The Haven

By Jeffery Harris

It's the year 1817 when a quiet, peaceful town deep within the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina is attacked by a malevolent witch, a witch who will stop at nothing to tear away the people's faith and peace they all once had! It all started with the Edwards family, a peaceful family of farmers, who soon discover the withering of their crops, followed by missing cattle, and soon their youngest daughter goes missing. What started out with the Edwards family started happening to the rest of the town, leaving many to believe a curse has been placed on the Edwards family, and now most of the frightened town blames them! Soon a preacher named Hezekiah, who has experience with dealing with witch hauntings and demonic curses, sets out to help the family while learning many secrets along the way, such as a local witch who lived just outside of the town and the fact that eighteen years ago four elderly witches, who were responsible for many murders and blamed for the disappearing of many children throughout the Appalachian Mountains, were caught and murdered by a mob of vengeful people. And the night they were killed, the main witch left a curse! Could it be that they returned fulfilling their curse? Or could there be someone else lurking and picking up where they left off? So many secrets along the way of a long journey to discover who or where this witch is. A town that once had peace and fellowship with one another is now torn apart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798889825081

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

About the Haven

Chapter 1: Snatched

Chapter 2: A Sighting at the River

Chapter 3: Mob

Chapter 4: Jeremiah

Chapter 5: The Hanging

Chapter 6: The Town of Sanguine

Chapter 7: The Edwards Family

Chapter 8: Withering Crops

Chapter 9: At the Tree Line

Chapter 10: Camping

Chapter 11: The Sound from Inside the Room

Chapter 12: Finding Elias and Levi

Chapter 13: Stricken

Chapter 14: The Old Lady outside of Town

Chapter 15: A Warning?

Chapter 16: Missing Cattle

Chapter 17: A Blasphemous Surprise

Chapter 18: A Gift for Abigail

Chapter 19: Dragged Away

Chapter 20: A Weary Traveler

Chapter 21: A Wolf in the Field

Chapter 22: Humming

Chapter 23: Footsteps on the Stairs

Chapter 24: Is It Charlie?

Chapter 25: Something Is Here

Chapter 26: They Just Kept Falling Out

Chapter 27: Blame

Chapter 28: Hezekiah

Chapter 29: A Young Hezekiah

Chapter 30: A Stormy Night

Chapter 31: Meeting the Edwards Family

Chapter 32: The Screeching Owl

Chapter 33: Not What It Appeared to Be

Chapter 34: Dwindling

Chapter 35: In Doubt

Chapter 36: A Visit with a Warning

Chapter 37: Cursed Land

Chapter 38: Jeremiah's Journals

Chapter 39: And so It Continues

Chapter 40: Hostility

Chapter 41: Love and Sorrow

Chapter 42: Henry's Parents

Chapter 43: Another Town Meeting

Chapter 44: Temptation

Chapter 45: A Visit with the Mysterious Old Woman

Chapter 46: Agnes

Chapter 47: Cecilia

Chapter 48: Lidia

Chapter 49: Prudence

Chapter 50: Witches Sabbath

Chapter 51: Confronted

Chapter 52: Spell

Chapter 53: Sacrifice

Chapter 54: Unveil

Chapter 55: The Haven

About the Author

cover.jpg

The Haven

Jeffery Harris

Copyright © 2023 Jeffery Harris

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2023

ISBN 979-8-88982-507-4 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88982-508-1 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

About the Haven

From the mid to late 1700s, several towns and villages found themselves haunted and provoked by what many claimed were the works of witches. Very little was known initially for several towns throughout Southern states, such as Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and perhaps others. Each case began with missing cattle or even pets, later to be found mutilated in various horrifying ways. It could be days, even weeks, before finding livestock or even pets in such a disgusting manner. As time went on, it would soon become the children of the towns, going missing one by one and never being found or heard from again. This would go on for quite some time for many different towns and random areas across the states throughout the Appalachian Mountains. Over time many townsfolk throughout various areas would rally together, forming search parties. Many people from all sorts of towns who suffered the loss of children or such would band together with others, people they never met but who felt the pain they had experienced, and they would soon form a mob.

