Default Title - Write Your Own

Through The Door

She heard her name being whispered.
It wasn't spooky, it was more like when her dad calls her and stretches out the vowels in her name a little more than necessary.
Saaaleem. Saaleem.
"Dad?" She said hesitantly. Had her dad gotten stuck in the room?
"Dad? Where are you?" She said looking around. She headed to her dad's office and grabbed a match in case there was a candle in the room to be lit. She knew there were other methods of using light for a room but she liked the more "ancient" methods which made people's eyes roll when she has the technology at her fingertips. She came back to the door and hesitantly pushed through it and walked into the new room.

She let her eyes adjust to the dark and her eyes immediately found a candle in the room that had a gleam on it where light was being reflected off of it from a crack in closed shutters outside of the window. She fumbled with the matches in the dark but was able to get a match lit. She was so curiously excited to look around this new room so she quickly lit the candle. It made her cough for a second. A surge came from the candle that spread throughout the room that threw up dust that made her cough.  What kind of candle was this? Is an old candle, or any candle, supposed to do that?

She looked around the dark room to see what was in this mysterious purposefully hidden room that she didn't know about. After looking around for a couple minutes she decided it was a boring room with nothing that seemed of importance.

Before she could let the full weight of disappointment settle, there was a noise outside of the room that jarred her back to reality- was that her dad leaving the museum? Had he not noticed that she came by to walk him home? It sounded like it came from the direction of the front of the building, which was curious because her dad usually leaves through the back. She hesitantly walked back till she found the wall then felt around in the dim light for door till she found it and then searched with her hands till she found the handle to the door- maybe she should use her phone next time... this was so time consuming.
She opened the door a jar and held the door open with her foot to make sure nothing weird happened then quickly realized how dark the museum was... her dad must not have heard her and left for the day. She blew out the candle and set it on a near by table then let her eyes adjust to the new dark room.
She found this to be an interesting challenge. How well did she actually know this place? She felt around in the dark but everything seemed out of place... where a birdcage should have been... wasn't? Then she tripped over who knows what? She did her best to slowly take it a little bit at a time but she floundered the whole way till she found the door! This definitely was a bad idea to do in the dark! At least she knew where the door to outside was so she could leave! She was so confused! When she got there it was around 6pm... there should be light from the sun coming into the windows so it wouldn't be so dark... she shook her head confused and searched the door for the knob- where was it? Is this the right door? It felt off. She finally found the knob and turned it. She pulled the door and walked out into the street and for the second time that day she was struck speechless... the streets were soo different... the houses... she looked up at the dark sky with a few scattered clouds. She looked to her right as she walked into the street and she just had no words... no words at all. The moon was a big bloody red full moon! And it was beautiful! As she walked into the street to get a better view, she bumped into someone. She tried to get the words out to apologize for her absentmindedness but was in so much shock she could barely think up of any words to say.
When she turned around and locked eyes with whom she bumped into he gave a surprised look as well. He mumbled something under his breath and said "Salem?" While squinting his eyes sideways at her as if he were guessing her name.
Salem gave a questioning look. She knew a lot of people in town but she was too confused to try to figure out how he knew her.
"Yes." She said hesitantly with a still confused and puzzled look on her face.
"Do we know-" she tried to ask.
"Wow!" He exclaimed with shock then quickly recovered and became serious.
"You have to come with me. Now. We haven't got much time!" He grabbed her arm and she was quickly escorted through a foreign version of the town she prided herself in knowing so well...
"What? Who? What? Why?" Salem spluttered as this strange man, boy... guy? Was dragging her somewhere apparently urgently...? He seemed no older than her, and he tugged on her when she slowed even just a little.
"Who are you?" She said finally getting a comprehensible question out.
"Eddie. But we really don't have time for pleasantries!" He said hurriedly.
"Why?" Salem questioned. "How do you know me?"
"I can get to that later, I just-" he stopped in the middle of his sentence. Salem, frustrated but knowing her rights, didn't need to be dragged to who knows where with who knows who and wrenched herself out of his grip.
"Who. Are. You?" She demanded. Giving him a frustrated glare.
"We haven't the time! Time is of the essence! We must go NOW!" Eddie emphasized. "I shall answer any questions you have but you must go with me and hasten now!" He quickly explained and egged Salem to follow him.
Something about how seriously urgent about his manner and genuine about him made her follow after him. He quickly started running through a bunch of trees that she could have sworn were houses but it was also dark and everything was so confusing. She tried to keep up with him but it was hard- she was a little out of shape, well, she wasn't exactly an in shape runner or a runner of any sort.
"Where, are, we, going?" Salem huffed in between breaths.
"Gallows hill" Eddie huffed back, we must to get there quickly!"
They focused on running for a couple minutes till he slowed down and got quiet. Salem could tell he had gone into stealth mode and she too tried to stay quiet and go slow as she followed him. They were coming up on a clearing with a few people in what appeared close to the Derby square present day. She heard some crying and just felt a weight of hopelessness in the atmosphere. She began to notice the worry on Eddie's face as he focused really hard on the surroundings ahead of him. She followed him out of the trees and onto a dirt path in the clearing. As they got closer his eyes got wide and he just stopped. His hands flew to his mouth and  muttered half sobbed under his breath to himself "No!" The light seemed to go out of his eyes and his shoulders slumped. They just stood there for what seemed like hours. Salem had stood paralyzed where they stopped and her mouth just dropped in shock. Seven people were hanged and there were a few people still whimpering. It appeared that this didn't just happen but the people who did this looked to have gone home already. Salem knew so much about the witch trials and with her dad being a museum curator and owner she always got every update on new discoveries and she had always been fascinated by it. But seeing it first hand was different. When she finally recovered from her shock she turned to her left and saw Eddie still sobbing quietly. She gave him a moment to recover and figure out herself what was going on. She finally deduced that no matter how crazy it sounded, she traveled back in time somehow. 334 years.... To the very day, she realized. In her time it was September 22nd, and if she was correct, this was Monday September 22nd 1692- when seven people were hanged.
Eddie had gotten his composure and through sniffles he stated "I'm so sorry, Salem, we were too late."