Let It Slip

Part VII

Hilda paced angrily across the kitchen, her arms swinging aggressively to propel her back and forth while Dr. Cee watched with a grimace on his face; "She's in Hell and Lilith won't free her?! Ungrateful witch, we gave her sanctuary!"

Dr. Penelope Black sat with her hands folded around a steaming mug of tea having just appeared to deliver the news from the Labyrinth. One of the members had a running tally of favours with a minion of Hell and had been within earshot when Baron Samedi had asked for a cage, making a safe assumption that the prisoner would have been Zelda Spellman. Penny cleared her throat and raised her hand, magically forcing Hilda to stop and look at her, "Take a breath, sister. The Labyrinth did not see Zelda with Baron, which means that it's possible that Lilith doesn't know who she is holding for him."

Hilda's eyes flashed and she waved her hand, countering the dark haired witch's spell and moving to sit heavily across from her, "Perhaps but I am very hard pressed to believe that the Queen of Hell would ever allow any secrets to be kept from her in her own domain."

Penelope arched a brow in agreement at that and drowned a soft sigh into a long sip of tea. Hilda reached forward to lightly grab Penelope's wrist, desperation shining in her eyes, "I haven't seen Lilith in over a hundred years, Penny, I have no idea what losing her son and gaining sovereignty over Hell has done to her. It's very possible that she agreed to imprison my sister for reasons I can't think of. Can the Labyrinth help us get her back?"

The British witch patted Hilda's hand lightly as she gently shook her head, "The Labyrinth collects information but as an unbiased operation, it will not get involved in anything other than the distribution of knowledge."

Dr. Cee stepped forward and lovingly rubbed Hilda's shoulders, "My darling, why don't we just try talking to Lilith?"

"Because if she has made an alliance with Baron Samedi and she's keeping Zelda against her will, talking to her will play our hand and we risk them moving her again. As you know, one of the laws every witch agrees to before activating the Labyrinth is that they will wait a full two years before reengaging with the Labyrinth." Hilda buried her head in her hands, the stress forcing her shoulders up to her ears.

Penelope continued Hilda's thought, catching Dr. Cee's eye, "The law was put into place due to the sheer volume of requests made from millions of witches worldwide. In order for all requests to be activated, there needs to be a period of time before you are able to make another request or we would never get through them all."

Dr. Cee nodded and squeezed Hilda's shoulders before sitting down next to her and taking her hand in his, "What do you want to do my love?"

Hilda's voice was eerily calm as she looked up at her husband and spoke with intensity, "I want to build an army."

---

Every night before she retired for the evening, Lilith took a slow saunter through torture tunnel, the lengthy hallway that held the prisoners of Hell. She took her time speaking with each soul, convincing them that they would be pardoned and released the very next day. Painstakingly, she made sure they all understood, so that when she came to get them the next day the death of the hope in their eager faces as they realized she'd lied would reward her with sadistic delight. Carrying a steel cane, the Queen of Hell dragged it along the bars of the cells, making an uncomfortable amount of noise. At times, she would poke the sharp bit between the bars and stab her victims, laughing. Her cruelty knew no bounds.

The echo of the cane against the bars reverberated throughout the space as she walked with determination from cell to cell, leading to the room Baron Samedi had transformed for his prisoner. Just as she reached out to grasp the handle and reveal what was inside, he stepped outside and Lilith took a step back in surprise.