prologue witch hunt

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THIS IS A WITCH HUNT.

         It began on a Wednesday, where the beaming sun was beginning to soften and the air was turning from humid to crisp in attempt to kill the leaves which would soon begin to fall to the ground. It began in a house with quilts upon the couch and a hidden room along the bedrooms hallway which held dark secrets in different languages, powerful antics which no one was supposed to see, and with two women inside; one in the kitchen and one in her room.

         The woman, much older than the other, washed the dishes in the kitchen, rubbing the damp and soapy cloth along the plates, looking out the window only to feel a chill down her spine. She saw birds flocking to the fence – ravens, if she would be exact – yelping to each other in their own language, beady eyes falling upon her for only a second. She looked down back to her dishes and let out a shaky breath, seeing the air that left her in the air even though it wasn't cold in the house. This was meant for the winter weather, not for this, and she felt something dark upon her.

         In her room, the younger one, a teenager only seventeen, looked into her mirror and fixed her hair properly while inspecting her makeup to ensure no smudges with her eyeliner and lipstick. Loud music played from her laptop which sat upon her bed and she moved her head along with it, humming with the tune she knew so well, looking so deep into the mirror she thought she saw the reflection of someone else for a second. Frowning, she looked behind her only to find nothing, and looked back at the mirror with an eerie feeling she tried to shake. It was nothing, she assured herself, though she didn't seem to believe her own words.

         When she decided that she looked good enough, her hair wasn't going to get any better and it wasn't like anyone would notice its imperfections after enough drinks – especially in the darkness of the club – and her makeup was enough on point, she grabbed her phone and stopped the music before turning off the lights and going downstairs.

         She clomped her feet as she went downstairs, announcing her presence to her mother before showing her face. The woman who washed the dishes had finished and leaned against the counter as she waited for her daughter, a smile on her face even if she felt something terribly dark in the air.

         "I'm going over to Jane's," she announced to her mother, knowing that the woman wouldn't refute her.

         The older woman hummed, looking at her in mocking belief. "Sure you are," the woman said, laughing slightly. Her daughter rolled her eyes but she didn't see because she turned around and saw the ravens still outside on the fence and let out another shaky breath. "Have fun."

         "I will," the teenager said mindlessly, because that's how she always answered. "I'll be back around midnight or something."

         "Alright," the woman looked back around, approaching her daughter and wrapping her up into a hug. Her daughter frowned, her mother was never big on hugs, but she still brought her arms around her mother too. "Remember to be safe."

         "Yeah," she said as she pulled away from her mother, looking at her weirdly. "I will."

         Her mother never acted like this and part of her, the same part that still felt the chill down her spine when she saw the reflection in her mirror which did not match her own, wanted to stay out of fear of her mother's behavior, but she had already told her friends that she would meet them and she couldn't back out now.

         "I love you, Evanora," her mother whispered and Evanora only felt that feeling worsen.

         "Are you alright, mom?" Evanora asked her, searching her mother's eyes but the woman only smiled.

         Her mother nodded and grabbed her face to look into her eyes intently. "I'm fine. Go have fun and please be safe," her mother pleaded and there was a pause where she didn't answer, "Evanora, please."

         "Yeah, yeah, I'll be safe," Evanora hurried out before pausing for a moment, "I'll be fine, mom, you don't have to worry about me."

         Her mother smiled sadly. "You know I always will," she let out before looking at the clock, "Well, you don't wanna keep Jane waiting."

         She took a step back from her daughter, watching as Evanora frowned at her and was tempted to take a step forward. Yet, she didn't. She stayed where she was and nodded. "Alright," she agreed, "I'll be back later. Don't wait up!"

         She yelled back as she walked out the door, walking into the cooling air in search for the club where Jane and the others were. On the inside, the woman watched her daughter leave the house and leaned back against the kitchen counter. She squeezed her eyes shut, muttering something to herself before leaving the kitchen and going to the hidden room in the hallway.

         Muttering something else, the wall transformed into a door and she went inside, going to the large book in the middle of the room, placed on an alter. The ravens could take her, but they would not take her daughter – not her little Evanora. She would do anything for her daughter, even if the girl despised her especially after she refused to resurrect her cat, Rupert. But Evanora could hate her but she would always love her daughter, she would always protect her daughter.

         It was too late to send out a call for help. The ravens were swarming her house and there was no time to save her. Still, she remained calm and opened up the large book and began preparing. For the life of her daughter, she would sacrifice all. There was no hesitation with the book called for her blood to ensure the safety of her beloved; she would give all.

