered about.

Looking downward to her dress pocket, a set of rusted keys poked out, almost as if to taunt the exhausted woman.

Rory sat cross legged on her blanket and brightly smiled a rather toothy grin as she finally made eye contact with her mom. Despite noticing the plump woman's clenched jaw and pursed lips, Rory still insisted on asking her questions routinely. While she did acknowledge her mom's frustration with her, it felt as though her mind threatened to explode at any second from all of its racing thoughts. Storytime was her favorite hour of the day, the one she counted down the minutes and the hour hands of the clock for, so she would not rest until her questions are fully considered— in all their entirety, of course.

"Rory, sweetheart, haven't I told you over and over again that it is forbidden to question the teachings of the Head?" her mom scolded. "I just don't know what I have to say for you to understand how dangerous this situation truly is."

Brigid's narrowed eyes shadowed over the top of her deep, dark circles. In contrast to her normal appearance, it perplexed Rory how unkempt her mom has been this past week. A rat's nest on the nape of Brigid's neck had grown larger each day Rory has spoken to her mom, in addition to the ever-increasing stains on her usually neat dress. She wondered why her mom had let herself go so much. Had she truly been troubling her to that degree?

The bed creaked as her mom sat next to Rory. Brigid removed Rory's favorite hat and looked into her eyes, begging for some understanding. She tucked her daughter's hair behind her ears and then pushed the storybook to the side to scoot closer.

Today, more so than it has in the past, the gap between them felt much greater.

Brigid started off by taking a deep breath. "You're a smart girl, Rory. Smarter than I'll ever be. But I don't think you quite understand how big and complicated the world around you is. You keep throwing caution to the wind and doing whatever you please, without considering that your actions do, in fact, have consequences. Stop looking into everything and just accept what the Head has taught you."

Rory pouted, stealing back her book.

"So what, I don't care if it's dangerous or if people get mad at me for telling the truth. None of this makes any sense. In my storybook, everyone blames the witch for being fooled by the human. The witch loved her so much, but then, the human tears out her heart!"

She dramatically imitated the heart being ripped out. "Why is the witch the bad guy just 'cause she trusted her 'friend'?"

"Because, Rory, the Head says so."

Her mother replied as her eyes darted anxiously between the doors and the blinds. "Please don't say this in front of anyone. You know there's rumors of a witch hunt. They'll put you to death if they think you're one of them."

"But that's not fair! In my stories, witches use magic for good and use their powers to save people from monsters. Everybody always says that all witches do is hurt people, which is a total lie. Why should I stay quiet and listen to the Head when what She's doing is wrong?" Rory explained.

Brigid pressed her hand to her forehead. Her lips opened to respond, but she then hesitated. She contemplated for a second, but after realizing she wouldn't be able to change her stubborn daughter's mind, she decided to abandon caution for a brief moment.

"Darling, I have to tell you a secret, one that I have kept from you for a very long time, but you have to promise me you won't say a word to anyone— and I mean anyone."

Rory's head jerked up and she wiggled her knees in anticipation. She exclaimed, "Yes, please tell me everything!"

Her mom grasped her hands together and cupped them. She whispered a few words, and cryptic symbols appeared on her palms. A small light emerged and gracefully floated off from her hand like a firefly.

"Rory, this is a protection spell."

Her mother revealed. Each time her mother spoke, Rory noticed her mom beginning to slightly shake. It was almost as if Brigid is in a daze, or her brain was on auto pilot.

"Mom... are you a...?"

Even though she sensed her mom's anxiety, Rory couldn't help but be intrigued by this revelation. She could no longer contain her unbridled excitement.

"Yes, and the same goes for you. I need you to practice this spell, and if you ever feel like you're in danger for any reason, use it. Your magic will keep you safe." Her mom's whole body was visibly shaking at this moment.

"I'm a witch too? That's amazing— I'm magical!!" she screamed, hugging her storybook to her chest.

"Shhhh! Please, quiet down. Listen, no matter how much I want to, I'm not always going to be there to save you." Instead of being scared, now Brigid appears defeated. Her shoulders are completely slumped over. Rory's mom pulled her close as tears rush from her eyes, dampening Rory's pajamas.

"I'm so sorry, all I've ever tried to do is protect you. But I just can't, not anymore."

As she listened to her mom's muffled sobs, Rory didn't understand exactly why she was so sad. Isn't this a really good thing!

She pushed her mom off her and gently wiped away her tears. "Don't worry Mom, I can protect you instead. I'm magic!"

An unnerving silence seemed to echo throughout the room, causing a heavy weight to press on Rory's chest.

When Brigid finally spoke, she responded, "I'll always love you, Rory. Goodnight."

Without another word, her mom tucked her into bed and turned off the light, leaving a wide-eyed Rory all by herself.

Why does it feel like she's saying goodbye?

☆━━━━━ Salem's Witch ━━━━━━☆

Author's Note: Well, that's a wrap! It's been awhile since I've last wrote anything. I'm really confident about this project, and have so much planned.

Questions of the chapter: Why is Rory's mom so nervous? Who is the Head?