Over time a group of four elderly witches were rounded up by a mob of angry and vengeful people somewhere outside the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Very little to nothing at all was known about these witches to this crowd of people looking to hang them and kill them for their satanic ways. All they ever discovered was the name of the head witch, which she gave to them before she was killed. Claiming her name to be Lavinia, just before she was hanged, she placed a curse upon them and their upcoming generations of family, claiming they could never kill her and that she shall return. Years had passed since the hanging of the four elderly witches, and in a town in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina just a few hours from where they were hanged, they would soon learn of the curse that was made that fateful night, especially a particular family (the Edwards family) with no clue as to why strange and unusual things happened to them just before they escalated into the town they resided in. This quiet farming town became infected with curses and unexplainable happenings, starting with missing livestock, then later children became missing.

In fear of knowing what else to do, the Edwards family reached out for help, and the community knew of a man who might know what to do, a former preacher (Hezekiah) known for his preachings and understanding of how to stand against demons or witches. He learned later that this town was haunted by something worse than they could have imagined, and only faith in God could help them. As time passed, the town became unstable. People began to lose hope and faith, and soon one by one, they turned on one another, losing their minds and hanging anyone that might come off seeming like a witch to them. Visions and dreams and the unholy nightmare that surrounded this once peaceful town could very well be the end of this town.

Chapter 1

Snatched

Somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, 1782, two young boys between twelve and fourteen years of age were out taking advantage of such a beautiful sunny day. They were just kids enjoying themselves, exploring around the woods, not wanting to say to the other, but in both their minds they knew they had been venturing out a little too far, something they'd normally never do without either of their fathers present with them. Both their fathers were hunters and very skilled in the woods. But both boys could not help themselves from wanting to adventure out and explore. Neither boy was the type to ever go out like this without notifying their parents, but for some reason this day, they just left without saying a word. As the day went on, they both realized that they had not much time left before the sun would start to set. In fact, they knew within a few hours the journey they had taken through the woods was about that exact time frame.

Without having to really say a word to each other about it, once they both had stopped and looked up simultaneously, it kind of told both boys that it was that time. Joshua, one of the boys, the older of the two, told his buddy anyways that it would be a good idea to head back, so that way, their parents wouldn't worry, and they wouldn't get caught out at dark especially since they had no lanterns and no source of light, for these parts of the woods they had taken were new to them. While walking back, enjoying the sights and sounds of nature all around them, they both stopped at the same time. They both heard what sounded like something off in the distance ruffling through the bushes and shrubs. Both boys had that I hope it isn't no bear or mountain lion or something of that sort look about them. For they both knew they had no weapons to really defend themselves.

Joshua assured his buddy that it was just deer perhaps, nothing they should worry about, so they marched on through the woods to get back home. About ten minutes or so after hearing what sounded like something nearby in the distance, this time both boys suddenly felt a weird sensation come over them at the same time. This sensation made them feel like something or someone was now watching them. Right away Joshua noticed his friend, William, was feeling very uneasy, and he knew he needed to calm him down. His friend, William, was like a little brother to him. He never ever told him that, but it's how he had always felt. Trying to ignore the weird feeling they were both getting, they both marched onward. Not a minute later, the sounds of nature just went quiet. It was strange. It was as if someone told nature to be quiet. Puzzled, both boys looked at each other with the same I don't know what happened expression. It was at that moment when it really started to feel uneasy out there. This time the boys sped up and were walking faster, trying not to run but not walking at a normal pace anymore either. They went on just as everything seemed to go back to normal, except for the feeling they had that something or someone was out there in those woods watching them.

We haven't got much time left, Joshua said, patting William across the shoulder, trying to help calm him down. He could see that William was a bit rattled, but he was hoping if he seemed collected, then perhaps that would help calm him down. Not sure if it worked, but Joshua insisted they push on. It wasn't much longer before the sun was to set. Taking several steps ahead of William, Joshua didn't think too much about it at that moment, for he was fixated at the moment on trying to remember what path they had taken earlier, not realizing that within seconds and without a sound made, some force of nature or something quickly snatched William away. It happened so quickly. It was as if the wind had taken off with him. Not looking back just yet, Joshua assured William that he remembered what path they had taken earlier. He marched on. He didn't get a response from William, but when hearing his footsteps behind him, he just assumed William had his attention on the forest around him and was probably too scared to say anything right now.

