Authors note 1: This chapter will contain gore and other things that might make you frown a bit. There will be more in the next chapter. So... hope you enjoy it?
Chapter 28. A new Symbol and the Horrors of Salem.
The only things that could be heard in the cave were the dripping of water and the leading words from Jakob. The Slytherin boy looked at his friend, who seemed like she was paralysed.
"Pansy?" Jakob asked, stroking her cheek and cursing himself for not taking the gold coin. They were just going out to take a dip. How could this be happening?
Suddenly Pansy started to blink rapidly for a second and cough violently.
Jakob looked wide-eyed and helped her up as she tried standing up.
"Pansy, I don't know if you should be standing."
The girl who now stood up, leaning on the cave wall, still coughing, held up a finger, silencing Jake. She took a few deep breaths before saying in an annoyed voice.
"I knew something weird was going to happen, You are going to get me back, and you owe me everything right now, Jakob Quade."
Jakob nodded, and the girl walked back towards the hole in the wall.
"Pansy, wait, there's-"
"No! I want to get back, and you are going to give me a massage. You will not tell me what to do right now, or I swear Jakob, I will…."
Jakob pointed at her, and she burst out.
"What!?"
"You have a tattoo on your left back shoulder," answered Jakob with a raised eyebrow.
Pansy turned in shock and tried to examine the ink on her skin but could not see it.
"What is it?" she asked with a worried voice.
Jakob walked over and observed the symbol.
"It's three circles, one bigger than the other. In the middle, there is a star. It's shifting from blue to black, and lines are crossing it. Making it look like a spider web."
Pansy looked impressed by the description.
"Is it… pretty?"
Jakob nodded.
"Yeh, it's pretty cool, actually. Do you remember anything after you touched the statue?"
Pansy shrugged.
"Only a white light, and then I woke up coughing."
Jakob turned around and walked over to the statue, and before Pansy could say anything, he touched it.
There were a few seconds of silence while the girl looked horrified, and Jakob looked disappointed.
"You idiot, why did you do that?" the girl rushed forward, swapping his hand away.
Jakob grinned.
"I would not say no to a free tattoo." grinned Jakob, and the Pansy rolled her eyes.
"let's just get out of here."
They both crawled to the tunnel and walked back to the cave entrance.
"Alright, I jump in first, and if you feel like you need air, I will provide it like last time, alright?"
Pansy nodded, and Jakob dove in.
He turned to see Pansy diving in after him, and they began their swim back.
On their way, Pansy seemed to be thinking of something and then she stopped, gesturing for Jakob to give her air.
Jakob swam towards her, pressed his lips on hers, pushed some of his air, and felt her breathing it more slowly this time.
When he was done, she gave him a thumbs up, and they continued up and out through the cave entrance. They saw the sun shining up above and breaking through to the surface.
"There they are!" Jakob heard Theo yell, and Draco's head poked out behind the edge.
"Did you find anything?" asked the blonde, with hope shining in his face as bright as the sun, and Jakob swam towards shore with Pansy beside him.
When they got up, the other Slytherin boys walked over to them.
Jakob moved Pansy so that her back was turned away from the others, and she looked confused at Jakob but held her tongue from saying anything.
"Well did you find anything?" asked Draco again with hope in his eyes.
Jakob shook his head in disappointment.
"There were signs of things being there, but I guess someone already has raided it."
Draco and Theo looked slightly disappointed. They had been guessing what they would take back from the cave to pass the time.
"We should head back. I have a headache. Must be the sun." said Jakob and pinched his nose bridge, and the other three nodded.
"Same teams?" asked Theo?
"I can take Pansy this time answered Jakob. But we can continue our little game as soon as I take a potion," answered Jakob with a smirk. The two boys nodded and went over to their broom.
"see you there, yeh?" said Draco as he kicked off from the ground.
Pansy and Jake nodded, and the two boys flew away.
