It was Monday, the first day of October. It was a beautiful fall day. The air was crisp, the leaves in full color. Salem is such a simple but fascinating place. It still has a very old-world, colonial feel. Walking through town, the old shops and restaurants are quaint and fascinating. That Puritan and witch theme is still used for people vacationing in the area. I own a coffee and doughnut shop, The Witches Brew. I know; pun intended. In my off time, I am a witch. I dress the part at the shop to my patron's admiration. So, I guess it is a double pun.
I belong to a coven of thirteen witches. We meet about twice a week. With Halloween coming up, activity in our group has intensified, and everyone is so excited for the end of the month. We have been decorating our supreme witch's house inside and out. Caldrons and potion books have been brought out of storage. Her house, our coven meeting place is very old and beautiful. She inherited the house from the last supreme witch when she passed away.
We consider ourselves to be good witches. We have not turned anyone into a newt or anything like that. Honestly, I don't think we could if our reputation depended on it. There are three of us that are quite a bit younger than the other ten. We are all in our young thirties, while the others are sixty or above. Their experience and devotion are so wonderful for our small group's unity and bonding.
Every year we prepare what potions and spells we are going to cast and accomplish. A lot of the potions will be sold throughout the year by my friend's shop, Potions and Knick Knacks. Love potions are a crowd favorite. I think most of them are bought by husbands to give to their wives.
Potions for getting thin, looking younger, and getting rich were also popular. Mariea was one of our elder members; she owned a bookshop that she has had for years. From time to time, she will get old books from estate sales. She had purchased a large volume of books from an old and very rich family. The parents had just passed away due to a tragic accident. Their children had no interest in their parents' keepsakes.
The books were numerous, and some were very old. They had no idea what they had. First editions and other rare books were among the many boxes that we unloaded. Some of the books contained material on witch history and the famous Salem witch trials. This was going to be wonderful for the bookstore and the coven.
I was cataloging our great finds when I came across a book that had an old leather binding and a locked buckle There was no title or verbiage of any kind on the binding and there seemed no way to open the book's buckle.
"Mariea, look at this."
I took the book to her. The look on her face was that of concern.
"We need to show this to Tichaba; she should see this."
"I will bring it at tonight's meeting. What is giving you such worry?"
"It is very old and very secure; why is that?" Mariea pondered.
The book felt a lot heavier than it should have. I took the book home, placed the book on my bookshelf, and went back to my shop for the afternoon. Evening rolled around. I walked home, as I usually did, at the end of the day. I dressed for our evening meeting and grabbed the book, strolling down a very familiar path to my destination.
When I arrived, Mariea met me at the door.
"Did you bring it?"
I produced the book, and we went to Tichaba.
She examined the book very closely, at first, not saying a word. "The book is very old and could be very dangerous."
She placed the book in a locked drawer in her desk.
The family that had the book was not known for having any witches or warlocks in their family history.
"I wonder how long they have had this book in their care."
We proceeded to go about our Halloween preparations. As we did the mood became festive, and we got into the Halloween spirit.
It was Halloween, the shop was a madhouse in the morning. I sold more pumpkin spice doughnuts and coffee than I thought possible. I closed the shop early and went to the coven's house to prepare for the trick-or-treaters. The house is a way off the beaten path, but the little goblins and witches made a special effort to see our house every year. We love having the children come to see us and get the best holiday experience in Salem.
We started on our plans for this holiday. In the back room, there were three large tables that we used for making our potions and talismans that we would sell throughout the year. Some of us were casting spells for our town. Gretta, one of the younger witches was trying to cast a spell on a hot, new gentleman who had opened a new store next to Mariea's bookstore. The evening was winding to a close when discussion of the book had piqued the curiosity of all.
Titchaba went to her library desk and retrieved the book. The book was passed around with many questions and no answers to them. The clock started to strike twelve. A latch was now clearly visible on the book strap. Samantha, the last of our younger members, pulled on the latch as Tichiba was screaming, "no!"
The book flew from her hand. It floated in midair, pages going back and forth. The book glowed an eerie red as the room went completely black. It was not as if all the lights had gone out, it was as if all life had been sucked out of the room. A horrible, black figure appeared, holding the book. He was huge, maybe eight to nine feet tall, and his body was chiseled. He was beautiful. Then, he lowered the book away from the front of his face. His eyes burned red; his face was an ever-changing mask of evil. He stepped out from behind the desk, his legs and feet were that of a powerful, cloven-hoofed animal.
The older ladies were frozen as I glanced back and forth between my friends and this horrible apparition. The three younger girls ran to each other, holding on for dear life. The older ladies turned to us, in unison, and in a voice that was not theirs.