Ravenpoint

Chapter Four

"Mary's diary!?" I freaked out.

Dad replied shakily, "I'd heard rumors about this thing. I just..."

"You just what?" I asked.

"I can't believe it's real. I didn't think Mary was really even a real person." Dad gasped.

"Me either." I said truthfully to my father.

We opened the first dirty, obviously old page and read the smudged writing. It was hard to read because of the age of the diary. However, bits and pieces were crystal clear. I read about her pregnancy. People in the town called her a "whore" and a "sinner" for having gotten pregnant before being wed. She never mentioned the father of the baby's name. She referred to him as "E" throughout the entire diary. I flipped through pages until reaching the end, finding that a good portion of the diary was left blank. I read the last entry. It read:

Today the mayor of Ravenpoint send me a letter. He told me he was going to have me sent to court. People of the town are believing the rumor that I'm a witch. This cannot be happening to me. My baby is only two months old. E left us. I loved him. He weren't a bad man, but he became a monster. No one can be trusted in this town. They are all liars. They are hiding something. I am going to get to the bottom of it, even if it kills me.

-Mary

I got major goosebumps and chills when I read the last sentence. "Even if it kills me." I shivered. I looked at my dad. He looked as shocked and terrified as I did.

"Do you think she was really a witch, Dad?" I asked.

"I don't know, Ashlyn," He began, sighing and raising his eyebrows to reveal deep wrinkles on his forehead, "You know I'm not a big believer on that supernatural stuff. I don't know what to think right now. Go to sleep and we'll talk tomorrow."

I nodded and looked at Oliver who had, by now, fallen asleep on the floor. I hugged my dad and received a kiss on my head before I nervously walked into my bedroom to go to sleep. I didn't care about getting washed up or anything that night. I was too shaken up to hardly even fall asleep. I was so scared and even more curious about this Mary story. Who was telling the truth? The supposed witch or the rumors that spread like jelly around this spooky town? Either way, I desperately needed to get some rest. I closed my eyes and eventually fell asleep.

The next day, I got up at 2 pm on accident. The first thing I did was take a shower. No spiders today, thankfully. Next, I threw my hair up in a rather sloppy bun on top of my head and just put on some Baby Lips and a few coats of L'Oreal mascara.

Then, since I wanted to continue with the "I want to look homeless" style, I put on some cheetah print leggings, a white v-neck t-shirt, and a zip-up black hoodie from Hollister. I decided I wanted to actually do something that day. Maybe I'd investigate that burned down courthouse or the church. Maybe I'd even get the courage to investigate the tree. Hopefully this time I wouldn't throw up in front of a hot guy, but whatever. I put on mismatch socks out of pure laziness and slipped on my black Vans. Then, I grabbed my phone and headphones and played some Brooke Candy songs. My favorite. I grabbed a cup of coffee with sugar, or should I say, a cup of sugar with coffee. I always go overboard on my sugar.

I walked out of the front door, my thoughts scrambling like eggs in a pan as I tried to focus on one thought at a time. I just couldn't shake the horrorific scenerios involving the witch and the courthouse that would constantly replay themselves in my brain. I was terrified. I wish I would've gotten Joey's number, I realized. I needed a friend who didn't live a billion miles away. I needed a friend in general, really.

I walked to the spot where I'd blown chunks just a few days earlier. I felt scared and uncomfortable this time, but not so much sick to my stomach. I stood there, closing my eyes and thinking. What would've went down that was so...sickening? Was it really that awful? I walked to the courthouse, and I stood there in what was actually an eerie silence for a few mintues. I felt as if I were in a trance when I stared at the courthouse. When I saw what looked like someone walking by, the spell the courthouse had on me broke and I jolted away from my position. I felt my heartbeat speed up like a racecar and my thoughts scramble once again. I frantically looked around for an explanation to the person walking.

"Hello?" I stupidly called out, panic rising in my voice, "Is someone here?"

I felt like a typical girl from a horror movie. All I needed now was broken high heels and a narrow escape from a serial killer through a foggy forest on Friday the 13th at 12 am. I gave myself chills. Now that this witch story was possibly true, no movie sounded cheesy or stupid anymore. I was genuinely terrified. I walked towards where I saw the person walking. I kept walking towards the feeling of dread that was slowly becoming overwhelming. My heartbeat was speeding so fast, that if the witch didn't kill me, I'd surely die of a heart attack. Finally, it was as if my mind was yelling, "You're getting warmer." I took a few more unstable footsteps and then finally I saw someone and my mind screamed, "You're on fire!"

I saw what looked like a woman. She was just...standing there. I opened my mouth to say something, but I was too petrified to say anything. I was about to slowly back away when, of course, my foot steps on a stick and it crunches loudly beneath my feet. The woman turned around quicker than lightning. I turned pale as I gasped in horror, nearly falling over backwards.

"Mary?!"