"So why are we not telling them?" asked the girl looking suspiciously at Jakob, who sighed and walked over to his broom.
"Because we don't know what it is. It could be nothing, but it's better if we find out first." He mounted his broom and looked over to Pansy, who thought for a second and then nodded.
"Yeh, you're probably right," she said and walked over to him.
She was about to place herself behind him when she saw the smirk on his face.
"You wanna steer?" Pansy looked surprised at first, and then a grin formed as she nodded. Jakob placed himself further back as she sat in front of him and kicked off from the ground.
When they flew back, Jakob gave her some advice on how to lean correctly to get a better turn, and Pansy learned quickly. They soon arrived at their own island, and Jakob pointed towards her room window.
"lead us in there." Pansy concentrated, and they flew right in and landed in her room.
She jumped off and laughed in amazement.
"That was amazing! If madam Hooch had been half as good a teacher as you have, I would be getting an O."
Jakob stood and placed his broom upright, leaning towards a wall.
"You could get one either way. I did not make you fly any better. I only gave you some tips. You can get that O if you show her what you showed me."
Pansy walked over to him.
"Aww, aren't you sweet." said the happy teenage girl hugging him and feeling him move a bit.
"Why are you trying to get loose?" asked an amused Pansy.
"Because I need to do some research," answered Jakob, who tried to get her arms off him.
"Oh no, you won't." laughed Pansy and jumped up, crossing her legs around him. Jakob laughed with her as he tried to break free, but Pansy was on him like the little leech she was. He took a few steps and was about to throw her into the bed. But the Slytherin girl was ready and bit him in the neck. Not hard, but enough to stun the boy.
Surprised, Jakob stumbled and fell with the girl right under him.
They laughed for a moment before Jakob understood the position they were having.
He looked at the girl who still had her legs locked around him, looking happily confused.
"What? Why do you look like you are panicking?" just as she said the last word, she noticed something pushing against her, and she glanced down and then up at an embarrassed Jakob.
She unlocked her legs, and her whole face went red.
Jakob quickly got up, mumbled something that she could not hear, and hastily walked out and closed the door.
The girl, still shocked and red in her whole face, stared for a moment into nothing, and then a giggle spread as she closed her eyes. She took a deep sigh and opened her eyes after a while biting her thumb, still wearing that smile.
Jakob walked inside his room and closed his door. He went over to his bed, took a pillow over his head, and screamed.
"So fucking embarrassing!" It took some time for the boy to remove the pillow feeling like he wanted nothing more than to cut ties with everyone and start a new life. After he had calmed down, he threw away the pillow and turned to look out his window.
A smile crossed his face.
"I have never seen her so red in the face before." he chuckled and then got up, ready to do some research.
After two hours of going through countless books, he saw what he was looking for.
"The Eye Of Kanaloa," whispered Jakob as he touched the page showing the symbol and a text under it.
Kanaloa is the god of the sea, magic and the underworld. A healer god and amplifier.
Jakob frowned.
"Alright, but what about the symbol. Questioned the Slytherin boy, flipping a page.
The page he was looking for showed itself, and after a few seconds of reading, he looked up at the ceiling of the bag.
"So she is like a magnifying glass for other powers? Wonder what that is like." he thought loudly and closed the book.
He then walked out of his room and went over to Pansy's, knocking on her door.
The door opened, and the girl with the fringed hair stood at the entrance. Not giving any sign to let him inside.
"What?" she asked, annoyed, and Jakob raised the book he was holding.
"I know your secret," the Slytherin smirked. Pansy grabbed the book and shut her door, leaving a confused teenage boy behind.
"Why is she so moody?" Was it for the situation before? He wondered and shrugged, walking down the stairs to enjoy dinner with the others.
Pansy did not exit her room all evening, and Jakob had to shrug his shoulders when the other asked him where she was.
He hung out with Draco and Theo for the rest of the evening, and when nightfall came, he said goodnight to the boys and walked upstairs.
