Ripe for the Picking

A Devious Disclosure

Minutes have passed as Joshua laid still on the ground. As his eyelids started to twitch, he slowly began to open his eyes in a warm, candle-lit room. Joshua glanced up at the ceiling, realizing that he's seen those symbols before. He knew he was back in the witch's secret lair.

Carefully moving his arms, Joshua noticed that he wasn't tied down this time. He slowly stood up and cautiously walked around, observing the symbols on the walls. Making his way around the room, Joshua looked more closely at what appeared to be symbolic paintings of people throughout the room. While trying to decipher the meaning behind the paintings, a familiar voice calmly spoke to him.

"Those images represent the witch trials that happened in Salem."

Turning his head towards the curtain, a witch slowly entered the room with two full glasses of wine in her hands. She smiled at Joshua as she offered him a glass. He hesitated for a few seconds as her alluring looks distracted him once more. Flaunting her curvaceous figure, Joshua couldn't help but stare at her...especially with those vibrant green eyes seductively staring back at him as well.

"T...thanks." He said as he took the glass of wine.

"You are welcome." Smiled Ash as she took a sip out of her glass. "So I take it you now realize your parents are not the saints they made everyone believe them to be?"

Joshua let out a disappointed sigh as he never thought his parents would do such a thing behind his back. He then started to consume more wine to ease his stress.

"Where's Rayne? She said for me to come here if I wanted answers."

"She did..." responded Ash, "She is currently away at the moment, but I would be more than willing to tell you everything.

"How come you all didn't tell me this before?" Joshua asked.

"Us witches get a bad rep. Most men who see a witch have the initial instinct of killing us because we are perceived as evil." Ash answered. "Plus where you tried to kill me yesterday, we wanted you to find out for yourself first."

"Sorry about that..." he sighed.

"No worries, I understand you didn't want to kill us on your own. It was your father's orders that you were just trying to obey."

There was a moment of silence as Joshua replayed that moment in the dining hall where his parents agreed to marry him off to someone he didn't want to be with. Joshua was angry and felt betrayed. Most of all, he was tired of being left in the dark.

"Why did they lie to me?" He asked.

"To hide your mother's mistake." Ash answered.

"Mistake?"

"Mhmm..." replied Ash as she sipped more of her wine.

Ash then casually walked right next to him and gestured to the paintings on the wall. She took another sip of wine before she started to tell Joshua everything.

"A few years ago, witches like us were frequently killed by the hands of men." She explained, "Although no one was burned at the stake, most of us were either drowned or hanged at Gallows Hill. Even though now the witch trials are considered unlawful, many men still hold grudges against us. After the trials, our numbers continued to dwindle. Our leader Rayne, managed to save me and 20 other witches by aiding our escape from Salem. Over the years, we moved from one place to another. Eventually we ended up here."

"How many are left?" Joshua cautiously asked.

"12. There are more that we keep in contact with, but many of us are waiting till we can find a secure place so we can finally feel safe again. We all agreed to separate our groups in order to cover more ground until we find a safe place."