Page 133 of Demise

She purses her lips and shrugs, like she’s trying to soften the blow.

“You weren’t the one to break it.”

“Does that change anything?” I ask.

Shaking her head softly, my heart sinks. Great. Now on top of everything else, I’m cursed.

“I’m sorry you got to see the ugly side of him yesterday,” I say. “He can be stubborn, and he thinks he knows best, but he’s a really good man. I don’t want to see him with any blame or bad luck or anything.”

She laughs at that. “Love, you did not just say that a Putnam is a good man?” she questions, spitting his name as she does.

I frown at that and nod. “He’s nothing like his father, trust me.”

Her lips purse at that as she stares at me, like she doesn’t believe me. Reaching to the side of me, she grabs some kind of bundled thing and hands it to me.

“Go home and light the end. Burn this all around your home, yourself, two times around your husband. Goddess knows he needs it.”

“What is it?” I say as I look at it.

“White sage. It cleanses and attracts positive energy. Something tells me you could use all the positive energy you could get.”

I laugh at that, taking the sage from her as I nod.

“What, are you a mind reader as well as a witch or is it stamped across my forehead?”

She gives me an amused smile.

“Not a mind reader, love, but your aura is…messy.”

I frown. “I think that’s an insult.”

She laughs. “No, it’s not your fault, per se. It just tells me there is a lot going on in your life.”

“You have no idea,” I mutter under my breath.

Rachel shrugs her shoulders. “I’m an excellent listener.”

That’s apparent. I’ve felt a sense of ease and comfortability from her from the moment I met her. She’s so warm and inviting. If the things going on in my life wouldn’t endanger me or the people I love, I’d definitely open up to her. But, I know better. So, instead, I politely shake my head. There is something that’s been burning in my mind, though I’m certain I know the answer already.

“Are you, by chance, related to Elizabeth and John Proctor?”

She doesn’t seem surprised, but she does nod.

“I am a descendant of them, yes.”

“Wow. So, your family has lived here for—”

“Well over three hundred years, yes.”

She hesitates for a moment before she points to the back.

“I actually have some of Elizabeth’s belongings. Would you like to see them?”

I nod, and she walks me back there, pulling out an antique looking jewelry box. When she opens it, a ring, a couple of stones, some buttons, and a few pieces of paper are inside.

“May I?” I ask as I gesture towards the box.

She nods as I reach for the paper, my eyes rounding as I read the words on it. My eyes flick up to the date before coming to her. She gives me a knowing nod and a disappointed frown. I can’t read the words on the pages fast enough, finishing the final sentence before setting the papers down.

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