Marching on through the woods, Joshua could still hear what he assumed was William's footsteps right behind him no more than six feet away. In an attempt to calm William down and himself, for he was still getting that uneasy feeling and he was sure William was getting it too, Joshua began to bring up a funny moment they once had. While telling the story and laughing a bit, Joshua could still hear William walking behind him, but no response whatsoever came from him, not even a chuckle! No way he was this scared, Joshua thought while coming to a stop. He turned around to say something to William. When he had turned around, he found his friend William nowhere in sight. A total shock came over him, and now he was really sensing fear like he never sensed before.

Joshua could not help but wonder how William could have run off without the slightest sound of noise, not to mention he knew William was not the type to do something like this, especially this deep in the woods. He was looking around desperately hoping his friend would jump out at him at any given moment, but he could see far out across, and the trees were not that big to hide behind, at least not in this section of the forest. He called out to William a few times, while a concerned thought kept overwhelming him. He kept thinking if that wasn't William's footsteps he had heard walking behind him seconds ago, what could it have been he heard behind him? Standing still, looking in all directions around him, Joshua was becoming more frightened and more worried. He could feel something watching him, but he could not see a sign of life anywhere nearby.

Far off into the woods, William could be heard screaming out for Joshua to help me! He sounded frightened and possibly in pain. It was hard to know at that point given how loud he could hear his own heart racing in his chest from the anxiety that was taking over. He ran into the woods screaming for William, pleading for him to tell him where he might be, but nothing, just William screaming for help. Minutes later, the screaming stopped, and Joshua stopped running. He could no longer hear his friend screaming, not knowing what to do now but try and run home for help. Before he could run back into town for help, he quickly realized that the woods were becoming a bit darker by the second as though the sun was setting. Looking up at the sky, the sun was setting but not enough for it to be this dark just yet, he thought.

Peering into the woods, he saw what looked like people, four of them in very dark clothing. It looked almost like shadows of people, hard to tell, but not wanting to stick around and find out who they were, he bolted through the woods to get back home. This time while running, he could hear what sounded like heavy footsteps closing in behind him, much heavier than the footsteps he heard from William, and he could feel what felt as if someone was behind him breathing across his neck. Not wanting to look back, he kept running, breathing heavily. His lungs weren't getting enough air due to how fast he was running and not slowing down to catch his breath. All he could hear were those footsteps, and they were right on his trail. Nothing in this world could have made him turn and look to see what it was. He was beyond frightened at this point.

Seeming as though he was going to have to stop to catch his breath, he no longer heard the footsteps, so he decided to stop and catch his breath. He took a quick turn around and saw nothing there, just the woods he was leaving behind. Knowing he's only thirty minutes or so from home, he knew he had to push forward. Someone had to know what happened here and what had happened to his friend, William.

Before going any further, he quickly tensed up to the sound of William calling out his name softly from behind him. From the sound of his voice, he could not be no further than twenty yards away. Quickly turning around and not seeing his friend at all, instead, he saw an elderly-looking woman, the average height of an elderly woman, dressed in a black cloak of some sort, wearing a black bonnet upon her head. Her face was all wrinkly. Her eyes were black as coal. Her hair, long past her shoulders, was stringy looking, very white-like. Overwhelmed with fear, Joshua slowly took a few steps back, pleading to her softly that he just wanted to go home in hopes that she would not bother him. Just by the way she looked just didn't sit well with his gut feeling. Not to mention the foul stench that was coming from her direction. She smelled like rotting flesh as though she had been dead for years, just rotting away. He had also noticed the flesh on her face was a grayish color. It looked like the skin of a corpse, and it just did not feel right at all to him.

Trying to keep his cool, not knowing what this woman would do, he continued to take slow steps away from her but unable to remove his eyes from her for fear of her leaving his sight. This elderly woman suddenly spoke, opening her mouth, and the rotting little bit of teeth she had left could be seen. The very sight of this nearly made Joshua sick to his stomach. Her voice was that of William's voice, calling to Joshua, saying, Please do not leave me here!

