A/N: Hello! I originally planned on posting this story in October, but I decided on entering it in a contest on Wattpad. I figured I post it on here as well.

Salem, MA

2009

The whole town was there, gathered around the hanging tree, just outside of Salem Village. Its been 317 years to date since the trials were held, and those poor people were hanged. We were here to be respectful, and honor our ancestors.

There are some parts of old Salem Village that were left untouched, and they always will be, except for when the historical society come in and refurbishes some of the buildings. Parts, like this tree, and the jail not far from here, have been left untouched. It's still the same wood the jail was built with years ago. The only thing is you can't go inside most of the buildings because they were deemed structurally unsound.

I looked around at all the people. Everyone really was there. I saw Grandmother over by the old wishing well. She was wearing her dark brown, long sleeved, velvet dress with her red cloak on her back. She didn't look to happy. She was sitting on the bench that went around the well, looking down it in a very depressed manner.

I walked over to her. She was leaning on the well.

"Good morning, Grandmother," I said trying to cheer her up. "You look a bit down today. What's wrong?" I sat down on the bench next to her.

"It's nothing, dear. It's just," she paused and got up. "Come with me. "

I followed Grandmother to her little store in the center of town. Her store looked more like a shack, though, but I loved it anyway. There were other stores around hers, all connected together like a strip mall in the city. Across from her little store, was another long trail of stores and restaurants, like the diner. Grandmother's store was painted a light tan color with a dark tan for the trim. She had a window in the front of her store which she features items that are on sale, or new items she's never had before.

Grandmother always had some of the best things to buy; anything from scented candles to runes, even frog legs. I followed her in. The door to her store was old and needs to be replaced, but I feel if you replaced it, the store just won't look the same. It looked like she got new stuff. Her store was small inside. She had a checkout counter to the right, a tall row of shelves in the middle, a small shelf in front of the window, and tall shelves against the left and back walls. The color on the inside was a bit darker than on the outside. However, it was still tan. You couldn't really see the walls, except in between the shelves and where she didn't have any.

I watched Grandmother as she walked behind the checkout counter. She bent down and I lost sight of her for a second. She came back up with a piece of paper. She handed me the paper and I read what was on it.

It was a letter from the city of Boston. I was a little confused . It said "Dear Sir or Madam. It has come to our attention that you were late..." I stopped reading and looked at Grandmother.

"You may be losing the store?" I questioned.

She nodded her head. "Yes, unless I can find away to pay off the rent," she said sadly.

"Don't worry," I said reaching over the counter, placing my hand on her shoulder. "I know we'll find the money. You can't give up. Maybe the others could help."

"I don't know. They don't have to help me. Maybe I should just sell the place." She took the letter and put it back under the counter. "I'm getting old anyway. It's about time to retire."

"Grandmother, now look. You may be old, but you're the fun kind of old, not the grumpy unfun kind. Plus, you can't get rid of the store; the whole village loves this place. We'll find the money. I'm not gonna let you give up so easily," I told her.

She came out from behind the counter, and threw her arms around me. "You don't have to do this," she whispered in my ear.

"Oh, but I must," I whispered in to hers. "I'll help you."

"Thank you," she whispered back and hugged me tighter.

She let go of me and backed up. She was all teary eyed. I felt so bad. The whole village loves this place. She can't lose it. If she does, there goes the town. We're only here because of her. She's the reason we stay. If she wasn't here, I don't know where I'd be.

After Grandmother was a little happier, we went back outside. There was a lot of commotion across the street at the diner. We walked over to see what was going on.

I could see through a little crack in between the people in front of me. There was a guy wearing plaid shorts and a plain, red t-shirt. He had blood rolling down the side of his face, and what looked like a black eye. He didn't look familiar. I think he's not from around here.

I looked through the crowd of people. "It's Ron. He's at it again," I told Grandmother.

The other guy was no other than Ron Walker; the meanest, toughest, yet friendliest guy in town. He had on his old cut-off jean shorts and a white t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off at the shoulders. His left hand was clenched and he was standing in his traditional fighting pose: feet apart, knees bent, fist clenched, leaning forward, ready to attack. Ron's hand was dripping with blood, and he was breathing quite heavily.

She sighed. "When is he going to learn. Violence is never the answer."

"Oh, he'll learn, once he's been thrown in jail," said the lady standing next to Grandmother. It just so happened to be Linda, and she was with her husband.

Linda was the kind of old lady that wanted just about everything, and it being perfect was definitely a must. Linda always had good-looking light golden brown hair, whether it was curled tight or loose; it was always nicely kept. She always seemed pretty tall even when she isn't wearing high heels. She has a very young appearance, even though she's 65 years old. Today she was wearing a long brown, gold, and black, jewel en-crested dress. She had on sandals with small, pointed heals, and long dangly earring rings, one for each ear. She had a pearl necklace on, which screamed rich. She can be your best friend one day, and your worst enemy the next.

Linda is married to a more laid back, "yes, honey, anything you want honey", kind of guy named Chet. Chet never really complained. I believe the only reason Linda married him was for his money because Chet... Chet was rich, and smokin' rich at that. Chet has short gray hair, and sometimes has little stubs of hair starting to grow into beard, but most of the time his face is bare. He is a bit shorter than Linda and looks a smidge older, even though they may be the same age. Chet always wore dark navy blue shorts and a plain colored t-shirt. He never dressed quite as fancy as Linda always did. I guess he didn't want his money to show.

