The Twelve Sister's Mirrors
BY: Sarah
Prolouge
The time went by swiftly. James counted the seconds with each beat of his heart. The mask he wore made it hard to see, but he didn't dare delay the work of his hands. He wouldn't stop. He had to do everything in his power to help the girl in the silver mask that sat across from him. They did not pause for one second while searching through the boxes in the basement of the museum. The party continued upstairs. James could hear the music of the band and the laughter of the people. The beat of the Masqurade Halloween Ball did not fit the rhythm of the frantic search he and Sarah were commiting to. The beat of his heart grew faster as he ripped open a new box.
She has to be here somewhere! He screamed in his head.
As the search continued James could hear the ring of the first bell of midnight. They had to find the last mirror before the last ring or else…
He would never see Sarah again…
Chapter One
Halloween. The Salem Witch Trials Began…
We ran for hours in the moonlight, with our black wool cloaks covering our faces. The trees whispered Danger is near…
I can't believe Peter could actually do this to me, to all of us! I thought to myself.
My elder sister, Mary, read my thoughts and responded in a hateful tone, "Why, Sarah, would you trust a mortal anyway? We shall all surely be hanged for your own mistake!"
"Mary, I love him!" I cried
"Father loved Mother, but turned her into the elders and she was sentenced to be hanged as well, though," interrupted Catherine, our eldest sister.
"He did not go unpunished though sister," mumbled Ann, who strode beside me. "He was cursed dearly for his foolish mistake. Peter Johnson shall be cursed as well!"
"NO!" I yelled, and came to a quick stop. Eleven other confused, Emerald eyes bore into my own. The eyes of my mother.
"Sarah, I am sorry. In any matter you do know what must be done. You have obviously been out voted," Catherine whispered as calmly as ever. "Gather my sisters."
Mary and Ann, the eldest pair of twins, grabbed the pocket knives each kept store in their boots. Mary gave hers to Catherine, and Ann gave hers to me. I let the cool blade slide across my hand. I felt a quick stinging as I slightly pressed the tip of the blade on my palm. The dark salty smell of the blood blew in the cool wind. I quickly passed it to Rose on my left, as Catherine did the same and passed to Alexandria to her right.
After both blades were returned to their original owner, all twelve of us grouped in a large circle in order of birth. Catherine. Alexandria. Isabelle. Elizabeth. Ella. Becky. Mary and Ann. Elaine. May and Rose. And finally myself.
Catherine began to chant, "On this night of all hallows eve, a curse descending through generations shall be put on the blood of Peter Johnson. It shall only be lifted from the powers of twelve Willow women."
I knew it was working. As my sister chanted the words I could feel the energy and atmosphere in the woods changing. It was heavy on my body yet made my mind feel light and empty. As the powerful flow dragged me in I heard a distant voice. I broke the concentration of the spell and turned around to look at the dirt path we were standing on.
"Sarah!"
He was here.
Even if he had betrayed me, and my sisters, warmth filled my chest when I looked into his cloudy gray eyes. My heart fluttered in me as I stared at him in disbelief. After all he had done to me, and all I had just done to him, it didn't even matter. I still loved him.
"Peter…" I whispered.
"It's the traitor!" yelled one of my sisters. I did not care who, I was too focused on the boy in front of me.
"I-I…!" tears began to form in Peter's eyes and I just stood and watched him sob loudly. While I stood there watching the boy I loved being tortured by the sadness in his heart, my own heart ached horribly in my chest. I felt warm tears roll down my dirty face.
Behind my tears I saw a mass of orange light against the black sky coming in behind Peter. They were still far away, but would get here quickly.
"He has done it yet again!" yelled Becky. "They have followed him!"
Peter, now on the ground and shaking from sobbing so horribly, turned his head to glance behind him. He snapped his head back to me with wide eyes mouthing, "I didn't." I just stared and shook my head slowly from left to right.
He grunted and his head dropped. His dark hair blew in the cold autumn wind. He snapped his head up and jumped off the ground with a stone look of determination on his face. He reached down his white blouse and pulled out a round stone on a string. My sisters gasped at the sight of it, but I still held a sad dumbfounded look on my face from the shock of betrayal yet again.
