Cursed
Skylar McKinzie
Horror
Skye, Stormy, and Savannah Davidson are no different from the other residents of Discovery, Massachusetts, or so they think. As their 25th birthday approaches, the town begins to treat them with wariness and suspicion. Skye begins to believe the triplets are special. Can they solve the puzzle of their past to save the town from the evil forces that affect their future?
Excerpt
Cursed Excerpt: Prologue:
1692: Discovery, Massachusetts
The growl from the other side of the door spurred Faith into action like nothing else could. It wouldn’t be long before they came for her, because of what they thought she was. Granny had warned her about going out during the hunt, but she simply wanted to, no, had to see him one more time. She knew it was a risk. She knew the magistrate watched her and her family, searching for any excuse to accuse them of witchcraft. She reached down to stroke the agitated wolf at her feet. Faith knew she should send him running into the darkness but was unable to bring herself to part with him before she had to. “Shh, Wolfe,” she rubbed his soft fur to quiet him.
Maybe Wolfe reacted to the growl from the dogs outside or, perhaps, he innately knew the mob was coming for her. Whatever the cause, his reaction galvanized her and she tore the house apart, looking for a place to hide the book that would condemn her and her sisters. Wolfe padded behind her, growling occasionally, as if to remind her the men grew closer. Faith turned to see her sisters, Chasity and Hope, standing in the doorway.
“Did I not tell you to run?” Faith quickly gathered some potions, vials and other essentials they would need, putting them hastily into a bag. With their flowing, black hair and blue eyes, they appeared identical to Faith, another mark against them as far as the town was concerned. Three babies, born at once, all resembling the same person, had to be witchcraft, didn’t it?
“Run!” Faith tossed the bags at the young women. She knew she caused the hunters to come for them. If only she hadn’t gone to see him, if she had simply listened to her granny. She darted after her sisters, out the back door of the huge house, understanding she would never darken its doors again.
Fleeing through the woods behind her former home, Faith heard the rapid breathing of her sisters, running beside her, and the padding footsteps of Wolfe as he led them to where their only salvation lie. Their lovers waited to spirit them away from this place, away from the ignorance consuming this town. The six of them would leave to a new land and begin again, somewhere they weren’t feared and wouldn’t be put to death for being different.
Faith sighed with relief when she saw horses ahead. “We’ve made it. It will all be okay now,” she whispered, turning to her sisters as she stopped to pat the top of Wolfe’s head. She looked up in shock as the magistrate came out of the darkness, his razor-sharp eyes full of hatred.
“Did you really think we would let three witches descend on the world outside of Salem? There’s no telling what kind of disaster that would cause.” Faith watched in dismay as her sisters were grabbed. She tried to go to them, but was stopped by hands gripping her arms from behind. To no avail, Faith struggled against the hands holding her.
“But, how…” she asked, tears filling her eyes when they stepped out of the shadows. “You! You betrayed us,” she murmured, tears falling as she was led to one of the three stakes erected; she had failed to see as they burst into the clearing.
The wide-eyed terror on the faces of the sisters she swore to protect prompted Faith to reveal their true nature. Flames licking towards their feet, the smell of burning material in her nose, she started to chant, her sisters’ voices soon adding to the incantation.
As the fire rose to meet their feet, their voices grew louder and Faith saw the townspeople fidget as their nerves got the better of them. She looked directly at the family who betrayed them, the family she, no they put their entire trust in. The birthmark on her shoulder stung, and the rain fell.
Chapter 1
2016: Discovery, Massachusetts:
Skye Davidson giggled as children plastered their little faces to the window to see the Halloween display she had hung the night before. Skye loved this time of year and wore a huge smile on her face as she went to start the pots of coffee her customers would inhale as soon as The Witches Brew’s door opened. Outside, the wind grabbed the hat of a young kid, blowing it down the street as the child gave chase.
The chatter outside, combined with Dr. John Andrews expected arrival for his morning coffee, was enough to get Skye singing as she worked. It was two weeks until Halloween in Discovery, and Skye wanted to seize the opportunity to cater to the tourists that would come through the area on their way to nearby Salem.
