The Children of Eppswood: Book One

Prolouge

Eppswood, 1743

"Father Howell!!! You will pay for your sins!!!"

Everything had fell apart. His plans had failed and now he had been discovered by the towns people of Eppswood of being a witch. Something he had tried so painfully hard to avoid; and now there was no turning back. So he ran. He ran with a vengeful mob at his back.

How could have been so stupid to expose his identity. He though he could trust her. He thought he loved her, and her him. He had one job to do in Eppswood and he let him self get distracted by a whore. "How pathetic", Father Howell thought to himself as he ran through the woods.

He knew these woods by heart, he spent a lot of time there. He knew where to go. If he could loose the mob in the woods, he could hide there until it was safe. But chances are they'd be looking for him all night. He was a criminal, and the worst kind, a criminal in league with the devil. That's what the residents of Eppswood called the witches. Agents of Darkness, working for Lucifer himself. And maybe that was true for him. He knew who he worked for, who his soul belonged to. Thats the whole reason he was here in this shitty little town in the first place.

Howell's legs were starting to burn. He didn't know how much more running he could do, but the clearing was just up ahead. And if he could cross it, he'd be safe. He jumped through the last remaining of shrub and branches into the clearing. He could clearly hear the hatred filled voices and footsteps of his pursuers. They weren't far behind.

As he ran through the clearing, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder that shot all the way down his right arm. He jolted forward and almost lost his footing. He stopped dead in his tracks and used his unhurt arm to try and figure out what was causing this sudden pain. As he reached over his shoulder, he felt something wooden sticking out of his back. An arrow. They shot me me with an arrow. And it wasn't the last one. Another flew through his left leg and he fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

The mob entered the clearing and being towards Howell. He wanted to stand but the pain in his leg was unbearable. He doubted he could walk on it. He looked behind him as his soon to be executioners we're making their way over to him, torches in hand. Someone had been giving away secrets to these humans. How did they know to use fire to kill a witch? How did they know where he kept all his books and talismans? How did they know anything?

It was that whore, sure of it.

With anger in his eyes and magic in his blood, Father Howell made one last attempt to save his life, and if he couldn't do that, he'd make sure he wouldn't stay dead. He closed his eyes and placed both the palms of his hands on the bare earth. He begin to speak in a very old, forgotten, ancient language. One that hasn't been spoken since biblical times. The air started so whisk around the clearing very rapidly and suddenly. The towns people stopped advancing towards Howell and looked up at the sky. Dark clouds had rolled in completely covering the visibility of the moon and night sky.

"This is the work of the devil!" A lady shouted

"We must burn Howell to ash now!" Another man shouted. And they all seemed to agree.

The leader of the mob, who was an actual priest and the mayor of the town, walked towards Howell with his canteen of oil and his torch. "Howell, you devil worshipping blasphemer. I hope hell burns as hot as this fire thats gonna put you there."

He poured the oil all over Howell, and Howell just kept chanting. The clouds kept getting thicker. The wind kept getting stronger. Howell stopped chanting and looked the mayor dead in his eyes, and gave him a wicked smile. A smile he would remember til the day he died.

"You may burn me now, Mayor Reeves. Just know one thing. I will be here to see your grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren burn. With my own eyes. I will watch everything you build crumble back to the earth. And I will spit on it." He threw his head back and laughed, then spit in the mayors face. "Just like that, you old pig!"

And with that, Reeves placed the lit torch on top of Howell's head, and he set ablaze. At first Howell  laughed. He laughed because he knew this wasn't the end. He laughed to hide the fact that he was in pure agony. He could feel his hair burn of his scalp. The boils form on his skin as it singed and melted off of his bones. The last few seconds of his life, as he lay there burning, he managed to scream. Three words the people of Eppswood never forgot.

"WE....WILL.....RETURN!!!"

Almost an instance later, the wind stopped howling. The clouds thinned out and the moon was shining over them once again. Somehow, no one felt relieved. The fire from the corpse cackled and popped as the mayor walked back towards his people.

"Let us all go home and rest. Evil has once again been defeated at the mercy of God." He didn't believe what he said. And no one believed him, either.

There was a chorus of "Amen" from the mob and they disassembled and headed back towards the woods. Mayor Reeves looked over his shoulder and for a split second he though he saw a shadowy figure standing over Howell's burning body. But when he tried to get a better look, it was gone as soon as he fully turned around. He shook his head and followed the rest of the towns people back towards Eppswood, not knowing that Howell's body had been taken elsewhere by the figure he thought was his imagination.

And not too many years later, when Mayor Reeves was lying on his death bed, taken out by consumption, the shadow figure returned for him as payment for killing Howell and interrupting the plans set it motion. But it wasn't really bothered really. Every plan has a back up....