Joshua screamed at the woman, asking her to leave him alone, that that was not William's voice! Not responding, this woman allowed this malevolent-looking grin upon her face before her head snapped from side to side as though she was cracking her neck muscles, and even the bones in her neck were sounding like they were breaking. But the sound was freaky and not human sounding whatsoever. It was shortly after that she started to make these awful groaning sounds; it was really scaring Joshua to his core, and just before he turned and ran away more frightened than he had ever been, her body began to stretch upward. She was no longer standing at the average five-foot range, but she was standing nearly ten feet tall. While her body stretched, the sounds of what appeared to be bones breaking and stretching could be heard, and that's when Joshua could not handle it anymore, and he ran as fast as he could through the forest. While running, he could hear the groaning sounds grow louder and louder before he was quickly snatched by something unseen to him, and into the woods he disappeared with no sound to be heard.

Chapter 2

A Sighting at the River

Around midsummer 1784 in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, a local man from a town about an hour or so northwest of his known location, in his forties, a husband, and father of two boys and a girl was out fishing at his normal go-to spot down by the river. It was a nice river with a nice continuous stream of crystal-clear mountain water, which was connected along the way to various other streams for miles on. Miles from this spot, a forty-foot-or-higher waterfall could be found, and when it rained, that waterfall brought down a lot of water.

For years since he was a kid, David would come down to many spots across various sections of the river and fish, but this spot happened to be one of his favorite spots for many years. He was particularly well on times to fish and good locations to catch good-sized fish to take home to his family for supper. Casting his line into the water, relaxing while standing at the bank of the river, listening to various birds chirping and watching them fly around, and watching squirrels jump from tree to tree, it was beyond a beautiful day. A steady but not so hard breeze blew through, and David could feel the nice breeze go right through his bushy brown-colored beard with a touch of gray. His beard nearly reached his chest, and the hair from his head of the same color as his beard nearly hung to his shoulders.

Many people back at home in his town would consider David a godsend; he and his wife (Frances) always helped out with the people of their community, whether it be David with his farming and helping others with growing crops and distributing livestock or his wife baking or sewing clothes and blankets, etc. His whole life he had lived in that town, and all his young life growing up with his father and grandfather before he passed when David was twenty-one would both teach him to fish and hunt and grow crops. He and his family were always a part of their local church and brought many people in the community together for fellowship.

After what might nearly have been an hour of fishing and enjoying the breeze and peaceful day, David had gotten this eerie feeling creep up on him. He couldn't explain it, but he was feeling as though he was being watched. For some strange reason, this feeling just wasn't feeling right at all. As if something was warning him to leave he felt within his gut or something, beginning to wonder perhaps a bear or maybe even a mountain lion perhaps might be roaming by looking to drink from the river. Either way, he did feel a little comfort knowing he had brought his rifle with him. He was a fine hunter and always brought protection when entering the woods, especially when alone, but again that feeling came across him, and it just didn't seem right with him. He grew up hunting and being in the wild of nature, and never had he ever gotten the feeling he was getting at this moment. It was though something was lurking nearby that was not a part of nature, something that just flat-out did not belong.

He went against his gut feeling to grab his belongings and head on back to town. Instead, he remained where he was and continued to fish for several more minutes. He was now starting to feel nervous, almost afraid-like, and it was odd for David to feel like this, a tough man raised to be tough and to keep his senses sharp, especially when out in the woods. He even served a short time in the American Revolutionary War, so it took a lot to make him feel uneasy, definitely when he's out in his surroundings. He finally decided to just abandon his fishing and instead return to his spot tomorrow morning bright and early, collecting his belongings, a bit disappointed he didn't catch anything. Once he was heading away from where he had been fishing, that weird, eerie feeling he had had now intensified, and right behind that feeling, it was as though nature was scared of something that should not have been there, and he could feel it too.

