Wednesday, August 21st, 1991

     I’m sitting here, in the dark in my dining room, writing by the light of my flashlight as the wind whips the earth around us. Sister Astrid is at the other end of the room, sleeping on the floor. Her leg is elevated over some seat cushions and has ice on it. I have no idea where the children are and we’re both fine with that; perhaps me more than her. I’ve got a sword that I brought over for emergencies and Sister Astrid has a knife from my kitchen, just in case. It’s been seven hours now and the sun’s coming up, so I think we’re safe. But I don’t know.

     My plan yesterday morning was simple: rip out their hearts while they were sleeping, drive them to school and then wait until just almost the end of the day. At just the right moment, I would crush Ava’s heart. Then I would make Nick run to his sister and crush his heart. Sure, this would cause some spectacle, but they wouldn’t be able to tie it to me.

     There were two problems with this plan. The first was, after almost three months with me, the children no longer slept. Because of this, I hardly slept. I’d walk to their locked bedroom doors and hear Nick singing a simple song. The melody was from a song from our religion back home, but the lyrics were about the god of Sister Astrid’s religion. Then I’d creep over to Ava’s room and she would be singing the same song. This has been going on for the last six nights.

     The more pressing problem with my plan was there was no school today. Hurricane Bob was set to reach us this morning, and the schools remained closed today so the students could be with their families. I told the children to stay in the center of the house in case the storm came early while I went to work to make sure the town was ready. There was no way I was staying alone with them for as long as was necessary for the storm to pass.

     I came back to my office to find a message on my answering machine. Sister Astrid’s voice came through.

     “Hi, Madam Mayor. I don’t mean to bug you, but I stopped by to check on the children. The weather’s not too bad yet, don’t worry. I found Nick and Ava in the backyard putting all of your wooden furniture in a pile. I started to think about what you said, you know, about how you’re not getting along? Well, I asked them what they were doing, and they said they were going to burn you—“ BEEP!

     My answering machine cut her off. Sister Astrid’s voice came back on the next message.

     “Hi, again. Should I start over? Did you get my last message? I’ll hope that you did and keep going. So I think you’re right. Nick and Ava never accused anyone of being a witch before. Obviously we need to end the trial period and get them back to the orphanage. They didn’t seem dangerous towards me, but I don’t think it’s safe for them to be around you. I didn’t ask Mother Superior, but—“ BEEP!

     Third message.

     “Oh dear, um, I’ll be quick. I’m coming back over to do an exorcism. I hope you’ll be there, but maybe you shouldn’t be? Okay, bye!”

     I ran home. I didn’t know what an exorcism was, but if Sister Astrid had to go under Mother Superior’s nose to do one then it was not what was needed. By the time I arrived, the wind had really picked up. I could see the mountain of wooden furniture in my backyard peaking over the fence. I crept inside, opened my coat closet door, opened a secret panel beside the coats and pulled out a broadsword. I searched each room, but I was alone in the house. The yard proved empty too. I turned around and everything went dark. There was some kind of bag over my head. I kicked and swung my sword, but that was quickly taken from me. At that moment, I wished I’d grabbed something less-lethal to protect myself and knew I was going to die. The children were yelling at me and dragging me along the ground.

     “STOP!!!” Sister Astrid was screaming. She must have been pulling them off of me, because we all started moving in the other direction.

     “Sister Astrid, help us!”

     “I’m trying!” She was going to get herself killed. Something little dropped on the bag over my face. Then more. The tiny thuds sounded like water droplets. Was she actually throwing holy water on us? Then I remembered the hurricane and instantly we were in a downpour.

     A gust of wind knocked us over and I was on the ground fast. There was a scramble before I was released. Everything became bright when the bag was pulled off my face. Sister Astrid was holding it and we were alone in my yard. The children and my sword were gone.

     “They ran away!” Sister Astrid helped me up and yelled over the wind that threatened to blow us over again.

     “Good!” I grabbed her hand and pulled, but she pulled back. “Let’s get inside where it’s safe!”

     “We have to go after them! They could get hurt or worse!”

     “I’m all right with that!”

     “No!” She broke free of my grasp and ran out the gate. “We can save them!”

     I don’t know why I ran after her. If I was Mary Margaret or even Kathryn, I might say it was because she just saved my life and I owed her that much. But that’s not me. You know what else isn’t me, though? Giving people second chances once they’ve wronged me. That’s exactly what I did for Nick and Ava, and look how great that turned out? The only thing to do at this point was finish them off, and I wasn’t about to rely on a giant storm to do that for me. I didn’t flinch as the rain pelted me in the face. The gate banged behind me and I followed Sister Astrid into the forest to rip out a couple of hearts.