Chosen Ones

The Beginning

October 9, 1692 Westchester, New York.

The sound of Horses galloping echoed through the night, as an iron barred cage trailed behind holding 3 women captive.

One of the women took an athame she had concealed in her cloak and tried to pry the thick iron lock that held the cage's door shut and turned around and crawled back over to one of her other companions cloaked also in a grey hooded gown. Isolated in the back of the iron prison was a figure in a black laced hooded robe sitting.

"It wont open, we must escape before we reach the town hall, they will have our heads if we don't!" said Kelly Rohan dropping to her knees.

"Beatrice, we are out of options there must be something you can do?" Michelle Watson said calling out to the woman in the black.

"They've taken my book of shadows and with that our powers, what would you have me do Michelle?" said the Beatrice motionless her corner.

"Anything, were running out of time, you taught us everything we know about the craft, surely there is something we can do before they attempt to execute us" plead Kelly as she crawled over to Beatrice.

"They're going to stone us, hang us, or worse...

Burn us at the stake!" wailed Kelly as tears rolled down her face.

"No... No, my sisters, you have everything misconstrued. Time is the one thing we do have, find your heart, gain your courage in this darkest of hours set upon us, when we fall tonight, it won't be in vain our bloodline descendants will rise and grow stronger with each generation one day to answer to the calls of the witches like we did and take power to finish our quest." Said Beatrice as she began caressing the side of Kelly's face.

"I have seen into the distant future, our works shall come to past again, if we must sacrifice ourselves to assure that our covenant of magic is protected, so be it." said Beatrice who was now standing in front of the iron door.

Beatrice, what aren't you telling us? Michelle asked her.

"The witch hunters were never our only threat; they are the least of our worries. Being burned at the stake is a luxury compared to what can happen. There are many more involved in this plot, they mustn't get their hands on our magic, no matter the cost!" said Beatrice.

Suddenly the carriage stop and it was pitch black; there was an eerie silence for a brief moment as the 3 woman looked around listening closely in fear as Beatrice maintained her composure. Suddenly the iron lock hit the floor and the cage door flew open as a crowd of angry villagers yelling holding torches and others holding weapons scolded them as 4 men entered the cage.

They begin pulling the girls out one by one as they screamed and struggled to get out of the men's tight grips. They pulled each lady down through the screaming crowd pulling them up on a stage in front of town hall. A tall slender man pulled Beatrice forward by her arm and threw her onto the ground and snatched her hood off of her head. She was a beautiful caramel complexion African American female with blonde curly hair that fell to her shoulders.

Jeddah Smith, The leader of the witch hunt and upstanding member of the town's Puritan congregation, stood near in the crowd looking at her as she glared at him for a long moment almost as if she was piercing through his soul with her gaze before they pulled her onto her feet by her hair and tied her next to the other girls on to thick wooden stakes that wreaked of gasoline that they had soaked it in the previous night.

"Broom riders!"

"Whores of the night!"

"Burn those witches!"

"Burn them at the steak!" heckled the villagers.

Jeddah walked toward the stage to Beatrice as the crowd grew silent he stood in front of her.

"Tell me Beatrice Knobles, how could a slave girl working for the Rohans, one of the most wealthy and important families have a heart as dark as yours?" said Jeddah pointing at Beatrice.

I know that you used your magic to curse them, to convince John Rohan to commit adulterous acts against his wife and manipulate Kelly into killing her husband and joining your cult as well as the Michelle Watson who then stand before us today, But you shall soon discover that all your evil works will soon be your undoing!" continued Jeddah as the slender man from earlier joined Jeddah by his side holding a large brown book.

Hmmm Magistrate Alabaster, come to see your handy work, mission accomplished, you pathetic old fool said Beatrice lunging toward him in her restraints.

Magistrate Alabaster slapped her in the face with force with the brown book he held, as blood dripped from the corners of her mouth she looked back at him smiling eerily.

"Tell me about this magical book containing the dark arts you used to corrupt these innocent women and you may yet escape the fiery flames of hell!" He said as held Tituba's face.

She looked at him for a moment.

"My book...., there's a page marked, all about the inner workings of sigils and consecrated circles, I will tell you everything if you promise my freedom in return." she said looking at the Magistrate

He stepped directly in front of her with her book of shadows in hand as he opened it for her

"What does this mean, these symbols, these markings, the drawings of this house and the purple symbol on it, how is it linked to these... dark arts!" he asked her pointing frantically at images in the book.

"It means that it is hidden in a well protected place, that one day, the work we started will be finished to obtain that magic, then all your descendants will fall and ours shall rise to claim a power that you can't even begin to imagine, the Mark of Transference or purple symbol as you simpletons called it will glow and ignite, and you shall burn our kind no longer in time!!" Beatrice said as her devious laugh echoed through the court yard.

The crowd suddenly grew silent and everyone stood in awe.

"Your female descendants from bloodline, who exhibit your evil blood and works will be persecuted under the full extent of the law, whatever curse you leave this day witch, your female line will suffer for your sinister plotting! said the Magistrate.

"Female descendants, ha!" Beatrice smirked as large gusts of wind began to pick up.

"I do not fear you witch. You will perish!" he said as he slammed the book shut and threw it on the ground at Beatrice's feet.

"NO ALABASTER! You will in time!" she said as the book flew open to a page with The Mark of Transference glowing brightly.

She spat her blood on the now glowing page.

"Corpus est non quid ligat nos! Est exinanita vas! Est implero vas!"("A body is not what binds us! There is a vessel emptied! There is a vessel to be filled!") said Beatrice as a the symbol in the book was burned into her skin that looked like a two lined triangle with a circle inside on her right forearm.

"Demon! Join your cult!" He pointed as Tituba laughed as they pulled her up to a steak tying her to it beside the others as she raised her head proudly down at them.

"The evidence is overwhelming, we have our witnesses of your tainted works, Beatrice Knobles, you and your followers have been found guilty of committing the darkest of sins, witchcraft, it is a crime against God, by the power invested in me I hear by condemn you to burn in the fires of hell for which you so eagerly seek communion!" he said as the villagers begin to ignite the wood around them.

"You fools, thinking this all ends in flames, that our legacy will be destroyed this night, in time, your descendants will be purified by these same flames you cast upon us, these dark magic's will rise one day and our works will be fulfilled." Beatrice said.

As the women glared out to the crowed and laughed the great flames begin to engulf their bodies as their laughter turned into screams in agony.