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Chapter 9 ~ Midnight’s Lessons

Anastay gave Elania her cup of coffee as Anastay snuggled up on her couch. She just wanted to ease down and find out what was wrong with the mansion. She watched as Taco dragged out his blanket and pulled it onto the couch. He curled in between Elania and Anastay, and then hid under his blanket for bed.

“That dog is so smart,” Elania commented as she watched Taco lazily peek out from under his blanket, and then sleep again.

“That’s my baby.”

“He is cute.”

“Thank you,” Anastay replied with a polite smile. She was dying on the inside. Her brain craved the gossip that Elania was willing the leak out to her. She stared intently at Elania, hoping to start the conversation.

“Look, I need to talk to you about the other day,” Elania suddenly told her. Anastay had already gotten used to Elania’s constant flittering from subject to subject.

“Yes?” Anastay asked, perking up immediately.

“A lot of scary stuff has happened up at that mansion. I want you to stay away from there. You couldn’t possibly comprehend the horror that’s gone on here. And this is the first time that I’ve actually had a good friend. It’s been way too many years, Anastay. I need you to keep away from there. Please?”

“Why?”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“What has happened up there that’s so dangerous?”

“It was a long time ago, too long ago.”

“What happened?”

“A witch hunt,” Elania told her quietly.

“A what?” Anastay asked, finding herself go quiet again. Had she actually heard right? She had become familiar with the Salem Witch Hunts in Salem, Massachusetts, but in Canines-Rose, North Carolina? There must have been some mistake. Anastay leaned closer to Elania, wanting to hear every single detail.

“A witch hunt, you know?”

“No–”

“A witch hunt, where they burn people at the stake or hang them in the tree? That kind of witch-hunt, only it was a man and another woman. The man lived up at that castle. He had a kid, but that’s not the point. He haunts his mansion every so often. Some kids have been hurt trying to sneak up there. There hasn’t been a death in awhile.”

“Kid’s have actually died up there?” Anastay scoffed.

“It was many years ago, but its toxic horrors are still embodying this town. Alex tells everyone to stay away, and you should remember that.”

“What does Sheriff McLean care so much?” Anastay asked suddenly. If it had happened such a long time ago, why should McLean care? It couldn’t have involved him in any sort of way.

“He has his reasons,” Elania told her vaguely.

“Do you really think this happened?” Anastay asked her skeptically. “Or is this a joke you townies play on all the new people in town? It’s not that funny, you know?”

“It did happen,” Elania insisted.

“Did the witch hang?”

“Which one?”

“The woman?”

“She was innocent, but another framed her, and she died with a rope bound to her throat.”

“She was hanged?”

“Yes.”

“And the man? Was he hanged?”

“Some think so.”

“And you think what?”

“Never happened, he disappeared before they got to him. No one went to his lynching. Yet, some others say he escaped, and that’s why it wasn’t public. Others believe that he was burned by the Devil to save his unkempt soul.”

“It’s an urban legend!”

“No, it’s real!” Elania blurted with passion. Her dark eyes turned into smoldering embers as she planted her coffee cup firmly onto the coffee table. She gave Anastay a nasty glare. Chills raced up Anastay’s spine.

“Then what does that have to do with wolves that I’ve seen up at the mansion?” Anastay blurted with anger. Witches had nothing to do with wolves. Why would a wolf and bleeding roses tie into a witch being sacrificed?

“You’ve seen wolves?” Elania asked, forcing the words from her mouth. Elania’s dark eyes lit with surprise and she suddenly became filled with energy. Anastay thought it was odd that Elania became overwhelmed with Anastay’s sighting of wolves.

“Yes, why?”

“What did they look like?”

“I’ve only seen one.”

“Yes, and?”

“There’s such a pain in his eyes, Elania. It’s like he
needs comforting. Almost as if he needs help. He wants something from me, I know he does.”

Elania winced, “Where have you seen him?

“At the mansion, when I got cut by the roses. Why are they so sharp anyway?”

“The roses aren’t important.”

“But, El–”

“I don’t have time to explain. I have to go,” Elania blurted, standing up. She set the coffee down on Anastay’s glass coffee table. She grabbed her coat and turned back to face Anastay. She brushed her tightly wound curls away from her dark eyes. “Please stay away. Now that I know this, it’s even more deadly. Please believe me.”

“But wait–”

Elania left had already left.