I have lived in a small town my whole life and I never knew just how odd my little town is. I never thought it was a very special town, but it does have quite an interesting beginning.

Once upon a time, the mountain S was known to be a gathering place of witches. There are many local legends about it, how every third full moon witches would be seen flying around on their brooms, changing people into pigs, cursing the crops, just overall being evil. That was not all they were known for. These witches would come from all corners of the world and they would get bored while flying, so to pass the time they would sing. It was said that each witch had a different song and different people got attracted to different songs. Some witches sang about first loves and men and women who only knew their first love would follow, some sang about heartbreak and those who knew heartbreak would follow. Some sang about murder and mayhem, and those who know murder would follow. So not only did the witches gather on the mountain every third full moon, sometimes they would bring wanderers with them. Those wanderers would try and go up the mountains to follow the song, and if they would succeed they would never be heard from again. They were usually killed on the way by animals or thieves or other wanderers, but sometimes they would make it up the mountain just to be eaten by the witches. Or so the legend goes. It was a cruel world, but witches made it even worse.

The town was founded by a family looking for their father. A brave young woman packed up her kids and all their belongings and went looking for her man, who got seduced by a song. When she arrived at the foot of the mountain she could not cross the forest to reach the mountain. She set up camp, thinking about what to do. That's when a wanderer came into her camp, confused and in search of the song he had been hearing. She talked to him and somehow she broke the spell, made the wanderer see reason and he returned to his family. The woman whose name is lost to history made it her life goal to save as many people as she can from the witches' songs. She and her children would start building a village at the foot of the mountain, right at the edge of the dark forest.

Many wanderers had nothing in their life and they felt obligated to the woman and her family, so they stayed in the village and helped others. The woman never found her husband and she died of heartache only a few years after building the first house in the village. Upon her death they made a statue of her, looking toward the mountain with stretched hands as if she was still waiting for her beloved to come down to her. It would seem that her children had inherited whatever helped the woman break a song curse, so they continued her work, helping more and more people. The village grew into a town and soon more people would leave the town than wander into it. The founding family grew as well and they would buy up the land around the mountains and build more and more towns until the whole mountain was surrounded by forest and towns. It was a way to make sure that no wanderer would get lost.

I was born in one of the founding families. I did not watch Disney cartoons or read fairy tales, I would rather listen to the family stories about witches and their curses. My family had a library of stories, real life stories of encounters and meetings. And we also had rules. You are told about the rules on your day of birth and you are reminded of them every day until you know them by heart and you live and breathe the rules. Whether you want to or not, as a child in the founding family, rules are everything.

The very first rule is, know your neighbours. We would have parties for entire neighborhoods, getting to know every family that moves close to us. My aunt's entire branch of the family was involved in real estate and they made very sure who they were selling the house to. Not only that, being a large family there was an aunt or cousin in almost every part of the town, making sure everything is alright. I know, I know, it's almost like the mob. It sure felt that way sometimes… but we made sure we knew the people on our street, their history and all. It was very important not to be tricked by someone pretending to be your neighbour.

The second rule was, no homeless people. This one was always weird to me. Like what if homeless people from Seattle would come here, would we still take care of them? We had a system in place for the homeless people. First of all, the police were basically in my grandfather's pocket and every time they would encounter someone who looked remotely homeless they would escort them to a shelter. The shelter was designed in such a way that it helped you get on your feet. They found you a job, a small apartment, and made sure you have everything you need to stay off the street. If someone was insistent on staying homeless or was such a menace that there was no way they could be a part of society… they weren't a problem. See, every few months, they would just disappear. Like I said, my family does their best to avoid the problems, but when we can't, problems tend to disappear. One way or the other. There also aren't a lot of drug problems in our town. I'm guessing it's because drug dealers deal a lot at night, and like I said, nights don't really belong to us and we can't protect you during the dark.

The third rule is one of the most important rules. You are always polite to your elders especially to older women. If you are walking down the street and you see an older lady walking, you go to her and ask if she needs assistance. If you see an older lady crossing the road, you offer your assistance. We are, from a very young age, taught to be extremely polite and helpful. Especially during the week of the full moon. If you see an older lady that you don't recognize you will help her at any cost. Nothing is as important as making sure older ladies have everything they want and need. Especially if they have any kind of mark on their face, but are otherwise good looking. You always go out of your way to help. Always.

The fourth rule is enforced for us, founding families, but I am not sure if it's enforced through the whole town. I'm not even sure how you would go and enforce it? Anyway, the fourth rule is, you are never out during the full moon. The full moon means you hide yourself away in your house, you lock the door, you lock the windows, you make sure every curtain is drawn maybe even board up the windows. No one goes close to the windows, no one peeks. If you have a basement, you go into that basement and stay there. Sometimes grandma would enforce the rule for the entire three nights of the full moon, and sometimes just for the one night. She and grandfather rule our family with iron fists and we all listen to them. Even if it seems crazy.