Halloween was heavily celebrated in these parts, and the Davidson sisters were more than a little involved in the festivities every year. Skye, Stormy, and Savannah Davidson grew up on the stories of the Salem witches, their granny hinting more than once that they were related to the infamous witches. Their mom pooh-poohed such notions every time their granny started her ‘nonsense’. Tabitha Davidson would shake her head, saying, “My three girls will keep their feet on the ground and their heads out of the clouds,” then shoot their granny a look they never understood before corralling the girls into the kitchen, leaving their granny teary-eyed behind them.
When alone, granny would tell them that being triplets was unique and that, when they were older, they would understand. Stormy, being the eldest of the three by ten minutes, scoffed after their granny went to bed, telling her siblings that, although she loved the stories their granny told, they were crazy rants and nothing else.
Skye couldn’t prevent the laugh escaping her as she recalled ten-year-old Stormy, hands on her hips, informing her ‘younger’ sisters that magic, ghosts, and witches were not real.
Skye sighed when arms wrapped around her from behind, dragging her back into the present. Granny had been gone for a few years now but the memories still stung. “What has you so tickled this morning, gorgeous?” John asked as he kissed the back of her neck, her bare skin tingling where his lips touched.
Skye turned in his arms, “Just happy this morning,” She pecked him lightly on the lips and pulled away as giggles from the other side of the counter registered.
Skye leaned over to view the two little girls who smiled up at her, “Are you trying to sneak up on us?” She teased, reaching behind her to grab two pumpkin spice cookies from the display case. “Here, run along now, and tell your mom her order will be ready at six.”
She looked back in time to see a strange look cross John’s face, “I guess we grossed them out.”
“What’s that look for?” She asked. Recently, some of the residents in town had been treating the Davidson sisters as if they had sprouted two heads.
“What look?” John responded, his gentle face pulled into an innocent expression.
Skye tugged on a lock of his curly, brown hair, “The look that says you’re going to take me out for a nice dinner tonight.”
“Is that the look you’re referring to?” He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, his blue eyes twinkling, “You’re on then.”
******
After John left for work and things slowed in the shop, Skye mused over the strange glance. Her thoughts went back to the previous day, when she and Savi were in town. Talking to one of the shop owners, things were going fine until she mentioned their upcoming twenty-fifth birthday.
The girl’s mother, who had been knitting in the corner, let out a string of words that sounded foreign to Skye. The woman crossed herself before bolting into the back room.
Stuff like that seemed to happen everywhere they went and Skye swore she heard one woman mutter “Witches, they will destroy us yet,” when she passed her in the street this morning. She pushed the thought from her mind, customers flowing through the door for the lunch rush. She would think about it later.
Business was steady all day and Skye was exhausted, ready to close the Witches Brew as the clock struck six. Locking the door, she had barely finished sweeping the floor when the phone rang.
After assuring Stormy for five minutes that she would be home for dinner, she returned to the front of the cozy, little shop, broom in hand.
She stopped short at the sight in front of her, the broom dropping to the floor with a clatter. The door to the shop stood wide open. The Halloween decorations were not as she had left them: each of them—even the miniature, ceramic pumpkins—had their eyes trained on her as she stood frozen in the doorway. Scarecrows were turned upside down, straw trailing across the floor, a bat was stuffed into the mouth of one Jack-O-Lantern, its fangs bared.
She started towards the front door, the eyes of the Jack-O-Lanterns following her every step. Scanning the streets for an intruder, she slammed the door shut and leaned against it, her heart racing.
*****
The man watched from the shadows across the street, chuckling at the fear and puzzlement on the girl’s face as she shut the door. He bathed in the scent of her fear for a moment, then glanced around, shifting forms, before fading into the darkness from which he had come.
Uncaged Review
A town called Discovery near Salem where three triplets called the Davidsons learn that the reason why the town members have been looking at them funny is because there really witches. After learning this fact the three sisters do everything they can to learn their powers, quickly so they can banish the evil causing chaos in their town. This story is filled with magic and history and is very entertaining. Book 1 is really giving you some characters history and background and plotting up to tell us who is really the big bad is. I thought this book was a mixture of Charmed meets Vampire Diaries. Patiently awaiting book two. Reviewed by Jennifer
5 Stars