He stopped before Pansy's door and was about to knock when he had a thought. She may need this evening to herself. He turned, walked inside his own room, and lay in his bed.
"Well, this sucks." he frowned and got up, preparing himself in the bathroom. When the Quade heir got out, he hoped the Pansy would be there, but he was still alone.
As he lay there in bed, trying to get some rest for the big day tomorrow, his door slowly opened, and Pansy walked inside.
"I have been waiting for you. Why are you lying here?" she whispered in irritation.
Jakob raised his arms in the air.
"First, you are happy. Then you switch to angry, then you are annoyed, and then you ignore me. How the hell am I supposed to know that you have waited for me?"
Pansy sighed and closed the door behind her.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's just a lot right now." Jakob nodded as she walked over to him and lay down, snuggling up beside him.
"Did you get some new information on that book?" asked Jakob while he dragged his fingers across her back, feeling her skin form goosebumps.
Pansy nodded.
"Yeh, but the strange thing is that the Tatoo disappeared. I don't feel any different."
The boy thought for a moment.
"I don't know about your tattoo or if something even should be different, but time will answer both of those questions."
As Jakob fell asleep, Pansy looked up at him once again. She knew it was wrong not only because he was sleeping but because of her feelings towards Draco. The black-haired girl had told herself before that she would stop, but every time Pansy got the chance, she thought of the wonderful sensation it gave her, and it became too hard to resist. The blushing girl leaned in and kissed him again. The kiss had been longer this time, and she had even laid her hand on his chest as she marvelled at the sensation he gave her. She released the kiss and lay back on his shoulder, feeling sleep get a hold over her.
"I should really stop," whispered Pansy while wearing a smile and closing her eyes.
The next day they had all gathered to eat some breakfast. The four Slytherins ate fast, and Mr and Mrs Malfoy had already left the house.
"You got the portkey?" Asked Theo.
The blonde nodded while taking a bite of his Portuguese sausage.
"Yeh I It will take us there, and the latter will take us home tomorrow. Some old lady will pick us up."
When they were done, Jakob And the rest got up, walked to the hall and stood in a circle.
The portkey gripped them, and they were teleported to Salem, Massachusetts.
When they arrived, they stood in a basement, and Draco tossed the pillow away.
"Alright, mother said a witch was going to pick us up here, take us to our hotel and let us leave out bags before we get the first tour."
The three others nodded and waited. After five minutes, they began to get a bit bored and started walking around, trying to see if there was something interesting they could pass their time with.
"Um, Draco… not to be rude or anything, but did your mum give any specifics?"
Draco turned towards Nott and shrugged.
"She only told me she was older and named Modesty Dullgrade."
They continued to wait before they heard the door open and slow footsteps walking down the wooden stair.
Jakob saw an old woman dressed in an old grey dress. She had her white hair tied up in a bun and wore a smile on her face seeing the four Slytherins. She held her dress while she took the last stepped and looked around.
"Hello, young ones, my name is Modesty, and I will be the one taking care of you while you visit Salem. If you all follow me now." She turned and started walking back up, and the four Slytherins gave each other a glance before following the old lady.
They walked out of the basement and into a room with all sorts of weird things.
Jakob, who had some understanding, knew that he was right now looking at a turned-off television.
"Excuse me miss Dullgrade, is this a muggle home?" Questioned Jake while the other Slytherins looked disgustedly around while the woman kept going forward.
"This little village had a lot of no-majes, and I would suggest that you don't use that term here. People in this town are famous for their ancestors hunting witches, so I would not give them a reason to start preparing for a new hunt." She opened the door and gestured for them to walk outside.
"Did your parents know that they would be sending us here?" Whispered Pansy to Draco, who was watching where he was going, not touching anything that in his mind was considered filthy.
"Seems strange whispered Draco. But they might have overseen this fact or think that it might be a small price to pay."
Jakob looked over at Draco, who had the same confused face as Pansy and Theo.
