The Enigma Of Jackie Steinman

Prologue

Some time in the early 1700’s

“Here you go, good sir,” Jackie smiles, a red rose sprouts from her palm, it hovers in the air for a moment before her boyfriend, Joseph, takes it.
    “Why thank you, m’lady,” Joseph’s playful smile makes Jackie’s heart swell.

She watches a lock of dark hair, just long enough to reach the stubble on his chin, fall in front of his sculpted face. He gently rests his hand on hers, rubbing his thumb against her cheek. She adjusts his navy bow tie, tossing his navy  jacket over his shoulder, and dusting the dirt from his pants. He chuckles, gently kissing her, not thinking of anything but Jackie in that moment.

“I love you, Miss Steinman.”
    Jackie pulls away from Joseph, her face drops, making eye contact with him. “I actually have some news and I’m hoping you won’t take it too horribly,” Jackie shifts in her unbearably tight corset. In that moment her mother’s words flashed through her mind. Beauty is pain. Jackie always found that statement odd, but nonetheless, she does feel beautiful. Despite being suffocated by the corset, the beautiful embroidered pattern of leaves and flowers of orange and green seem worth it. Her father always says she looks like a stable girl, wearing such a nice corset over a beige short sleeved top, with a silver-buckled black belt dangling from her waist. The only thing that seems to distinguish hre from the servants, is her Prussian blue flared cotton skirt, and the silk ribbon, tying her corset around her torso. “I’m going to have a baby.”
    Joseph's smile fades and the rose falls to the ground, silence soon takes over the field. “We are unwed, this could spoil my reputation.”
    “I am terribly sorry, Joseph.”
    “This could destroy my career.”
    “What should I do?”
    “Get rid of the thing for heaven's sake.”
    “Joseph, you know I can’t do that.”
    “Jacqueline, they will have you killed.”
    “I’ll hide, my father will support me.”
    “He will do no such thing, and neither will your mother, or anyone employed there. I will have no part in raising a bastard.”
    “But Joseph,” Jackie's eyes fill with tears, “you said-”
    Joseph slaps her across the face, leaving a throbbing red handprint on her face, “never mind what I said. You need to leave. They are looking for witches and they will find you out and kill you if you have this child,” he wraps his hands around Jackie’s neck, making Jackie gasp.
    “No they won’t, I swear,” she chokes out. A single tear falls down her face. She grabs his wrists, struggling to breathe, feeling pressure building in her head.
    “Get out of my sight, you disgust me.” Joseph spits, pushing her onto the ground. He quickly gathers his belongings and storms out of the wooded area where their romantic picnic abruptly came to a halt.

Jackie crouches down, stuffing the stray rose petals into her corset, weeping softly to herself. She walks home slowly, feeling a bruise forming on her neck. She reaches her house and sits at the island in the kitchen, where all of the servants have been dismissed for the night. Only Miss Abigail, a middle-aged slave, remains in the kitchen, cooking Mister and Missus Steinman’s late night snack. Jackie leans her face against her fist, watching Miss Abigail silently.

“Oh good heavens,” Miss Abigail exclaims, a hand flying over her heart, turning to see Jackie sitting at the island. “You’re fit to give me a heart attack one of these days.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Abigail. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
    “Are you alright, child? You look ill.” Miss Abigail asks, setting a plate of turkey in front of Jackie.
    Jackie shakes her head, “just depressed, that’s all.”
    “Perk up, you could be in a worse position.”
    Jackie looks up at Miss Abigail. Her thick brown hair is pulled up into a bun and there is flour on her apron. She was right. Jackie could be in her position.
    “Did father whip you again?” She asks, seeing a pink mark on Abigail's dark cheek.
    “Never you mind that, eat your turkey.”
    “I don’t understand why he treats you so cruelly. You never did anything to him,” Jackie demands, raising her voice.
    “Keep your voice down, he may hear you,” Abigail hisses.
    “Let him, he’s going to kill me anyway.”
    “Don’t say that, he wouldn’t lay a finger on you.”
    Jackie shakes her head, “not after this. I’ve done something unforgivable.”
    “Well, spit it out, I don’t have all day.” Miss Abigail glances in the oven at the meat pies she is preparing for Jackie’s parents.
    “I’m going to have a child,” Jackie cringes.
    “I was ‘bout your age when I had Lester.”
    “Yes, but nobody looked up to you, you’re just a slave, I...I’m a socialite. Destined to be the center of attention my entire life.”
    “I am a lot more than just a slave, and you are much more than just a socialite. We are women, and that is an honour.”
    “I suppose, but how am I expected to have this child? They will accuse me of witchcraft and...adultery.”
    “Listen, my baby girl, Annita, bright as they come, pregnant at fifteen Did she let that stop her? No. She went underground, haven’t seen her since, but she sends me letters. I can send you with her. Where nobody can disturb a hair on that pretty little head of yours.”
    “You really mean it? Oh, Miss Abigail, how can I ever repay you?”
    Miss Abigail waves her hands at Jackie, “you already have, by treating me like a person, and by keeping that trap of yours shut,  we don’t need anybody finding out about this.”
    Jackie nods.
    “Well go on then Jaqueline, go and pack a small bag to keep hidden under the porch. Move it. I’ll write the letter.”
    Jackie grins, running up the stairs. As she stuffs a teddy bear, a hairpin, and a couple of dresses in a bag, she hears a loud pop come from downstairs, followed by an eerie silence. 

