Black Magic Women

27

"Sabrina!" Zelda yelled as she ran down the stairs and towards her crying niece. The dying woman in her sister's bed long forgotten at the prospect of her niece in emotional distress. Sabrina was kneeling in at the end of the stairs and covered in mud.

"What happened?" Sabrina asked as she broke into loud sobs and fell into the strong embrace of her aunts.

"Mary saved us. We're fine," Zelda said and brushed her hand over Sabrina's back soothingly. "Everything's okay," she said, reassuring her that there was nothing to worry about.

Zelda was just so relieved to see her niece unharmed and healthy that she completely forgot about their current situation. It was just comforting to know that Sabrina was well and at home. She hadn't thought about her niece as the situation with Mary was taking up all of her thoughts and nerves, but now that Sabrina was in her arms, she was relieved that she had come to them.

"I thought we were all going to die!" Sabrina said and sobbed into the neck of her aunt. She had never been more scared in her entire life and she hated how powerless she had felt.

"I wouldn't have let that happen," Zelda said bitterly and Hilda knew the truth that lay within those words. Zelda would have never let anyone harm the young witch, even if she had to die for it.

"How did you get out?" Sabrina asked, starting to calm down in her familiar surroundings and the soothing embrace of Zelda.

"Ms. Wardwell managed to make a... deal," Hilda jumped in, not wanting to worsen the situation by having Zelda explain it to Sabrina. Her sister had been through enough for a day and she didn't want to fuel the flames.

"What kind of deal?" Sabrina asked and looked up at her Aunt Hilda, confusion and also fear written across the young girl's face.

Hilda had noted that Sabrina had become quite fond of the teacher and wouldn't like the sacrifice she had made in order to keep their family alive and well.

"She... has taken another form," Hilda said and felt Zelda stiffen visibly.

"She has decided to change... for our sakes," Hilda said and Zelda just snapped. It had been enough of an emotional roller coaster and she didn't need Hilda sugarcoating the situation.

Mary hadn't given anything up for them. She hadn't been the saint, Hilda made her out to be and Zelda couldn't stand the way she wanted to be easy on her.

Mary had made her decision and that was it.

"Lord, you can say it. She's human. She has become a goddamn human in order to keep us alive and to give you the freedom we all had to make sacrifices for," Zelda said and started to pace up and down the hallway.

She had never snapped at Sabrina like this. Well, they sure had their fair share of fights but Zelda had never used something like that against the witch. She was coming after her father...

"She doesn't mean it like that," Hilda said and tried to comfort Sabrina as best as possible, knowing the storm that was about to come. It had hit her countless times in the past but Zelda had always made sure to shield Sabrina from her hurtful words.

"What do you mean, human?" Sabrina asked and just stared at her aunt in disbelief. Ms. Wardwell surely wouldn't do that, Sabrina told herself.

"She gave up her powers to save your ass, because you were on your high horse and didn't want to sign the damn book like you should have. But no, Sabrina doesn't have to follow laws and rules. She just does her own thing, not caring about who takes the pain," Zelda yelled and tears were threatening to spill.

She was just so angry at everything and nothing in particular. It wasn't even Sabrina, who made her this angry. She just had so many emotions bottled up that it all broke free now and Sabrina was the one, who hit it.

"Now you're being unnecessarily mean," Hilda interfered and stepped between her sister and niece, sensing the growing tension in the room. She didn't want a family war. They didn't need that when family was all they had left.

"No, all this time we have been keeping her safe and we were the ones that took the fall. I'm sick and tired of being everybody's way of fixing things. I've done everything to keep this family in the good light and all of you out of trouble and all I get in return is more hate and problems," Zelda said, her voice weakening with every spoken word.

She covered her mouth with her shaking hand and didn't believe that she had finally voiced what she had been thinking all this time. It was one thing to think these things in the comfort of her own mind but when the words were said out loud, it became real. Everybody knew now how she felt and she hated how weak it made her.

The two women were staring at her in utter disbelief. For once, Sabrina didn't know what to say and felt bad for her past actions. If she had known how bad the situation was influencing her aunt, she would have handled things differently.

"Once this whole thing has cooled down, I'm going on vacation," Zelda stated and went to fetch herself a drink. She looked at the half empty vodka glass and went for the full bottle instead. She needed it.

"Don't do that," Hilda said and tried to stop her sister from drinking the liquid but she knew how stubborn she could be.

"Why?" Zelda said and walked towards the living room where she fell into the couch.

"Everything is going down the drain. We have a corpse in your bedroom and I'm the one to blame for her death. I was her downfall," Zelda said bitterly and Hilda just sat down next to her sister. She placed a hand on her tight and stared into space.

Hilda didn't understand how her sister's mind worked, but she knew that Zelda was harsher on herself than anybody else. Sometimes Zelda needed someone to break her out of it, even though she would deny it.

"She's not dead yet and if we keep arguing instead of actually doing something, she'll die. You can work this out. I'm sure of it. You're nobody's downfall," Hilda managed to get out, tears threatening to spill.

All of them needed some good sleep but with the situation at hand there was no time for sleep. They had to act and they had to act fast.

"Who'll die?" Sabrina dared to ask, curiosity getting the better of her. She didn't want to disturb the intimate moment between her aunts, but there were so many questions burning inside of her that it was hard to keep her mouth shut.

"Your precious little teacher," Zelda hissed, not being able to say her name out loud. The wounds were still fresh and she didn't need salt to be poured into them.

"What happened?" Sabrina asked and started worrying. She had never seen any of her aunts this down and it shook her deeply. She had already forgotten about her own distress and sorrows, the prospect of her favorite teacher in danger more important than her silly little problems.

"Too many questions and not enough solutions," Zelda said before she took another gulp.

"Enough sulking. If we want to save her, we need to act now. Get your ass up and into the kitchen. We're searching for a potion that'll help our situation," Hilda said and stormed off into the direction of the kitchen.

Sabrina went after her. Only Zelda hesitated for a few seconds. She didn't think she had the energy it took to go in search of a potion but she owed it to Mary. It was the least she could do.

And once they had saved her, she was going on a looong vacation.

---

Soooo, writing this was a trip. I was at a sleepover and it was the birthday of my best friend and they were all drinking some wine and I was like 'No, I get super drunk after only like three glasses'. Weeeell, I ended up being waster after only two and at 3 in the morning I decided to write this. I am legally allowed to buy and drink alcohol, so don't worry. I didn't upload this sooner because I wanted to at least proof read it. This is, besides the fixing of spelling mistakes, completely unedited tho!