The following is a chapter from the follow-up to Hunting For Witches — Salem’s Burning
When Ashton finished his first day at Babble Industries, he and Marcus grabbed a bite at a nearby restaurant. During dinner, his mind was distracted, still reflecting on how much Brandy Nebula looked like Mercy, not at all concerned about the supposed “group exercise” he would be participating in upon his return to the Chapter Nine compound.
As luck would have it, Ashton and Marcus arrived at the windowless concrete building at the same time as Tanner and Ian.
“How was your day with the Mad Men?” Tanner asked Ashton.
“It was all right. You?”
Tanner clicked his tongue with annoyance.
“Me and Ian got placed at his daddy’s hedge fund.”
“For real?” Marcus cast a cagey glance at Ian, who remained tight-lipped and gloomy as usual.
“Yeah,” Tanner grumbled. “What a frickin’ gyp.”
After entering the front hallway, the boys crossed to a room at the far end. It usually had a curtain obscuring its presence from visitors, protecting a large dimly lit space with pale limestone walls and an impressive marble floor. The room was almost entirely bare of decoration and furnishings save for a set of medieval-looking candelabras. An enormous Council seal took up most of the back wall, the words, OMNIA EST SUB IMPERIUM written in large letters in the center. There were also five chairs with Miles already occupying one of them, and standing at the front of the room was a person that Ashton found completely unexpected.
The figure was an attractive older woman with long jet-black hair trailing down her back. She was dressed fashionably in all black, her eyes sparkling, while her lips formed an impish smile that held an unmistakable resemblance to the one habitually worn by the revolting hellspawn that carried her namesake.
“Good evening,” the woman said. “For those of you I haven’t been introduced to, my name is Ursula. Ursula van Dreyer. Ready to have some fun?”
The boys all found their seats, riddled with uncertainty as to what was expected of them. As Ashton directed a hard stare at the woman facing them, he reminded himself that it was Ada who betrayed him and not her mother. Ada once said that her mother was as good as dead to her. If he had to take a guess, he assumed that the falling out had to do with Ursula’s loyalties to the Council and her daughter’s disagreements with this.
Still, Ashton had no idea what Ursula’s official position was since Council initiates seemed to be exclusively male. Did the wives play a unique role in the organization? What about women who possessed functions that went beyond their attachment to other members? It was evident that his fellow candidates knew exactly who this woman was the moment she addressed them. She clearly had their respect and admiration, but they all seemed equally thrown off by her presence—no doubt due to the similarities between her and a certain someone that the Council didn’t like to mention.
Before minds could start running wild with questions about why they had been assembled and why the mother of a degenerate witch was present, Ursula yanked the sheet off of a covered object. Underneath was a metal cart containing a contraption that possessed several dials and monitoring devices. The intimidating piece of equipment seemed to be plugged into an outlet somewhere and had a series of wires with suction cups placed alongside it.
“The game is this,” Ursula explained. “This machine is your standard government-issued lie detector. Each of you will have a turn being put to the question. The one who makes it the farthest by answering my questions most truthfully will be the winner. Any questions?”
The boys all glanced at one another in confusion. This was the activity the Council had arranged for them? They would be participating in an interrogation where any lie that they presented would be used as a tool to humiliate them?
Ursula smiled devilishly, savoring the tension.
“So... Who wants to go first?”
An uncomfortable silence engulfed the room that was broken by Tanner leaping from his seat. He swaggered forward with the confidence of a matador, secure that he would ace whatever challenge was set before him.
After taking his seat next to Ursula, the compound’s decrepit butler attached a series of pulse-monitoring devices to Tanner’s hands, face, and chest. Once everything was in place, the butler stepped aside, and Ursula began with the questioning.
“Do you love your parents?”
Tanner smiled assuredly.
“Yes.”
“Do you love our sacred order?”
“Yes.”
Zap!
Ashton observed Tanner’s body start to shake like he was inventing a new dance craze. The punishments in this game were much more severe than he anticipated.
“Ow! What the f—!”
“I forgot to mention,” Ursula quickly noted. “This machine is wired to give an electronic shock every time you fail to tell the truth. Tanner, you are disqualified. Perhaps some reflection is due concerning your privileged position in our organization. I promise you, your loyalty will be rewarded in ways you can’t even imagine. Next?”
