Melody had gone upstairs to the room she was hoping to turn into a home office, she needed to do something with all this angry energy she had stored up. She realized just how little she had actually unpacked as she looked at the stack of boxes that faced her. Setting to work she began unpacking all the boxes and putting all the various things either on the shelves in the room or walking them to other rooms to put away later. As she got to the last box, Melody found what she was looking for. Her laptop had been packed away during the rush of moving back to the East Coast after the accident, left in the stack of boxes even after she had gotten the internet reconnected. Packing away all of her parents’ things, sorting out things at the business, Alexis’s near constant excuses to try and get her out of the house has left her with little time to want or need it, but she needed it now. As Melody lifted the laptop out of the box, she noticed a familiar journal. Setting aside the laptop she pulled that out of the box as well. She ran her fingers along the embossed cover, and along the spine where the Rowan branch bookmark stood out against the pages. She had never found an opportunity to use the notebook, always too scared that what she would write in it would not amount to the beauty of the journal itself. She flipped open the cover and noticed a note Mrs. Hawsworth must have written that she hadn’t noticed before, “Haec Acta te per tenebras ducant in via tua et te adiuvet ut lucem invenias. Even the darkest times have a light.” Melody felt like she was vibrating again, like she had had a bunch of coffee and needed to run out the energy.
She moved the journal and the laptop to the desk and plugged in the computer to boot it up. Once Melody was up and running she started searching the internet to confirm what she could of Max’s story. Obviously she knew about the Salem witch trials but her knowledge on the subject, if she was honest, was lacking. She loaded the first web page she came across that looked even remotely promising. “The first witch hunts in North America actually began in 1645, forty-six years before the Salem Witch trials. A husband and wife accused each other of witchcraft. While the husband was found innocent, and the wife was acquitted of witchery, she was still sentenced to hang but died in prison. This began a period of accusals across the Massachusetts Bay Colony, along with executions due to witch-hunts throughout New England until 1663. Most of the accused were acquitted, with very few actually being executed. Some of the accused however, were able to escape before trial.The Salem Witch Trials, although the most famous, would not begin until much later in 1692 and only last until 1693.” Melody blinked. She hadn’t realized the Salem Witch Trials were only a little longer than a year, or that there was a much much longer period of witch hunting that spanned all of New England. “Neighbor would accuse neighbor, and the accused would be questioned. Some methods included pressing with stone. An individual would have a board placed over their chest and increasingly heavy stones would be added to elicit a confession or plea, as used in the case of Giles Corey.”
Melody felt like she had enough of an overview of the history of the witch trials in New England and closed the webpage. She searched for a translator and opened the notebook to the message left on the inside cover. “Haec Acta te per tenebras ducant in via tua et te adiuvet ut lucem invenias,” She read while typing into the box. The translator popped up that it detected the language as Latin, “Ok then, so what does this mean in English?” Melody asked, clicking translate. “This journal will guide you through the darkness on your way and help you find the light.”
Her fingers began to feel warm against the pages and the book underneath her hand began to glow. Words began to appear on the first page of the journal. She stared in awe as they swarmed, like bees, to their proper places on the page and the glowing and warmth began to disappear. She picked up the journal to read and Copper came over and placed his head in her lap. Melody began absentmindedly scratching while she read,
“Melody,
If you are reading this it means you have returned from California. And if you’ve returned from California you are in more danger than you can possibly know. There is more to this town than you know. More to your family history than you know. There are explanations you are owed and deserve to hear. I’m not sure if I am the right person to tell you but if you’re reading this, I may be the only one left to tell you. There is much I have to tell you, to teach you.”
There was a knock at the front door. She quickly closed the laptop and hid the journal in the top drawer of the desk. Making her way back downstairs, she tried to catch a glimpse of who it was through the front windows on either side of the door. She caught sight of a familiar Mustang in the driveway and opened the door, reminding herself that Max said Alexis at least did not seem to know of her familys’ past.
“Melody!” Alexis practically jumped her as she opened the door causing Copper to match her energy. Then Melody was trying to dodge two frantic flailing things in the front hall. “Why didn’t you tell me you fell?”
Melody turned an unflattering shade of pink. “You were otherwise occupied. Besides, I was fine.”
“Yes, because Alan stayed to make sure you were fine.” Alexis shot back, flopping onto the couch, Copped quickly darting into her lap. She waggled her eyebrows at Melody. “So about that. Alan stayed! Emphasis on Alan stayed.”
Melody audibly groaned and grabbed a pillow to throw at her. “Mind out of the gutter. He’s still your twin brother. Nothing happened. He wouldn’t even sleep upstairs, he slept down here on the couch. What are you doing here anyway? Don’t you have an interview to conduct?”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Alexis shrugged. “Alan didn’t want me interviewing Bryant. Conflict of interest. So he sent me here to check on you. Personally. He wanted to do it himself but at least one of us needed to make an appearance at the interview.”