         Taking the sharp blade to her hand, the watched the blood fall onto the book before vaporizing as she chanted. She would not know if the spell worked, she would be gone before that, but she trusted that it would work. Her magic hadn't failed her yet and she couldn't dwell on the fact that it could now.

         Her heart beat fast as she heard death bang at her door. Her hair flew around as she looked to the door of the room. There was no time to do anything more, there was no time to dwell on all the possibilities. There was no time; she had no time. The woman was out of time.

         She could run, try and buy more time. She could run far into the sun and never look back but fate would always catch up with her, her time was out and she would not run like a coward. She swallowed, turning her chin up in pride – a look Evanora always hated on her, that stubbornness, that pride – but she was brave. For Evanora, she would be brave. Not a coward. Her daughter would always remember that she did not run from fate.

         She was setting a good example because she loved her daughter, because this was the last lesson she could teach her young girl. There was no time to write a letter or to wonder about what could happen if she ran.

         The woman walked to the door and left the room, muttering to herself again, knowing that the door had again become a wall to hide the nature of the room. Evanora would see it and she would gather all she needed from there later, but she did not need the demon or anyone else to see the room.

         The banging at the door halted as she went to the kitchen again. She looked out the window, seeing the ravens taking up the entire top of the fence. They were deciding her fate and she would not be allowed to leave until her life was over. She held herself higher because of it.

         Her eyes were trained on the door as it flung open, allowing a gust of wind to enter the house. The woman did not falter but watched as the man who held her fate in his hands waltzed inside. He held a glimmer of a sinister nature in his eyes as he smirked at her. "My dear Juliana," he crowed.

         "And here I thought I had more time before I saw your face again," the witch said.

         The demon shrugged. "I thought about it and, well, I decided that waiting just...well, it isn't for me. I'm very impatient, you see, and I think I gave you enough time already. But now it's time for you to go."

         She said nothing, only looked down for a second before meeting his gaze again but that one second was enough for him to know what she was thinking. "Hey, you're the one who made the deal with the devil. I gave you enough time, but it's almost time for me to take her anyway, so why not get it over with?"

         Juliana froze. "No," she uttered, "It's not almost time – it can't be. The three haven't been seen yet."

         "Yes, but a great friend of mine who just so happens to be a Seer sees them approaching. I need Evanora now but with you in the way, that's just not possible," the demon frowned, faking compassion, "I hope you understand."

         She did not betray her daughter with letting him know of the spell she completed only seconds before his arrival. Evanora would be safe from his clutches if she had anything to say, and the spell she produced should work magnificently. She was an Elder, after all, and the position wasn't given to her for any reason. She excelled in this magic, and a mother's love always seemed to be the trick to make the spell work even more perfectly.

         He would not get Evanora in his clutches. Not now, not ever. Her daughter would be safe. That was all that mattered.

         "I understand," Juliana looked up at him, "I understand that you're afraid of me and my influence on her. I'm too powerful for your liking now. Instead of helping you, I hinder you. I understand that fear, it's only natural."

         His face turned into a snarl as he grabbed her sharply in her throat, closing her off from breathing. "I am not afraid of you," he seethed, "I am a demon – people fear me, not the other way around."

         "Of course not," she choked out, "But how is Evanora ever going to help you when she finds out that you're the one who killed me."

         He laughed and released her, throwing her to the ground. He circled her, watching as she groaned in pain. When she tried to get up, he kicked her down again, "Oh my dear Juliana, you never seem to realize something; she'll never find out. And you won't be alive to tell her anything."

         He sighed, looking at her hurt figure. "Now, I think this has been drawn out long enough. It really was good seeing you again, sorry that it has to end this way."

         His laughed betrayed his words, not that she actually believed his guilt over her death. He raised her up, looking her in the eyes as he plunged into her heart watching the air leave her as he twisted the organ around causing her immeasurable amounts of pain before finally ripping it out of her chest entirely.

         The blood flew to the ground as he held her heart in his hand. Once, he had done the same thing; he held her heart and clutched it tightly as he manipulated her way to the very top until she became useless to him. Her uselessness evaporated as she presented something better to him; a child. A child who could rule the world, but not one he could have then. He threw Juliana away with her child but now the child would be useful.

         He heard footsteps behind him and looked as a familiar figure approached. "Was this whole show necessary?" his servant asked.

         The demon looked to the ground where the woman laid, no heart and blood clouding her. "It might be a bit dramatic," he conceded, "But I did enjoy it."

         The man behind him made a noise of agreement to his dramatics. "Did you get everything you needed?"

         "Not yet," he answered, dropping the unbeaten heart onto the ground beside her body. "We need to find her girl – Evanora Hathaway. That's who I want. Search the town, I need her in my clutches by midnight."

