Page 7 of Her Wicked Knights
Tripp smirks, and I feel my stomach tighten under the praise.
As the minister's son, I suppose I get a wicked thrill out of being contrary to whatever he preaches. Serenity Hollow was founded by families seeking just a little less holy righteousness than the early colonies were offering. When they broke from the settlement due to differing theologies, the founders were lauded as heretics, sinners, devil worshippers. It's funny, though, because they were by all means puritanical in their beliefs too.
"Imagine..." Marsh says coolly. "Breaking from the colony that was founded to practice their religion in peace because you no longer wanted to practice that religion? That takes fortitude. And starting your own town... that's not for the weak. They thought they were cursed at first, when things started to go south. The Cromwell's only heir, a baby, died within weeks of arriving at their new home, the Bolton's cabin burnt down when it was within days of completion and took the life of the founder, Margaret Archer died in childbirth, and one of the Windham kids wandered into the woods never to be seen again. The North's took on governing the town, but they didn't seem to be exempt from tragedy either. The elder North contracteda disease and died within hours of onset. Some say he was poisoned by his wife, so that their son could take over. Others say that it was just another casualty of the curse... death took a member from each of the families because they spurned the church."
"Or it was the seventeenth century and life expectancy was a fraction of what it is now." Colton's voice is hard, making it clear that he's not buying into any of the bullshit about curses.
Marsh points at him. "Excellent point, Hayes."
I don't miss the fact that he calls Colton by his last name, but me by my first name. I wonder if I'm looking into that too much.
"Yeah, for old people." Audrey says, swiveling around in her chair so that she can lock her gaze on Colton. "How do you excuse the baby and the woman who died in childbirth?"
"Childbirth claims a lot of lives." Colton shrugs, and I wonder if I imagine the way he glances at me from the corner of his eyes. "Even nowadays, it's dangerous. Four hundred years ago, they didn't know how to provide proper medical care."
"And the kid that wandered into the woods?" Audrey pushes, clearly favoring the theory that the founders were cursed.
"Bear?" Colton shrugs. "He could have been eaten by predators. He could have walked off the side of a cliff. Could have been picked up by some creep passing through."
Clearly not buying it, Audrey spins back around to face Marsh. "Is there any more evidence to support the curse theory?"
Marsh considers that a minute. "Yeah..." His tongue flicks out over his lips, and I think his eyes gleam with excitement. I can tell he's about to nerd out.
"Have you heard of the Salem Witch Trials?"
I can tell he's being theatrical for the fun of it because Audrey nods. "Of course."
"But did you know they extended throughout several towns in Massachusetts? Ipswich and Topsfield and Andover?"
Audrey shakes her head.
"There's allegedly a journal somewhere, written by witches. It documents every curse levied upon man from the beginning of time."
"Sounds legit." Audrey scoffs.
Marsh only smirks, shrugging as his gaze rolls to Jake.
"Only one person has ever claimed they saw it. They claim the curse was written in there."
"And we believe this one person?" Audrey rolls her eyes. "Let me guess, it was a rich white man?"
"Nailed it." Marsh chuckles, turning away to hide the smirk on his face, as if Jake hasn't already noticed. He slinks in his chair, clearly annoyed by the call-out. Next to me, Tripp snickers out loud, though I wonder if he doesn't see the irony of laughing at that. Tripp is also a rich white man, though I suppose he's nowhere near as privileged. Despite all their money, the Archers don't come across as privileged... unlike the mayor's family.
"And we take his word for it cause he's got a dick?"
"Language, Miss Graves," Marsh scolds, looking disgusted by the audacity. "And no. We take his word for it because the man who claims to have seen it is Johnathan Nathaniel North."
4
Colton
Marley'sindignationatmestalking a girl sticks with me in ways I don't even understand. It almost gives me a weird sense of pride, a strange thrill. She is the one that is my mind's obsession, my heart's desire. And she has no fucking clue.
She also has no fucking clue that I'm outside her window again, nestled in the tree house Tripp's father built in the old oak in their back yard when we were kids. It's been years since we used to come here to hang out, since we would gather magazines and books (Marley) and snacks and come here to be alone together, away from the rest of the world. The world had seemed so much smaller then... so much brighter. Now, it feels bleak. How can it not when I don't want a single fucking thing in this world more than I want her?
I'm supposed to be deciding what I want to do with my life, deciding what I'm going to do for a living, if I'm going to college, whether I want to play football. I only do it because it demands so much of my time and energy that it distracts me from thinking about her... it distracts me from thinking about how much I'd rather be at her side than anywhere in the world.
Tonight, Marley's not alone. And that makes my blood boil, because I don't understand how Jake wormed his way into her life the way he did. We all knew we liked the same girl, and we had an unspoken understanding that none of us would betray the others to go after her. It would ruin the friendship we've had all our lives, the only constant we've all known besides our affection for her. And yet, he went after her anyway, broke our trust, betrayed us. And now he doesn't even act like he has the whole world at his fingertips when he's got my whole world there, too.
