Reverend Hale looked about him, as if he were being watched, but then returned to the almost empty glass before him. Those contents of the mug are indeed what holds him together nowadays, after all that had happened those few months before. He left the poor, torn town of Salem after his tyrant had been wreaked upon the civilians. Now, living in Boston, retired from his job of chasing away horrid spirits, he spent his days wallowing in what had happened, brokenhearted by the lives he must have ruined. Another glass, another drink.
It was all my fault, Hale thought to himself. He took a deep swig of the whiskey.
Most people wouldn’t be able to recognize him by his dark, shadowed eyes, or his deep frown growing ever more grotesque by the day. His hair hung in snarls around his frail face, and his expression remained blank. The little pub he was seated in had been a bustle of noise hours ago, but now the loneliness of the rest of the fellow drinkers was ominous. What have I done?? He thought of John Proctor, of Elizabeth, of Rebecca Nurse, Giles Correy, and many more who have died before him, at his hand. Abigail, the devil herself. Another glass, another drink.
Finished, he paid his dues and struggled to get himself out of his seat, and staggered towards the door. The bitter fall air hung over Boston, warning of the harsh winter to come. His feet fell heavy on the ground, and looking straight forward, he could not think about the past; what he had let happen in Salem. Darkness fell hours before, and the few and sparse candles lit in the windows of the dirt road street were the only means of navigating at this late hour.
A piercing scream echoed in the bitter air, and everything went cold. Fear struck through Hale. At the edge of the forest, just beyond the street, the howling cry continued. Dashing towards this sound, he saw a little girl, no older than a teenager, lying on the ground. She wept and cradled her arm.
“Miss, are you all right?” Hale asked as he knelt down next to the young girl.
The girl screamed out in pain. She let her arm fall, allowing Hale to see, and he found that she was bleeding from a carving in her flesh. His heart skipped a beat, and he realized that she had been attacked. He scooped her up into his arms, and rushed her down the street towards the local doctor.
Dr. Renolds is a crabby man, two times the age of Hale, and grunted as he saw him standing on his doorstep, but allowed the two of them to enter. “You found her like this?” Dr. Renolds asked, and Hale nodded, out of breath and bewildered. “It is not too deep of a wound, but possible infection may occur. This girl, my God, is Emily Blackard! Emily, do you remember what had happened?”
She shook her head sadly, and winced as Dr. Renolds poured some ailant on her arm. “I-I remember the walk home. It was cold and I ran as fast I could to my parents, and then I remember some kind of chanting, sounds to be reckoned with, in my head, and everything else is a blank.”
“Chanting?” Hale spoke up, worried.
“Yes, a chanting in my head. It was no voice I remember, you hear. I could not tell you who it might be, but it was an older woman. I don’t know what it said, but I remember my arms turned cold and got goosebumps just at the sound! It was no Ten Commandments, you hear. It was something more.”
The wound was bandaged, Hale never got the chance to see it. “Dr. Renolds, I need to look at Emily’s arm. This may be important. I am a Reverend, and this may be the possible work of the Devil.”
“Reverend Hale, I can’t allow you to-”
“I know what this sounds like, but I swear to you, this does not sound like some attack on the street. The chanting...the wound...it may all lead to one thing! We mustn’t waste any more time!”
Removing the bandage, he examined the mark. There was what he had feared, three long marks running down the length of her arm. The marks of the Devil.
“Now Emily, you say you heard a chanting...where were you when you heard it?”
“I was right outside that old bookstore, you know. The one with all the dust and the children go saying it’s haunted. I looked inside the window and I think that’s where it all started.”
Reverend Hale jumped from the place next to Emily and dashed out the door. In the night air, he could feel chills running down his spine. Salem, happening all over again. But it seems like this time, it may not all be a game. Maybe this time, he could save someone, anyone, from being deceived.