"Not likely." Whispered Jakob to himself as they all got out and looked around. An intersection with cars drove past them, and Theo was about to draw his wand when Jakob stopped him.
"Don't do anything. they won't hurt us. They are cars. They are like carriages but are driven by themselves and steered by a muggle inside it."
The three confused students looked at Jakob in s mix of interest and disgust.
"How do you know that?" asked Draco, glancing around In worry.
"Know thy enemy and such." waved Jakob off and followed the old lady who had started walking down the road beside the houses and cars. Suddenly she stopped, and the four Slytherins stood beside her while she waited. Jakob saw that the road had ended while another had taken its place.
"We need to wait for the red light to switch to green. Otherwise, cars might hit you and believe when I say that you would like that." chuckled the old lady.
The five of them watched as the red light switched to green, and Jakob raised his eyebrow.
"Is this what they call electricity? That makes the light?"
Modesty looked a bit surprised at the pureblood's experience.
"Yes, do you have interest in the No-maj world?"
Jakob shrugged.
"I know what I need to know."
"What's electricity?" asked Draco in a whisper.
"It's like magic but for muggles. I can tell you more later."
The blonde frowned.
"No, thank you."
Jakob rolled his eyes. and they started walking over carefully.
Jakob saw a house with a text over it that read Jerry's department store. Jakob glanced inside the windows as they passed. There were a lot of older paintings and dolls that were seated behind a glass window. Paper of different kinds looked pretty old, and He raised an eyebrow in interest.
They soon stood outside a large house made of bricks with white pillars framing two doors. Modesty ascended the stairs and opened the door.
Jakob saw a text over the doors that read The Salem Inn. The four Slytherins hurried inside, not wanting to delay any more than they needed to.
They were shown to their room, and when they got inside, they noticed a bed in each corner.
"We are sharing?" asked Pansy, baffled." Jakob looked at the old woman, who gave her a nod.
"Yes, but I can see if we have an expandable wall so you can get your privacy. Now leave your bags here, kids. You won't need anything, not even your wands, but you can take them with you if you wish. I will be collecting the others downstairs so we can start our first tour."
They all put down their bags and chose a bed.
"This is not what I imagen when father told me he had booked this. Bloody hell, he hates muggles," Draco frowned after the old witch had walked downstairs.
"Mate, maybe we just should go down. We might have some fun anyway, alright? Just don't let this bring your mood down." Theo said, putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder.
Draco gave him a slight smile, and the two walked towards the door.
"You coming?" asked Theo as they were about to leave, seeing that Jakob and Pansy had not followed them.
"Yeh, give us one minute. I'm just going to grab something real quick. You go ahead." Answered Jakob. Theo shrugged
"Alright, but hurry, they won't wait forever for you two," he answered and followed Draco, who had already started to descend the stairs.
The black-haired boy turned towards Pansy.
"Somethings not right. Lord Malfoy would not send us here. But I can't be sure what it is, so we will wait and collect more information for now. Be careful and stay close. We can't leave each other's sides, alright?"
Pansy nodded, and they walked down the stairs to the lady who was waiting for them.
When Jakob came down, he saw three older people greeting Draco and shaking his hands.
He walked over to them, seeing that it was two older boys and one girl.
One of the boys looked over to the two new arrivers and reached out his hand.
"Ah, two more? Well, isn't this a surprise? My name is Felix said the older boy, and Jakob observed him when they shook hands.
He wore glasses and had dark hair. He was tall and looked like he was playing quidditch. Felix pointed to another guy with short blonde hair in the middle and shaved sides. He looked like he had more muscles than a brain and gave Jakob a smirk.
"That's John, and the girl beside him is his sister, Carmen."
Jakob glanced over and saw a girl that sported straight blonde hair, with an arrogant look and was rather beautiful in Jakob's opinion. But the sneer she gave him told him she would be a perfect bully.
"Hello, Felix. My name is Jakob Quade." the boy nodded and looked over to Pansy.