Everything went quiet. The entire forest just went mute. Only the river's stream at this point could be heard. And if that wasn't weird enough for David, the weather changed a bit abruptly, and the wind picked up, and what had felt like a midsummer day was beginning to feel like midfall! Baffled by what he was encountering, it only got worse from this moment. Trying to ignore what was going on around him, he proceeded. He didn't get but ten steps away before he stopped by what sounded like whispers all around him. It was a variety of whispers all around him, and a dreadful feeling ran up his spine, giving him chills all over his body. He could feel the presence of someone behind him. He turned around to look, and behold, he found what appeared to be a person standing where he once stood fishing at, what would appear to be a person who had the average height of a woman, and this person was decked out in black, unable to be known if it was a woman or not.

David didn't say a word. His eyes remained fixed on this person wearing a black robe of some sort, something he had never seen, at least not like that. This person also had on a black veil covering their face from sight. They were also barefooted, hard to make out what the feet looked like from where David was standing, and he really didn't know this person was barefooted. This person slowly reached up and removed the veil from her face. It turned out to be an elderly woman and an extremely ugly, terrifying-looking woman at that! Much like the one from chapter 1 but different looking. Wishing she would cover her face back up, David watched in horror, her face a rotten grayish look, her eyes white all around as if she had no pupils. Her face looked as though it was decaying. She looked like she was over a hundred years old. The little bit of hair she had left was white and thinning. She suddenly grinned, showing what little bit of rotten, decaying teeth she had left in her mouth.

Not sure whether to run or what, David remained where he was, horrified by this woman's image. Now her hands went to the opening of her robe. There she opened her robe, exposing her naked body right before his eyes, her skin across her body the very same as her face in color and the rotting look as well. Her boobs sagged really low, and there were small patches of gray hair found across her body. Her skin looked as though if you touched it, it would fall off. Not only was the sight horrible to David's eyes, but a horrific stench also came from her, so horrible smelling that it had David vomiting to the ground near his feet. This rotting flesh he was smelling was like nothing he had ever smelled before in his life, he thought, leaning back from vomiting on the ground near his feet.

When he took another look at her, he noticed this time a black liquid, perhaps blood he thought. But a black liquid of some sort was now running down the inside of both her legs. This liquid was coming from her vagina. Feeling like he was going to vomit some more, this old woman began laughing, which was the creepiest laugh he had ever heard. He had enough and was going to leave, but just before she stopped laughing, her mouth opened up, and her jaw cracked and popped. The bottom of her jaw extended and stretched toward her chest, now giving off a loud, screeching sound, terrifying David as he had never been terrified in his life. He thought of some of the worst places or situations he had ever been in, such as being ambushed by British soldiers during his time at war. It never scared him this bad.

He finally had enough and spoke to God from his heart to help guide him from those woods beyond the sight of this dreadful soul standing before him. The entire time he ran through the woods, that screeching sound that woman let out followed him as if she was right on his back the whole time. Eventually the sound ended, and the eerie feeling was gone as he made it into the clearing from out of the woods, and he was now back into his hometown. All he could think of was how he'd keep this a secret and never tell a soul in his town in hopes that maybe this would never happen again or keep himself from sounding mad. All was clear as he headed home, thanking Jesus he was still alive and praying he'd never see that or encounter that again.

Chapter 3

Mob

Fifteen years had come and gone since David's encounter with that old woman, that mysterious witch. Things had changed throughout many different towns and communities throughout the Appalachian Mountains. So many people had lost so much over the years, from mutilated livestock to missing children never found again.

Many people who lost everything formed a mob and went throughout various towns along their journey on horses and wagons in search of what many claimed was a witch responsible for all this, maybe even more than one, many thought. Along the journey, many other people lost so much and witnessed much that just could not be explained, or many were frightened so badly that they joined in hopes to end these witches. Many people had many different encounters with these witches, some not as much, and other encounters varied from visions to nightmares to seeing the witches in the flesh standing in the fields or in tree lines watching them, and everyone who had encountered them and lived had all said the same thing: a stench of rotting flesh could be smelled. This mob of people in search of these witches collected more abled bodies along the way. Most people even left their lives behind just to go on this crusade for revenge for losing children and loved ones.

