Lady Gail

Chapter 1

'Psst, Tobias!' Lance whispered, trying not to catch the professor's attention.

'What?'

'1643. That's when we need to go'.

'Shut up, we're in the middle of a lecture!' Tobias answered.

'I pity you, cause I don't care. This is  more important. Remember the year, please'.

'What are you talking about?' you asked them.

'Um... Lance is obsessed with witch hunts. It's his favourite topic in history', Tobias answered.

'Oh, coo-'

'Guys, I'm trying to listen here?!' a girl you don't know behind you said.

'Sorry!' Lance whispered sharply.

You weren't interested in this class anyway. You didn't care for lectures about investing.

You started typing 'witch hunts' in google, driven to know more.

"Witch-hunt or a witch purge is a search for people who have been labelled witches or a search for evidence of , and it often involves a  or . The  in  and  took place in the  or about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the  and the , resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 100,000 executions, with the most recent estimate at 40,000.", you read to yourself. Interesting.

'Cool, right?' Lance said eagerly, looking at your screen. You nodded, smiling.

You love history. In fact, you considered becoming an historian.

'You know, there was this one witch, lady Gail, and she escaped the burning stake! She was an actual witch, she put out the fire somehow and disappeared in the steam!' Lance explained, even more eagerly than before.

'Wow, where did you read that?' I asked, he really caught my attention now.

'Oh, I didn't read it, I s-. Ow!' Lance yelped, when Tobias stumped him.

'Lance, don't talk about it', Tobias said.

Tobias Darragh Murphy is a very serious, determined person. He's Irish, explains a lot. Usually a bit moody. He's the smartest person I know, though. Despite the fact that it might seem like they hate each other, they have been best friends since they were both 4. Which means they've been best friends for 16 years now. We are friends... I guess? It's kind of a love-hate friendship. Lance and I, however, are just very good pals.

Let me look this 'Lady Gail' witch up... 'No results'. Only some pins and movie stars named Gail. No witch. Lance does look like he does too much research... That must be it.

'Gail Hughes... Wonder woman of the 17th century', Lance continued.

I zoned out for a minute. I imagined what it would've looked like. A beautiful, tall woman with silky hair setting herself free and poof... Gone.

'Do you believe in witchcraft?' I asked Tobias.

'Me? No way...' he said and backed away, scratching the back of his head.

He was obviously lying.

'Really?' I said with a mischievous tone.

Tobias giggled in defeat. 'Fine... Lance convinced me it's cool stuff', he said, sighing. Lance smiled proudly, like a proud mom does when her son scores at a football game.

'I'm raising him well', Lance joked.

'I'm sorry, those students back there? You keep distracting me, could you please remain silent? Thank you', Professor Pritchard said. It took me a while to realize he was talking to us.

'Oh, I apologize, Professor'. He nodded, and continued his speech.

Lance and Tobias giggled in relief. I've never seen this side of Tobias.

I noticed Tobias trying to get Lance's attention silently.

'Don't talk about that so openly. She's an a-voger anyway,' he whispered, loud enough for me to understand.

Eh... I'm right here.

'A what?' I asked.

'Oh, um... You wouldn't understand. It's an inside thing', Lance said.

'Right, okay'. I knew I was gonna find out anyhow. Lance trusts me. Tobias, on the other hand, doesn't. Yet.

After class, I was heading to my dorm to study for tomorrow's SAT.

All of a sudden, I noticed Lance and Tobias sneaking behind the bushes near campus. It looked witty.

'What in God's name are you two doing?' I chuckled.

'Shit', Lance whispered.

'We um... We were looking for spiders for our science project', he said.

'What- I mean, yes, we need to feed them to the frog that we are going to decompose later', Tobias said.

'There's a science project? I didn't know...'

They are so lying...

'It... It was only for us cause we're so good at science. Like an extra assignment', Lance continued.

'Right... Well, I'll just let you catch your spiders, then. Good luck. Say hello to your frog from me', I said and walked away. I heard them sigh in relief loudly when I left.

'You two are terrible liars, did you know that?' I shouted over my shoulder.

They burst out laughing.

'We'll say hi to Suzie from you, like you requested', Lance said.

I turned around the corner and stopped. Curiosity took over me, I had to know what they were doing. I looked about the corner, and they were actually holding a big spider. A very big spider... I, thankfully, am not arachnophobic. Though I would've passed out right on the spot if I were.

'Gail would've loved this guy', Lance said, in agony.

Gail... like the witch? This boy is crazy.

'I didn't know her as well as you did, unfortunately', Tobias answered. 'As you did'?!

When they put their hands around the spider, something abnormal happened. It happened exactly like in the movies. Like magicians, poofing. They disappeared, blowing some wind to the leaves where they were standing. They disappeared? No... They must be somewhere.

I speeded to the place where they were standing. Nothing. I walked around the campus, but they were absolutely nowhere to be found. They literally vanished. Like my glasses always do

When I went back to the spot, there were no traces. I only found a red rock. Must be brick... But I'll take it anyway. I headed back to my dorm and tried to process what had happened.

I heard my door unlock.

'Are you home?' I heard my roommate's, Whitney's, voice shout through my dorm.

'Yep!'

Was I gonna tell her what happened? Of course she'd think I'm crazy... And I don't trust her with the rock... I'm gonna keep it to myself for a while. Just for now.

Whitney is a very spiritual person. She would think it's cursed right away, and she would try to get rid of the rock immediately. I had to know more about the rock before she did that.