I heard yelling and looked up to see the orange lights become closer to the spot the thirteen of us were at. Peter held up the stone and whispered ancient words I could not understand. Only then did I see two jewels glow in the rock he held. One red and one blue. Did I not give him this amulet so it would protect him?
As the lights grew even closer I could barely hear the shouting of the towns' people anymore. I heard the whispered calls of my sisters behind me, saying my name. The picture in front of me began to blur in front of my eyes. Soon the only thing I could see was Peter still holding the amulet. I focused on his face not knowing what was happening. I felt a bright, warm light behind me. I tried to fight it, to continue to see Peter. I saw his mouth say, "I am so sorry. I love you….SARAH!"
Then the light overwhelmed me.
Present Day: Salem, Massachusetts
James Johnson was seated on the big yellow bus with at least twenty other sophomores of South Salem High School. He was the only one sitting by himself.
When James got on the bus he put in his ear buds and started listening to a song off his playlist on his new iPod. Muse? Oh well. Whatever it was it was better than listening to the cheerleaders screaming because there was a wasp flying over their heads. Instead of watching the football guys swing at it with their text books, he decided to stare out the window. James's midnight black hair covered his gray eyes making it hard to see what the bus was passing by, but it was the middle of Fall. Just brown, dead plants.
Where was their history teacher, Mr. Burg, taking them again? Oh right. The Salem City Museum of Artifacts. Boring. James really didn't care for museums. A bunch of old stuff gathering dust, protected by bad security?
Didn't really sound like much fun.
The time passed by quickly. The bus pulled up to a cream colored building with its name in brown letters. The bus came to a quick stop and James hit his head on the seat in front of him. He was definitely going to get a headache for that later.
Mr. Burg stood at the front of the bus and smiled to his rowdy class.
"All right kids! Exit the bus carefully, and go immediately to the front desk to draw a name for your partner. Remember to ALWAYS use the buddy system!"
How sad, James thought. I just pray that I don't get stuck with Austin Mills as my partner.
James stood up and was walking off the bus when who should put his foot in the middle of the aisle other than the devil himself. Austin Mills put out his foot as soon as James was walking near the teacher. James fell straight down onto his face.
"Mr. Johnson! Please, I said exit the bus carefully. Don't be the cause of any trouble today."
Austin and the rest of the jocks started laughing, and James glared at them underneath his bangs. He stood up and walked of the bus into the museum to draw the name of his partner.
As soon as he got out of the cold Fall air he walked up to the front desk where he found the rest of his class and drew a name from the bowl next to the flyers that read: FALL BALL ON HALLOWEEN! WEAR YOUR BEST CLOTHES AND BRING A MASK!
"Yeah right," James chuckled to himself.
He pulled out a small piece of paper from the bowl still smiling about the idea of a masked dance. His smile automatically turned down.
Austin Mills
No way. There had to be some type of mistake. James flipped the paper over just to make sure and groaned to himself.
Austin walked up and slammed into James's shoulder.
"Move it dork."
James wiped of his dark blue hooded jacket, as if Austin had a disease James didn't want to catch and walked up to Austin and threw the paper into his face.
"Nice handwriting, Idiot."
They stared each other down through squinted eyes.
"Problem boys?" said a security guard who walked up.
"No, Sir," Austin said smiling to the officer and putting an arm around James. "Just getting ready to see some history with my partner here."
What a suck-up!
"Mhm,"grunted the officer. "Just you behave."He walked back to his post leaving the two boys alone in the middle of the lobby.
Austin quickly released his arm from around James's neck and started walking after two thin, blondes who looked to be in college.
James rolled his eyes and thought, So much for the "Buddy System."
Alone again, James was about to head to the sofas in the front of the lobby to listen to his iPod and wait out the next two hours when he got a chill down his spine. He turned around and headed in the opposite direction toward the newer part of the museum that held the artifacts of the Salem Witch Trials.
Chapter Two
James put his ear pieces back in and continued to listen to his iPod. He grabbed a brochure that was located in the front of the exhibit. He continued looking through and occasionally would take his eyes off of it to admire a piece of art work on the plain walls of the museum. The paintings usually showed a building in the middle of construction, or a small family portrait. As he walked by another painting he paused and examined it carefully.