The old bookstore has been around for ages, as Hale had been informed. Not many inhabitants actually enter, but the business still thrives because of the sales of the Bible inside. Many people are afraid of entering, having their soul tainted by the darkness within, but the few that do have very little to say towards that fact. Sometimes, people love telling stories to each other, hoping the other will be just as frightened as they were.
As Hale walked towards the door of the shop, he heard a woman singing softly to herself. He strained his ears to hear the words, but could not. He followed the sound, towards the back of the shop, where a candle was lit in the back room. There sat a young woman, with long brown hair hanging down her back. She was turned away so he could not see her face.
“Hello?” Hale called out, barely above a whisper.
The woman kept singing to herself, but she gently turned around with a huge grin lighting up her face. Her eyes were dark and brooding, and she looked like the exact form of evil that had brought him to this godforsaken city, to find refuge.
“Reverend Hale, it’s been a long time,” the woman spoke, and her voice could never be forgotten in Hale’s mind.
“Abigail! Why are you here?” he asked, his heart racing.
She got up from her chair and looked down and what she had been holding. A knife, speckled with blood, and she smiled to herself, as if pleased with this treasure she had found. “I loved him, and he died, because of your trials! Your the reason why he is dead and not that old, godforsaken woman!” she shrieked.
“You were the one who accused the innocent. You are a murderer, Abigail, and not me! You should be rotting in a prison, or hanged by the ropes that took the life of so many people that should have been able to trust you! You are a jealous whore, hiding in this shop, injuring children out of your witchery game! You are a witch, at the hand of the Devil, sinning as you live. Rot in Hell, Abigail, and never touch a child again by your evil. That little girl could die because of your games,” Hale bellowed, and began to edge his way out of the shop.
Abigail’s face twisted in anger. She raced towards him, and something hard hit his head, and everything went black.
~~~
There were whispers in the room, some weeping, and others coughing. Hale’s eyes fluttered open, and a cold bit him, as he shivered uncontrollably. His vision blurred, he looked about him, a pain in his arm unbearable. There were a couple of beds beside his own in this room, a makeshift hospital, the ill and the visitors in a sweep of emotion. Hale was utterly alone, lying on this bed. All he could think about was Abigail, and what had happened after she struck him.
Dr. Renolds came over with a damp handkerchief. He dabbed at Hale’s forehead, and began whispering things like, “finally” and “we were getting worried”. Hale’s breathing was labored and he found it hard to remain conscious.
“His fever is getting worse, and the infection is growing. It does not look too promising,” Dr. Renolds explained to a person who arrived behind him. Hale looked up, and found it was Elizabeth Proctor, the woman from Salem who had been accused of being a witch falsely. Elizabeth looked down at him, and a tear slid down her face.
“Elizabeth...” Hale whispered.
“Hello Reverend. I am sorry to see you like this, but what had happened was truly remarkable. When you and Abigail were yelling that one night, fellow citizens heard you from within the store! They found her strike your head, Reverend, and she is now sitting in prison as we speak! She will be tried soon for the conspiracy of murder, and the crimes she committed in Salem, Reverend! You saved my husband’s soul! You found her, and I am sorry she had to strike you like this, and her knife cut into your arm. They sent for me, because they knew you knew me. I am so proud of you for standing up for everyone in Salem, all those innocent people. God will bless you as you have acted rightfully.” She kissed his forehead and departed.
Hale smiled. A peace filtered through his whole body. Abigail was now paying for the crimes she had committed, and he could now let himself depend on his own help for giving him happiness, not the whiskey. That was the last glass. The last drink. He shut his eyes and drifted off...where the world was smiling to him. John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Giles Correy, and all the other innocent people were allowing another accused innocent, in another manner, into their hearts.
Reverend Hale then died peacefully, where the pain in his arm was no longer there, ebbing at his consciousness, and where he could now be free from the guilt he felt after all that had past, and he knew that he had finally caught the Devil that had been haunting Massachusetts; Abigail was now guilty.