Let It Slip

Part VIII

Part VIII

"I'll help!" Another figure stepped forward to join the first.

The cloaked witch who had spoken originally looked at his fellow witches in surprise, "But... but we haven't fought for centuries!"

One of the volunteers spun around sharply, "Speak for yourself, Atlantes. You have no idea what some of us have been through." Winnie Pendergast stepped forward aggressively and thrust her hand in the air, "Count me in!"

Hilda tried to hide her smile in Dr. Cee's bicep at the fiery young witch; an anarchist to be sure, Winnie was always the first of the members to volunteer for anything remotely dangerous. Clearing her throat, Hilda stepped forward again, "Winnie is right, some of you have fought for us, for the name of Knowledge and Truth. Some of you have even bled for us. Of course you were doing so for a collective purpose and this time I am asking you personally, for me. For my family...."

There was a rustling at the far end of the cemetery, the shadows parting as if in a bow to reveal Ambrose and Prudence leading the majority of the coven to join the volunteers of The Archives at the head of the crowd; "Of course we're in, Auntie."

Hilda felt her eyes fill with tears and she rushed down the stairs to hug Ambrose, squeezing Prudence's hand before moving through the coven to thank every witch personally. By the time she returned to Dr. Cee's side, she had an army of fifty witches willing to go to battle to save Zelda Spellman. She clapped her hands together and the door to the Mortuary swung open, "Please, come in!"

Gathering in the parlour, Hilda conjured snacks and mead for the entire group as they all settled in. Some leaning against the wall, perching on stools the arms of occupied chairs, some huddling together on the floor; all eyes on Hilda. She swallowed hard, suddenly realizing that leadership was not a skill she typically needed to use, aching for her sister to walk through the door and take over. Taking a deep breath to calm the tremor in her voice, Hilda's eyes scanned slowly across all of the faces waiting for her to speak, landing on Winnie Pendergast, cross legged on the floor in front of her, she smiled and focused only on her, "Thank you. From the bottom of my heart." Winnie winked and raised a fist in solidarity.

Hilda lifted her chin and tried some humour to ease her own anxiety, "Every single one of you will be getting a lifetime supply of Aunt Hilda's famous cookies." The crowd tittered quietly in amusement. "Now...how do we get to Hell?"

---

Zelda's hand collided with the handle of her prison and she yanked as hard as she could, praising all deities she could think of as it swung open violently and nearly knocked her off her feet. Not pausing to see if the Baron was still on the floor, the redhead propelled herself into the hallway of horrors and ran as fast as she could. Biting her lip as she navigated the uneven cobblestones.

Processing what she was seeing as she was flying passed it, Zelda avoided the clammy, bloodied, and bruised hands that reached out to touch her rich gown. The tunnel she ran down told her nothing of where she was over and above the obvious - like she might have been in some sort of Dungeon. Lit by torches that were several feet apart, there were times when she was in total darkness as the tunnel seemed to drag on forever. Not daring to slow down enough to look back, her heart hammering in her chest, Zelda pushed on heading towards one of the dark patches.

Several steps into the darkness, Zelda barely registered a weight at the hem of her skirt before it yanked her down to the ground. The sound of her palms slapping hard against the ancient stones echoed ahead of her and drove pain through her joints and into her bones. The force of her fall drove her chin into the stone and she saw stars behind her eyes, slowing her down as she tasted blood in her mouth.