Crimson Church

Chapter 6- A Trip to the Library

Elizabeth and her friends drove to Ravenwood's public library the following day. They figured a book about the town's history would help out. When they arrived, they asked the librarian about what they were looking to find.

"You can find anything related to history downstairs," she said as she pointed to the staircase.

About six minutes later, Sam managed to find a book called, The History Ravenwood. He suggested that Elizabeth read it while the others looked for more books. Elizabeth sat down at a table and flipped through the pages. The book talked about everything from Ravenwood's foundation to its notable events. It also discussed the geography of the area as well as its resources. One memorable event that caught her eye was in March of 1693, the same time the Salem witch trials occurred. It turns out Salem was not the only town in Massachusetts with a history of alleged witchcraft.

In Ravenwood, there lived a slave named Marie. Her origins were unknown, but historians assumed that she came from Barbados. She did grueling labor at the town's church, ensuring the building and its surroundings were up to the locals' standards. One day, her master caught her doing something that looked like an "unholy" ritual in the attic. He told his friends what he saw, and the news spread like wildfire. An angry mob broke into the church, went up the stairs, and grabbed Marie. The master came up last with a noose. She was already guilty in his and everyone else's eyes. He prepared the rope and made Marie jump out the attic window. She died almost instantly.

What happened afterward was even worse. Two days after Marie's murder, the mayor's daughter claimed to have seen Marie standing outside her bedroom window. Before vanishing from sight, she supposedly said something along the lines of, "You will regret this."

The next day, more bizarre events started to occur to the point where the people of Ravenwood thought Marie had been influencing other people into practicing witchcraft. The villagers executed ten people during its witch trials.

Elizabeth read this, both fascinated and mortified. How did this not get as much attention as the Salem witch trials? As she turned the page to read more, she noticed that the same illustration of some of the executions appeared on the next page.

"That's weird. Didn't I see this before?" Elizabeth thought as she turned another page.

The illustration appeared once again, but with one difference. A faint, shadow-like figure materialized in the distance. As Elizabeth kept turning the pages, the entity kept getting closer and closer until its eyes locked with hers. Then, it gave off the most sadistic grin Elizabeth had ever seen while dragging its finger across its throat.

She immediately shut the book after that.

"I gotta tell my friends about this RIGHT NOW!" she thought.