Tanner yanked the monitoring devices from his flesh as Ursula directed a discomforting gaze around the room. Marcus was the next to rise to the occasion—to the surprise of his rattled roommate. Ashton had no idea why Marcus would be so eager to volunteer for a game that was so uniquely cruel and unfair. After giving it some thought, he supposed that Marcus was someone who felt it was only natural to put his comfort aside if he could help clear an easier path for the others.
Marcus was sitting in the hot seat with Ursula smiling down at him when she started to repeat her series of questions.
“Do you love your parents?”
“Of course.”
“Do you love our sacred order?”
“I do.”
“Would you die for us?”
“Yes.”
Zap!
Similar to Tanner, the punishment was immediate; Marcus went stiff as he felt the shock of electricity flowing through him. Ashton flinched with discomfort, knowing that Marcus could deal with a moment of pain, no problem. It was the disappointment of failing to make it past two questions that would be eating away at him for much longer.
With Marcus now out of the game, he slowly removed the devices under Ursula’s cold and unflappable observation.
“Perhaps a moment of reflection, Marcus, on what is truly worth dying for. Next?”
After Marcus was eliminated, Ian was the next victim, wearing a sour expression as he allowed the various attachments to be placed upon him. As he awaited the interrogation, Ursula studied him with interest, seeming to be silently dissecting him before beginning her familiar line of questioning.
“Do you love your parents?”
“No.”
“Do you love anyone?”
Ian tensed up at the question.
“Scratch that. Do you love our sacred order?”
“Yes.”
“Would you die for us?”
“Yes.”
“Would you kill for us?”
Ian inhaled deeply before answering.
Zap!
Before he had a chance to respond, he was disqualified and received a cold glare from Ursula as compensation.
“Ian, a moment of reflection—”
“Yeah yeah,” he grumbled, tearing the devices from his skin.
Ian was still a puzzle to Ashton. There seemed to be some complicated history between him and Marcus, but he doubted that either would be willing to discuss it. Before he had time to think about what all of Ian’s answers revealed, the gloomy young man had returned to his seat, and Ursula was directing her attention back to the group.
“Next?”
Miles was the next to volunteer, seeming to have been holding back so he could study how the others would manage. He didn’t want anyone to think he was intimidated; once he was in the hot seat, he smiled proudly, confident that he had nothing to fear and had this game all figured out.
“Do you love your parents?” Ursula asked.
Miles stifled a laugh.
“It’s complicated. I’d say no.”
She nodded with satisfaction.
“Do you still fantasize about my daughter?”
The question was blindsiding, causing Miles’s usual coolness to evaporate.
“No, I—”
Zap!
Miles was disqualified, his reply drawing amused chuckles from the boys who came before him. Ashton remained trapped in a state of stunned bewilderment. Had Miles also been attracted to Ada at one point? And was he still attracted to her? Even after abandoning the witch and insisting that she couldn’t be trusted? He was convinced that this revelation deserved some added explanation. But as Miles returned to his seat, he felt Ursula’s bewitching gaze upon him.
“Next?”
For Ashton, the questions came fast and furious.
“Do you love your parents?”
“Love my mother, hate my father.”
“Do you love our sacred order?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still fantasize about my daughter?”
Ashton inhaled a deep breath through his nostrils, eyes hard and determined. “I fantasize about my missing girlfriend, who your daughter took away from me.”
Ursula’s smile widened significantly.
“Would you die for us?”
“Yes.”
“Would you kill for us?”
Ashton took another deep breath through his nostrils, balling his fists tightly and answering without any reluctance whatsoever.
“Yes. Yes, I would.”
He glanced at the lie detector, noticing it didn’t flinch.
He had passed the test with flying colors.
“Excellent, Mr. Rose,” Ursula said. “We have a winner.”
Feeling bolder and more at ease, Ashton nodded at Ursula and gazed at the others. All of his fellow candidates smiling at him with envy; with the first test completed, he had revealed himself as the head of the pack. Perhaps he would be the Council’s newest golden boy; the one who most closely resembled the hero in the book his father's friend read to him. The race for this coveted crown wouldn’t be without competition, and he knew they would all be working much harder to prove themselves in the days to come.