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         EVANORA WAS SURE THAT THE SIGHT OF HER MOTHER'S DEAD BODY WOULD HAUNT HER FOREVER. The bloody scene, the heart forced out of her chest, the fact that this was her mother...the list of reasons went on.

         Don't get her wrong, it wasn't like she had a Lorelai and Rory relationship with her mom; they were more separated seeing as Evanora was a second priority to her mother, right after her duties to the Council. That damn Council that isn't even doing anything to solve the murder of her mother. She was one of them – she was an Elder who went to all the meetings, helped the witches, and was the perfect example of what they stood for and yet, now that she's dead, they care nothing about her or why she died. Who killed her.

         Elder Charity Callahan simply held her hands and gave her sympathy. "Sadly, whoever did this didn't leave any prints. All we know was that it was a demon attack by the ravens and the door, but nothing else. We're all so disheartened here at the Council and if you need anything, don't hesitate to contact us."

         Ugh, as if. She's spent her whole life hating the Council because of her mother and how much time she devoted to it, and now they aren't even going to return the favor and try and find out who exactly killed her room. It only gave more reasons as to hate the Council as far as Evanora was concerned.

         And as if the situation couldn't get any worse, the Council sent her a whitelighter to help guide her journey now that her mom's dead and she doesn't have any other family. Juliana, her mother, had been an only child and her grandparents were dead. Never knew her father either, his name wasn't even on her birth certificate. She checked.

         Enter Colleen Fellows.

         Evanora didn't know if they trained whitelighters like robots with no emotion, but Colleen sure acted like one. The day she came, only two days after the death of her mother, she woke Evanora up by making her believe that the same demon who killed her mother was after her. Colleen said that she failed the simulation because she didn't protect herself while in the midst of a panic attack, so no. Colleen was not her friend and neither was the Council.

         And, if Colleen wasn't bad enough, her list of troubles grew longer with the fact that her whitelighter was causing her to relocate. She couldn't even stay in the same town where her mother's grave was because Colleen said that the Council wanted her close to another Elder. You know, just in case anything happened.

         Ugh, Evanora hated her life and hated the fact that her mother was dead and it was only partially because the woman was her mother and that was terrible. She had no time to grieve properly because she was still in her black dress having given her eulogy an hour ago and now Colleen has her packing her bags to move.

         She couldn't even complain or refuse because if she did, Colleen would create another simulation about her mother's death to frighten her. But Evanora stood in the hallway, muttered a spell and suddenly a door appeared, as it always did because of how her mother enchanted it.

         She touched the knob, but it felt colder than it ever had before. Her mother had only been gone a week and she hadn't used the room since then, not wanting to see her mother's office or the spell book which now fell into her hands now. But the knob was too cold and it made her want to turn back, yet it seemed almost too late for that.

         Evanora turned the knob and opened the door, seeing the still room and the spell book open on the alter. She frowned at the sight, knowing now Juliana always stressed closing the book once she finished using it.

         Almost drawn to it in a trance, Evanora went to book and looked at the open page. It was a cloaking spell. She frowned, thinking that if her mother used that on herself the night she did, it obviously didn't work. Still, she touched the page and watched as black smoke came up from it causing her to reel back.

         "You shouldn't touch that page again," the voice of Colleen started her. Evanora jumped back and looked at her whitelighter.

         "What do you mean? It's my spell book now," Evanora explained to her, a tinge of sadness in her voice as she said the last part.

         Colleen huffed and moved forward to look properly at the open page. "Black smoke only rises from a spell book if the spell was meant for you and was done by someone else. Cloaking spells aren't supposed to be known to those who are being protected. You should just forget you ever saw it."

         Evanora frowned, looking at the book again only to be slapped back by Colleen. This spell...for her? Surely not. "You're wrong. My mom's the only other person who could get into the room and there's no way she would use this spell on me. There's no reason."

         "She was killed by a demon, Evanora," Colleen reminded her, "Maybe she knew it was coming and she wanted to protect you. It's a safety clause, just in case, and to ensure that it works we need to move away from this place. Whoever killed your mother, if they're coming after you, is likely to come back to this house to find you. It's why we're moving."

         Evanora snorted, "We're moving because the Council told you to move me and they're all powerful to us."

         "Partially," Colleen agreed, "But it's also for your protection. You never know. The demon that came for your mother could be on a Hathaway witch hunt. We don't want to take any chances."

         Evanora looked at her, feeling a sick dread upon her. She slammed the book shut, walking out of the room then. She didn't want to even think about someone coming after her, so she ran away not daring to look back.