Eternal Damnation

Chapter 5

-Aurora POV-   

-Year sixteen ninety-two-  

“Aurora!” I hear my sister, Beatrice calling.  

I ignore her as I continue reading my book behind the cover of my favorite tree.  

“Aurora!” She calls for me again.  

“You need to stop being such a brat, little sister.” Charlotte says walking up to me from within the forest in front of me.  

“And you, Charlotte, need to stop meeting the Mill boy in secret.” I give her a smirk.  

She gasps and narrows her eyes at me. “Look who is preaching. Did you not come late two nights ago from the Swanson’s boy estate?”  

My cheeks turn pink.   

“Oh, shut it. Beatrice is just going to make me do chores.”  

“So then... we both hide here.” She says. 

“So long as you do not interrupt my reading, yes.”  

I go back to my book but then I feel menace heading our way. I look back and see Beatrice walking in our direction with a scowl.  

“Oh, lobcock!”  

“Aurora!” Charlotte shouts in surprise. “Watch your mouth.”  

“I learned that from you and that is beside the point, look.” I point at Beatrice.  

Charlotte looks back. “Lob-” She looks at me without finishing and I smirk.  

I close my book and get up. “Race you.”  

“No, I-” I don’t let her finish and take off running.  

The wide field comes to view with our white colonial-style house in the middle. I run down the hill, going past Beatrice.   

When I look back, Charlotte is doing the same while Beatrice shouts at us.  

We get to the house giggling, then we sit at our dining table looking like obedient girls, waiting for Beatrice.  

She walks in completely out of breath. “You two will be the death of me. Go get changed, we are having company for dinner tonight.”  

I make a kissy face. “Ooh is Mathew coming to blow the groundsills.” [s*x on the floor slang from older times]  

Beatrice gasps while Charlotte laughs.  

“Oh stop it, Aurora!” Beatrice swats her hand at me looking embarrassed.  

“What? You two are engaged, so why wait?” I ask.  

(I know I didn’t and I am not even engaged.) The only one that knows is Charlotte and only because she is not pure either.  

Charlotte smirks. “Our little sister has a big mouth but we all know that Mathew's younger brother, Andrew, fancies her.” She says now looking at me.  

I groan. “He is such a bore.”  

“Well, not everything can be exciting Aurora. And he is a very good match. We all are past the age that most women settle down.” Beatrice says.  

She is not wrong. Most women get married at seventeen though the legal age is around twelve. Twenty-four being the latest. I am twenty-three but my sisters are over that and it has become harder for them to find a suitable husband.   

I guess it is because we did not have parents to force us into marriage. Beatrice took over as our guardian when our parents died and she was always a free spirit though she has become more prude of late. Also, the fact that we had to keep our family’s secret added to her stress with her being the head of the house. We are witches, something that is punishable by death should the wrong people find out.  

I groan again and head up to my room.   

“Use the nice dress!” Beatrice shouts from the bottom stairs.  

I sigh. I go to my wardrobe where I take out my nice dress. Even though I hate dressing up, I smile as I look at it with fondness. It was my mother's. We all kept her clothes.   

Every time I see it, I can see her in it. I am thankful that that memory has stayed in my head. I am afraid to forget her and farther as time passes. 

I put on the light blue dress. It is long-sleeved with ruffles on the neck area that go up to my neck, completely covering me. It has golden flowers embroidered on the fabric with buttons going up the corset and long sleeves. I put my hair up, trying to make it look nice I then put on some of my mother's jewelry and then head downstairs where Beatrice has already set the table.  

Our house is a typical colonial home but it does have finer things. Our parents were scholars and would travel around the world discovering ancient artifacts, many of which held powers that only witches could use and knew of. Of course, normal people around us don’t know that. 

Our family was a part of a coven and still is though we are in hiding now more than ever. Witch persecution has become a common thing and fear has spread throughout the community even amongst humans.  

My mother was the grand high witch of the coven. My sisters and I are grand witches, meaning that our powers are stronger than most witches because of our bloodline.  

When my thoughts finally come back to me, I find myself greeting Mathew and Andrew Bishop.  

We all sit and start dinner. Charlotte gives me a smirk and with her eyes, points towards Andrew who has his eyes on me. He is an average-looking man, well put together, and has a bright future ahead. A perfect match but just a little too safe for my liking though I do not think I will have a choice. It is not like men are lining up to marry me.  

“So many meaningless deaths. It is just wasteful.” Mathew says.  

Beatrice nods. “To kill someone without any hard evidence is just wrong.”  

“These witch trials are getting out of hand.” Mathew says. 

“People are afraid to say anything because they fear they will be persecuted too.” Charlotte says looking angry.  

“I heard that the last couple of weeks there have been these specialists come to town. They call themselves witch hunters.” Mathew says.  

We live just outside of town. Just a few minutes by foot. We can even see the smoke from the house chimneys in town from here.  

“Must we really speak of this now?” Andrew asks.  

Mathew smiles. “Sorry brother. You did come here with a purpose.”  

Andrew nods and gets up. He looks straight at me and I start to have a bad feeling about this.  

