A Witch's Torment

Chapter 1

Auburndale, Massachusetts, 1846

The knock at the door startled Cordelia Hayward, who had been dusting her bookshelves. She frowned; Cordelia hadn't been expecting any visitors that evening. None of the villagers had informed her of anyone that they wanted her to examine for them that day, and they seldom visited her past nine o'clock at night. She glanced at the clock which hung above her mantel; it read half past nine. What was even stranger was the fact that the knock came from her altar room. The villagers never knocked on that door; Cordelia was positive that they were unaware of its existence. Nevertheless, she hurried over to the door and opened it, her eyes narrowing when she saw the person who stood outside.

"What are you doing here mother?" she asked, her shoulders slumping as Elizabeth Hayward let herself in before closing the door.

"I came to see how you were, Delia." Elizabeth replied.

Cordelia bit her lip. "Take a seat if you want. Would you like something to drink?" she asked as her mother took a seat next to her desk.

"No thank you. Everyone's been asking about you. Don't you think it's time you came back to live with us?" Elizabeth asked. She wasn't surprised to see the look of contempt on her daughter's face.

"I don't want to live with you. I am fine on my own. The villagers are nice to me and I like it here mother," she replied, her hands folded on her chest.

"It isn't right. You should live with the coven."

Cordelia sighed. It wasn't easy being a witch.

"I'm still a part of the coven. Auntie Diana and Auntie Victoria aren't complaining. It's just you," she replied indignantly. "I can support myself here, I like being their physician. The villagers are very nice too me. And you forget that father left me more than enough money to live like a queen."

Cordelia knew that her mother was trying to beat around the bush. Elizabeth had something she wanted to say to her daughter very badly, she just didn't know how to bring it up.

"All the other witches your age are trying to conceive-"

"I am not going to be a part of your little breeding program!" Delia snapped, interrupting her mother.

The Great War had taken place almost twenty years ago, and a large portion of the witch population; which had been small to begin with, had been decimated by the demons. It had been a battle between the vampires and the demons initially, Elizabeth and the rest of the witch council refused to allow any witch covens to participate. They hadn't realized that the demons would eliminate everything and everyone that was considered threatening to their populous. The unsuspecting witches were killed off coven by coven at first, at an alarming rate, until the witches allied with the vampires. During the war, even more witches were killed; they weren't very skilled in combat, unlike the vampires.

Re-population of their race was deemed necessary after the war ended. However, most of the older witches were still in mourning for the loss of their husbands and wives in the war. Some did take human spouses and tried to conceive, but the chances of producing witch children were lower when mated with humans rather than male witches, and it didn't help that most witches were infertile as well. Most of the witches were females, and almost all the matured male witches were already married to other witches. There was no choice but to mate with humans for the rest of the females. The remaining choice was to let their children grow up and try to conceive. Most matured witches who were Cordelia's age, and older were in the process of trying to conceive. The fact that Cordelia; a Supreme witch was refusing to conceive was what made Elizabeth so angry.

"How can you be so selfish? You are supposed to set an example for others!" Elizabeth reprimanded.

"Just because we are Supremes, it doesn't mean we are better than the rest of our kind, mother!" she retorted.

Supreme witches were direct descendants of the ancient beings who had first discovered witchcraft. They were more powerful than the other witches, who were descendants of the people who had worshipped the beings and learned from their craft. The Supremes had a range of abilities that wasn't present in the other witches. Only four witches of the Supreme Bloodline remained after the war. They were Elizabeth, Cordelia, and Elizabeth's sisters; Diana and Victoria. Diana and Victoria had tried to conceive, but they weren't blessed with fertility. Elizabeth didn't want to believe it, but they were all almost certain that Cordelia was infertile as well. She was very likely to be the last Supreme.

"You are nineteen years old, you're more than old enough to try and conceive!"

Cordelia scoffed. "You're one to talk. You had me when you were one hundred and eighty three!" she jabbed. She would've told her mother to marry someone and conceive by herself, but Cordelia knew that it would be the breaking point for her mother. She had loved Cordelia's father very much, and losing him in the war had been very hard for Elizabeth.

"Delia, I only want what's best for you and for our kind. I don't appreciate you living all alone here, unaccompanied by anyone except for your books and potions," Elizabeth told her in a more calm tone.

Cordelia sighed and closed her eyes, telling herself to not snap and yell at her mother. "Then believe me when I tell you that I am fine. I like it by myself, and I like learning how to help people. You've become so obsessed with re-population; you don't even bother trying to educate our kind about our own history and culture," she pointed out.

It was true. Cordelia was one of the few younger witches who were very well versed with the witch culture. Elizabeth was proud to admit that her daughter was a very smart young witch. Too smart for her own good sometimes, Elizabeth thought. She realized that it was fruitless to argue with Cordelia.

Elizabeth stood up with a small shake of her head. "Very well. I don't think I'll be able to change your mind and convince you to come and live with me, so I'll be off. Do visit the Hayward house darling."

Cordelia smiled. "Of course mother. Convey my regards to Auntie Diana and Auntie Victoria."

"Goodbye Delia."

Elizabeth placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead before leaving.

***

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