In the painting were twelve girls, all with the same colored emerald eyes. James read the card, under the plastic glass, that was in front of the art.
The Willow Sisters.
All of them were really sisters? That would explain the matching green eyes. But twelve daughters and no sons?! James could hardly believe the uncanny family. He returned his gaze to the portrait and studied each girls face. Besides the eyes they all looked very different. Even the ones who looked the same age didn't have much resemblance.
He continued to read the small card.
Catherine, Alexandria, Isabelle, Elizabeth, Ella, Becky, Annabelle and Mary, Elaine, May and Rosemary, and Sarah Willow were all orphaned during the Salem Witch Trials. Their mother, Lynette Willow, was hanged on charges of witchcraft and father, Henry Jackson, mysteriously died of illness after his wife's hanging. A month after becoming orphans the girls were persecuted as witch's by Peter Johnson.
Johnson? Must be related to me!
Soon after trial the girls strangely disappeared. Peter Johnson was the last to see the sisters.
"Nice going Peter," James muttered under his breath looking up at the picture of the twelve girls. He focused on the youngest looking one. "You turned her in? Just because you thought she was a witch? My family sucks again."
James continued to stare at the portrait of the Willow sisters. The oldest (Catherine?) Was sitting on a stool and the rest stood. They all wore the same boring tan farm girl dresses most of the town wore in the other paintings. Except the youngest. No, she wore a stone on a string around her neck and a white daisy tucked into her braided blonde/light brown hair.
It was hard to look away from the young girl, but James continued on his way through the exhibit when he came to the amulet he saw on the girl in the painting. He flipped his brochure to the page with the picture of the stone on it. He noticed it had one blue jewel and one red jewel in the center of it. He began to read…
The Willows amulet is passed down to the youngest daughter in the Willow family. The last owner was Sarah Grace Willow, who disappeared during the Salem Witch Trials.
Sarah…? James wondered remembering the young girl with the amulet on in the portrait.
The stone was a family heirloom that was rumored to protect the wearer from evil magic. The last person to be seen with it was Peter Johnson.
James sighed and looked around the cushion the amulet was on and leaned over the velvet ropes that were the stone's "Security" and read a card on a stand next to the pillow. He began to speak the words out loud;
"The powers of Willow are now sealed,"
"To release them I wish it be." After James read the second line he looked at the stone and saw the blue stone in the middle was glowing. He thought it was a trick of the light, so he turned back and continued to read.
"Now amulet I command thee,"
"Set this sister free!" When he finished reading the card he glanced back at the amulet and saw the red amulet flicker. He blinked and when his eyes opened both jewels were dark again.
What the…? This thing is too weird! James thought while he looked around the room. No cameras. Technically the amulet last belonged to his family. He quickly slipped the card off the stand and shoved the stone in the pocket of his hoodie, and raced to the next room of the exhibit.
As he walked down the hall James pulled the amulet out of his pocket and read the lines on the card over out loud. Again after the second line was finished the blue jewel seemed brighter.
"Dude, what language are you speaking?"
James quickly turned to see his classmate, Tyler Craig, staring at him with his black eyebrows pulled over his brown eyes. Tyler was a great guy and one of the best athletes in the school, but he was pulled to the dark side when he transferred to Salem from New York last year. More like dragged there by Austin actually.
"Um it's called English, genius," James said back.
"Dude, I may be failing that class, but I do know my English. That, my friend, is not English at all." Tyler walked toward a vase shaking his head.
James continued looking at the card. He said the words in his mind trying to solve the meaning behind them when… he ran into a wall.
"AGH! What is wrong with me?! Why don't I have any good luck ever?!"
All of a sudden, the stone in his hand started to vibrate. The red stone flashed uncontrollably. James looked up from the possessed stone and on the wall he'd just crashed into was a mirror. It had a black border that resembled a curvy stop sign. At the bottom of the mirror was a small circular opening. James looked back down at the strange amulet he held. Slowly, he raised the amulet a few inches from the mirror. The amulet shot from his hands and went perfectly into the opening at the bottom. Then both jewels went dull again.