On this particular day early spring, they came across this small town in the middle of the forest somewhere in Georgia forty miles near the state line of North Carolina. In this town, they found it abandoned and unused for a very long time. When they searched the homes, they found decaying bodies left behind unburied. From the looks of the decomposition of the bodies throughout different houses in the town they found, they looked to be a few years old. On the church in what looked to be dried-up bloodstains, written on the door just under an upside-down cross was, Enter thy house of lies. Many who saw this writing didn't have to say anything at all to one another about it. The looks they gave to one another spoke what they were thinking, and all thought this was some type of satanic behavior. Perhaps those witches had been here. They were even more persuaded that this small town was hit by them because no bodies of infants or children were found anywhere in sight.

Knowing they could not leave like this, many of the men came together and made a burial for the dead and laid the bodies to rest beneath the ground in a small cemetery they had made together. Among the mob of people, David and his wife, Frances, were also there. They had lost their three children years ago, and every day David reflected on that time at the river when he encountered one of those witches! And every day he regretted not telling anyone. He felt had he warned people, maybe they could have been prepared at least mentally for what was to come. He and his wife looked back at the town one last time before hopping onto the wagon and continuing on with the mob, both knowing how painful it had been losing their children at such young ages.

Time had gone by. The mob was now in the mountains of North Carolina. There were probably a hundred of these people. They sat out making camp as it was getting darker, preparing for the journey first light, until the leader, the man who helped form this mob (Jeremiah), received word from one of the scouts for the mob who scouted ahead for miles for safe traveling for everyone else and returned with word of seeing light upon a mountain several miles from where they made camp.

Chapter 4

Jeremiah

Before leading the mob to hunt down the elderly witches or what many others would call the granny witches, Jeremiah was a God-fearing man. He loved God and his family, and his family loved God. They were an average family of those times. He had three daughters and two boys and a loving, faithful wife. They lived deep in the Appalachian Mountains of Georgia forty miles south of the North Carolina border. Jeremiah was a plantation owner, but he never owned slaves. He never agreed with such a thing. Instead, he and his family would work the fields and pay those who would work for food and shelter with wooden bunkers he built across the land for the workers to live in. There were many settlers that come and go, and many would stay for nearly a lifetime working for their family. African, Scottish, English, Irish, German, and French people and even some Native Americans would pass through.

It was during the time period in which the elderly witches were haunting towns and many different families for some years up and down many states that the Appalachian Mountains went through. Jeremiah, a man of Scottish lineage, was a man who wrote a lot. He would write daily things that happened in journals. And during the times when he and his family were brutalized by these witches, he had journals, writing of such things. He didn't like it because it would cause heartache, especially for his wife if she had ever read them. After losing his children, Jeremiah and his wife gave up their life and their land. They sacrificed so much that they went out searching for others to join them in a crusade of hunting down and killing those witches and any other witches that might pose a threat. As time went on, they formed a mob, and when they hanged and burned those witches that night, he and his wife got some closure, but their life was indeed never the same.

For some reason, perhaps he believed their curse could bring them back to life if anyone disturbed their grave! Jeremiah and his wife decided, with a little help from a few people from the mob who stayed behind them, to build a cabin from an overlook from a nearby mountain, where they could see the grave where they lived and would chase away any who would ever dare come into that area. They would even shoot people if they had to. As time went on, it became a small little town, like mostly just people living in cabins they built, living and surviving off the land. They became guardians of the witches' graves. Sometimes they would ride out and observe the land, where the witches were buried, years after the grass and plant life had died the night when they all witnessed it happen. Still nothing had grown on that section of the land, just dirt, and that's the soil they claimed if feet step upon, their curse shall be brought to light.

Chapter 5

The Hanging

The year 1799

Upon a mountaintop, late in the night, clouds were rolling in. The sound of thunder could be heard rumbling from a distance, and a storm was sure to move in very soon even as the winds began to pick up. The four elderly witches together surrounded a big fire they had made, praying to the master, which they served, giving thanks, and preparing themselves for what was to happen next for them. Completely naked, these old women were all quite the same in their body looks, the grayish skin color, and rotten-looking flesh upon their bodies, and thinning-to-not-much white hair left upon their heads. One of the old women had been dancing around the fire alone before she was joined by the other three. They danced and laughed before the head witch, the main woman who apparently led them, walked away and removed a baby from lying on the ground crying.

