Seraph's tale - A life in Salem

Ok, I wrote a piece on Seraph a while ago for some coursework, I decided to turn him into a short story, as he seems interesting enough.
I'll need some characters soon, so I'll ask for U2U's when I need some budding ATSers!

Chapter 1 - It is better to have loved and lost...

"Seraph! Seraph please don't!" Rowena cried,
"You'll make it worse, and, she might not even be found guilty. Just wait!"
He dropped to his knees, "This is all my fault, you know, Rowena, it's all mine."

Seraph Montgomery, a tall, fine figure of a man (a young one I might add). With mousy brown hair and piercing blue eyes, a rather odd combination if ever you saw.
Montgomery had always loved Belle; but their relationship had always been platonic, and as they say, you never know how much you love something till it's gone...

It was a chilly October night in Salem, in the year of 1692; there were whispers about the place.
"Is it true, Belle Thomason up for trial? She was such a nice girl though!"
"Yes, and she STILL is!" the heart broken boy snapped at the gossipers.
As he walked to the edge of the river, he picked up a stone and skimmed it so gently and elegantly.
"There, there Seraph! You've still got a week to go. I don't think they'll do the bobbing test," Iago told him as he walked to his side and whispered in his ear " They have enough evidence just to burn her." The man stood upright and smiled his infamous smile.
"Don't you dare Seraph Montgomery!" he heard a voice hiss in his head, Belle, she had always been the voice of reason, "We'll never sort this out if you end up on trial too you know!"
He gritted his teeth and replied to Iago with 'reasoning' "We shall see, we shall see."

A historical story - excellent.

I actually live in the suburbs of Salem (unfortunately its the one in Oregon rather than the more well known one). It would be interesting to visit the one in Mass. though, although I believe it has become rather touristy of late.

Chapter 2 - A mother's love, a prophecy to forfill

"Teeba, Teeba; are you awake?"
"Yes ma dear, I'm here" a soft voice replied, emerging from the shadows, "I need to talk to you." Seraph whispered to the outlined figure standing on the old wodden blacony above him.

Tituba was the Reverend's slave, originally from Barbados, her accent and motherly attitude delighted the local children. Reverend Parris had bought her nearly a year ago, when he was made minister of Salem.
He had his fans, but had more enemies. Every week church goers would hear how he was hear for the people, 'and how he seeks justice on behalf of our father.' "If justice means a pay rise, then yes, he's truthful." Belle would often comment.

"G' Mornin Ro"
"Oh, good morning Titubla, porriage?" Rowena asked, stretching sleepily.
Titubla, or 'Teeba' as her friends called her, had been like a mother to Belle, Rowena and Seraph, ever since their families had shunned them for moving to the village.
As Rowena stirred her breakfast, her 'mother' sat on the little wooden stool Belle had finally made from scratch last year. "Ro, I'm worried about Seraph, we'll get Belle out of this somehow, but I want you to keep an eye on him."
"I know...I've been more worried about Belle to be honest though; I mean, everyone knows she'd never hurt anyone, never mind Abi, Ann and Betty. I don't know what killed those sweet girls Teeba, but I know it had nothing to do with Belle." Rowena was worried and scared, very scared. Belle was one of her best friends, losing her would be like losing a part of herself.
She was about to share her feelings, when a strange odour filled the room, "What's that smell?"
"It can't b', creditnostu..." Tituba sat upright, sniffed the air and her face became pale. She bolted to the small room behind the pantry and slammed the door, it was locked tight. "I'm busy Rowena" a voice called, "I know you are Moontgomery, open this door now!" Seraph realised that the door would open either way, so he continued his work whilst someone muttered to the door. It swung open and the bottle in front of him quickly rose into the air, hovering a few inches from Teeba's hand. "How, why boya? You know how dangeras dis is! Dis could killed everyone from 'ere to me home town in Barbados! Fool!" She hissed as she looked at the bottle in fear, and wonder. She had only seen this once concoction once before, and it was many, many years ago. It is said to be impossible to make correctly without killing the creator. The potion bubbling slightly, but peacefully; it was a dark green, and almost sparkled in the shafts of sunlight entering through the small window. After a few words of the old language, a bubble formed around the crystal bottle, protecting it from harm. "I, I just want to save her Teeba! I love her so much." Seraph began to sob quietly in the arms of his true family, "It's goin' to be a'right Seraph, shh, there there son" the woman whispered to him, " Hecate invitus adesdum creo heres peropato conquisitus non" she said to herself, unbeknown to everyone else, this man had a big future ahead.

