August came, and Veronica, while still teaching high school courses, was now teaching five additional college courses every week and assisting in overseeing the Literature Club and the History Club. Things were progressing smoothly. Like teaching high school, not every student enrolled in a college course was super engaged, but she quickly found students who were engaged in both her classes and in the clubs she administered. She was happy. Sure, she wasn't going to be rich and retire by 45, but she was doing work that she felt was valuable, and made her happy. And she was good at it.
It was October 13th - a Friday - and the day that midterm projects and essays were due. Students had long missed the chance to drop Veronica's courses or start enrolling in new courses. Veronica had just finished grading some projects and entering grades into her gradebook, and would need to go preside over the activities of History Club in fifteen minutes. She swung by the faculty lounge and grabbed a cup of coffee. She briefly conversed with a few fellow instructors before heading to the classroom her club would be in.
She walked up to the room five minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start. Her students did not often get to show up on time, as they came from other classes all across different buildings (and some even from home). But that was ok. It gave her time to get ready.
She entered the room and flipped the light on. She was startled (and dropped her cup of coffee) on the ground when the light turned on and revealed a pale woman dressed in a black blazer and a black tartan skirt and purple sweater standing at the front of the classroom in front of a podium. She had dark hair that seemed to shift between brown, black, and gave off a blue-ish hue when she turned her head. She looked to be about college-aged, maybe either 19 or 20.
"Oh, no. An Abner" she said, quietly. She swallowed and tried to force a smile at the woman at the front of the room, who stared back with an eerie, unsettling grin. Veronica had lived in Salem for about six years and had heard rumors of the antics of the Abner Family, and had been told that the clan matriarch and patriarch came to town from time to time. But she almost started to believe that the stories were exaggerations and half-truths. She believed the Abners were real people (she had seen the house), but had started to believe they were nothing but eccentric Tim Burton fans, and nothing more. So seeing an Abner this close made her heart race a bit.
"H-h-hello" she said, her voice trembling. She walked towards the Abner woman and extended her hand for a handshake. The Abner woman's eyes followed her hand as it moved towards her, but she didn't move a muscle. She just... stood there.
Veronica retreated her hand. Right. She always heard that the Abners didn't really do conventional manners. They had their own ways.
The Abner woman's eyes rose and locked with Veronica's eyes. "Is this the History class?" she asked in an ethereal voice. It sounded strange, as though it came from multiple directions across the room. Veronica detected a faint accent, though she could not place it.
"Um... no. This is the History Club. I teach History earlier in the week, but the deadline to enroll passed two weeks ago. If you want to take it, I can help you register if you come to my office hours" Veronica said, trying to sound confident. In truth, she did not want to upset this Abner woman. She frightened Veronica somewhat.
"I want to take your History course. On America" she said, curtly. Veronica could hear commotion in the halls. She turned her head and saw a few of her History Club students congregating outside of the hallway. Their eyes were wide, and they were whispering to themselves. It looks like the Abner woman frightened them, too, as none dared enter the room.
"O-okay. But you will have to take that during the spring semester" Veronica said. "Can you give me your name and your student ID number? I can add you to the registration list to make sure you get in."
The woman stared deeply into Veronica's eyes. Veronica felt paralyzed, like she was glued to the floor. "Is she using some kind of spell to hypnotize me?" Veronica thought to herself.
"My name is Ophelia Anastase Abner. I do not have a student ID, I am not a student. But I want to learn. Nobody in my family ever went to school except for my father. So I want to take class."
Veronica tried to gauge how old Ophelia was. She looked like she was in her early twenties at most. But she had heard that the Abners are extraordinarily long-lived, and that her father, Mr. Abner, had got his law degree almost one hundred and fifty years ago. But... nobody can actually live that long. She knew that the Abners were wealthy and reclusive, so, she thought, it must really be that they're so rich they don't need to work or leave their home, and this woman got bored of that lifestyle and wants to improve herself. But that didn't explain the rumors about longevity. She wondered if she could find any Abner records at the Salem High School office. She'd have to go look when she taught her senior English class on Monday.
