'HOME OF LOCAL FAMILY BURNED DOWN'

Grimly, I gazed down at this morning's newspaper. This wasn't just a simple house fire. No. This was the work of the Blood Brothers. Even before the newspaper article came out, I had a feeling that three witches had died last night. It was a horrible and nauseating feeling, but I didn't expect any less. For us witches, when one of us dies we feel it deep within our souls, especially when they die unnaturally. The symptoms of the rest of us feeling this were that we would feel sick to our stomach and we would feel like a piece of us has died, which was a witch in our case. The feeling passes after a witch's soul leaves this earth, but the grim emotions we felt afterwards would still sit with us.

Just looking at the smiling faces of the two little girls who were witches, anger washed over me like huge wave. It made me angry to know that those two little girls in this picture would never live to see another day because those bastards carried such a deep and ignorant hatred for us. It hurt. I couldn't imagine having children, raising them, and hoping they go off and do great things in the future only for their lives to be crushed by a group of men who had no value over their lives simply because of who they are. It pissed me off and made me seethed with rage. I wanted nothing more than to track down those bastards and just slaughter them all, but in the back of my mind I knew that I had to just calm down before I did something I would regret. Pretty soon, some of the witches within Salem will hold a council meeting to determine what we should do next. Most will probably want to flee before they're targeted and I don't blame them at all. Nobody wants to die at the hands of those monsters.

"It's sad," My waitress remarked with a sigh. She poured some more coffee into my mug.

"Yeah it is," I mumbled. It was more than sad. It was horrific. That family didn't deserve it, especially those girls. I wish something could've been done to prevent this, but my community forbids us from ever using magic to alter the past in any way. Altering the past can lead to the stripping of your powers and to being banished to a dimension filled with many indescribable horrors.

"They were such a nice family, especially those little girls. They were such angels," She murmured. Humming in response, my eyes continued to scan over the paper.

"May He welcome them with open arms in his home and comfort their souls for their tragic end," She sighed sadly. Only a witch would know that quote from our creator.

"And may He continue to love and cherish us all who are still living on this earth," I muttered.

"Amen," She murmured, "Sarah McIntosh is holding a wine tasting at her home tonight for all the ladies and gentlemen within our town who love to drink some vintage wine. She's expecting everyone who shares her love for it to be there tonight. It's of the utmost importance that you attend." I nodded my head.

"I will be there. Tell Sarah that I'll bring something from my rack that I got in Italy," I responded.

"She'll be very glad to hear that," She smiled softly.

"I bet considering how she sure loves her red wine," I replied.

"Especially the vintage wine," She remarked before sauntering away. That might've been confusing for some who don't know, but we witches have to talk in code so we don't get found out whenever we're having a council meeting. We disguised our meetings for mundane activities such as book club, wine tastings, house warming's, and many other things. We stay secretive about everything we did and made sure that even if the Blood Brothers were watching out for any witches' to target, then they would simply overlook our conversations as just simple everyday activities that normal humans do.

As for who Sarah McIntosh is, she's currently the head of the witch's council. She was what you'd call the grand witch, or the supreme as some would prefer. Sarah was over four hundred years old with two daughters who were fifty years old and two grandchildren who were five and six years old, a boy and a girl. All of the women and men within her family had magical powers, including the husbands. Sarah made it a point to forbid her family from ever marrying someone who wasn't like them and made it so that breeding was done well within the community.

She didn't want to risk her children or grandchildren falling in love with a human that would possibly betray them some day to the Organization for she, herself, has been betrayed by a human in the past who had given her a deep and permanent scar that stretched diagonally from the right of her forehead down across her nose and lip to the underside of her chin on the left side of her face. Sarah kept her scar hidden with make up and magic so that way the Organization wouldn't recognize her from pictures from three hundred years ago. It sounds extreme, but we had to keep ourselves, our friends, our family, and our community safe no matter what.

After finishing my coffee and the scone I had and shrugging back on my coat, I wrapped my scarf around my neck and slipped my gloves on before thanking my waitress and leaving the cafe. Shoving my hands into my pockets, I continued on my journey down the sidewalk and back to my home where my Bloodhound, Sirius, was waiting for me. I know it's a little cliché to be a witch and name my dog after a fictional character, but he was as loyal, loving, and protective as that same fictional character.

When I reached my home, a three story, four bedroom, three bathroom house with a big backyard, a long driveway that stretched towards the back of the house, a red front door with my address sitting above it, a two small black rectangle shaped mailboxes, a small porch with aged dark brown wood. The inside had white tile laid out on the floor when you first walk in, a staircase to the left with light brown steps, and a dark brown railing.