Yes, I like this. 'Charmed-like' witchcraft in Salem. Now that would have scared the holy crap out of the Puritan gob#es

Some years ago I was involved in a Mediaeval pageant in York and was talking with someone I hadn't seen for a while. I only knew his first name and that of his wife who was a genealogist. She had been researching his family background and came up with some astounding information for him. His surname was 'Mather'. I'll leave you to work out the rest

That's a very interesting piece of work, LadyCool. I'm looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

Great work lady.

thanks for your comments all! I've been sooo busy with revising and all I haven't had time to write, but I'll be sure to post tonight/tommorow sometime.

And thankyou arooney for my moderator applause, 250 points for my outstanding contribution to the site

Nice Story Lady Cool keep up the good work looking forword to the next insallment

nice writing ladycool, i can't wait to see whats comming up next

Chapter 3 - A world of wisdom, woe and lies



Thousands of leagues away a restless soul tossed and turned in his sleep...

Seraph woke with a sudden start, he sat upright and stared at the moon glowing softly through the night air. His brow was covered in cold sweat, what had he been dreaming of? He dressed quickly and quietly, and walked down to the river bank by the house.


"WHAT do you want, Warnock??"
"W-well sir, it's it's" a short, tubby man stood in the shadow of his master, stuttering and spluttering like a feline with a cold. "Your p-package has arrived, sirr." The words eventually fell out of his mouth. "Why DO I put up with you..." Iago rolled his eyes and ripped the box out of his stubby hands. "You may go."
Warnock left timidly, as the door snapped shut, he was left alone with his latest arrival...he opened the box slowly and grinned with great delight, a dark black light was filled the room, bouncing off the shadows from the moon, filling it with darkness.






A small, balding man scampered across the alley, only the night breeze could be heard, stroking the trees in the moonlight. The little man dissappeared...gone. Just a secret passage way to one of many of the monistries "Private prayer rooms"; no old magick this time.
He placed a selection of herbs and stones infront of him, then took four small,whit candles and placed them stratigically. As he sat he closed his eyes and hummed silently to himself,
"Domina, ducere meus cogitatum homini dare oraculum sors similis plumas in quidam aestas's aura."



[Edited on 18-5-2004 by LadyCool21]

Right...it doesn't look Russian, bloody ATS posting did something to it...Hmm, well it is Russian, it took me the best part of an hour to come up with the top bit . Oh well, just respect that and remember I do research!!

On to my main point...I need characters! If anyone wants to be in this, then just send me a U2U telling me a bit about yourself etc. etc.


It's now Russian!! A big thankies to DarkLanser!

[Edited on 18-5-2004 by LadyCool21]

the next bit to your story is good but the "russian text as you call it lol messed it up apart from that keep going with the good work

[Edited on 6-5-2004 by SE7EN]

Actually, the 'mutated' Russian text made it look more like the chanting of some deranged Cultist. I was waiting for Cthlhu to appear and start eating people

This is interesting stuff.

Completely off topic, I think I just discovered the true identities of the 'Sinister Teddies' ...





[Edited on 11-5-2004 by Pisky]

Originally posted by Pisky
Actually, the 'mutated' Russian text made it look more like the chanting of some deranged Cultist. I was waiting for Cthlhu to appear and start eating people

Me too !!! It reminded me of a Lovecraft story with all the cultists chanting and calling up whichever demon they were sacrificing to. I am getting to like this story more and more.

nice writing, i'll ignore the russian stuff, though im sorry you spent so long on it, and it didn't come out right....

Chapter 4 - God or Goddess?



