Whispers at Witching Hour

Chapter 52

This is kind of the follow-up to chapter 48, I just had to fit in some Lilith-stuff before to get the timeline to work. So, you may want to go back to that chapter to re-read the end or go ahead if you like.

Musical inspiration: Try – Micky (P!nk Cover)

When Hilda woke up the next day, she was not surprised to find no trace of Zelda in her bed. Of course, her sister had made sure to sneak out before she would woke up, so she would not know. What did surprise her on the other hand was the figure slipping through the door the exact moment she had finished getting dressed and ready for the day.

She turned around and was beaming. "Dr Cee!"

He came closer to peck her lips lovingly, smiling all over. "Hilda, my love!" They hugged and Hilda snuggled close to his chest briefly.

"I still need to do my hair, love", she explained and broke the hug, "What are you doing here today? I thought we'd settled for the weekend, hadn't we?"

Hilda brushed her hair while talking, looking at Dr Cee in the mirror, who was in a cheerful mood and promptly started to make her bed.

"No, no, we had, it's just that I missed you, my dear, and thought I'd come see how you guys were doing."

He smoothed out the wrinkles in the sheet and folded the duvet neatly before tending to the pillows.

"Aww, you're such a sweetheart, Dr Cee."

Hilda was almost done curling the ends of her hair when Dr Cee lifted the pillows up and a book fell out of them.

"Ooops", he exclaimed and picked it up from the floor, eyes widening in shock as he read the title.

Hilda could see his face grimacing in the mirror and panicked immediately when she realised what was happening. He came over to her, eyes teary, almost sobbing, shoulders hanging.

"Hilda, love, were you...?", his voice cracked, and he brought his fist to his mouth.

Hilda rushed to his side, brushing over his arms, talking quickly. "No, no, no, love! No, I'm fine, I'm okay. Don't worry!"

She took him in his arms and squeezed him tightly. His face buried in the crook of her neck. They hugged for a while until the first shock was gone. She had truly been careless! Zelda could have found it last night, which would have been even worse.

"Then why are you reading this?" He pointed at the book he was holding up.

Hilda looked around, avoiding eye-contact as she searched for a convincing excuse.

"I... Um... Uhh... Was doing some research you know, we've got a house full of teenagers now, gotta be prepared, right?", she stuttered.

Searching his face, she knew he was not buying any of it.

"Someone I know?", he guessed, not ready to let it go, then he raised his eyebrows, breathing in sharply, "Sabrina?! Oh god! No!"

Hilda shook her head nervously, bringing her palm to her face. "Kenny, no! Sabrina is fine. Just... drop it, will you?", she begged him.

Dr Cee tried hard to put the pieces together, his brain's work evident on his face as Hilda sunk into the ground, regretting having been so careless. This should never have happened even though she trusted her boyfriend, but this was Zelda's business and she feared losing her sister's trust if she took a wrong step.

She held onto his upper arms, begging him with her eyes to forget the whole thing, but when their eyes locked, it was too late.

"Oh my, it's Zelda, isn't it?", he muttered under his breath in utter shock.