𝐒𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄 ── chilling adventures of sabrina

xiii | the admirable handmaiden

ACT I — CHAPTER XIII
Tʜᴇ Aᴅᴍɪʀᴀʙʟᴇ Hᴀɴᴅᴍᴀɪᴅᴇɴ

───  ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅  ───

It was Sunday night, and Lydia Spellman was alone in her room, getting started on her break assignments. Even though Thanksgiving break didn't begin until Wednesday, her teachers had already begun assigning work. Typically, Lydia would put off all of her work until the Sunday before school started again, but she decided it was a good idea to be productive, for once, so here she was.

There had been some distractions along the way, of course. There had been about forty-minute phone call with Susie, which had originally started with Lydia asking for help with polynomials and ended with them discussing the best book-to-film adaptations. After that, she felt the sudden urge to read Little Women, and had spent about an hour and a half doing that. When she was finally about to start her work, Lydia heard her sister call from downstairs.

"Aunties! Lydia! Ambrose!"

Lydia pushed her homework to the side and entered the hallway. The moment she opened her door, the stench of rotting meat filled her nose.

"Ew," she muttered, before running down the stairs and seeing the source of the smell was revealed. What looked like animal guts had been nailed to their front door, and there was blood and excess guts trailing down the door.

"Can anyone explain why it looks like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has been nailed to our door?" Sabrina asked.

"Oh dear," Hilda sighed, seeing the door, "I'll get some soap and sponges."

"And I'll get a plastic bag to collect the lamb entrails," Ambrose said.

As Hilda and Ambrose went into the kitchen, Lydia met Zelda at the base of the stairs.

"It's a message from the council, Sabrina," Zelda said, addressing Sabrina's previous question, "It means our family's been selected to participate in this year's Feast of Feasts."

Zelda went into the kitchen, leaving the twins in a state of confusion.

"Do you know what she's talking about?" Lydia asked. Sabrina shook her head.

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only clueless one here."

The twins followed the rest of their family into the kitchen. Hilda and Ambrose were bustling around, gathering the materials needed in order to remove the lamb parts from the door. Zelda sat at the kitchen table as Lydia and Sabrina hesitantly walked up to her.

"Aunt Zee, what is a Feast of Feasts?" Sabrina asked.

"And why couldn't they tell us that we were selected for it through like, a letter or something?" Lydia asked.

"Well, for starters, the lamb is more of a traditional courtesy," Zelda explained, answering Lydia's question. The twins sat down at the table before Zelda continued.

"Now, Feast of Feasts, girls, is one of our coven's holiest holidays. It's similar to mortal Thanksgiving, but —"

"The menu is slightly different," Ambrose cut in, patting his cousins on their shoulders as he walked by.

"It's meant to honor the single greatest sacrifice a witch ever made to save her coven," Zelda continued.

"Praise Sister Freya, may we meet again," Hilda prayed, washing her hands in the sink.

"Who's Freya?" the twins asked, simultaneously.

"A queen amongst witches," Zelda began, "Centuries ago, the fourteen women belonging to the earliest incarnation of the Church of Night were chased out of the township of Greendale into the hills, the forest."