• Blood Bound •||• Simon Kalivoda X Female Reader •

23 - Search

The medicine takes its effect on me. Not in a good way. I'm hardly aware of anything that's happening around me. I'm only hearing echoes of voices and seeing my room in a blur. I don't know how much time has passed or what time it is right now.

"Darling... we are back from the town meeting." I hear Mother's voice. Muffled by a ton, but I can make out what she's saying. Isaac, not as much. The only words I can understand are "I tried speaking", "did not", "Berman", and "ordered to check for the Devil's Mark."

I try to form my own words, but they only slur together into an incoherent groan. The room is spinning and my brain can't seem to function properly. "Isaac, if you wouldn't mind stepping out for a moment," Mother says to him. "O-of course," Isaac replies. Suddenly, he's out of my line of view. I try to speak again, but fail.
"Now, darling, are you able to sit up?" I shake my head, but it makes me feel even worse.

She gently lifts my upper body up. I grunt as it fills my head with more dizziness. "They say that the Devil may reside in those with our hair," she sighs. Mother rarely keeps her hair down, but now it's flowing down her shoulders neatly like a red waterfall. "They had me take it down along with the other women who have ginger hair."

That's awful. I wish I could say it out loud, but I physically can't. She unties my shirt and pulls it off of me. Mother brushes her fingers against my bare skin and examines every inch for Devil's Marks. "Nothing unusual except for our hair," she affirms with a small joking smile. She re-dresses me and lays me back down on my bed.

"I love you, Winifred," she whispers and kisses my forehead.

----

I open my eyes to the sound of banging on the front door. I blink, now able to actually see my room. I am able to hear mother yell, "Don't come inside! My daughter is ill! She doesn't want anyone here!"

I lean over to see what's happening. I peer at my doorway. Mother is holding the front door shut as the sound becomes louder and louder. The door bursts open, knocking Mother to the ground. "No," she shouts. "Caleb, please!" I hear Isaac's voice. "Move along, Isaac," Caleb says.

"Leave her be! She is ill," Isaac pleads. "We are searching each house! The Watkins home will not be any exception," Caleb shoots back. Isaac rushes to my doorway and blocks it. "I won't allow you," he declares. "I don't need you to," Caleb tells him as he pushes past him with all of his might.

Caleb runs straight for me. I bury myself underneath my blanket in an attempt to protect myself. "Come here, girl," he grunts as he rips the blanket away from me. "Don't you lay a finger on her!" Isaac yells, pushing him away. Caleb deliver a punch to Isaac's face, knocking him down.
"Isaac, no," I gasp, trying to sit up but Caleb holds me down. "Run away, run away," he taunts. He looks down at the blood pool on my bed. "A curse of blood has been brought to you," he says. "Sarah Fier and Hannah Miller are responsible for this. They are to be hanged tonight. Their crime-- witchcraft."

I shake my head and try to push his hands away from me. "Do you know where Sarah Fier is?" I shake my head. "Do you bear the Devil's Mark?" What? I give him a confused look. "Do you bear the Devil's Mark!?" I shake my head again. "My mother checked me. I have no Devil's Mark."
"Let me see," he demands, beginning to untie my shirt. "No," I weakly beg. "Please, no." "You have red hair of the Devil!" he hisses, pulling at my hair.

I smack him in the face as hard as I can. He staggers away from me for a moment, holding his cheek in pain. "Seems that you're always being hit by a woman," I coldly say. "Serves you right for acting like an animal." Anger rages in his eyes and he grabs my shoulders. Yanking me upwards, he rips open the back of my top. "Stop! Stop!" I yell.

He unveils my bare back and pulls down the rest. I cover up my chest with my left hand and hit his hands away from me with my right hand. "Stay still, you bitch," he shouts in frustration. "Don't touch me," I hiss.

"Caleb, let her go," Mother cries out. "I checked her. She bears no Devil's Mark!"
Isaac sits up and gets back up on his feet. He grabs Caleb by the back of his shirt and pulls him away from me. He slams him against the wall. "You ever dare to touch her again, I shall withdraw your head from your body," he growls.

