CHAPTER#44

Jane pulled the bucket out of the well and turned around, promptly spilling it on her blouse. She tried to cover herself up, her nipples now rock hard against the fabric beneath. The man stepped forward, kneeling to help her with the bucket.

But what Jane didn't know was that someone else already had designs on the young man and his fortune.

The scene froze and became dark, a third spotlight appearing. From behind a nearby house, a young woman with blonde hair twisted into a braid snapped the bundle of sticks she was carrying in half. Beth heard Mike gasp.

The young woman looked just like Elizabeth, one of the Society witches.

Jane was unaware of the danger until it was too late. The lights rose and the figures in the village had moved. They surrounded the gallows now, but the hangman's noose had instead been replaced with a wooden stockade. Jane was crying, pleading silently with the townspeople.

Accused of witchcraft, she was forced to endure the stocks for three days. Every day, she asked God to clear her name, to absolve her of her crimes. But no help ever came.

"Why is she making us watch this?" Beth asked in horror, staring at the villagers. They were throwing rocks and rotten vegetables at Jane, causing her to cry out in agony. In the crowd, Elizabeth smiled, her hand on the back of the young man. In her other hand, she held an incomplete doll. It wasn't nearly as refined Jenny's current vessel, but recognizable nonetheless.

"I don't know." He looked at her, his eyes shimmering. "But this is her story, and I think we should listen."

The eventual trial was brief, but no help ever came. They listened in horror as Jane was sentenced to death by fire, watched the smile grow across Elizabeth's face when her competition was finally out of the way.

On her final night, she cried for her lost life. She wept for the lost moments she would never claim, the family she would never have. Hers was a life cut short, and there was no salvation to be had.

The scene changed one last time. The villagers were piling up the logs around her, Jenny crying silently. Beth turned away once the logs were lit, but Mike never looked away, anger shining in his eyes. From where she stood, she could see Elizabeth doing something with the doll, watched the wispy spirit enter its body.

On that day, Jane learned there were far worse things than death.

Elizabeth took the doll and threw it in the well, waving as it fell into the darkness.

"This is terrible," Beth whispered, watching Elizabeth disappear back into the crowd. The air was thick with smoke, obscuring the village around them. Time moved in slow motion, then came to a stop, the villagers frozen in time. They could hear the sound of Jane sobbing from the well, the sound growing louder. The small, ragged doll climbed out of the well, sprawling out on the dirt. Mike walked toward it and knelt down.

"I'm so sorry," he told her, holding out his hand. "You didn't deserve that fate and I wish I could change it. But the one thing I can do is take you home."

The doll regarded him with button eyes, then looked around the village. It seemed disoriented, wobbling back and forth on its soaking wet legs. MIke picked it up and cradled it like a child. He tilted his head forward as if listening, but Beth didn't hear a sound.

One moment he was holding the doll, the next he was embracing Jenny's spectral form. The temperature dropped dramatically, the village vanishing from view. Beth exhaled a large cloud of fog, rubbing at her arms.

Jenny was sobbing. Mike held her tightly against him, his hands rubbing her back. The village around them faded from view, turning into smoke. They were back in the crypt now, the stale and dusty air filling her nose. She coughed sharply, inhaling the mist that now surrounded her. Her blood immediately boiled with sexual arousal, and a feminine voice filled her ears.

I need you to sleep for awhile. It was Jenny's voice. If you don't mind.

"Why?" Beth looked at Mike, but his far off gaze told her that he was caught up in another vision.

I have unfinished business. She could hear the grin in Jenny's voice. As Jane.

"Are you going to use my body?" she asked.

Not like before. I just need... privacy. No prying eyes, no whispered lies, just a little fun before Jane's demise.

Beth rolled her eyes. "I agree, but only if you promise to come with us when you are done messing around."

I promise. The mist swirled through her and she lost consciousness.

-

"Jenny? Beth?" The world around him was dark, and Beth was the one with the flashlight. He tried to feel around but ended up walking several feet without bumping into anything. He swore under his breath, a river of profanity that would have made Tink proud. The ghost had been whispering something to him earlier, but he couldn't remember what it was.

Beth's voice spoke from the darkness. "Jane spent every evening praying, hoping that God would hear her. The nights were cold and lonely, stuck in the stocks and forced to watch the stars travel across the night sky."

A spotlight appeared on Beth. Her eyes were closed and her breath came in foggy bursts. She pointed behind Mike, so he turned around to see the image of Jane stuck back in the stocks. Jane was bent over and locked in place, unable to leave.

"Jenny?"

"Jane saw everything she had ever hoped for in life fleeing from her. That was, until the night the stranger came." This time, a spotlight targeted Mike. He held his hands over his eyes and looked up, but the light came from nowhere.

"Jenny, what are you-"

Call me Jane! The whole world shook, wind whipping across him hard enough that he hunched over to avoid falling.