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The Pentacle

"Her name is Sera Hawthorne," Emily said. "I had Garcia dig up everything she can find. Anna Sanderson saw her at the edge of their property at the same time she saw the dark figure. She said she called for Edward and he set his own private security after Sera, but she vanished."

"Did she tell you anything else?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, apparently the families have been polite and sometimes violent enemies, since the 17th century."

"Thanks, Emily."

"You're welcome. See you later," she was gone.

Reid disconnected the call and everyone turned his or her eyes on Drake.

"What?"

"Something else you neglected to tell us."

Drake pulled up to his full height and passed a hand through is graying hair. "Do you really expect me to go into all the little dirty secrets and family feuds in this town? We'll be here a month and no closer to catching a killer."

"No," Hotch said. "I don't expect you to go into detail about every family fight, but I do expect you to tell me what's relevant to the families involved in this investigation."

Drake pulled on the dark blue tie he wore with a blue and white pinstriped shirt. "I don't know that much about it," he prevaricated.

"That's alright," Morgan began with a predatory smile. "What you don't tell us, Garcia will fill in and believe me, she doesn't care about secrets."

"Look, if I told you that three hundred years ago an ancestor of the Hawthorne family put a curse on the Sanderson family, you would have thought I was crazy."

"What happened?"

Drake simply stared at Hotch. "I don't believe this."

"Detective, I don't know what is going on here, but one of my people is missing, there've been multiple sightings of a dark figure in this town and now I hear about a curse on the family of the first victim. I don't know what else to think until you give me reason not to."

"Alright, I'll tell you the story. The Hawthorne women have always been witches. They survived the centuries by hiding their Wicca beliefs, all except one. Her name was Abigail and she was burned at the stake for witchcraft in 1692 at the height of the trials."

"I thought all Salem witches were hung," Blake said.

"They were, but a month before Abigail was burned, an infant belonging to Samuel and Mary Sanderson was stolen from her cradle. The body of the infant was found sacrificed in the woods near here. Apparently, the Town Magistrate, also Samuel Sanderson, had become suspicious of Abigail and had her watched, but he wasn't able to stop the murder of his own child. Abigail Hawthorne was caught in the act of sacrifice. She's the only documented case of execution for witchcraft that actually had some merit."

"What about her trial?" Reid wanted to know.

"There's no record of a trial. I only know the people of Salem were out for blood. The Sandersons were well respected and the townspeople sided with them, but considering the circumstances, she didn't have much of a defense. The story goes that she went to her death proclaiming her innocence, but after they tied her to the stake, she cursed the town. She said, "As I burn, so shall you."

There was a long moment of silence, and then Morgan said. "Hotch, are we really considering that somehow this Abigail Hawthorne is back and killing the ones responsible for her death."

"No," Hotch said. "I am considering that Sera Hawthorne might have something else in mind and is using the old superstitions to cover her real agenda."

"I don't believe it," Drake said. "Abigail had a three year old son. Her husband took the child away from Salem. The family stayed away this area for the next 150 years. When they moved back, the animosity with the Sanderson was there, but aside from a few incidents, nothing has happened to make me think the Hawthorne family practices evil magic. They have always sought to help the people of this town. They have a shop The Pentacle. Detective Snyder swears by the lavender shampoo they make right at the store. The store brings in a lot of business tax revenue from all over the country. They have a thriving online business as well."

"Witches online," Morgan smirked.

Drake smiled, which changed his face. "Well, they have to make a living, too. Sera's grandmother, Martha says that just because the world advances in technology doesn't mean Wicca should be left behind."

"Garcia would love that," Morgan quipped.

Everyone smiled around the table.

"None of this explains what happened to JJ and how the girls were actually killed."

"I think we need to go see Sera Hawthorne."

Morgan's phone beeped. "Hey baby girl." He put her on speaker.

"I have some very interesting info for you, about Anna Henderson."

"I thought you were looking into the Hawthorne family."

"I was, but I found something much better and it could be relevant to the case."

CMCMCM

Reid followed Morgan and Rossi into "The Pentacle." The storefront, at the north end of Main Street, resembled a white frame house. The sun, going down in the west, threw scarlet and orange light over the windows. The wind came up just as Reid stepped out of the truck. It tossed his hair around his face just as it had outside the police station, but this time it didn't feel cold. It was like a warm bath, or the sound of Maeve's voice. He stopped, but Rossi and Morgan didn't notice. For some reason, he didn't feel the same kind of soul numbing pain at thinking about Maeve.

"She'll be with you always," said a whispering voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

He started when bell dinged as Rossi opened the shop door. Morgan looked back at him, "Hey, Pretty Boy, quit staring into space."

"What?"

Morgan walked back to him. "What's wrong, Reid?"

"It's nothing; let's go talk to Ms. Hawthorne."

"Hey, you know I'm here for you."

Reid smiled sadly. "I know, Morgan. Thanks."

"You're welcome, now get inside before Rossi comes looking for us."

They went inside and the bell, suspended over the door chimed again, a happy little tune that made Reid smile. It was the same as a thousand other stores of its kind, but it made him happy for some reason.

The inside of the store didn't meet his expectations. He expected that there would be a lot of black, herbs hanging from the ceiling, perhaps a cauldron bubbling away in one corner and thick curtains at the windows.

Instead, he found highly polished wooden floors, white painted walls, and shelves everywhere with bottles, pots, and tubes, all neatly and professionally labeled. Above a glass display case of charms on purple velvet, hung the logo of the shop, a pentagram with an enclosed circle and the words "The Pentacle," written in a half moon around the outside of the circle.

Rossi had just rung the bell on the counter, when Reid and Morgan joined him. Matching purple velvet curtains that hid some back room, swayed and a beautiful woman with eyes like sapphires and wavy blond hair entered the room.

"Blessed be," she said and smiled. "I've been expecting you."

Rossi lifted an eyebrow. "You've been expecting us. How do you know who we are?"

"I saw your coming in the cards," said another voice behind the blonde woman.

She was very short, but had similar facial features and eye color. Although her looks were faded with age, Reid could see she'd once been beautiful.

"Who are you?" Rossi asked.

"I am Martha and this is my granddaughter Sera. You're the FBI, come to save this town from a terrible curse."

"We don't -"

"I know you're skeptical," she said to Morgan. "Soon you'll see the power you have and it will help you save your teammate."

"What do you mean?" Rossi's tone dropped his voice to ice. "What do you know?"

"I know that she is in grave danger. I know that all of Danvers Village will suffer if you don't break the spell tonight."

"We don't know -"

She interrupted Rossi with a look that reminded him of a certain nun he'd known in childhood. She went to Reid with a quickness of step that startled them all.

"You're the key," she said.