The fifth rule is, you never go alone in the forest. You never camp in the forest. If you want to take a walk, you take family members or just someone with you.

The sixth rule can be very hard. It is a very general rule if you ask me. Don't do anything that would make you easy to curse. No stealing, no lying, no wanting for things out of reach (at least out loud), no wishing, no secrets. Are you in love with someone who seems unreachable? Tell them. There is no unrequited love in my family. Are you ashamed of something? Tell someone. There is nothing to be ashamed of, and if you are… My grandma will make sure you find a job very far away from this town. My grandma always says that her family is either beyond reproach or they are gone.

The seventh rule is another one of the weird ones. If you see a random animal that doesn't look like it belongs, you let it be. Is there a pig walking down the street? You turn away. Is there a dog crying and it sounds like a human? You go the other direction. Is a cat following you? You make sure you feed it and try to hide from it. Just like my family likes to make sure there are no homeless people, we are also making sure there are no strays. Or as close as we can get. So if you do see a random animal in the streets, your best course of action is avoidance.

You see, I am telling you these rules and you might think we are batshit crazy. I mean you would say, how can you make an entire family stay inside for the whole three nights or even in a basement?!? It's very simple. You either listen to the rules, you live the rules or you disappear. Maybe not your first full moon or even the second. Maybe you move away far far from this cursed mountain. But sooner or later, you disappear from this Earth and no one ever finds you. There is always a rebel in every generation, someone who doesn't conform to the rules, someone who will go out at midnight, be mean to the old lady down the street, go camping in the woods, and they are always the one who disappears. So yeah. We might be crazy and weird, but we survive. Not only that, we help others survive. My grandma would always say that only those not of pure heart or pure intention can get cursed. Witches curse people who upset them, who insult them or slight them in any way. The best way to avoid getting cursed is to be so nice that you cannot be cursed.

Our town is very good with random strangers who find themselves around. Several times a month, the police would call someone from our family that they are needed at the station. That would usually mean they found someone acting… strange, and they need the special touch. I don't fully understand what that means. I assume it has something to do with breaking the curse of the song? We did have some distant cousins on the police force, but maybe they didn't have the touch. That's how my grandma calls it… the special touch.

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You also have to understand, my family doesn't keep the rules to themself. We are not some exclusive club with limited access. Everytime there is a new family moving in, my grandma bakes cookies and invites them over for BBQ. We either go to them or they come to us, and we talk. At first we like to see how they appreciate helpful suggestions, but sooner or later someone tells them not to go out during the full moon, no matter what they hear. The kids hear the same at school. The teacher would give a long weekend or just a week long vacation every few months and that would always fall on the full moon. Stores, movie theaters and diners would all close for the full moon. Some families thrive and if they don't, they either move or something happens. We are not new to tragedy in this town.

Every year we have a celebration for the Mother of the town. It happens on the longest day of the year and we throw a big celebration with town fairs and everything that goes with that. We make sure everyone knows how important the community is, that it is the only way to survive in this world and especially in this town. We need to help each other, make sure we are all taken care of, treat your neighbor like your family and so on and so forth.

Even if we are considered quite rich, we do not live rich. My family spends a lot of money making sure the town will survive, that the homeless people always have some place to go and that everyone who does get involved in any kind of tragedy can leave town and move on if they wish.

I was just getting ready to go to sleep, when my cousin called me to help him. The full moon was last week and apparently it was bad. We had two murders in town and still didn't know who could have done it. Grandma was saying that either we have someone new in town or someone went crazy.

"Look Alicia, I called grandmother and she told me to call you. It's time you help the family!" He said. It was late at night and I was just getting ready to go to sleep. But when family calls you answer. With a sigh I said:

"I'll be right there."

"I already sent a car to your apartment and they should be there soon." I hung up and got dressed. I knew the day was coming, the day I'll have to prove if I have the touch or not. Grandma was sure I was one of the chosen but I wasn't so sure. I guess it's time for a trial by fire.

Police station was nearly empty. You would have thought that during these trying times everyone would work double or triple shifts, since there aren't that many murders around these parts, but no. Usually nights are quiet. My cousin escorted me to the holding room.

"Do I get any information on the guy?" I whispered, trying to not be overheard by other officers.

"We are pretty sure we got our guy, but he isn't talking. That's why I think he has to have been cursed, there is no motive behind the killings. If it is a curse we need to break it before we can sentence him, otherwise he will keep on killing." I sighed.

"So he still gets sentenced? Even if it was a curse that got him to kill?" My cousin shrugged.

"Curses don't just stick to random good people, the desire was already in him. Sooner or later he would have snapped. Or he might have never. We will never know now…"

I prepared myself mentally and walked in. The man in front of me was Henry from the Little Henry bakery. I didn't expect it to be someone I knew. He was shackled to the table and the floor, so I sat across him with no worries. Just a lot of sadness.

"Hello Henry," I said.

