Salem, Connecticut was not the biggest town. It was not particularly famous in any way, either. In fact, most people have probably never heard of Salem, Connecticut, seeing as most people heard the name "Salem" and either thought of Sabrina's cat, or the witch trials in Massachusetts.
But this Salem in Connecticut was something different. It was certainly special. Salem, Connecticut, of course, is the ancestral home of the Abner Family. They've been around Salem for as long as anybody can remember, first appearing in Connecticut records as far back as 1789, though they say that they were here long before then (and were in Europe for even longer). Most of the wealthy residents of Salem figured they were old money of some kind, since they lived in a big, gothic mansion outside of town on dozens of acres of land. It's a grand old house, to be sure, though many consider it something of a blight on the landscape of Salem. For one thing, the house seemingly gets no natural light. At all. During the daylight hours, any Salem residents get close to the house, the sky itself becomes gray and cloudy, and sometimes even begins raining. You could take a walk from Salem Central Park on the hottest July day and, sure enough, by the time you reached the twisted oak tree half a mile in front of the Abner house, the sun would be gone and you would kill for a sweater or a raincoat.
Brave Salemites who venture too close to the house report hearing eerie music emanating from the house after the sun goes down, as well as strange mechanical sounds and cackling. There were all sorts of rumors about what you would see if you peeked through an Abner window, ranging from gruesome experiments to macabre art, though most of them were probably exaggerations or lies. It was difficult to say when not many ventured anywhere near the house. They haven't had any neighbors for years, as nobody wants to move in near the house.
As for the Abner family themselves? Their family structure is somewhat unclear. They're extremely wealthy, though none of them work in town. The whole family rarely leaves their house to come to Salem, though a few family members are known to the community as they visit town a few dozen times a year. Everyone knows the Abner matriarch, Maureen Ague Abner. How old she is is unknown, but she appears in photographs dating back to the 30s appearing exactly the same. She's tall, standing about 6'6", and has ink black hair, very, very fair skin (like a ghost!), and has an otherworldly mystique about her. She is always dressed fashionably, though her idea of fashion means wearing all-black ensembles that were probably popular during the 40's or 50's.
Her husband, Draven Abner, PhD, J.D., M.D., is less well known. He's tall, though not as tall as his wife, and often appears at her side. He frequently travels the globe on "business trips", and is away from Salem for most of the time. What type of business he does is unclear. When he is in town, he is always dressed in a fine suit and is side-by-side with his wife. He seldom speaks, except to her, and is alleged to be devoted to her and to his family, threatening trespassers with a sword.
The couple is known to have had several children, though how many is unclear. Old yearbooks and documents seem to indicate that the couple had given birth to at least five daughters between the years 1901 and 1941, but it is difficult to prove very much. Some grandparents and elderly townsfolk claim they remember meeting macabre girls during their youths, and a few middle-aged residents have fuzzy memories of black-haired girls attending proms and school events in all black from the 60s to the 80s. But, much like with the house, details are difficult to verify. Townsfolk seem to think that the Abners have long lives, which would explain how a grandmother met an Abner child in 1925 and her children met the same Abner in school in the 60's. But, the Abner family lives in a big house. There could simply be a lot of them. Reports of seeing Abner children and teens stopped being reported sometime in the late 80s or early 90s.
Wait, why am I telling you this? You already know of the Abner family. After all, you live in Salem, and have been just as mystified and morbidly curious about the Abners as anybody else. Just like everybody else, you only mention their names in hushed tones, and you always gawk whenever you happen to see Maureen and Draven about town. You swear you've seen a few other young women, at least aged 20, who fit the general description of the Abner children, but you aren't sure. Some outright dismiss you, claiming that you're making up the sighting for attention, while others sympathize with you. Your own grandmother, in fact, believes that the thin Abner girl you thought you saw walking out of the shopping mall late one night was the same one she met at school all the way back in 1941. But that's impossible. Isn't it? Unless, of course, they're immortal. Are they vampires? Witches? Something else entirely?
You don't know it yet, but you are soon about to find out. For you are going to be the first Salemite to get personal with the Abner family.
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