Welcome to my new story, Dried Roses! This story is a three part story. Parts 2 and 3 will be posted as soon as they're written. Enjoy!
‼️Warning: Images of death by drowning and minor cursing‼️
Witching Season: Week 1
"Every year, when the first frost falls, Witching Season begins and lasts for three weeks. Three couples don't make it out alive. It all begins with the first victims. The morning after the frost, two people will wake up with dried roses on their doorstep. They're the first to go, usually by drowning. Two more people will find roses. Too many poisons grow in our forests. The last two people will find their roses. They will see the Witches rising from their graves. They'll try to run; they always do. Off with their heads."
I shove Moses away as he runs his finger across my throat. "That's just a dumb superstition. It can't be real."
"Can't it?" He doesn't stay back for long. "You forget that I've lived here my whole life. I know every inch of this town and every inch of those woods. I know all of the legends and lores. Tatterbend has too many secrets to count."
I raise a skeptical eyebrow. "And yet you know them all?"
"My parents are the town historians, remember?"
"Right. So these Witches kill three couples over the span of three weeks?"
"One couple a week."
"Why?"
He smooths his brown hair back into a short ponytail. "For revenge. The Witches were a young couple themselves when they died. They were falsely accused of witchcraft and got their heads cut off. He was twenty four and she was only twenty, I think."
"Why don't they kill people of their own age? You told me that all of the couples are our age." I was finding his story hard to believe, obviously. I'd only lived in Tatterbend for a few months. Moses had been one of the first people I'd met and we'd quickly hit it off. Within two weeks of meeting, we'd started dating.
"Legends say that she was pregnant when they were killed," Moses explains. "They kill young couples now for two reasons. One, to murder young love, and two, to take away the chance of a long life. Neither of which, they or their child got to experience."
"Hm, sounds creepy. You should take me to their graves sometime." I lean closer to him, smirking.
He laughs and sprawls out in the leaf splattered grass. "That's the real trick, Wren. No one knows where their graves are. The only ones to see it are the third couple and they're dead before they can tell anyone about it."
I lay down too and prop myself up on an elbow. My long braid, a darker brown than Moses', falls over my shoulder. "Who do you think the couples will be this time?"
"Personally, I hope it's Jeffery and Madison."
"Ugh." Jeffery and Madison, the typical cheerleader/jock couple that you find in any high school. They're preppy, smart, overly dramatic, and unashamed to show some major PDA. Not to mention, they're both complete jerks. I can't say that I blame him for that choice. "Who else?"
"Lucas and Neveah, and Sage and Remembrance."
"Why them?" From the minimal times I'd interacted with them, I'd found all of them to be charming. Remembrance especially. I consider her a friend.
"Lucas and Sage are cheating pricks. Neveah is Madison's lackey, obviously. Remembrance is too innocent for the evil of this world. She'd be devastated if she found out that Sage is cheating on her."
I grit my teeth. "With who?"
"Allison."
"Wow."
"I know." Moses eyes his watch and jumps to his feet. "Dang it, I've got to go. Folks need me at the historical center this afternoon." He kisses me quickly. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Bye!" I wave as he runs down the sidewalk.
I wake up the next morning in a pit of dread. Frost has rimmed the edges of my window. Moses' story got to me more than I thought it would. I waste no time in huffing it to school.
The halls are filled with whispering students when I arrive. I head to my locker and find Remembrance already there. "Hey, Rem." I watch the other students, feeling an increasing amount of concern. "Is the legend about Witching Season true?"
Rem nods. "Moses told you?"
I nod too. "It frosted last night. Who got the roses?"
Rem tilts her head down the hall. I follow her gaze and spot none other than Lucas and Neveah. Neveah is flaunting a bouquet of dried roses as if they were made of gems. She throws her head back. I assume she's laughing.
"She shouldn't be excited," Rem whispers softly. "It's Witching Season and she's been chosen."
"That's why she's celebrating," Moses scoffs, appearing next to Rem. "She thinks it's all some joke. I don't see how, when her own sister was one of the victims a few years ago." The bell rings, interrupting us before anything more can be said. We grab our books and shuffle off to class.
I find my desk in Mr. Birch's history class. I'm almost surprised when Neveah prances into the room and sits beside me. She usually sits in the back of the classroom, not in the middle, and certainly not beside me.
Neveah holds the bouquet of dead flowers towards me. "Do you know the legend, Wren?"
"Yes."
"Do you know what these mean, then?"
"They mean you've been chosen and the Witches are going to kill you."
Neveah laughs and pats my hand patronizingly. "That's what they want us to think."
"Who's they?"
Neveah looks around suspiciously and leans closer. Her voice drops to a whisper. "Our parents. Everyone knows that they arrange this. They pretend we've been chosen by the Witches and then they kidnap us and ship us off to boarding schools." She leans back. "That's what they did with my sister."
Someone in front of us turns. "Your sister died, Neveah. She was poisoned, remember? You were the one who found her."
Neveah's face grows pale. "That was just a hoax and we all know it!" She stuffs the bouquet into her desk. "This whole Witching Season is a stupid hoax."