Veronica gulped again. She thought for a second and then replied. "Well, if you're not a student, you can't take classes. But I can give you some information on how to get signed up. And you are still welcome to attend History Club, but not as an official member."
Ophelia looked away, thinking. She looked back at Veronica. "Alright. I will attend History Club and see if you teach what I want to learn. But I do not want to be student here. I just want to go to the school and learn."
Veronica thought about trying to correct Ophelia, but said nothing. Hopefully, the Abner woman would just get bored and then leave. Veronica motioned for the rest of her students to enter. They did so reluctantly. They eyed Ophelia somewhat warily, all sitting in the back of the room. Veronica couldn't have this. Her students usually sat at the front and were quite engaged. If they stopped coming because of Ophelia, Veronica's boss might think she was not responsible enough to run a club. That would not look good for her.
"Why don't you go sit down?" Veronica asked Ophelia. Ophelia stood still for a moment, and then looked at Veronica.
"I have idea for history club today. I wanted to make projects for class, but since I cannot take class for months I will show them now" she said. She gave Veronica a smile. A real smile. But it still unsettled Veronica somewhat.
Veronica stood, uncertain for a moment. Then, she felt herself walking towards one of the desks and sitting down. She wasn't sure if she did so on her own, out of fear, or if the Abner girl had some sort of supernatural effect on her.
Ophelia faced the class, putting her hands on the hips of her skirt. "Hello friends. Today, I am going to run history club for you all. I have only been homeschooled my entire life, but I learned things that you will not learn in regular history class. So I will give you a presentation on part of family history." she snapped her fingers and a covered cart wheeled its way into the class on its own. The door shut by itself after the cart entered.
Ophelia unveiled the cart, and began to take things out of the cart and place them on a table in front of the class. The whole class was shocked when Ophelia began stacking little dioramas of torture devices from across the ages on the table, laying out six in total.
"For most people, torture is bad. Most people think that torture will hurt them. But Abners like torture. Sometimes, when I want to be alone, I climb inside an old Iron Maiden in my home to think for a while. It is like acupuncture. You feel good afterwards" she said. "Since Abners came to America, people accused us of being witches, and they try to torture us to get confession. But nothing works. So I will demonstrate some of them to you. You will be my volunteers" she said, pointing to the corner of the room. The students there, alarmed, began to protest and get up to flee, but were suddenly, in the blink of an eye, only six inches tall and on the table next to each of the devices.
She reached for one of your students, a blonde girl named Cynthia. Cynthia screamed as Ophelia picked her up by pinching her around her waist. Ophelia grabbled a long wooden device with a chair on it that was affixed to a diorama of a river. Curiously, it had running water. She placed Cynthia into the chair, tying her into it with miniature ropes, and then held the diorama up to the class. "Now this is ducking chair. It was used on women if they were said to be lying or cheating. And sometimes accused witches. You put girl in chair like this, and you tell her to confess her misdeeds. If she does not, you dunk her and ask her. You do this until she says she is guilty. Abners never did anything wrong, so we got dunked a lot. But after a while it is fun. It is like first water slide. I will show you" she said.
She pinched a little lever on the device and began to move Cynthia up and down. Ophelia spoke in a tinny voice, like she were giving a voice to dolls she was playing with. "Little girl! Tell us the truth that you do something wrong!"
"Oh, I have done nothing!" Ophelia said, mimicking Cynthia's voice.
Then, she quickly pinched the lever and plunged Cynthia into the running water, leaving her there for a few seconds before pulling her out.
"You see? Like day at pool for Abners. I will pass diorama around so you can see for yourself" she said. She walked towards Veronica's desk and deposited it. Veronica stared in horror at the miniature Cynthia, now sopping wet. Once the shock wore off, she grabbed Cynthia and the chair with both hands, trying to free her.
"Next, I will show you stocks. Then, I will show dripping device, isolation, and others. Nobody will die, these are all non-lethal. I hope you enjoy them and have fun."
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