Whispers at Witching Hour

Chapter 107

Musical inspiration: Dusk Till Dawn – ZAYN ft. Sia (slowed)

Hilda was sitting in her favourite armchair in front of the fireplace, knitting in her lap, balancing her glasses on the tip of her nose. Sabrina was sitting on the floor between some pillows she had arranged comfortably watching TV with her face propped up in her hands. She glanced over to the couch where Lilith was lying under a blanket, Vinnie T. sleeping on her chest, her eyes on the TV as well but Hilda could tell she was not watching and sighed.

The only one missing were Ambrose, who had moved into the Academy for as long as he was substituting Zelda there, and the matriarch herself, who had requested some alone time to take a bath and smoke. Things had calmed down a little, they had found their routines, but it would be bold to say they were good.

Since Hilda was trying to be around at the mortuary as much as possible to support her sister and her fiancé, she witnessed a lot of their interaction, overheard some conversations, and noticed little changes even Zelda could not see sometimes. For example, she saw how hard Lilith was trying for Zelda, while the latter was fixed on all the things that did not work yet. After the day of their first therapy session with minion, something had changed.

Even if Hilda did not know what had happened or if they had talked about it, she could see the effect of it. Ever since then, Lilith had gotten out of bed every single day and always wore decent clothes. About whether she had showered or not, Hilda could not say anything, but it did not matter. She would sit with them at the table, regardless of whether she ate or not and join them in front of the telly in the evening.

Maybe it was the medication slowly coming into effect, the steady routines, or their sessions with minion – however, Hilda was aware of the little changes for the better, which made it easier for her to pep-talk her sister when she was losing hope again.

She wrapped the thread around her left index a few times, readjusting her position because she had just accidentally dropped a stitch that she now had to pick up again. The light was not ideal for knitting, her joints were aching, and she was not exactly concentrated due to her frequent glances at Lilith, but for some reason, she always needed something to do, to occupy her hands with.

"And here was me thinking Vinegar Tom was my familiar", Zelda mused leaning against the doorframe with wet hair dampening her robe where it rested on her shoulders.

Hilda looked up and smiled at her sister, who was observing Lilith and Vinegar Tom.

"Shhh, he's sleeping...", Lilith pointed out, her voice soft and fragile as it had been for a while now.

Hilda decided to stay silent like Sabrina and just watch them. Witnessing Zelda's caring, loving side was a joy for her despite the circumstances, especially since it felt like she had really taken her words to heart back then, saying the softness suited her.

Zelda walked over to the couch, placing her hand on Lilith's shoulders and leaning in for a kiss on the mouth, then petting her familiar's head briefly before sitting down. She lifted Lilith's feet up, took seat and placed them in her lap, claiming some of the blanket for herself.

"What are we watching?"

"L'Inferno", Sabrina responded without taking her eyes off the silver screen, "But it's not very accurate."

"Well, to be fair, few people who've got first-hand experience in hell ever came back to make a movie about it...", Zelda mentioned, glancing at Lilith to receive a little smile from her.

"True...", Sabrina hummed, grabbing a handful of popcorn and stuffing it in her mouth.

Hilda resumed her knitting, reassured by Zelda looking fairly at ease as she paid attention to the movie as well and absently massaged Lilith's feet. She pulled some more thread from the ball of wool. But since the movie was a silent one, she could not help but overhear what Zelda was saying to Lilith after a while.