Hex Bloodlines: The Cursed Sisters

Chapter 1

Massachusetts, 1692

It was a grave time for young women back then. To be considered a woman of God, you would have to follow strict rules and if you don't, you'll either be shunned or suspected by the church. As a Puritan woman, you must show the men of the town respect, mainly bowing to your husband or father. You must, of course, attend church, for that was the rule for everyone on Sundays. As a Puritan woman, you must cover your arms and hair while out in public, if not, you would be exposed from the waist up and whipped until your back was bloody, which was contradictory. You would have to attend to the children, and when it came to marriage there was no room for denial, for your people would ostracize you. As a Puritan woman, you were "supposedly" born to be subordinate to the men in the village for the sin of Eve. The sin of Eve is what brings fear, a fear that women are more susceptible to the thoughts and actions of temptation. It meant that women could possess qualities that could become sinful, so they used that against her by forcing her to satisfy the interests of their husbands. And if you did this successfully, you proved your place as a Puritan woman.

Men didn't have to follow such strict rules and vulnerability, but they had to follow the law. They had to run businesses, sign contracts, and own property, everything they took, had, or made belonged to them, even the children they produced. Women sadly didn't have these leisurely assets, unless they were widows who never married, but even THAT could raise suspicion. Some would say that she murdered her husband, which would be caused by poison or a stab to the heart, but nowadays it is by dancing with the Devil himself. A woman with such prosperity is highly unknown, so to some it was known as suspicious for a sad woman to gain and keep such spoils. And even though men were known as superior to women, there was one advantage to this, Puritanism claimed men and women as spiritual equals. The men may have been in charge of the church, but the women were considered more disciplined and more moral. But then why were there so many rules for them? And if women were considered spiritually equal to men, what's stopping them from seeing them as equals in the material world? Such questions were barely asked for it would cause you a lecture for questioning God's will. But if it's God's will for me to suffer at the hands of people who are supposed to be my family and my protector, why must I obey? Why must I stay and suffer? Why must I suffer the consequences of something unrelated to me other than my womanhood? I find it deplorable. Others say I am the one dancing with the dark lord because of how I speak about my people's religious lifestyle. And I may be, but it's not a definite yes. I loved my mother and father, but I loved my happiness and freedom more. And it may seem ungrateful because I am treasured based on my namesake, Mary. Like the woman who gave birth to a child that became our Lord and Savior. So, you would expect me to behave and be graceful. But I decided not to. What will I get out of it? A husband who will see me as nothing but a breeding cow, children who drain my feminine beauty? A community that will sell me out at the slightest inconvenience? That's not what I wanted for myself. But that's how things were.

I am Mary Wilson, and I was the second child of Joseph and Alice Wilson. My father was a priest, while my mother worked with my grandmother and little sister Abigail in the gardens. Women were forbidden from having actual jobs because such things required a man's expertise, even though the majority of the time they were just spilling out dribble. But, thanks to my father's status in the community, that meant we were highly respected and less suspected when it came to 'witchcraft'. But that does not fully guarantee us any special privileges, especially since we are so high in power. Some out there expect us to make deals with the devil, and their logic is that since we are close to the lord, we could also have connections with Lucifer himself. My father tries to keep these conspiracies at bay by involving himself with the common locals, which I believe is hypocritical because he fails to involve himself with his wife and children.