1 The Secret of the Soul

"Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve.." Elara continued to count clicks as she ran, trying to keep track of just how far into the foggy forest she had ventured and also providing a distraction from the panic she was hiding even from herself. She kept her eyes straight ahead, remembering never to look back. The third-quarter moon who sat dead center of the path and seemed to be eye-level with Elara guided her but to where she had no idea. Was she running towards something or away from it? ".. Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One.."

Elara didn't remember why she was in the forest or how she had gotten there. She was exhausted and wanted so badly to stop and rest, but somehow she knew those two things: she must never look back, and no matter what she must keep running. So that is what she did. "Twenty-six, Twenty-seven, twenty-eight.." The path was paved with sharp rocks and overgrown roots from the naked trees that lined either side. There seemed to be no one else in the forest, not even animal life, but every once in a while, if the fog thinned just a little, Elara swore she could see a dark, shadowy figure running through the trees alongside her. It seemed to be there one second and gone the next. She would assure herself that it was just her mind playing tricks on her and would once again focus her attention on the moon, which seemed to be the only thing waiting at the end of her journey. "Thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six.."

The fog wrapped around her like a blanket and though Elara was wearing only a nightgown, the adrenaline pumping through her veins insured her warmth. She looked down at her bare feet, layered in dirt and blood. Every step on the jagged path inflicted a new wound, each one causing more discomfort than the last. She continued to count, now to distract herself from the pain. "..Forty-three, forty-four, forty-five, forty-six.." Her pine-green hair also seemed to be coated in a film of blood, though she didn't know how it got there. Was it hers? She didn't feel any pain in her head so it must belong to someone else, but who? "Fifty-two, fifty-three.."

At exactly 60 clicks, Elara was able to make something out through the fog. Only the outline was visible at first, but before long she was able to see the structure for what it was, a beautiful Victorian home. The path went directly to the front door of the house. There was no yard or fence, no driveway, or front porch. Just three steps that led to a grey door. Matching grey shutters embellished the charcoal black siding, and the only color came from the ivy vines that had begun to climb the home, no doubt in an attempt to overtake it. "...Sixty-five, sixty-six, sixty-seven.." Elara could just barely tell the house from the night sky behind it and she wondered who would live in such a place?

She ran a little faster, knowing now that this house was her final destination. Twenty-five clicks after seeing the house for the first time, she reached the first step only then allowing herself to slow up slightly. She took one more look to her right and saw a second house, identical to the one she was entering, sitting about a hundred yards away. Elara climbed the second stair, at the same time the shadow figure from the woods climbed the second step of the second house. "...Eighty-six..." Confused, she looked ahead and climbed the third step. "..Eighty-seven.." The grey door had a small white sticky-note on it that read "You have the key."

Elara instinctively reached for the brass key hanging on twine around her neck. "What??" she asked aloud, unsure of where this key came from, how it ended up around her neck, or how she knew to reach for it. She removed the twine necklace from her body and placed the key inside the old lock. The rusted lock put up a small fight but ultimately fell to the turn of the key, allowing Elara to push open the large door and witness herself standing on the other side of the door smiling back at her, green hair soaked in blood.

Elara woke up on the floor in a pool of sweat, her head throbbing. She rubbed her still tired eyes and pulled her green braid from behind her back, unable to stop herself from checking for blood. "What was that?" she asked in her head while pulling herself up from the cold floor. "I've never experienced anything like - AHHHH!" She fell back to the floor in a ball of agonizing pain. Elara pulled the socks from her feet revealing shredded skin and exposed sensitive meat. Tears brimmed at her eyes waiting for a release that she would never allow.

The alarm clock on the end-table read 9:15. The sun shined through the skylight in her apartment while Elara crawled to her bathroom. She began running a warm bath and pulled off the "Wicked" band tee she had slept in. She pulled her underwear off, slowly maneuvering her body on the tile floor as not to put pressure on her ravaged soles. Once naked, she pulled herself onto her knees, only now realizing the soreness in her body, and climbed over into the tub. The water instantly turned a murky brown and Elara winced as the soap and water rushed into her wounds.

She lowered her head below the water, trying to wrap her mind around what was happening to her. A year ago, Elara was a normal 25-year-old from rural Texas but she obviously wasn't a normal girl anymore. Elara had a secret. A secret that she didn't even know. A secret so big that she left everyone and everything she had ever known to move over two thousand miles across the country and land herself here, in Salem. A haven, of sorts, for wayward souls.

After bathing and struggling to pull herself from the tub, Elara dressed in loose sweats and a "Give 'em Hell" hoodie. She pulled herself onto her bed and examined her now clean wounds. There was something strange about the pattern of cuts on her feet, it's almost like they were paths themselves each leading to a strange and different location. She spread a brown and green paste on both of her soles before layering bandages on top of one another in an attempt to cover any open cuts still bleeding. Once satisfied, Elara tightly wrapped her foot in white medical tape before moving to the next one and repeating the process.

Elara grabbed her journal and began writing about the intense dream she had the night before. Attempting to remember as much detail as possible, she replayed the dream in her head. She described herself, the path, the trees, the home, the shadowy figure, and the version of herself standing on the other side of the door. She then jotted down any questions she had about the dream and what she thought it was trying to tell her. Once complete, Elara reached for her phone and texted the only friend she had made in town asking him to come over.

Half an hour passed before Elara heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!" She yells.

"El?" A blonde, middle-aged man pushes open her door and steps inside. "Where are you?"

"In here!' Elara yells as he reaches her bedroom door. She manages a small smile but he doesn't even notice for staring at the bandages on her feet.

"What the hell happened to you??" He asked, concerned.

"Aspen, I'm really fine." She smiles weakly again but he doesn't seem to buy it.

"Tell me what happened." He demands as he approaches her bedside.

"Sit" she motioned, "It's a lot, and it's honestly unbelievable," Elara tells him about the dream in as much detail as she can remember. At the end of her story, she can see that Aspen is astounded. "I told you it was unbelievable." She laughed nervously. Aspen stood from her bedside where he had been resting and began pacing her room, his eyes glued to the floor.

"It's actually not that unbelievable.." Aspen almost whispered.

"What do you mean?" Elara asked. "Aspen, do you know what is happening to me??"

"I - I would have told you when we first met but I had to be sure, and I wasn't... until now." Aspen continued pacing, never lifting his eyes from the floor.

"Aspen, what the fuck are you talking about? You're scaring me." This seemed to snap Aspen out of his trance. He immediately stopped in his tracks and made eye contact with Elara.

"I'm sorry," He stated. "There is really nothing to be afraid of, not really." Aspen sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed her hand softly. His grey eyes bore deeply into her green ones. He was always able to calm her when she needed it, but Elara could see in his eyes there was something he wasn't saying.

"Aspen.. I need you to tell me what you know." she gently begged.

"El, I know how this is going to sound, but what I don't know is how to tell you or how you're going to take this, so I am just going to come right out and say it. You're - You're a witch, Elara."

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