Rest In Peace: 300 Year Old Witch

Chapter 0

——— trigger warning ———

In 1693, a young witch was cursed. Cursed for trying to stop the war between human kind and her own. A war known to the humans as the Salem Witch Trials.

A war that the humans, themselves, started.

Fearing the witches' growing powers, humanity raised their pitchforks and set forth to end all witchcraft.

The witch-hunt had started.

They ravaged. They persecuted; and they hanged those they found, angering the whole coven. Now, this young witch didn't believe in blood shed. She was innocent.

Naive.

First, she tried to reason with the coven. That there was no need to create this foolish war. They could run. Hide. They could cower away from peering eyes, but it was not enough. The coven wanted - needed - to fight back.

With humans whispering into her ears, the young witch believed that there was no other way. No other choice but to sabotage her dear coven's sacred ritual. A ceremony used to amplify their powers underneath the moonlight.

A tradition unseen.

Unguarded.

Hidden in the darkness of the night, the young witch whispered an ancient incantation. A spell that called on olden powers to hide the very moon.

A decision that betrayed her beloved coven at the expense of her own life.

As she breathed her last, the young witch thought the powerless coven would finally give up, but the witches' wrath was too great. The coven carried on with their plans of revenge. They fought with their all; but soon, their small numbers were overwhelmed.

Twenty witches died.

Twenty witches cursed the world.

Twenty witches hexed the young witch with their dying breaths.

They cursed her to walk the earth for eternity. With the help of the goddess Hecate, a liminal goddess that presided over the boundary of life and death, the young witch's gates to the afterlife were closed. Kept under lock and key.

Realizing that she had caused her coven's massacre, the young witch was plagued with grief and remorse.

It haunted her every breath.

Her every step.

It shadowed her day and night; until she had finally lost her mind.

Wishing to rejoin her coven in death, the young witch jumped into a lake. She gasped as the water painfully poured into her lungs. Her sharp nails scratched at her neck in search for air and tears floated up to the sky.

The memories of the past flashed before her eyes. They haunted her. Followed her, even to her last moments in life.

As guilt filled her very being, she gave up. Everything was all too much.

Her thin bony arms relaxed and floated off to her sides. The young witch's eyes fluttered close as she felt the pull from below, dragging her small body to the darker depths of the lake.

She had finally found peace. An end to her sufferings. 

So she thought.

When the witch reached the boundary between life and death, a dark cave-like underworld, she was obstructed by a gate. A tall domineering structure in a stormy shade of grey. A gateway that lead to the afterlife, but something unusual was wrapped around it.

Unbreakable chains decorated the gate. Bonds of iron that embodied the coven's wrath and sadness. The broken trust they used to cherish.

A flood of emotions poured into the young witch as she stared at the chains. She had finally realized the gravity of what she had done. The significance of the actions that betrayed her coven - her family.

Finally, something had snapped.

With tear stained cheeks, the young witch yelled aloud, release all the emotions within. She pounded, pulled, and scratched until her nails ripped off; but nothing worked.

After all, the witch's gate to the afterlife had been closed shut by the goddess Hecate.

Unable to open the gate, the witch was chased by Cerberus and it ripped her astral body apart. The three headed guard dog started with her arms as she casted her spells, shrugging off even the best of them. The traumatic sight sent her to tears as she ran from the beast.

Armless.

Defenseless.

Tired of the chase, the dog went for her legs. Biting them clean off with two of its head. As her body lay there lifeless, tears streaked her face as Cerberus walked closer. Drool and blood mixed as the liquid pooled underneath its three mouths.

The last sight she saw was of the beast tearing her head off. The action had sent her back to the world she hated the most.

Horrified.

Traumatized.

Since then, every time she stabbed herself, poisoned herself, or hanged herself, the young witch was always sent back to the land of the living by that mad guard dog. This continued on until she was numbed to its murderous actions.

Finally, at her wits' end, the young witch had the brightest idea to use a death hex on herself. This time, the witch woke up to nothing. Nothing at all. A blackness. Void of sound, void of life. Now, tired and worn out, she accepted the emptiness.

The young witch had realized it was better than living, feeling; but nothing goes to plan. The witch wakes up fifty years later. Only to modify the hex, and repeat the cycle again.

Again, again, and again.

Now, more than 300 years have passed since the incident. She's awake. Bolder, stronger.

Broken.

Now, the witch aimed to uncover the secrets hidden within her past. The unknown stories of the war, and the cryptic messages her coven left behind.

Like before, she intended to finally Rest In Peace, but this cycle seemed different. It was stranger than the rest. Something was coming and she felt it in her bones.

Something old. Powerful. It rooted itself with her bloodied past.

A darkness from beyond this time, and she won't be able to stop it.

Not alone, at least.

———
Hello,

Thank you for reading. I hope this has helped you understand more about this supernatural world.

I write as a hobby and it is my first story, so there will be some confusing or odd parts in this book. Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Also, since this character is suicidal, I believe that it'd be best to place a trigger warning. This is the same for the copyright text in the summary. I was told that it would be best to place this. Please do tell me if I have used it wrongly.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Titania