"And this little princess?" he asked, and Jakob gave Pansy a smirk.
"The Princess can tell you her name herself."
Pansy rolled her eyes at him and took the offered hand.
"My name is Pansy Parkinson. Pleasure."
"you guys talk so formally. Is that a thing over in the UK?" asked Carmen looking at Draco with an amused smile."
"Purebloods do. What mud…" Draco stopped when he heard Jakob clearing his throat and glanced over at the boy, who gave him a look that told him to not speak like that. Jakob instead continued.
"What my friend meant to say is that yes, we do. Some that have muggle background might not."
"Ah. Get it," said Felix giving Jakob a wink, to who the younger boy gave a confused eyebrow in response. Modesty, who had observed the group, clapped her hands.
"Alright now. Should we head out to visit our first stop?"
They all agreed and walked outside, following the old woman who walked at a slow pace.
Carmen and her brother John walked the furthest back and made no effort to talk with the four Slytherins, while Felix walked beside Jakob and Pansy.
"So you guys look as lost as us. I Imagen you don't have much experience with the No-maj word?" asked Jakob to the older boy.
"That's correct. In America, we don't have any connections with them. No-maj has turned out to be very hostile, and there are still groups that would want nothing more than to hunt us down."
"do you mean the Scourers?" Asked Jakob and the older boy nodded in response.
"Yes, there even was a group not long ago called the New Salem Philanthropic Society. They were crazy and hated everything magic. But somehow, they got defeated and have not been around since. But I say we should be weary of the No-maj. They are a real threat to us.
"I see that you at least have opened your eyes," said Jakob in s low voice, looking over to the other side of the street and seeing a muggle man looking weirdly at them.
"What year are you and your two friends in?"
Felix looked towards the Slytherin girl who had asked the question and gave her a smile.
"We are starting our seventh year after this summer. How about you, young miss?"
"We will start the third year." when the older boy frowned, looked over at Jakob and was about to say something, they all stopped. In front of them was a small path made of stones. It led to a grey wooden house that looked like older architecture. The old witch turned and gestured towards the house.
Welcome everyone to our first stop. The witch house of Salem."
They followed Modesty, who walked over to the door and opened it waiting for everyone to get inside before she closed it.
When Jakob walked inside, he saw that this was s Museum.
It almost looked similar to what Jakob was used to, and he glanced around. At the same time, Modesty started to tell them about the history of the building.
This building once belonged to judge Jonathan Corwin. And this is the only house in the entire Salem that still had direct contact with the witch trials in 1692." she turned back towards Draco with a mischievous smile.
"The rumours say that it all started here in this house." She turned back as they walked into a kitchen.
"But that is only a rumour and has no evidence at all. Here you can see a larger fireplace. It was made bigger so that the maid could cook bigger meals if Judge Corwin wanted to have some dinner guests.
They continued through different rooms, and Jakob soon lost interest in the other things that Melody was showing them.
She opened a door leading up to the attic.
"It's said that four witches performed witchcraft upstairs and that if you look close enough, you might find some trail of the dark magic that was left behind."
The seven teenagers walked up and looked around in the almost empty attic.
Modesty followed them and was about to say something when she heard a knocking on the door, which made her frown.
"Excuse me, I will be right back. Go on and take a look." she hurried down, and the four Slytherins glanced at each other.
"Don't touch anything," whispered Jakob, not feeling like this place was a good idea at all.
They walked around and watched, and Jakob looked at an open book that had collected quite a lot of dust. He blew on it, seeing a text that read.
We call you here. Lend us your power and make our enemies eat themself.
"Can you read those symbols?" asked Theo, who had walked up beside Jakob, who turned to look at his friend with a grave look.
"We need to get out. Now!" Theo looked worried, and Jakob turned to Pansy and Draco, who had heard him.
They both nodded and were about to turn and walk towards the door when Jakob saw something to his left and shouted.
"No, don't touch that!"
