Witch's Lament

A Witch's Lament
by Catherine Anne Collins

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Genre: Paranormal
ISBN: 978-0-9818484-6-4
Length: Novel
Publication Date: March 2009
Cover art by Kendra Egert

When Skye Temple buys a historic house in Salem, Massachusetts-the witch capital of the world-she ignites events that began centuries ago during the witch trials. Salem's bloody history unfolds with her discovery of ancestral diaries, the murders of local girls, and her attraction to Jerome Phips.

A local police officer, Jerome has returned to Salem vowing to uncover the truth of his mother's disappearance during a ritual gone wrong thirty years ago. His suspicion of Skye and her family's history keeps tension between them high.

Burdened with the birth-task of the Gods to keep an ancient knife protected, Skye gains a new understanding of her powers, while the need to avenge his mother's death drives Jerome. Past and present collide in a final ritual between evil, love, and honor.

Excerpt

Skye Temple eyed the sign in the window and breathed a frustrated sigh. Out to Lunch. Be back at 1:00. She'd pushed the speed limit for the last 3 ½ hours only to have to wait anyway. Figures. Tamping down her excitement, she ran her fingers through her hair and surveyed the street. Tingles fluttered in her stomach. She was really here. Salem, Massachusetts; a town with a chaotic history of bloodlust, witchery, and Puritanism.

Strangely empty, the street conveyed an eerie, muffled stillness broken only by a dry leaf blowing across the cobbled sidewalk and the honk of a distant horn. She shivered as her blood thrummed, swirling and searching for the fulfillment of something primal. Ancient. Unknown. Present within was a deep surety that she was where she needed to be, though her purpose remained unclear. Salem's atmosphere awoke a longing for something she hadn't even known was missing in her life until her visit two weeks ago. Strange as it seemed, the town now welcomed her back like a lost daughter or a sheep returning to the fold.

A moment of unexpected panic seized her. What had she done? Had she made a mistake? Her heart thudded fiercely in her chest and stole her breath. If it was a mistake, it was too late to do anything about it now. Giving herself a mental shake, not even wanting to consider what problems her hasty decision might herald, she glanced at the real estate office where she'd come to pick up the keys to her new house. The house she'd bought on impulse.

Looking for a way to pass time, her gaze came to rest on a store across the cobbled pedestrian walkway of Essex St. The store's uniqueness piqued her curiosity with its curtained windows, lack of any obvious advertising, and a huge front door of elaborately knurled dark wood. The only statement the store made that attested to retail was the ornate gold lettering carved into a plaque of wood that hung above the doors.

Witches Haven.

Unease rasped down her spine. But why? Witch stores abounded in a town like Salem and nothing about this one seemed threatening. Intrigued and wary, Skye glided over the uneven cobblestones of the narrow street and placed her hand on the cool handle of the door. She hesitated. The urge to go back and wait in the Jeep hit her, but it was so brief that it must have been her imagination. Her mother always cautioned that her impulsiveness overrode her common sense. Skye took a deep breath and tried to mind-sense what waited on the other side of the door, but nothing jumped out at her—no sense of impending doom or danger.

A feeling of warmth brushed across her arm and a whisper tickled her ear. You've come too far. There is no turning back. What did that mean? She'd bought a house, so it was already too late to turn back. Skye shook her head to clear the uneasy thoughts, then, with an assertive yank, opened the door, and stepped into the store.

It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the subdued light, but then her gaze swept the store, mainly to reassure that no danger hovered in the shadows. Bookshelves stretched the full length of the wall on one side of the store, while glass showcases laid claim to the opposing wall. Floors shone with the look of freshly polished wood and a few antique wooden tables dotted the store. Crystal figurines, candles, and jewelry filled the display cases.

The perfection of it all struck Skye as odd. Books lined the bookshelves in order of height from shortest to tallest, each table possessed its own color theme with nothing allowed that didn't fall within that specific color whether it be purple, green, yellow or blue, and even the items in the showcases had a certain order of size and color.

A couple of customers browsed the shelves, while a woman argued with a deliveryman in the farthest corner of the store. The woman's voice, subdued as it was, swelled with anger and frustration, while the man just shrugged and gestured toward the boxes.
"Excuse me, could I just reach past you."

Skye started, her attention redirected from the arguing couple, although their discordant voices buzzed her subconscious. "Oh, I'm sorry." She stepped aside to let a young girl take a deck of tarot cards off the shelf.

"No problem. If it's your first time in here, I can understand your zoned-out state. Impressive place, isn't it?"
She nodded and smiled. "Oh, yeah. Although…"

"I know. It lacks feeling."

"Exactly. How did you know what I was thinking?" Skye looked at the young, blond girl whose face radiated friendliness.

The girl shrugged. "I sense things." As if afraid to follow that path, the girl quickly added, "Are you from around here? I know most local people, but haven't seen you around. Are you visiting? If you are, I can recommend some great places to see. There's the Salem Witch Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, the Witches Dungeon. Oh, the best place to see is the Witch House. It's the only place still standing that goes back to the trials, and it belonged to one of the judges who condemned all those innocent people to death. You might also want to see…"

"Okay, enough." Skye laughed and raised her hands in protest. "I'm not a tourist. As soon as I sign some papers, I become an official Salem resident."

"Oh, how cool. Too bad I won't be around long enough for us to get to know each other." The girl rolled her baby blue eyes. "I'm enrolled in Boston University in the fall, you know. I can't wait to get away from here."

"You don't like living in Salem?"

"It's all right, I guess, but..." She took a quick look around and whispered, "...all the witch wannabes kind of irritate me."
"Witch wannabes. I haven't heard that term before."

"Yeah, and my mom is the worst. Always trying to talk me into doing some ritual or other." She flashed the tarot cards in her hands. "Hence the cards. Mom figures that no self-respecting witch should be without at least one deck. She never inherited grandma's powers, but I did, so Mom tries to live her magic through me. Does that make sense?"

"I guess." Although the concept of a mother actually encouraging her daughter to practice magic was a difficult concept for Skye to grasp, especially when her own mother discouraged that very thing. Not always successfully. "But I'm sure she only wants what's best for you. At least she's willing to give you some guidance. Maybe you shouldn't shrug off her advice."

"Maybe." The girl extended her hand. "By the way, my name's Chastity."

"I'm Skye." She took Chastity's hand and instantly wished she hadn't.

A vision of blackness thrust itself onto Skye along with a sense of warped intent. Chastity's face glowed briefly in Skye's mind's eye only to split in two when a knife slashed across the younger woman's features. Streams of blood shot through darkness and turned blond hair to red. Skye's breath caught in her chest as she struggled to regain her senses. A scream of pain and fear echoed through Skye and she watched helpless as Chastity drifted into the darkness leaving Skye with one last shimmer of blue from lifeless eyes.

With a sob, Skye pulled her hand from Chastity's and managed to disconnect herself from the vision. It took a moment to regain full awareness of her surroundings. Unfortunately, the icy stare of the woman in the corner and Chastity's frown let Skye know that her vision hadn't gone undetected.

"What did you see?" Chastity whispered, her blue eyes round and glowing. "I knew it. I knew you had powers the moment I saw you. I felt you before you even entered the store."

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