It didn’t feel wicked when they started. It had felt like soft rain while banana bread baked in the oven. The scent of moist dough and a sprinkle of cinnamon caught Jamie’s attention. She hadn’t known magic would be so beautiful.

The two girls, Jamie and Vanessa, stood at the top of the hallow. Their hands were covered in dry dirt with small streaks of sweat cutting through. The hole before them was barely noticeable in the dimming twilight.

“Did we do it right?” Jamie asked Vanessa. Vanessa looked through an old leather book and pursed her lips.

“I think so. We have to do one more thing though.”

Jamie stared off in the distance. She could see a fawn chewing on new growth at the bottom of the hill, “What?”

Vanessa punched a small blade into Jamie’s back, “This.”

Jamie staggered a couple steps before pitching forward onto the hole they had covered. Dark blood ran rivers down her side and onto the earth.

Vanessa stepped towards Jamie and couched down. “I’m sorry, but it’s the only way to be sure. Better safe than sorry.” She stood back up and walked down the hill.

By morning no body would be resting there, nor, would the world remember anyone by the name of Vanessa Hawthorne.

In the years to come, the town would come to call the small mountain Beacon Hill— for the unusually luminescent tree that stood at the top. On stormy nights, it looked almost like it was trying to pull itself from the ground as it swayed in the wind. But come morning, it was solid as ever.

Strange fruit would grace the tree once every three years— the small, pitted yellow orbs had a sour tang to them. Anyone who ate one without giving proper respect to the tree fell victim to a week of nightmares. The respectful found themselves on a similar length cloud of bliss.

A group of wise women took to the hill and arranged weekly rituals within its luminescent reach. The shadows transformed them into a spinning wheel of maiden & crone. They did not share what they learned from under the bright eves. They did not find it wise to share the words of prophecy.