From the looks of the baby, it had recently just been born. The witch who had been dancing alone around the fire before the other three joined her in some celebration they were having walked over, slicing her right index finger with one of her sharp fingernails from her left hand. She smeared the blood from her cut finger all over the infant, while the other three witches were spitting all over the infant. The head witch spoke in tongue while rubbing the blood from the witch who cut her finger and mixing it with the spit she and the other two had spat all over the infant and around on the infant's stomach, making an upside-down cross.

She spoke to the others, This night, we have fulfilled our final quest, for our final hour is upon us, for they shall search us out, and the moment in which they think they have ended us, our power shall be awaken upon thee! Let us this night make this our final sacrifice! She pointed away, and the other three looked off into the distance. Torches could be seen as the mob of people were progressing up the mountain closer to where they stood. Keep in your hearts the prophecy that has been spoken of, for this night, it shall be their undoing, the witch spoke before placing the crying infant on the ground at their feet, where they looked down upon it and spit down on the child once more.

The four elderly witches were apprehended by the mob of people seeking revenge upon them; there the four witches looked upon the eyes of the mob leader, Jeremiah, who organized all this with much help from many others.

Before you four are put to death, answer me! What has thou done with our children ye have taken from us? Jeremiah asked, looking upon the naked, foul-smelling witches. They stayed silent, just grinning at him, as though they had no care in the world. No fear was shown by any of them, and this was a concern to some of the people in the mob. Ye may not fear death, ye may not fear the dreadful hell that God shall send ye upon, but perhaps ye fear and feel pain, he said, giving a sign with his hand, where a few men of the mob stepped over holding various hard weapons that could cause blunt-force pain. Ye may be witches for Satan, but ye still are human. Jeremiah nodded toward the group of men, who now surrounded the elderly witches. They moved in on them and began to take swings at them with these weapons, smashing them across their shoulders, arms, legs, knees, elbows, sides, chests, backs, and stomachs. Some of these blows were breaking the joints, and others could hear them snapping and breaking, shattering their bones with full-swing hits.

During this beat-down they were receiving from members of the mob, the thunder that was heard rumbling from a distance out was moving in closer. It was becoming louder, and the sky was starting to light up from nearby lightning that was now almost flashing over everyone's heads. All four of the witches were on the ground, bleeding all over, and swells and bruises were showing up on their bodies after a few minutes of these men beating them down to the ground. They must've felt the pain, many onlookers thought, including those who beat them down, for they cried out in pain and agony, during the beat-down, yet no one would talk. They would not respond to Jeremiah's questioning. The crying infant was handed over to Jeremiah. He saw the blood mixed with spit taking the shape of an upside-down cross on the baby's torso. He saw that the blood did not belong to the infant. He and the others knew this infant was born recently. After questioning them who the baby belonged to and getting no response from either of them, Jeremiah and the others did notice a young dead woman several feet away from the fire. Right away they put together that the mother was deceased.

Tonight, the four of thee shall surely die. Your satanic ways have finally come to an end!

The four elderly witches laughed after Jeremiah spoke. After laughing, they started spitting at him. Few of the men grabbed the witches and held them up in place, while others walked over with ropes, where they went to a nearby tree and threw the ropes over a branch. Nooses were tied at the end of them. Once the nooses were placed around each of their necks, the men would hold the ropes in position to pull when given the okay to do so in which all they had to do was pull the ropes, and that would lift the witches from the ground.

One of the witches finally spoke, My name is Lavinia! I have lived for over one hundred years. I have seen much. I have seen each and every one of thee hundred times over. I know thy fears and secrets. I have haunted many of your dreams. Tonight is but of a new beginning for us, for ye all this night shall bear witness to thy prophecy, for it is written that many of you and your generations shall suffer the wrath of the new curse I have laid upon thee. Behold, I looked up, and I again can see, for the power of ten witches shall dwell within the bosom. The seed of thy serpent slithers within and grants life for generations to come. She laughed, and the others joined in with laughter. They looked out across the crowd that was there to witness their demise just as a bolt of lightning struck from the sky, hitting all four witches at the same exact time. They laughed