"Linda, he's already been to jail," Grandmother replied. "It only made him tougher."

I could hear sirens in the background, and everyone scattered, even Ron and his opponent. Grandmother, Linda, Chet and I ran inside the diner and sat down at the table.

"Boy, that was close," said Chet.

"I know, dear. I could have lost my pearls," Linda said holding part of her necklace. "Why don't you be a doll, and order something for us to eat," she said to Chet.

Chet got up and slumped over to the counter. I looked out the window, and there were some guys in black suits talking to the police. Those men looked quite suspicious to me. A guy got out of the police car wearing a green army suit, showing off the medals he earned. He started talking to the officers. I couldn't make out what they were saying. This is quite suspicious. Chet came back over and sat down.

"They're getting us some food," Chet said placing his folded hands on the table.

"What did you order, darling?" Linda asked in a fake British accent.

"Steaks, top of the line, steaks," Chet replied with a smirk. "They'll be out in ten minutes."

Linda placed her hand near his lips. "Maw," she said like one of those professional chefs on tv do after the have just perfected their latest dish. "Wonderful darling, simply wonderful."

"I would only order the best for you," He said stretching his arm over her shoulder.

I glanced over to the window to see if those men were still out there. They were not. I wonder were they went, not that I care. I glanced away from the window, and back at the table. I saw the waiter coming with our food out of the corner of my eye. He placed the food on the table and offered us some A-1 steak sauce. He placed the bottle down on the table and walked away. I watched him walk away, and I saw that man in the green army suit from outside sitting at the counter on one of those bar stools. So, that's where they went. I saw the two police officers sitting next to him. It looked like they were conversing, but I'm not sure. I turned back to my steak, and dug in. It was, out of doubt, the best steak I've tasted in years. It was thick and juicy and it had that little bit of pink still in it, just like mom used to cook.

We all sat in silence as we ate our steaks. I was just about done with mine when the waiter came over.

"How is everything?" He asked with a smile.

Chet put his fork down, and looked up at the man. "It is very good, thank you," he said to him as he picked up his glass of soda and took a sip.

"So, will any of you be wanting desert tonight?"

Chet looked around at all of us.

Grandmother and I both shook our heads left and right.

"Oh, no dear. I to full to eat anymore," Linda said looking up and placing the back of her hand against her forehead in the mist dramatic way possible.

I rolled my eyes. She can be such a drag queen from time to time.

Chet turned to the waiter. "No, this is all," he said.

"Ok, sir. I'll be right out with your check," the waiter said, then walked away.

I just finished my last piece of steak when I looked up to see the man in the green army suit standing at our table.

"Can I help you?" Chet asked the man.

"I'm here to speak with your little friend here," he replied looking at me. "So, I heard some incredible things about you, Doctor."

"What's this all about?" Linda asked in anger. "How come he knows more about you than he does about me?! I'm rich, god dammit!"

"Easy honey. It's ok," Chet said in a calm, reassuring manner to his wife.

I glanced over to Linda, and rolled my eyes. Really? She needs to get more of a life, and not just be rich and buy everything in sight.

The strange man pulled over a chair and sat down.

"Ignore her," Grandmother said flatly.

"So, as side from the fact that you know I'm a doctor, what else do you know?" I asked him.

"Well, I know..." He was interrupted. There was a loud bang noise from outside. He got up and peeked his head out the front door.

"Do you even know this man?" Grandmother asked me.

"No, but apparently he knows me," I replied shrugging my shoulders.

There was another loud bang. I shivered. The sky was getting dark. I decided to get up and go see what was going on. The man that was talking with us was still in the door way, shocked. I pushed him out of the way and walked outside. He followed me. The sky was getting darker, and filling with smoke. A crowd of people came running toward us from the center of town. Grandmother and her friends came out to see what's going on.

"What's with all the yelling?" Chet asked.

" I don't know, but it's coming from that direction," I said pointing toward where all the people were coming from.

"What makes you so sure?" Linda asked.

"I just have this strange feeling," I replied sarcastically. "I'm gonna go take a look," I said to Grandmother. "You go back inside, and don't come back out till they say it's safe."

I ran through the crowd, dodging the oncoming people. I made it to an open area in the crowd. I heard gunshots. Everyone around me was silent. Then the gunshots got louder, and people began to scatter. I tried to avoid all the people running toward me, but I couldn't. Someone pushed me back. I closed my eyes as I fell to the ground, but I never fully felt the dirt beneath me. Someone caught me. I opened my eyes to see the same stranger from before. It was the guy from the diner.

He helped me stand back up. "You gotta be more careful next time," he told me.

Another round of gunshots went off, and more and more people started running toward us. This time from all different directions.

"It's not safe here. Come with me," the man in the green army suit said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Somewhere safe," he replied.

We ran back to the diner. The police car was still there. The man told me to get in the car. The police officers were there as well. The man ran into Grandmother's shop. I wonder what he told her. He came back out and got in the police car, and the car sped off.

"Where are we going?" I demanded.

"You're not safe here. We're going some place safer than this," he replied.

"Fine, I get it. Just tell me one thing." I said to the man. "Who are you?!"

"The name's General W. R. Monger."