Carmen looked strangely at another book sitting on a podium, and Jakob saw her eyes glaze over while she raised her hand.
Felix, who had stood behind her, had turned towards her when he heard the warning and then, with wide eyes, tried to move her away, but he was too late. She touched the book, and everything began spinning like they had all been dragged into a violent portkey.
"Everyone get over here!" yelled Jakob, and the 6 other students struggled to lift their legs so that they could walk over to him. It looked like they were inside a tornado, and Jakob had to use his arms to find balance. They soon stood together, and Felix yelled.
"Take out your wands!" The group reached to grab them when everything suddenly stopped spinning.
They all looked around. They were still in the attic, but it was night outside, and they had all huddled on one side of the corner, hidden by the darkness.
What made everyone silent was what was in the middle of the room,
Three women with robes, having their hoods up, stood in a triangle formation. Jakob noticed that they were doing a ritual.
He saw the blood symbol on the floor. It was an upside-down pentagram, and his eyes widened in shock. Candles were lit in a circle inside it, and in the centre lay a baby, still wrapped in blankets. What horrified them was that one of the women had a bloody sacrificial knife, and the blankets were covered in the same dark red liquid.
" Is it done, sister? I felt the magic but not having the key with us is not going to bring the same results." said one of the witches, turning to the one holding the knife.
" Yes, it worked, and like she told us, this is merely a test. She will arrive in three days, so we must see that we escape before."
" Is this some kind of sick joke?" asked John, and the three witches turned towards them.
" Who are you?" asked one of the hooded figures.
"It doesn't matter, sisters. Kill them!"
The sister, who carried her knife, rushed towards the group.
" Sanguis Ferventis," spoke Jakob, and a sickly red light flew towards the woman, and she flew back and screamed as her blood began to boil.
The two other witches looked surprised and were about to take out their wands when Felix and John screamed.
" Avada Kedavra!" The green light hit the first one right in the face, and she fell down without making a sound. The other witch ducked and pointed her wand towards them.
" Stop, brothers and sister. We are on the same side."
The woman carrying the knife took her last breath as her blood began seeping out from every hole in her body, boiling.
" What have you done here? Who did you summon?" asked Jakob taking a step forward, still directing his wand towards her."
" How do you know about this? This magic is forgotten. Have you stolen from the mother?"
Jakob frowned, and the woman raised her wand.
" Filthy little thief, you will be eaten like the-"
" Cerebrum crepitus!" a sickly yellow jet flew from behind Jakob and hit the witch in the chest.
" No!" yelled Jakob, but it was too late. The witch's brain exploded, and her eyes popped out. Brain matter sprayed from her eye sockets, ears, and nose, and she knelt before tipping to the side.
He looked back and saw that it had been Carmen who had cast the last one.
" We need information. What the fuck is wrong with you?" he questioned, frustrated at the girl who glared back at him.
"You're welcome for saving your life, dipshit."
" Alright, everyone, we need to focus and stay together. We don't know what happened or why it suddenly became night, but we are stronger together." Jakob glanced at his friends, who were looking at him for an answer.
" Yeh, you are right," said Jakob, receiving a relieved smile and nod from Felix.
Jakob turned around, walked over the dead bodies, and looked out through the window.
" This is not good," he stated in a low voice and felt Felix and the others walking over to him.
" What? Asked Draco, who had remained to watch the door with Theo.
" They are dressed in the clothes that were shown in the Museum. We must have in some way travelled back in time," answered Pansy in shock.
" Are you Serious?" asked Theo turning around with a surprised face."
" This might just be some prank gone wrong, right?" asked Carmen, looking over at Felix."
Jakob rolled his eyes and walked over to the baby corpse in the middle.
" This baby is real, so they must have put a lot of effort into the prank." he looked around for more clues. The things in the circle had been turned to ashes except for the baby."
" This ritual did not go as expected," whispered Jakob, looking over at the different clues.
