The Séance

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When Anestasia awoke, she opened her window to let in some fresh air. She felt stifled by fear from the events of last night. It seemed strange to her that the view looked so normal. The sun shone as brightly as ever. There was no ichor dripping from the tree. The only thing different was the cat in her tree. I love cats, and this one is so cute. Anestasia leaned out the window patting the near by branch to coax the cat closer. It walked all the way to the end of the branch and let her scratch it's ears. Tabitha was pleased by how friendly it was, but not too surprised. She had always had a gift with animals.

Anestasia got out of bed and went to her closet. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a mint green t-shirt. When she stepped out of the closet to dress herself, the cat was on her windowsill. It seemed to be waiting expectantly. "Well come on in and let's see about some breakfast." The cat jumped from the sill and followed Anestasia down to the kitchen.

The cat jumped up on the counter while Anestasia fixed a bowl of cereal. She opened a can of tuna and shook it over a plate. Anestasia moved both to the table, where the cat jumped up to sit on the other side of the plate facing her. Nope, not an it. That is definitely a Him. "You have good manners for a stray. Does your family know you are here?"

The cat meowed mournfully as if to say he had no family. "No family? You poor baby. Well if you want, you can stay here. What should I call you I wonder. The cat meowed again. "How about Tom?" Steve yowled. "Ok, ok, not Tom. How about Steve?" Steve walked over and rubbed against her arm purring.

"I ran into something truly evil last night Steve. I don't know who or what He is. Who are the others the spirits mentioned? Why now? I wish I knew. More importantly I wish I knew what to do."

"Well, as You sure can't advise me, I think I will go to the library and do some research. That thing I ran into last night may have been here before. Hopefully, if He was, someone may have written about what happened." Anestasia got up and rinsed the dishes. She scratched Steve behind the ears then walked out the door.

It's funny how that cat really seemed to listen. Anestasia was thinking so hard about recent events that she didn't notice Steve following her. A cold burst of wind drew her out of her reverie. I think it's going to be an early winter, Anestasia observed. She hurried to the warmth of the old library.

Anestasia looked in the card catalog and found several books about ghosts and witches. She started in a collection of American hauntings. An hour later she stretched and sighed. How many more pages are there? Anestasia flipped to the back of the book and found an index sorted by state. Why didn't I look here first? She skimmed through the five stories from Massachusetts, but didn't find anything that seemed relevant. Well, that was a waste of time. Anestasia took the book back to the shelves, and searched the rest of the section. There were three shelves about ghosts and hauntings, and it took about an hour and a half to get through each shelf - even using indexes.

On the bottom shelf she found a book of Massachusetts ghosts. There was a whole chapter on Wardwell. Anestasia was surprised by some of the stories. Everyone knew the stories about her school, but she had never heard about a witch hunt here. It happened in 1680 shortly after the town was settled. There had been a terrible storm in June. Half of the town was washed away by the heavy surf. Many of the townsfolk were killed outright, and many more died that winter for lack of adequate housing because much of the forest was also affected. When the witch hunter was called, a local man was accused of conjuring the storm from the bay. On October 31 1681 the man was burned alive, and his bones dumped in an unmarked grave five to ten miles from town on a ridge.

Every year after that, when a full moon fell on the anniversary of the burning, locals claimed a storm blew in over the area he was buried. No one more than a mile away noticed even a breeze. When the anniversary fell on a blue moon, there were storms for three months. On the winter solstice of that year, a tempest  would blow in and completely destroy everything within ten miles, then the storms would slowly weaken until they went away on January 6.  The strangest part was that the storm always came out of nowhere. The last time, there was nothing visible on radar or satellite before, during, or after the storm.

The book also reported several bad spots. There were two places where mass murders happened a lot. The site the high school was built, for example, had had five different homes built on it. Each home had been burned down after the family living in it was slaughtered. Tabitha didn't recognize the other site. There were five islands in an unnamed cove off of Buzzard Bay, located about two miles northeast of the town harbor. Most of the islands were tiny, only big enough for a single dwelling. They were close enough together an average swimmer could swim from any one of them to any other. Some how people "forgot" the whole cove was there. Every now and then someone, usually a tourist, would "find" it. They were rarely seen again. The shore around the cove is heavily forested for a mile in every direction. Anytime someone wanders in they get lost and wander back out not remembering where they were.  At the end of the article it referenced a book on local history, The Settlement of Plymouth County.  Anestasia put the book back on its shelf. 

Anestasia looked at her watch and couldn't believe it was already two o'clock.  No wonder I'm hungry!  I think I'll go to Don't Spill the Beans before I look the local history book up.  The small coffee shop was just across the street and Anestasia ordered a maple pecan frappe with a chicken salad sandwich.  She called home to leave a message for her mother saying where she was and that she didn't plan on being more than another hour or two. When she was finished with lunch, she went back to the library to check the local lore section in the front.

Anestasia checked the section shelf by shelf. She didn't find it on her first go through, so she asked the librarian if they had it.  The librarian checked the computer and said they did, that it was in, and that it was in fact in the local section- at least as long as it hadn't been mis-shelved.  So, Anestasia started pulling the books off the shelf to check behind them.  At the third of five shelves, she felt almost a buzz.  As Anestasia brushed her hand along the back of the shelf, something bit her. Anestasia knelt on the floor and felt around the back of the shelf.  It didn't seem to be as deep as the other shelves, and at the top right corner, she found a hole just big enough for her index finger.  Anestasia stuck her finger in and pulled. There was a book hidden flat against the back of the cranny. She gently pulled it out and found a handwritten journal. It had no library markings either on the spine or the front page, and no title.  Something told Anestasia it would be better to read it somewhere safe, away from possible interruptions. She glanced around and tucked it into her purse when no one was looking. Anestasia returned the false back to the bookcase and put all the books back in, after still not finding The Settlement of Plymouth County.   Then, Anestasia looked through the New Age section, and put a hold on the book before leaving. There was nothing in New Age she hadn't either read or bought for her own library so she started for home.

When Anestasia stepped out of the library, the thunderclouds were so black it looked like dusk. The wind was blowing hard and cold, and there was the scent of ozone in the air. I'm glad it is only four blocks to home. I may just make it. A thunderclap rent the air just as the streetlights came on. Under the first light, she saw Steve waiting expectantly. "What are you doing here, kitty?" Anestasia asked. He jumped for her arms with a yowl. "You're right, now is not a good time to stand around asking questions." The first raindrops fell as she hunted for the mini-umbrella in her purse. Anestasia opened it on the run as the rain fell more heavily.

....................

Now that he was safely under the umbrella, Steve rumbled contentedly. The girl had the book. She could still find some answers on her own. I should have time now to find out how much she knows. I don't want to reveal myself before I have to. What she doesn't know about me, she can't accidentally tell. The less time He has to prepare for me and my influence, the better.