"Hey Alicia. What are you doing here?" He sounded surprised. I clasped my hands in front of me on the table and tried to look brave. But I wasn't. I was sad and scared. No matter how many stories you hear or how much your family can prepare you, this in front of me was a real person. If my cousin is right he killed in cold blood, at least two people.

"Why did you do it Henry?" I whispered. The only training I had for this was watching cop shows. I was a librarian and woefully unprepared for interrogation. But this was all a part of the family plan. Trial by fire, as my family would call it. Only way to find out if you can help the cursed and nothing but actually doing it can prepare you for it.

Henry smiled. He was a small man, but had some muscles. Olive complexion with dark brown hair and green eyes, he was quite handsome. I think he was of Mediterranean descent, Italian or maybe Greek.

"I don't know what you are talking about." But there was something about him. He seemed very uncomfortable as if my presence unnerved him.

"Henry I am here to listen. You won't talk to the police and they have evidence you did it. So we know it was you. But we don't know why, Henry. Why did you kill those two men?"

The air in the room got heavier. It was getting harder to breathe and I got a little bit dizzy. I rubbed my eyes and I wanted to leave but I couldn't move. I heard chains rattling and I thought that was it. Henry will get loose somehow and kill me too. But he didn't. He slumped over the table as if he was unconscious.

"Henry?" I said. Too late I realized that I should have called for help and not worry about a murderer in the room. Something was wrong here and my brain was too slow to realize. There was a melody coming from somewhere, but also nowhere. It was all around me, like chains, but invisible. I could hear it and feel it as a wind, wrapping around my body, trying to suffocate me.

"You can not harm me, witch." I said. There was a surprised gasp coming from Henry. The man in front of me hasn't changed in appearance but I knew I was no longer looking at Henry. The fuzziness in my vision made me see double and Henry was one, and a woman was in second. If I concentrated they would merge into one body but that was too weird, so I let the fuzziness take over.

"Well well, what do we have here?" She whispered. She would move as if she had no body at all. She glided over the floor as a ghost and moved so fast that one second she was sitting where Henry was and the next she was caressing my cheek.

"Aye I was warned about playing in the town, but I never expected to see someone like you. So curious." As soon as I felt her touch I could see her real image. When I first saw her she looked beautiful. Dark red hair, silky and smooth, skin as white as porcelain, eyes as blue as the sky and body of a dancer in her prime. But as she touched me I glimpsed her real self. She was a woman of immense ugliness. Her hair was a matted red mess, her skin was dark and full of scars, her nose was too big and it had a big black mole on the middle, her mouth was crooked and she was missing a few teeth. She was small and lumpy, with arms that were just too long. I recoiled from her touch.

She laughed. I froze in my horror as she became more and more solid, realizing she wasn't here before but as soon as I really saw her, she became more real.

"Oh this is so fun. I was thinking of eating the little man, but you will taste so much better!" She came closer and turned my chair toward her so that she could pull me up and see me up close. When she grabbed my hands to pull me up, all I could feel was fire. If I could scream I would, but I was paralyzed. I don't know if it was terror or a curse, but I could do nothing. She twirled me around like a little doll.

"You are a plump one, aren't ya? Not as nice as others, but it will suffice. I am hungry you see… I called and called but no one came! My sister warned me that the spells won't work around the mountain but I thought they were joking! Who would have thought that people in this town were so protected against curses." She was muttering to herself, while touching me. Everywhere she touched I burned. I could smell my flesh and burn marks appeared all around my body. Pain was so immense that even though I couldn't scream, I cried. I felt tears streaming down my face. Will I really die here? Can she kill me like this?

That's when I noticed a knife in her hands. She put a knife to my neck and did a little slice on my collarbone. I cried out in pain, realizing I could move! I jumped away from her, but she wasn't even paying attention to me. She was looking at the blood on the knife in glee, giggling like a little girl. She licked the knife with her long and apparently forked tongue. I yelled at my cousin to open the door, begging to be let out, but to no avail. The door stayed closed and I was alone with the monster.

"You aren't human," she suddenly said. Her appearance went back to her beautiful self and she merged with Henry once more. She talks now through Henry.

"I thought your kind went extinct, white witch. Curiouser and curiouser. How many are there? Is that why our meals are no longer coming through the forest? How many do you take from us?" I stared in surprise, not knowing what to say. Did she just call me a white witch?

"This ends now, little one. We have awoken our queen and she will destroy your little white clan. We are taking our mountain back." With those words she cackled and disappeared.

When my cousin came into the room it was as if the whole incident never happened. I yelled at him why he let me face the damn witch alone. He said that on his side we, Henry and I, just stared at each other for five minutes and then I started screaming and crying. He noticed the wounds asking me what happened. I told him he needs to drive me to my grandmother immediately. As we were leaving Henry confessed to everything, crying in despair.

The reason why I'm telling you all this is because I want to warn you. Listen to the rules! Don't give the witches an excuse to curse you in the first place.

I don't know what my grandma will tell me, but I need to know more about the white witches. And the queen. Who is the queen?!?