Three Witch Sisters

The Arrival

The bare trees loomed above the horse drawn carriage as it floated silently through the chilling mist. Up ahead, the dim light of a lantern illuminated the overgrown road. The three women within the carriage looked apprehensively out at the dark windows of the large house that was to be their new home. The eldest of the three had a head of deep red hair which curled around her shoulders and crystal blue eyes that looked on with excitement, while the younger two, one dark haired and one fair, both with the same blue eyes as their sister, exchanged a worried glance. The gates to the manor opened upon a vast, dark courtyard and big oaken doors, staring at them with doorknockers, shaped like eyes.

"It's charming," said the eldest enthusiastically as they stepped into the darkness.

"It's probably haunted and we're all going to die," said the fair haired one.

"Nonsense, you're just saying that because you haven't seen it during the daytime."

"Nonsense or not, sister, you must admit, it doesn't look particularly welcoming. Just look at that hole in the roof," spoke the dark haired girl, pointing to the roof, which sported a gigantic, gaping hole.

"This is our ancestral home! Besides, no one's lived here in decades, so there are bound to be a few maintenance problems," exclaimed the red head, walking boldly up to the front door, reaching beneath the dusty doormat and removing from there a rusty iron key.

The key turned in the lock with a loud crack and the door creaked open to reveal the foyer. The eldest, Katherine, took a cluster of candles from the table by the door and lit them. The light revealed a dome shaped ceiling, painted like a night sky, filled with golden stars flickering in the light. The floor was a magnificent mosaic of a wild ocean and at the centre of the great room, lined with Corinthian pillars, stood a large, carpeted spiral staircase, which was overgrown by ivy. The doors to the neighbouring rooms were crafted from oak and embellished with stained glass windows, covered in the dust of time.

The three sisters walked up the spiral staircase to the second floor and there discovered three rooms, each corresponding to the individual's taste. Katherine's had a comfortable looking bed in the left-hand corner, while the remainder of the room looked more like an office or library with books lining every wall from floor to ceiling. Even the bed had been incorporated into the wall of books by being placed in a little nook at the bottom. The desk was cluttered with old papers and books that contained odd symbols and Latin phrases. The visible walls were painted a deep burgundy colour and the window, the only part of the wall not lined with books, looked out into the backyard, which was overgrown with wildflowers.

The dark haired girl, Mary, strode cautiously into the one that looked out on the woods beside the manor, which were engulfed in a thick sheet of fog. She gasped excitedly, however, at the sight, for it was the most beautiful room she had ever beheld. A shelf by the right-hand wall contained all manner of dried herbs while a corner beside it held an alchemists laboratory with many beakers and jars full of metals and minerals. The quilted green and brown blanket upon the bed as well as the many candles waiting to be lit gave it a homely feel. The curtains were a heavy green velvet with golden tassels holding them to the sides. Mary could not help but shiver at the sight of the forest beyond the manor's walls.

The fair haired one, Samantha, seeing how the other two enjoyed their rooms ecstatically, went into the chamber facing the gates and the road beyond. The scent of lavender wafted into her nose as she entered and a deep purple colour enveloped her with its hue. On the walls were painted many constellations in brilliant gold paint, and a telescope stood at the window. Samantha squealed with joy, not questioning for the moment how it was so perfect for her temperament.

"How is this possible?" asked Katherine instead, noticing this particular curiosity.

"Right now, I simply don't give a damn," said Mary with a broad grin.

"Watch your tongue, sister!" Katherine scolded sternly.

"Oh leave her be, Kate. Her reaction is perfectly reasonable," Samantha defended her sister with a small smile.

"Oh alright, but you two had better get off to bed now. It's getting far too late for young ladies such as yourselves to be up and about," Kate gave in, smiling softly at the only family she had left.

At around three in the morning, they were all still wide awake and exploring the contents of their rooms. At around four they were all fast asleep in their new beds. The morning came and went before even one sister awoke. The first to rise was Katherine, who did not need much sleep and had grown to need no more than six hours to get through the day. Her sisters would not awaken for at least another two hours. She slipped silently down the staircase into the foyer. It all looked quite different in the daytime, as she had suspected. Her nightgown floated ethereally around her tall and slender frame, as she glided down the carpeted hallway to the back door.

The fresh air blew into the dust covered hall and created a small storm of the stuff as Katherine stepped outside and took a deep breath in the expansive garden. It wasn't a garden in the traditional sense, though it must have been at some point in its lifetime. Now it was a kind of charming wilderness with no clear path that could be seen by the naked eye. Vines climbed high on the fence surrounding the garden and wild rose bushes had made their home there. The tall magnolia was currently bare yet the morning sun shone magnificently, lighting up the mist and making the dew sparkle.

"With a little hard work I'll have this place looking spick and span again in no time," Katherine said to herself and headed back into the house.

The moment she entered, she felt as though a wave of some strange force washed through her. She thought it would pass, yet the feeling remained and began to pulsate like a heartbeat. Determined to ignore it, she made her way to the kitchen, seeing as she felt rather hungry and would have to produce some sort of breakfast. She headed down the spiral staircase to the cellar which held the kitchen. In the old days, there would have been servants' quarters for the staff down there as well, but at present, it all stood empty. Katherine searched for something or other to make breakfast with, but to no avail. She would simply have to scrape together what she could from their journey's picnic. She was met with success and found three apples, two buns and an almost empty jar of strawberry jam.

Mary and Samantha came down a short while later and tucked into their breakfast. Samantha was the hungriest out of them for she was but 14 and still growing, while Mary and Katherine scrambled to save some breakfast for themselves.

"I'm afraid that's all we've got for breakfast. I'll have to travel in to town to get food for a proper meal," Katherine spoke once they'd finished. "Until I return, Mary is in charge. Don't cause too much trouble while I'm gone."

Both girls nodded, casting a sly glance at each other. Once Katherine had entered the carriage in her workaday black dress, the two sisters ran back inside with broad grins.

"What shall we do now? Explore? Maybe investigate the cellar?" Samantha was bouncing up and down on her feet with sheer delight, making her grey skirts hop up and down in a similar fashion.

"Yes, the cellar! I wonder what people kept in there and what we might find," Mary spoke, equally giddy with glee. The worries of the previous night were gone and had been replaced with childlike curiosity.

They ventured downstairs and swiftly discovered the kitchen, empty and void of food and proceeded to what Katherine had assumed were the servants' quarters. Yet the doors were locked, but for one at the end of the passageway. Eerie white fog crept out from underneath as Mary grasped the doorknob hesitantly and twisted.

Candles flickered to life as the door opened and a vast chamber was revealed. No dust had collected here and no time seemed to have passed. A great staircase lead downwards into what seemed to be a temple crossed with a library. Statues of women, clad in Grecian garments, lined the pathway to a great circular space upon which was painted an intricate pentacle at the centre of which was the source of the mist. A crystalline orb floated upon a pillar of black marble and let off a radiant glow that washed over the two sisters like a wave of power and light.

Seemingly floating, Mary and Samantha glided down the stairway towards the orb, coming ever closer, not realising the bright glow emanating from their hearts and the space upon their brow. They reached out to the sphere. The palms of their hands made contact with the delicate, smooth, warm surface of the crystal. The soft glow seeped through their skin and into their very being, drowning out all that was before. Then there was nothing but light.