The monks walked through the streets of the quite country town, chanting quietly and waiting for dawn. Of course, this didn�t even stir a mouse, for as long as anyone could remember this had been a regular occurrence.
�So, exactly when are we going to stop being monks, hmm??�
�Soon! Shh anyway, we want to give the enemy the element of surprise��
�Surprise? How about being told �Oh, Gryffen, by the way we�re going to pretend to be monks tomorrow to prevent an ambush of what could turn into a massacre�.� The woman said in a harsh-what-were�you�thinking�you�idiot tone. Gryffen was always the one that helped the injured, she could fight, yes, but her main role was to care for the ill.
�These monks are very important! Anyway, I�ll tell you later w-� he swung round and swiftly decapitated a small, stubby �thing� about 4 feet tall; it was covered in a black cloak and masked, although its rotten hands were visible�a demon.
As Pisky and Gryffen began to ward off the demons, the monks chanted louder, asking for their god to protect them and forgiveness for their sins, �What sins?� the pixy asked as he sliced through another creature; taking a step back from the wounded attacker she pushed it off her sword and fired three arrows into the horizon �I don�t know, but somebody really doesn�t like these little men; a deal with the devil, perhaps?� she smirked.


There must have been 40 maybe 50 of these little �deformed pixies� as Gryffen politely nicknamed them; all of them gone, either slain or scuttling back to their master. A few of the monks were injured, but none dead.
�Lazarus is gone!� a friar cried as he ran through the gates of the ministry, �Lazarus has left Russia on the ships headed for Salem!�
�Nothus!� the priest muttered, �Send word out, we need Aquila.� he added.

�Rrright-o, well, I�ve fixed up your monks, we�ll be off now then�� Gryffen began to slope towards the door, only to be pulled back by her companion. �Or not.�
�Father, I must ask, you asked for forgiveness of your sins�what sins would these be?� Pisky asked, to which shocked onlookers received a sharp eye and left, only Gryffen, the priest and Pisky were left in the great hall.
�I, well...� the man sighed and sat on the wooden stool next to a small round table, �There is a boy in Salem, Seraph Montgomery, he is in great danger; but this is no ordinary child, no, he has a great gift. But you see, the church in Russia, those from whom we seek guidance, have decided that the church will not help him as he is not a �Christian�. We have neglected him and turned our back on an innocent, for we have sinned.� The pixy sat opposite him, �And Lazarus?�
�Lazarus is one of ours, we sent him to Russia as our messenger, and now he has gone against their word, I fear for his life. So we have sent for Aquila, our finest warrior, she will retrieve him and bring him back to our monasteries.�

�I see. Well we will go to Salem with her, won�t we Gryffen?� he looked down at his reluctant companion, �Hang on, did you say she?� he turned to see a woman walk towards them from the hall entrance, she sported a gypsy top and tight black trousers with boots, and a stern look on her face.
�Father. I�ve just got word, when do I leave?�
�In an hour, and your taking these with you.� He pointed to the two guests,
�Oh ok, but I prefer to work alone...but if they can handle themselves fair enough; hello, I�m Aquila Lindum�and you are?�
�Gryffen, and this is Pisky.� The Scot replied, �Yes, I�m the original Cornish pixy.� He said with a small grin, �Don�t tell any of the Russian lot that, my goddess, two non-Christians, we�ll go straight to the deepest circles of hell!� she giggled and the priest raised an eyebrow.

An hour had passed and the three �musketeers� were standing at the dock, ready to board, �You�ll be there within a week, depending on the weather.� A friar told them as he gave them their supplies and weapons, �You�re looking a bit pale Pisky�� Aquila noted as he swayed slightly near the edge of the water, �Oh, yes, he gets sea sick, just by looking at it, though he�ll never admit it.� Gryffen chuckled, �No I do no-� he bent over the side as everyone looked away, �Uck, right well. I�ll see you soon father. I�ve left some friends to look after you whilst I�m gone, nobody�s getting past that lot! Especially now they�ve got crates of �Best Pixyland� cider, umm, don�t let the monks get hold of that now will you?� she hugged him tightly and boarded the ship. �Off we go then!� Gryffen said cheerfully, she was quite excited at the thought of an adventure, and she might discover some new diseases. Aquila waved from the back of the ship until she could wave no more; her heart was pulled between her love of the monastery and Lazarus. Meanwhile Pisky was at the side of the boat, still leaning over, �I�ll get you a bucket!�.




[Edited on 19-5-2004 by LadyCool21]

nice writing ladycool21, cant wait for the next chapter!

Very nice story LadyCool !!

great story Ladycool
and Darklanser great cover for the novel

Oh wow Darklanser, I love the book cover, thankyou!
Thanks for your comments people much appreciated