" How can you even know about these freak things? Have you ever done them?" said John and looked suspiciously at Jakob.
" You look at me like I was a dark wizard when I just saw the two of you cast the killing curse," answered Jakob with a raised eyebrow.
" We do it to survive. Did you know about these rituals for survival?" bit Carmen back.
" You can say that," answered Jakob and saw the confused glances the three older Americans gave each other.
" We can either fight or find a way out. If you don't want to leave you can stay here. But we are leaving." said Jakob, and the four Slytherins started to walk down the stairs.
" Hide your wands but have them ready if something goes wrong."
Whispered Jakob to his friends as they walked down the stairs. When they opened the door leading to the corridor, they were met by a woman dressed in a maid's outfit with her throat sliced and a kitchen knife in her hand coated in blood. She was sitting on the floor, leaning towards the wall with dead eyes looking straight at him, wearing a small smile.
Jakob, who saw it, first turned to the group and saw that the three Americans had followed. He gestured for them to be quiet by raising his finger towards his mouth.
He then walked over the dead maid's legs and continued down the hallway.
When he passed a room, he saw a nursery with a woman in what Jakob thought looked like an expensive outfit lying in front of the crib. Her head had been cut off and covered in blankets, looking like a baby in the small empty bed. Her hands and feet were also cut off and neatly placed in a line in the bed behind her.
Jakob knew that this probably was the mother who had fought to save her baby that now lay upstairs with a hole right through its heart.
The group continued, and Jakob heard Theo vomit as he saw the massacre in the nursery?
" Felix had patted him on the back and whispered something in his ear, which made the younger boy slightly smile and nod.
He turned around, continued to the kitchen, and almost rolled his eyes at the disgusting display.
The man of the house was currently sitting in his seat in front of the fireplace and eating his own intestines. He chuckled and smiled while he dragged it out and started to chew on it. Jakob saw that he had already feasted on his right arm and now held a stump that dangled while he continued.
Pansy, Draco, Carmen and Felix tuned around when they witnessed the display and vomited behind Jakobs back. The man looked up, heard the sound and growled towards them.
Jakob glanced at John, who was standing beside him, with disgust and terror showing his face. Jakob turned back towards the man, who slowly got up and started to limp towards them, almost sounding like a wolf, showing his bloodied teeth.
" clavus." Voiced Jakob, transfigurating a spoon on the table into a large nail and shooting it forwards, piercing the man's forehead, and he dropped.
" Seems like these witches had some sick idea of what fun was," said Jakob looking at the group.
" There shouldn't be more trouble now. We should head out and see what we can find," said Felix drying his mouth as he looked at Jakob.
The black-haired boy nodded and looked over to the door.
" We stay in group, and if shit hits the fan, we don't act like heroes."
They all nodded, and together they walked out to see people going about their night in their odd dresses and hats, carrying torches to lighten up the road ahead.
One of the men who walked took notice of the seven strangers.
" Who are you, and why have you just exited the house of Corwin?"
The man walked slowly towards them, and Jakob raised a hand to calm him down.
" We are relatives of Corwin. We came with the ship from Europe, seeking to start anew in this new land we call home."
" What are you doing?" hissed Carmen to Jakob, and Felix nudged her with his arm to shut her up.
The man who had seemed fooled at what Jakob had initially said noticed what Carmen had hissed and slowly reached for his sword, dragging it out from its holster.
" I think it's time you tell me the truth." said the man, and when people in close distance saw the situation, they began walking towards them.
Jakob could see at least fifteen people walking towards them, and he whispered to the group.
" Be ready to hit and run."
They all nodded, and Jakob flicked out his wand.
" 1. 2." Jakob never made it to three as muggles all around them started to frown in confusion and then proceeded to cough.
Jakob looked towards Felix in confusion. The older boy shrugged and then looked over to the muggles as he heard their coughing worsening.
Jakob noticed a woman with a black dress and white apron coughing up blood. She looked in fright as she saw the blood on her hand that she had just covered her mouth with.