James gaped at the mirror. He shook his head and quickly got out the card again. With shaky hands, he read from the card.
"The powers of Willow are now sealed, to release them I wish it be." The blue jewel glowed.
"Now amulet I command thee, set this sister free!" The red jewel glowed and a radiant white light shone from the mirror, blinding James.
He held his arms out in front of him to protect himself from the light and through narrowed eyes he saw a shadow fly straight toward him. Without thinking he reached out and caught the shadow, which in result made him fall on his back knocking the wind out of him. The shadow rolled out of his hands and he tried to catch his breath but the light consumed him.
And everything went black.
Chapter Three
When James woke up he felt a soft material under him. He opened his eyes and saw he was in the main lobby. He sat up from the couch and looked around. Mr. Burg was standing behind the couch talking to two security guards. Across the coffee table, lying on the other couch was a familiar looking blonde girl with fair skin, and a black cloak on over a light tan dress. James stared in shock.
Sarah Willow?!
As if she had heard his thoughts the girl's eyes fluttered open. Her eyes were a deep emerald green. They were wide as she stared at the ceiling. Slowly she turned her head to gaze around and then her green eyes froze on James. Her lips trembled and turned white.
James stared unable to find any words in his brain. Mr. Burg glanced down and saw the two looking at each other and cleared his throat. James struggled but looked up to see what his teacher had to say.
"Mr. Johnson, good you are awake," the girl's eyes widened more when the teacher had called him 'Mr. Johnson.' "I hope you can explain what happened. Security heard this young lady scream and found the two of you before she fainted on you. You, of course, were already unconscious when we found you in the Witch Trials Exhibit. What happened?"
Quickly James made up a story. He was good in English and Art class because of his creative side. He lied quickly, "Um, well you see Mr. Burg I was on my way to the next room of the exhibit when I came across an old family friend," he motioned toward the dumbfounded girl, now sitting up. "She must've been as shocked to see me as I was her because she screamed with delight."
Mr. Burg looked suspiciously at James and asked, "And you were both out cold on the floor because…?"
A sweet, chimed-bell voice answered, "Well he hit his head on his way over toward me, Sir, and I accidentally tripped over his leg when trying to wake him, resulting in us both being unconscious from hitting our heads." James didn't think she was that bad at story telling but she could use some work.
"And your name, Miss?"
"Sarah Grace, Sir."
"Ah well how long will you grace us with your presence, Sarah?"
Sarah looked in James's direction, then turned back toward Mr. Burg. "After Hallows Eve, I must return home, Sir."
"I see. Well, Sarah, please enjoy your stay in Salem."
"Thank you."
Sarah stood up, bowed, and quickly walked back toward the Salem Witch Trials exhibit. She turned to look at James once before she entered through the arch way.
From just the look he got from those green jewels, he followed her immediately.
Once he entered Sarah was nowhere to be found. James went deeper into the exhibit and found her looking into the mirror on the wall. Yet, something was off.
The mirror was broken.
Slowly, James walked toward the mirror until he was beside Sarah. Many gray and green eyes were mixed in the shards of the glass. James turned to see a liquid crystal slowly go down Sarah's cheek.
"You really are her aren't you? The Sarah Willow. From 1690?"
She nodded and made no sound. Just continuing to gaze within the mirror.
James did not understand what was going on. But for some strange reason, in his blood he felt like he had to help this girl. He needed to know what happened to her. What made her this sad.
"Uh...listen. Sarah?" She turned away from the mirror to gaze at him. "What ever happened to you I know it had to relate to my family some how. I mean this," He held out the stone, now dull. "worked some how with me holding it. That means we are connected some how right?"
She gave a slight smile. "Yes. You are correct." She brushed the last tears from her eyes and breathed deeply. "I will tell you what I can. Know something though. You and your blood are more connected than you can imagine."
He gawked at her. Would he ever get used to hearing her speak so strangley? Just then the whistle blew, meaning all sophmores needed to return to the bus.
"C'mon Sarah. You can tell me everything when we get on the bus and to my house."
She nodded and follwed. As they walked past a bunch of boxes labeled Basement , the two stones in James's back pocket began to glow.