Caleb's jaw tightens, angry that he's being actively stopped from searching me. "Get. Out." Isaac shoves him out of my room, following him to the front door.

I hear the door shut and Isaac walks back into my room. "Winnie, are you alright?" he softly asks me. I've been holding it in all this time, but I burst into tears as I shake my head. "May I..." I nod my head without hesitation. He takes me into his arms, wrapping me in warmth.
I bury my face in his shoulder. I begin to sob and it never seems to stop. "It was so humiliating..." I cry as I try to catch my breath. "Oh, I know, my love. I'm so sorry," he whispers.

"They're going to hang Sarah and Hannah," I whimper. Isaac nods sadly and kisses my temple. "They are innocent! They are in love, not sin! They do not practice witchcraft!" "They already have Hannah tied up. They are searching for Sarah," Mother says.

"I need to see her. I need to see Hannah before-" "Winifred, Dr. Edward instructed-" Mother interrupts. "To Hell with Dr. Edward," I argue. "His serun messed up my head! I could hardly move nor speak!"
With those words, Mother sighs and hesitantly nods her head. Isaac pulls away from me. "Are you sure?" he asks. I nod my head.

"Help me up." Isaac grabs my hands and lifts me out of bed. I'm able to stand up straight with his guidance. I slip on the rest of my clothes and walk out the front door with Mother and Isaac following after me.

It's nighttime. Torches and candles are the only things lighting up the town. No one is smiling. "Where is she?" I whisper to myself.
I look all around. My eyes dart around frantically, looking for Hannah or Sarah. Aftee a few seconds, I finally find Hannah. Tied up with chains, clothes ripped, bruised, and exhausted. I walk up to her, but I'm stopped by one of the men holding a torch, surrounding her.

"Don't come near the witch. She will place a curse on you," he says. "Hannah Miller is no witch," I tell him. "Besides, I have already been cursed. It cannot get worse." Hannah looks up at me, tearing up at the sight of me. "Winifred, go home," the man warns. "I will not listen to orders from a man who believes the pastor's daughter of all people practices witchcraft." I smirk a bit as he is taken aback by my words.

"The pastor is dead," he pipes up. "because of his own daughter." My eyebrows downturn in anger. "Let me see her," I demand. He grabs my hand. "Listen to me, Winifred," he growls. "Move along. Go home." "Get your hands off of her!" Mother steps in, fists balled up with courage. I try to rip my hand away from his grip, but he pushes me down to the ground.

"Gillian! Control your daughter," he yells. Isaac lifts me off of the ground, helping me stand back up. "Is this what our world has come to?" I exclaim, stepping forward.
"This won't stop the rotting of our food nor will it prevent more death! I, myself, have been cursed. A curse of blood! It was not Hannah Miller or Sarah Fier. Look at yourself. You are thinking about slaughtering youths! How are you better than whomever bewitched Pastor Miller?"

It's only until after I finish speaking when I realize every eye is on me. Oh, no... I didn't mean... I didn't want to... "Perhaps you are a witch as well," Thomas butts in. The man glares at me darkly. "No," I begin. "I'm not a witch." "How about your mother?" "Leave my mother out of this," I voice. "The both of you have hair as red as the Devil," he says, reaching for a strand of my hair. I move back, not giving him what he wants. "And so did your sister..." "Leave Marybeth out of this!"

"Perhaps you have bewitched your own love." He turns to Isaac. "Oh, yes," Thomas laughs. "Perhaps it was for lust." "You don't have the right," I coldly whisper to him. He scoffs a bit. "And you have the right to speak over a man?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see doors swing open. I turn to see what is happening. Sarah Fier herself is standing in the doorway.
She emerges from the Meeting House. Her face is covered in blood. Her right hand is absent. She is smiling. Even Hannah smiles a bit, thinking there is possibly a ray of hope that she is safe.

"I've found the witch!" Solomon yells and grabs Sarah by the back of her hair. Sarah's smile disappears and she begins to sob as people with torches surround her.

"No!"