PROLOGUE
Greenly Bay, Wisconsin
October 1914
“Martin, my love, are you still there?” Elena Carey asked in a hushed tone as she lay on her deathbed, bleeding profusely with her stillborn baby cradled in her arms.
“I’m here, my dear, I’m right here,” Martin answered.
He put a hand on the side of her head, assuring her of his presence. Her skin was so hot that he could feel it burning his palm but he bore the pain for he could not stand not being able to touch the woman he so loved.
“Why is our baby not crying, Martin? Why isn’t it crying?” She asked in tears, fearing the answer she would get from her husband’s lips.
“Our child…our child didn’t make it. He didn’t survive,” He answered with a heavy heart, the pain overwhelming his senses as the words left his tongue.
Elena’s heart broke after hearing him tell her the reason the child was so still, so quiet and she used all of her strength to lift the baby up to her face so she could see him.
“He’s beautiful, Martin, just like his father,” She sobbed when she saw her child’s face.
“Yes, he is,” Martin Carey knew his wife would soon join their baby in the afterlife and as much as he braced himself for the wave of pain that he would face, he knew he probably wouldn’t be able to bear it. What was he to do without her charming smile that made his days brighter than the sun? How was he to dream again without her voice to inspire his creativity and spurn his desires? How would he ever laugh without hearing her jokes or sleep without feeling her arms around him? The answer was simple – He wouldn’t be able to do any of it.
He was going to lose his only reason to be happy and it was because of THEM. Those filthy townspeople of Greenly Bay whose prejudices and small-mindedness blinded them to understand the reason for his and Elena’s decision to use such “unholy” means to bear a child of their own.
When they found out the origin of her pregnancy, they slowly began to revolt but Martin never knew they would take it this far. They waited for the week when Elena would be due to birth the child and chose a time that would have been soaked and garnished with joy and turned it into a night of unfathomable loss for him and although they had taken his child and were soon to take his wife, they still wanted more and were banging on his door, demanding to get it.
“Give us her body so we can throw her in the river so her sins won’t bring upon a curse to the town, Martin. What the both of you have done is blasphemous and will lead to nothing but chaos for this town if you do not surrender her corpse,” One of the leaders of the mob screamed from outside his bolted doors as they tried to break it down.
“Do not let them have my body, Martin. Bury me and our child in the cemetery beside my parents’ grave. Use the spell so they can never have my soul. Don’t let them take my body and throw it into the water,” Elena begged her husband, afraid for her soul which would never be able to rest if the townspeople got a hold of her body.
“I won’t let them have you, my love, I promise I won’t let them,” Martin assured her although he wasn’t sure how he’d keep them all away.
“Take my medallion and have it with you always,” She removed the necklace from her neck with her bloody hands, “As long as you have it, I will always be with you and it will give you the power to fight against anything.”
Martin took the necklace from her hand and when he felt it, it was colder than ice in his hand. Her magic was slowly fading away as the beats of her heart faded as well.
“You should also keep the book safe. You may need it later in the future. You cannot let them destroy it. It has all the spells, all the answers you’ll ever need, everything,” She told him.
“I have, my love. I’ve ripped out the page that has the spell to preserve your soul and I’ve buried the book where no one will ever find it,” Martin assured her.
She smiled at him one last time, “Avenge me! Avenge our baby,” The last words to come out of her mouth before her eyes shut forever and she drew her final breath, joining her baby in death with a slim chance for eternal peace.
Martin felt a piece of himself die with Elena and it was more pain than he had ever felt before. However, he didn’t have time to mourn his loss because the door to his home was barely holding up and was about to be broken down by the angry townspeople. Martin needed to get Elena’s and his baby’s bodies away from them so he could bury them properly so they could find peace in the afterlife. He had to move fast because they got in.
He grabbed a sheet and wrapped his deceased family in it and carried them in his hands and made for the back door. He made his way outside and placed their bodies in the back of his automobile. At the same time, the townspeople finally broke his front door down and they stormed inside in their numbers to get their price.
“He’s getting away,” A woman screamed and pointed at the open back door.
They all ran outside but were too late as all they saw was the unsettled dust of the earth floating about restlessly behind the tire tracks of Martin’s vehicle.
“We have to chase after him. The future of the town depends on it. Come on,” The townspeople began to chase after Martin with their feet, desperate to get to him before he disposed of his wife’s body.
Martin arrived at the cemetery and jumped out of his automobile. He grabbed a shovel that was lying around and began to dig as fast as he could because he knew if he could get Elena under the earth, the townspeople wouldn’t be able to dig her out. He had put a great deal of distance between him and them so he had a few minutes to dig before they would catch up. The night was dark and the winds howled with the suspicion of rain as lightning streaked through the sky and the roaring boom of thunder echoed violently.