Melody groaned again. “He was just here this morning. We had breakfast together and then Max showed up besides its only,” she looked at the clock. “Shit. I did not realize it was already four in the afternoon.”
Laughing Alexis looked her up and down. “Yea I figured you didn’t. Max does house calls now? How long did that meeting run anyway that you are still in pajamas? Look why don’t you go shower and I can take this big mush for a walk? How’s that sound Cop? Wanna go for a walk with Aunt Alexis?” Copper was immediately out of her lap and bouncing.
Melody couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s hard to argue with that kind of enthusiasm. Alright, alright. I’ll shower. Am I being expected to go somewhere tonight or are you merely checking in?”
Alexis got a sly look, “Well, since you asked and since we all know Bryant is going to get the job anyway. I may have taken the liberty of making a reservation for four tonight at La’Belle. Dress nice, it’s on me.”
Melody rolled her eyes. Of course Alexis made reservations at the most expensive restaurant in the area to celebrate her new boy toy getting a job at her parent’s company. “Yes ma’am. You better take a long walk.”
Alexis saluted and went to grab Copper’s leash. Melody headed upstairs to start getting ready. She started the hot water and let her mind wander. She had to find out if Mrs. Hawsworth still worked at the high school, or at the very least was still in town. She had to ask about that message and why it suddenly showed up and the hidden note it revealed when she read it. It seemed like Mrs. Hawsworth could fill in a few more blanks that Max either couldn’t, or wouldn’t, fill.
Melody stepped into the water and let her thoughts wander. If binding her powers caused blackouts whenever she came into contact with magic how could she remember the journal? And Max healing her bruise? And the last few days? She shook her head. Finished with the shower, Melody grabbed a towel and went to find a dress and shoes that would meet Alexis’s standards for the night, shoving the journal and magic to the back of her mind for the time being. Pleasing Alexis when it came to fashion was hard enough without being distracted by the chaos that had become her life.
She grabbed a black dress that tied in a bow at its one shoulder. She rifled through the boxes at the bottom of her closet and found a pair of red heels. “Good enough, even Alexis can’t get mad at this.” Melody said as she returned to the bathroom to attempt to do something with her hair.
“I brought reinforcements!” Alexis called out as she entered Melody’s room. She poked her head into the bathroom and looked at Melody who was attempting to do something with her make-up. Alexis held up a bag and a curling iron. “You’re going to sit and I’m going to work my magic. How’s that sound?” She dragged Melody over to the vanity chair and forced her down.
“It sounds like you came far too prepared for someone who was supposed to just be checking on me.” Melody grumbled. “And like you didn’t take nearly long enough of a walk,” more quietly.
“I knew once I said dinner was on me you wouldn’t put up too much of an argument. Sue me.” Alexis mumbled around the bobby pins in her mouth. “Hold this,” handing her a lock of hair. Over the course of the next hour Alexis did in fact work magic. By the time she was done, Melody’s normally unruly blonde locks were falling into uniform, manicured curls. Melody was still admiring Alexis’s handy work as Alexis finished getting herself ready.
“How did you do this?” Melody asked, as she looked in the mirror for what must have been the fiftieth time in twenty minutes.
“It's a skill I’ve acquired. I’m good at what I do.” Alexis shrugged. “Now let’s go. We need to meet the boys soon. I made sure to feed Copper when we got back, and checked his water. You have nothing to worry about and no excuses, let's go.”
Melody had to admit, since she had moved home Alexis had gotten very good at anticipating her excuses. She used to be able to use Copper as a reason to get out of almost anything. Then Alexis started to either include him, or start helping Melody take care of him in anticipation of them going out. She had even made friends with Max so that way if she wanted to steal Melody for the entire night she could ask Max to watch Copper for them, which he had always done all too willingly. Now Melody understood why but still, it felt nice to know that her friend was still trying to give her a semblance of normalcy.
“Ok, ok I’m going!” Melody said as Alexis began shooing her out of her room and towards the stairs. She made sure to give Copper some pets before grabbing her purse and heading towards the door. “I’ll be home later buddy. Be good!” She gave him another scratch then followed Alexis outside and locked the front door.
Melody got in the passenger side of Alexis’s car. “So are we meeting them at the restaurant or?”
“No, we are swinging by my house first.” Alexis responded.
Melody nodded and then looked out the window. Her mind wandered back to the situation she found herself in. Her office manager was a demon, her best friend and best friend’s brother were descended from witch hunters, and the town had an unknown curse on it. Oh, and she couldn’t forget that her dog was a literal hell-hound. In the span of a few days her life had gone from normal complicated to completely off the rails crazy. If she tried to talk to anyone about it they would think she needed to be committed. The only one she felt she needed to talk to was Mrs. Hawsworth. There was something having to do with her, either she knew something or had something to do with what was going on, that much Melody knew.
Melody blinked as she realized Alexis had turned onto a driveway. She looked around and realized they were pulling up to the McConnell’s house. If you could call it that, the mansion was more like it. “Alright, let’s go in and get the boys!”