“Miss Aurora Sibyl. From the moment I met you, you became the sun to my moon..."

My eyes almost come out.

"...You shine as bright as the brightest star in the sky...”  

(Giblets!) [means Balls!]  

He continues. “...my heart yearns for you and I would be proud and honored if you would be my wife.”  

I abruptly, slide my chair back and it gets caught within the seams of the floorboards, making me fall backward and hit the ground.   

“Uff!” I squint, holding my head, and tilt my head to the side where I am surprised to see something odd on the bottom edge of the wall where the wall meets the floorboard.   

“My goodness Aurora! Are you okay?!” Beatrice rushes over.  

Andrew and Mathew, both help me up.  

“Oh yes... I’m just taken aback.”  

(I was trying to make a run for it but I am as clumsy as ever.) 

Andrew nods. “Understandable. This is something you must think about and I don’t expect an immediate response.”  

I know I am not really attracted to him but he is a very sweet man.  

“Thank you.” I say to him.  

He smiles and helps me to the living room where we all sit and spend the rest of the evening. Once they leave, I quickly perk up.  

“I found something!” I say to my sisters.  

“What do you mean?”  

“When I fell in the dining room, I found something.” I say. 

Charlotte looks at Beatrice. “A concussion.” She mumbles.  

Beatrice snickers. 

“Oh stop it. Come with me.” I say.  

I get to the dining room with them following me. I kneel in front of the wall and put my head on the floor.  

“Look, see.” I look through the edge of the wall as if I was looking through the bottom of a door where we can see darkness on the other side of the wall.  

“Could it be another secret room?” Charlotte asks.  

“Most likely. One of mother's many rooms.” Beatrice says.  

We all look around the wall but nothing obvious comes to view.   

“Maybe if we just push it.” I say and do just that.   

The wall opens as if it was a door.  

There are stairs that lead down. The three of us slowly make it down to find a room holding many trinkets and books.   

Charlotte looks around. “This is...”  

“Incredible.” Beatrice finishes for her.  

Mother had secret rooms around the house but nothing like this.  

Beatrice and Charlotte start to look around but I am drawn to an old golden book in the middle of an altar. I can feel magic coming from it.

It has three distinctive green crystals embedded on the spine. The book looks old but it is beautifully decorated. There is a small journal next to it in my mother's handwriting. I read the last entry.  

“If any of my darling girls are reading this, then your father and I are gone. This is our family Grimoire. It is enchanted, this book knows what you need or will need and it gives it to you. Only those of high blood and immense powers can use the spells written in it like the descendants of our family and no dark being can handle the book. But a word of caution... these are powerful spells and such spells cannot be cast without a price to pay. But, there could be ways around such prices. Remember, all the answers you will need will be in this book. Guard it with your life. It is a unique powerful heirloom that must not fall into the wrong hands. ”  

I put my mother’s journal down and look at the book in confusion. My finger barely touches the edges when the book suddenly opens by itself. The pages flip by in rapid motion and land on one page in specific.  

I look back at my sisters but they are completely distracted so they do not notice.  

I look back at the book and read it. 

“Eternal damnation?” It doesn’t describe what the spell is.  

(Does this mean that I will need this spell? But the name is so... ominous.)  

I continue to read the incantation in my head which is fairly easy to remember but I can tell it holds power.  

I hear Beatrice sigh. “We should leave all this for tomorrow. It is late.”  

We all agree and head up to our rooms but all night, I can’t stop thinking about that book. It is as if it calls to me.

I finally manage to find sleep but am abruptly woken when multiple hands pull on me and I start screaming.   

Three men pull me up from my bed and another puts an amulet around my neck. 

“What are you doing!” I shout. “Who are you?!” 

I can hear my sisters also screaming through the hall. 

“Let me go!” I shout and that is when I try to use my magic but I cannot.  

I look down and see the amulet glow when I try to do magic. 

(It cancels magic?) 

The men carry me outside and I see my sisters also being carried by men. We are bound and gagged then, put in a small cell on top of a horse carriage where there are two more women and a man, bound and gagged as well. I recognize the three of them. They are part of the coven. 

This is when the realization hits me.  

(Witch hunters.)  

As the carriage starts to go down the road, we try everything to get out, but nothing works.  

I huddle up to my sisters. We all cry knowing what awaits us at the end of this short journey. 

When the cart comes to a stop, there are fires roaring in sections of a field. I can see dead bodies burning on stakes. We are taken out and led to six newly made pyres with wooden polls standing up in the middle. 

I shake my head as I am brought to one of these. I am at the left end with Charlotte beside me and Beatrice next to her. My eyes water and I am frantic. 

The men tie me to the wooden pole with my hands behind my back, then, they pull the cloth on our mouths off.  

I know they just want to hear us scream and plead and that is exactly what everyone does. What we all do. 

“Why are you doing this?! We have done nothing wrong!” Beatrice shouts at them but they do not answer. 

A man stands in front of us with a long scroll.  

“You have all been taken to be purged from this world. Purified. Your homes and belongings will be burned and know that everyone you knew will think you all perished in the house fires that are spreading across the town and farms as we speak.” 

(No! This is not happening, it can’t!)