He dug the hole as deep as he could and when it was deep enough, he stopped. He went back to his vehicle and carried his wife’s body and placed it inside the grave but before he could cover her up, one of the townsmen tackled him to the ground to make sure he couldn’t.
“We won’t let you curse this land,” The man screamed and wrestled with Martin on the ground.
Martin grabbed the shovel and used it as a weapon. He managed to get the man off him but it counted for very little as the rest of the townspeople arrived as well.
He got off the ground and used the shovel as a weapon to keep the people away from his wife’s corpse.
“You know what we want, Martin. Let us take her and we won’t have to hurt you too,” The leader said to him.
“You cannot have her. You’ve already taken her child’s life and hers as well. Isn’t that enough? Have you no heart? The least you can do is let me bury her in peace,” Martin cried out to them.
“She cannot be buried underneath the soil, Martin. Her crimes require punishment,” The leader said.
“What other punishment can you inflict? You people are heartless, the lot of you! You stone a pregnant woman to death for what you consider a crime but what about your crimes?” He asked, his shovel still outstretched.
“That baby was an abomination and we could not allow his birth. It would have been the end of Greenly Bay,”
“That baby was a blessing and the lot of you stole him from me. I won’t let you steal any more,” Martin was ready to fight them all.
“Then, you leave us no choice. Get him out of the way and take the body,” The leader instructed the others.
They all attacked Martin simultaneously and he swung his shovel, taking a few of them out but it wasn’t enough. They surrounded him and were bringing him down when he grabbed the medallion Elena had given to him out of his pocket and held it out. The people saw the pendant and they all moved away from him in terror.
“The three-pointed star of the demon Moriah,” A woman said before fainting out of fear.
“Stay back or I will unleash the power of this medallion on all of you,” Martin threatened.
“I thought your wife was the only one who practiced witchcraft. I guess I was wrong,” The leader said to Martin, “Burn him,” He ordered the people.
They all threw their torches at him and he immediately caught on fire. He tried to put it out but they made sure he couldn’t and watched him become engulfed in flames.
“Help me, help me, help me,” Martin screeched in pain as the fire consumed him but the people just watched as he burned until he could remain on his feet no longer.
Martin collapsed and fell into the grave he had dug up for his wife, right beside her dead body. He looked at her face and shed a few more tears as his blackened body lay in the hole in the ground.
“Forgive me, my love. I couldn’t keep my promise to bury you here but I will avenge you. From beyond the grave, from beyond death, from beyond the afterlife, I will make them all pay for what they have done to our family,” He wrapped the medallion tightly in his grip.
The townspeople removed Elena’s body from the grave and left Martin in it.
“What do we do about him?” Landon Willock asked the leader.
He looked down at Martin’s burned body and although he was still breathing, it was not enough to warrant saving him.
“He chose his path and now, he must suffer the consequences. We bury him alive. Grab the shovels, Landon!” The leader instructed.
Two of the townsmen, Landon Willock and Wilson Holmes, began to push the sand back into the grave while a few of them prayed to God for Martin’s soul. As they covered him up, he swore to exact his revenge on them.
“You will all pay for this. Just as you have taken my child, I will take yours as well. I will take your children away from you and yours will be the first, Mathias Baker,” He told the leader.
“You cannot harm anyone from the grave, Martin. May the good lord have mercy on your soul,” Mathias said just as the sand covered Martin’s dark eyes and enclosed him forever.
With Martin gone, the townspeople took his wife and child to throw them into the river as was their culture for women who practiced witchcraft; death by stoning and burial by water. Their town was free from any curse and their children did not die like Martin had threatened. The town felt that they had avoided a tragedy, unaware that they had only succeeded in delaying it for the time would come when a vengeful spirit will arise from the grave to carry out his promise of vengeance and return the favour; an eye for multiple eyes, two lives for multiple lives and a child for hundreds of children.
The heavens finally opened up and the rains descended downwards, covering the land with its cold and wet, turning the dirt into mud as the water got soaked into the soil, enriching the earth with its nourishment and life, a feat that the people took as a good omen; rain after a witch’s execution.
They had no idea that the same water that nourished their lands would be the same to grow the seed that would sprout out from the ground and destroy their joy and kill their children. They had no idea about the power of a vengeful soul and the three pointed star medallion that was still wrapped in Martin’s lifeless fingers. He would return, that much was a certainty. What wasn’t certain was WHEN.
