Short Story: The Salem Witch Trials

There was once a small town called Salem, it had been home to many witches, warlocks, supernatural ghosts and creatures that you would hear in many horror stories until one day all of them had been slaughtered and burnt down by the travellers who call themselves humans and settled down in this town of Salem and called it ‘Shadow valley’ which was situated in north Carolina. Centuries later, Shadow valley was like any normal town and its past histories of witches, ghosts, warlocks and so on, were long forgotten. Many of the families, who live here, were descendants of the travellers who had first settled down centuries ago. They were called to as the founding families since their great great grandfathers and grandmothers were the ones who had
discovered this place. Before the witches were slaughtered and burnt down, one of them placed a curse onto this town so that it can never truly be free of ghosts and the crying souls of supernatural creatures and these would remain to haunt them forever. So at every Halloween, everyone is told to lock their windows and doors shut and yet whoever decides to go out and play a joke is the one who ends up dead. A girl named Anna Kimberly, was the only daughter and child to one of the founding families, the Kimberly’s. She was 14 years old and goes to school every day. One stormy weekend, her parents had been invited to a founding event to attend to at 8pm and stay there until the late hours after 12am. The event was taking place in North Dakota and it was an event for adults only so Anna was not allowed to attend. She would have to stay at home alone with her dog, Margo, as usual when it came to founding events. Her parents decided to leave early in order to get there on time and kissed her goodbye and told her to shut all the windows down and lock the front and back doors. Once they had left, the house was quiet, too eerie for her to bear. So she watched a bit of TV and played with her dog. When she took a look at the clock, it was only 15 minutes past 6. She then turned on the radio to listen to some music when there was unexpected news. The man on the radio had warned of a serial killer on the loose whose face could not be identified so everyone should keep their windows and doors locked as any stranger turning up the door could be the serial killer. This had given her ice cold chills running down her spine and she became really worried and scared. She desperately needed some company but her parents were probably a long distance away from home by now. Instead she decided to call a new friend she made today afterschool.
He was new to town and his name was Alec Richardson. They were then both talking to one another when Alec asked if he should come by her house in case she felt really scared. Anna was reassured that he had asked and told him he could come if he’s parents let him go despite a serial killer being on the loose. He told her that he didn’t have any parents and lived with his uncle who doesn’t care if he goes out or not. Anna felt surprised and apologetic that he didn’t have any parents. They both then hung up as Anna waited for Alec to knock on the door. There was a knock on the door and Anna got her keys out to retrieve the locks and allow Alec to come in. He stayed with her for over an hour and Anna told him that she wasn’t scared anymore so he could leave if he wanted. So Alec decided to leave and they both said goodbye to one another, when there was that eerie sense in the house again. She headed for the kitchen to go eat something and her dog followed her. On her way back from the kitchen, there was a knock on the outside window, she followed the sound and saw a masked serial killer with a knife in one hand and looked like he wanted to slit her throat
off. She screamed and went for the phone to call the police. Minutes later, while she was anticipating, the police arrived and saw that there was no one outside. They then investigated the entire house.
There was nothing. The police had asked her if she had imagined it and she said she had been sure that there was someone outside. The police reassured her and told her she might be hallucinating because she was home alone. The police then decided to leave. After they had left, Anna found herself standing as still as a statue with her mouth gaping open behind the sofa where she had been standing when she saw the masked serial killer outside. There was a knife and blood on the floor. Anna felt her neck, tiny droplets of blood was falling from her neck. The masked serial killer had not been outside the house. It turns out she had been looking at the reflection of the masked guy as he was standing behind her…inside the house. She carried her dog and ran to the phone again, only this time the phone lines and cords had been ripped, breaking her connection to the police and her parents. Anna was really scared now. She slowly headed upstairs and looked through all the rooms on the upstairs floor. There was no one to be found in any of the rooms. She told herself that it was going to be okay, that her parents will be home soon. She looked at the clock, it was 11’o’clock
now. Anna went to her bed and put her dog under her bed where she usually puts him. She then went to sleep. A scratching noise by her window woke her up so suddenly and made her alert of her surroundings. For a brief moment, she thought she saw the serial killer by her window. When she opened her eyes, there was nothing but a tree’s branch scratching against the window surface and yet her top window was open. Anna remembers locking all the windows, especially hers, so how had been the window left open? The clock read 12:01am. Her parents promised that they will be back by 1am. So she only has to stay another hour by herself. She put her hand under the bed and her dog, Margo, licked it. This is how she knows that her dog is still under her bed. She realised that the house was no longer eerie due to a dripping sound coming from one of the taps in her house. She got up to go downstairs and check her kitchen tap but there was no water dripping from it. She was on her way upstairs when she had heard the quietest set of footsteps towards the upstairs bathroom. Anna was careful to not make a sound as she took her steps up the stairs. As founding families, they are aware that their town isn’t always the safest of places to they keep a gun in the house in case of emergencies. Anna knows where her dad keeps the gun so she goes silently to her parents’ bedroom and brings the gun. As she makes her way towards the bathroom, she braces herself for her to shoot whoever may be in there. She pushes slowly for the bathroom door to open. What is revealed behind leaves her shocked. The dripping sound was not coming from any of the taps in her house. Anna’s dog, Margo, was strung up on the shower cap, with his blood dripping down on the bathtub. It wasn’t the sight of her slaughtered dog that had been the creepiest. On the bathroom wall, behind the dog, written in blood, read ‘Humans can lick too’. Anna was too devastated so she turned around and saw her friend Alec with a mischievous smile. Alec had never left the house. Anna didn’t know who Alec really was but she was starting to realise it now. The serial killer’s eyes were exactly like Alec’s. Both their figures were alike. Alec wore black throughout the evening and so did the killer. They were too similar in comparison. Alec is the serial killer, whom Anna openly invited into her house. Just that moment, Anna pulled the trigger and shot Alec. The bullet went through Alec and hit the wall behind him. ‘I’m a ghost Anna. Only you can see me. I’m a shadow to everyone else. I have been a ghost for 500 years and you and the other founding families have been cursed so that our ghosts can haunt you forever’.