Whispers at Witching Hour

Chapter 8

Musical inspiration: St. Jude – Florence + The Machine

Zelda sat in the church as if nothing had ever happened. She was the queen of glamours after all. Nobody would ever suspect a thing about what had just happened to the possibly proudest and most intimidating woman of the coven. Nobody would know how weak she was. Although she kept telling herself that she did not need anyone, she secretly was glad to know Mary was just a few rows behind her.

It was worse than she had expected; much worse. The Greendale Thirteen. But what she could not get over was Faustus' erratic and heartless behaviour. The problem was: No member of the coven dared to question his decision; he was in complete control and that was exactly what she wanted. Love and happiness had never been her thing, really. She would get over it, over Mary.

"We are Spellmans. That means we stand tall, with dignity, and we do what is right." That would be her mantra, not only for this night, but also for her situation.

Hilda was confused by Zelda's increasingly out-of-character behaviour. First, she had been sneaking off almost every night (as if she had not noticed!), then had had another breakdown, which was totally not her thing, and now she suddenly cared about the mortals. She could not put her finger on it, but something was off, and she would bet her little spiders it had something to do with Ms Wardwell.

~

Lilith felt out of control, but this night would change everything. She would protect Zelda, yes, but she would also bully Sabrina into signing the Book of the Beast. It felt like some form of cosmic justice to her: Sabrina the price for the pain Zelda had caused her, the missing piece for her grand reward from the Dark Lord. Her concern for Zelda's safety, all these confusing feelings, as her own sacrifice in the matter. They would be somewhat even.

The entire day had drained her so much. She swore if Hawthorne would take one more step to cross the line, she would eat him alive and enjoy it like some gourmet dinner. How he breathed on her neck, smelled her hair...

Well, Zelda had done that one time and- No. No more Zelda.

The more surprised she was when the witch in question had disappeared from the school grounds. She was gone, out of her reach. Now she could only pray to Satan she had been summoned to the Academy to her beloved Faustus. But there was still something she could do, that would stop this chaos and bring everyone home safe.

When she ran over to collect Sabrina, she could feel Hilda's observing look on her that did not last too long since the witch was barely holding it together.

Sabrina annoyed the living heaven out of her. Could she not just do as she was told for once? The brunette had no more strength, no more desire to play this game of persuasion. It just needed to be done, be over. So, she pressed the words out of her mouth, and did everything she could to not let her charming smile fade. Everything she had done to gain Sabrina's trust was needed in this particular moment.

Another speech of encouragement, another act of compassion, another obligation to another person's wellbeing. She could feel the tears well up in her eyes, only needed to make it through this one last night and it would be over.

Burn the satan-forsaken tree, girl!

~

And now they had a stolen baby in their bedroom, great.

Hilda worried about her sister; this was too much of a coincidence. She was hiding something. Something massive. But now was not the time to discuss it or she would send her off the edge. At least she appeared to be in a better mood, that would do for the night. After all, Hilda had a right to enjoy her moment of happiness after her first kiss this evening.

Zelda held the little girl in her arms, thinking of Sabrina when she was just a baby. So helpless, so in need of someone to take care of them, so vulnerable. Children were her weakness, there was no denying it. But she did not purely do it for the babe's sake, she needed something to keep her occupied, to keep her out of trouble. Losing Lady Blackwood was just another point on her list of failures that haunted her every day and every night.

She put the girl back in the bassinet and as soon as it had left her arms, her bright smile faded. Zelda walked over to the mirror with all her make-up supplies and looked at herself. She turned around half-way and examined her scarred back., wondering how she was supposed to get through all of this, especially now that Mary had told her she would not be available to her anymore. Her eyes found the numbing balm and she knew full well this was the only thing that she could count on from now on.

___________

Edited 23/04/22 

(Needs re-editing)