And yet, you think those flowers are something special, I can't help but think. School drags on slowly for the rest of the day. I don't see Neveah again. I do find a bouquet of dried roses in the trash can of the girl's locker room before gym class.
When I meet up with Rem and Moses at the end of the day, everyone is on edge. "What's the story with Neveah?" I ask. "She said that this whole thing is a joke."
"It's not. Her sister and her sister's boyfriend were the second couple chosen a few years ago," Moses explains. "They were found poisoned a few days after the roses appeared. Neveah found them."
"Then why doesn't she believe?"
"She went into shock after finding them," Rem said in her quiet way. "She's never really recovered. Neveah sometimes acts like her sister is still around, even. Subconsciously, she knows her sister is dead, but consciously, she's making herself forget it."
"That's terrible," I reply. "Hey, where's Sage?" Moses and I exchange repulsed glances.
Rem shrugs. "I don't know. I broke up with him over the weekend. He's been getting into some bad things and I don't want any part of it."
"Bad things?" I raise an eyebrow.
"He likes to go to parties," Rem sighs. "Not the good kind."
"Oh. I'm sorry about that."
"I'll find someone better. At least I'm not at risk of the Witching Season." She looks between Moses and I. "Do you think you'll be chosen?"
"No," Moses says firmly.
"I hope not," I add. Moses' hand finds my own and grips it tightly.
Finally, we part ways and all return home. I spend my evening as I always do, watching tv, doing homework, and entertaining my toddler brother, Ethan.
The week passes similarly. I go to school and come home. In between, I'm with Moses and Rem. Friday arrives and there have still been no deaths. I'm seated at the table doing homework that evening. Around 9 o'clock, my cell phone rings.
I hold the phone up to my ear. "Hello?"
"Wren." The voice is Neveah's. "I need help. No one else will listen to me."
"What's going on?"
"Come to the docks, please. Hurry. I can't...explain..." The line starts cutting out. "Lucas...acting strange...water..."
"I'm coming, Neveah." I keep the phone to my ear. "Dad, I'm going to meet up with someone. It won't take very long. I've got to pick up some homework for an extra credit assignment that I forgot about."
"Take a flashlight." He points to one on top of a shelf without looking away from the tv. I grab the flashlight and run out the door.
"Neveah, are you there? Stay on the phone with me."
"Something's here." The line must've cleared up again.
"What? What's there?"
"I don't know. I can't see anything. Wren, are you coming? Please, you have to. I tried calling Madison, my dad, my mom...no one will listen to me."
"I promise I'm coming. Stay on the phone," I repeat. I sprint down the street, turning towards the docks. Tatterbend is situated beside a large lake. People love to go boating out there, so there are plenty of docks. Fishermen spend their time there too.
I pull my phone away from my ear and start texting Moses. Going to the docks. Neveah called me. She's acting weird. Might need backup. Tell Rem. I hit send and return the phone to my ear. "Neveah?"
"I'm here." Her voice is shaking.
"I can see the docks now. I'll be there in just a minute."
I hear a ping as I get a text. I hold the phone down again. It's from Moses. No, don't go. The first victims are drowned, remember?
I'm going to help her. Are you coming?
Taking my dad's car to get Rem.
"Wren," Neveah's voice crackles over the phone speaker.
I get back on the call. "Are you ok?"
"No."
The docks are right in front of me. I sprint onto the wooden walkways and look around. There's no sign of Neveah. "Where are you? I'm here."
"The far end of the wharf."
I run faster. A dense fog brushes over the docks. Even with the flashlight on, I can barely see anything. I continue to search for Neveah. She whimpers over the phone.
Something drifts through the fog in front of me. "Neveah?" I call. There's no reply. I can hear water lapping against the numerous docks. I keep heading towards the wharf.
The platform I'm on jolts, suddenly. I turn and shine my flashlight into the water. "Shit!" I scream, dropping my phone. I never curse. It clatters over the side of the dock and into the water. Lucas' body is face down, bumping into the dock pillars. "Neveah!" I holler. I run away from the body as fast as I can.
The fog lifts a tiny bit and I can see Neveah. I run towards her. She's holding a bouquet of dried roses, crumpled and almost bare. She must've retrieved them from the trash sometime. Neveah looks back over her shoulder. I can see tears running down her face.
"Neveah, take my hand." I hold it out and keep running towards her.
Almost mechanically, she walks to the edge of the wharf. For some reason, it doesn't have rails. I don't have time to scream before Neveah falls off the side and into the water. The bouquet drifts to the surface while she sinks. I see bubbles rising from the dark depths, but there's no sign of her.
"Wren!" Moses calls. His voice is distant.
"I'm here!" I rasp.
Footsteps thump on the wooden dock. Moses and Rem appear beside me. "We saw Lucas," Rem says. "Where's Neveah?" She gasps and covers her mouth with a hand as I point.
Neveah's body is rising from the water, now. She drifts to the surface on her back. Her lips are blue and her skin is pale. Her long blonde hair floats around her. Moses grabs my shoulders and pulls me away from the edge of the wharf. He drops down onto his knees and hugs me tightly.
"Drowned," Rem whispers. "There's two weeks left."
I say nothing. I just lean into Moses and stare at Neveah's lifeless body. She just floats there, serene and utterly dead.