“Please, just calm down. Let’s talk about this rationally. Man to man.”

“I can’t speak to someone whose witch daughter stole my son's virtue. She cast a spell on him and forced him to impregnate her.”

“I’m sure this can all be sorted out over dinner. Brutus, please, lead our guests to the dining room.”

Brutus, a tall bulky slave, who towers over Joseph’s father, steps forward, only to be met by a bullet to the head. Jackie flinches, covering her mouth. A single tear falls down her face and she runs back into the kitchen before anybody could spot her.
    “Miss Abigail, what’s going on?” Jackie asks.
    “Get under the house, there’s a door there, that leads to the basement, stay down there until this all gets sorted out” Her instructions are cut short when a hole rips through her torso, spraying Jackie with a waterfall of blood. Jackie lets out a blood curdling scream and Miss Abigail collapses onto her. Jackie sets her down on the hardwood floor, a large black boot lands firmly on the ground in front of her. Jackie looks up only to see Joseph’s father, with Joseph not far behind him.
    “Damn Niggers, always sticking their noses where they ought not be stuck,” he spits on Miss Abigail's body and Jackie can only stare in disbelief, dumbfounded by what she just witnessed.
    “Now for you, witch.”
    Joseph passes his father a large container of gasoline. The man dumps it on Jackie’s head, she tries to run, but only slips on the pool of gasoline around her. Joseph’s father puts a cigar between his lips, a sinister smirk appears on his face. Joseph opens his mouth, in what appears to be protest, but soon closes it when his father takes out a box of matches from his jacket pocket. He strikes the match head between his yellowing teeth  before flicking the match at her. Jackie stays silent, laying next to Miss Abigail, waiting for death. The flames engulf her, her skin slowly melting and blistering, not giving them the satisfaction of hearing her scream. She gasps when she is covered in water. Joseph’s father crouches down, holding a knife against Jackie’s throat.
    “It’s not going to be that easy, love. This is going to hurt.”
    Jackie lets out a strangled scream as she feels the blade glide across her lower abdomen, slowly opening her up. The man jams his hand inside of her stomach and Joseph gags, turning away at the sight. Jackie feels his hand, exploring her lower abdomen.
    “Come out come out wherever you are,” Joseph’s father sings, moving his hand around inside of her.
    Jackie wakes up hours later. She gasps for air, coughing up water and gasoline. Her blood is still gathered around her, soaking into the grass as she gets up. Miss Abigail's body had been tossed aside, blood pooled around her. Jackie looks down, seeing the gash in her lower abdomen. Who knows what he did or found. She stands, grabbing the knife Joseph’s father left lazily next to her body. Jackie staggers down the road to a large house, kicking down the front door of Joseph’s family home. She stomps up the long winding staircase, being met by horrified glances from the slaves inside the home. She reaches Joseph’s bedroom door. The door she was once excited to see. The door that held a world of love behind it. The door of the boy that would soon be dead. She breaks the door down, seeing Joseph courting Alyson Dunstock. The knife floats beside her before ramming itself into his esophagus. Alyson screams and Jackie smiles, watching her terror.
    “You’re better off without him,” Jackie croaks.
    “Please, please leave me,” Alyson sobs.
    Jackie stares down at Alyson's stomach, then at her own, where her skirt and corset are torn and a gaping hole still remains. Jackie smiles softly, patting Alyson’s head and kissing her stomach before grabbing the knife from Joseph’s throat, spraying blood at Alyson before walking out. She walks further down the hall to Joseph’s father’s room. He stands alert with a gun shaking in his sweaty palm.
    “Not so strong now, are you, sir?” Jackie asks, mockingly.
    “How are you still alive? You look ghastly,” he says, staring at the scabs and blisters on her skin, along with the hole inside of her. “What are you?”
    “Didn’t you already know? I’m a witch.”
    “You will never get away with this, I’m a wealthy man.”
    “My familiar will be here and second to bring me to safety. You on the other hand.”

Jackie grabs the knife from the air, not cleaning Joseph’s blood from it before slicing open his father’s midsection. “That’s for Miss Abigail,” she stabs him in the chest. “That's for me, and this is for my baby.”

Jackie slices open his throat before stabbing him repeatedly in the heart. A large black crow caws at her and Jackie jumps from the window. The bird catches her, flying off.
    “Bring me to Miss Abigail's daughter. I need to hide for a while.”
    The bird caws in response.