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The Beast of Jersey: Part 2 of 3 — The Devil’s Mark
Disclaimer: Some listeners may find the following content distressing. The events discussed involve real victims and their families. Listener discretion is strongly advised.
September 23, 1597. St. Helier, Jersey.
The setting sun cast long shadows across St. Helier harbor, painting the sky in shades of blood and fire. A bitter wind carried the stench of unwashed bodies and fear as the crowd pressed forward, their breath visible in the autumn chill. You could taste their hatred in the air — thick, metallic, like copper pennies on your tongue.
There she stood, Peronelle Chevallier, more creature than woman, now. Her matted hair hung in greasy ropes around a face ravaged by weeks in the castle dungeons. The rags that clung to her skeletal frame reeked of filth and decay. Yet it was her eyes that drew your attention — wild, defiant, holding secrets that made your skin crawl.
The evidence had been irrefutable. Neighbors testified to seeing her dancing naked under the full moon, her body writhing in unholy ecstasy as she cavorted with dark shapes that were not quite human. Cattle had dropped dead in their fields, their eyes turned milk-white, their tongues black as coal. Children spoke of a woman with Peronelle’s face visiting them in nightmares, promising them sweets if they would only…