Upstairs there was a big white kitchen with light gray granite counter tops, white cabinets, white tiling behind the stove, a small light gray counter top island with dark brown stools, a microwave that was built in that hung over the stove, a dishwasher that sat between the stove and the sink, then through the small archway was a small family room with a white love seat that had black and white pillows with a zig-zag pattern on it along with with a dark purple blanket that was thrown over the couch arm, and a television sitting on a black TV stand across from it.

Upstairs on the third floor, three of empty bedrooms that I didn't even both furnishing because it wasn't like I was going to have guests anyway. The bathrooms were unfurnished as well because of the same reason. The only bed room and bathroom that was furnished were the master bedroom and bath. In my room, I had a canopy bed with a white curtain that I sometimes closed whenever I was sleeping, a beautiful white duvet with light grey sheets underneath, large white pillows sat at the headboard, two eggshell nightstands on either side with glass lamps that had white shades, a light brown rug that sat in front of my bed with black and white that sat in front of my bed, and a heater that sat right next to my bed.

As for my bathroom, it was big enough for just two people, but considering how I don't socialize with any men at all and haven't been in a relationship for years, it was just right for me because I got all of my walk-in closet's space to myself. My bathroom wasn't all that decorated. I just had a large shower that could fit two with glass doors and a white tiled wall behind it, a porcelain toilet with a silver hand towel rack over it with a burgundy hand towel with a facecloth on it, a white sink that sat on a single white cabinet filled with my many necessities, an oval shaped glass mirror with white lights above it, and a white bathtub that sat under the window. As for my basement, it was very large and unfinished, but I rarely used it.

When it came to sleeping arrangements for Sirius and I, he slept in the bed with me whether it was right next to me or at the end of the bed. That's just how it was with us and I didn't object at all until he got so close to me in the middle of the night and it starts feeling like hell under the covers.

Finally, I arrived at home and instantly Sirius came bounding down the stairs happily. I giggled and began to pet him on the head.

"Hey, handsome," I greeted. He barked in response excitedly and I chuckled before locking the front door behind me. I shrugged off my coat and placed it on the coat rack next to the stairs along with my scarf. I slipped my gloves into my coat pocket, then took off my snow boots. I set those down next to the coat rack before heading upstairs with Sirius. I headed up to my room with Sirius on my heels. We reached my room and I headed straight for my bathroom and to my closet so I could pick put what I should wear for tonight. Council meetings usually meant that everyone within the community was dressed to impress so I couldn't just go there looking like I usually do. Sirius followed me in there and hopped onto the small white couch I had in there that was pushed against the window.

"Alright, Sirius. Sarah is having a wine tasting tonight and I can't go there looking like a slob," I said. My eyes scanned my clothes for something that would look very appropriate tonight. As witches, we very much so prided ourselves on our appearance no matter what. It was very unbecoming of a witch or a warlock to look unkempt and as if we don't care, especially at council meetings. As I continued to look through my clothes, suddenly my eyes caught something and I picked it up. I smiled to myself and then placed it in the very front of my clothes rack. I had the perfect plan for how I was going to wear that outfit. After getting everything ready, I decided to set an alarm for myself so I could rest before heading out tonight.

The sound of my alarm woke me up hours later and slowly I got out of bed then headed towards my bathroom. Stripping out of my clothes as I shuffled tiredly towards my shower. I turned on the shower before stepping in and cleaning my body.

After my shower, I started my hygienic routine and moisturized my body with my cocoa butter lotion before getting dressed in the black, long sleeved turtleneck dress that was picked out by me from earlier that stopped above my calves, a pair of black socks, a black round toe, floral print boots, a dark red furcoat. I decided to put my hair into a bun and put on some hoops. After getting dressed, I grabbed my purse and walked downstairs. Sirius followed me down the stairs and I walked straight to the kitchen and towards my wine cabinet. I grabbed a vintage vine I've had for almost two hundred years, then placed it into my bad.

"Let's go, Sirius," I called to my loyal companion. Sirius barked in response then followed me downstairs and out of our home. I made sure to turn on the alarm system once the door was locked. We began to make our trek to the McIntosh home. Hopefully, tonight will go well.

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A/N: How was this chapter? Is it too descriptive or is there the right amount of description? Let me know in the comments and I'll see you guys next time. Bye 😊