" Did you cast anything?" Questioned Felix looking around with his wand raised.
"No, this has something to d with the ritual, I think," said Jakob frowning as he still held his gaze on the woman who now got on her knees, still coughing up blood.
Then they all started to bleed. People began to tear at their throats and faces trying to make it stop. The group looked on in alarm as the people started pulling pieces of skin and flesh, trying to scream in pain but could only make out a small gurgling sound as they needed to cough up the blood in their lungs.
"What's happening to them? Asked Pansy, afraid and walking towards Jakob.
" I think this is what the ritual was meant to do," answered Felix and looked over to the others.
" Will it happen to us?" asked Carmen, unable to decide who to focus her eyes on.
" We would be like them if it did. But we can't stay here. We need to…."
The last person who had coughed stopped, and the group looked over to the woman who had been the first to bleed as they saw her twitch.
Her legs bent, her arms twitched so violently that they cracked as they broke by the unnatural position they took, and a high pitch could be heard.
" What the fuck is happening to her?" asked John, taking a step towards the woman he thought to be dead moments ago.
Jakob did not stop him when he passed him. He needed to know what was happening and rather John than one of his own.
When the mountain-looking boy had walked halfway towards the woman, she stopped, twitched and fell limb again. John looked back at the group and took a step forward again but halted when he saw what happened next.
Her growling returned, and her arms slowly pushed her up from the ground. She raised her head towards the stunned boy, and Jakob, further behind, could see that her eyes were blood red. Her left cheek was missing, and her teeth showed like an animal who was ready to attack.
She then pushed her arms down hard, jumped up to stand on her feet, and rushed towards John, who was too stunned to move.
She screamed in an unnatural-pitched voice as she closed in on the massive boy.
" Bombarda!" a faint blue bolt rushed towards the woman and exploded, taking chunks of her body with it and blasting her back a few meters.
Jakob looked back and saw that it was Pansy.
He looked back to the woman seeing that she had risen up, now missing almost half her left arm and pieces of her stomach and thigh muscles.
She screamed and rushed towards John, who had now snapped back and pointed his wand at her.
" Arvada kedavra!" the green jet flew and hit her in the chest, but nothing happened.
" That was interesting. She is already dead. That would mean that the only thing keeping her going right now would be." said Jakob in a low voice and directed his wand towards her.
" Diffindo." a small blade of magic shot from his wand and hit the woman right on her nose, cutting half her head clean right off.
The woman kept running a few steps and then fell, twitching a few times before she stilled.
" How did you?" asked Carmen, and Jakob gave her a smirk.
" It can't be killed because it's already dead. You need to cut the thing that controls it."
" The brain. Good thinking," said John, who had arrived back.
" We should get out of here before they all…." started Draco nervously but stopped as he heard the different growlings and crackings coming from the other dead peoples around them.
Jakob heard that it wasn't only the people lying around them that was making that disgusting noise. The growls were everywhere. Further away in the night. Inside the houses, he turned towards the group who had noticed it themself, glancing around in panic.
" We need to get away and find a safe place. Now!"
Authors note 2: I took some extra time and finished this chapter today because I wanted to get this out to you guys. I hope to get the next chapter done tomorrow. It's already written but needs to go through beta and correction, which takes time **sigh**
I've done a lot of research on this, and every place you hear about in this chapter is real. You can search, for example, on The Salem inn on google. And see the places they entered if you want a better picture. If you go on google maps, you can follow the roads they took between the inn to the witch's house. The Judge was real and did live in the witch's house for a time. There will be more of this in the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. I tried my best to describe the people's clothes, but I felt that if I had explained it more, it would have taken too much time and might ruin the excitement. If you like, you can search for 1692 Salem clothes.
Cheers!
Ps: there is a hidden lore connection in this chapter. If you are a true fan, you might pick it up. Pm me and write what you think it is. I will write your name in the next chapter if you are correct.