Strange Magic

Chapter 1

Mary Wardwell bit the corner of her bottom lip as she spotted the redhead across the book store; it was the third day in a row she'd seen her in town. Lord, life felt weird lately.

First, there was the question of time. How on earth had she lost so much time with absolutely no recollection of what had happened? Then, there was of course her fiancée, or, lack thereof. Where was Adam? And then there was the question of this red headed woman who seemed hauntingly familiar but whom she could not place if her life depended on it. Was she attached to one her students somehow? She couldn't shake the feeling that this woman meant something but what she could not determine.

As Mary turned the corner down an aisle, still distracted from her sighting,  she nearly ran face first into Sabrina Spellman, dropping the stack of books in her arms as she narrowly avoided the young woman.

"Oh, Sabrina, you startled me, I'm so sorry," she muttered as she bent down to gather the discarded novels, pushing her glasses back up her nose with one finger as she worked.

"Oh Lili-Ms. Wardwell!" Sabrina beamed as she, too, bent down to help her favorite teacher, "it's so good to see you again. How are you feeling?"

Mary took note of the difference in Sabrina's appearance as she finally looked up from the floor and met her student's earnest gaze. Her hair was so much more blonde, and her eyes seemed just the slightest bit darker. Honestly, what on earth was going on? How many months couldn't she remember? How much had changed, and why?

"I'm uh, I am feeling a bit better yes, thank you for asking Sabrina," she smiled politely as she rebalanced the stack of books in her arms and stood back up, glancing back down the aisle at the mysterious redhead who was still standing at the counter chatting with the equally familiar looking blonde at the till. "Say Sabrina... you wouldn't happen to know who the women at the register are, would you? Particularly the red headed woman?"

"Oh," Sabrina smiled as she followed behind her teacher, headed in the direction of the register, "yea those are my aunties, Hilda and Zelda."

Mary felt a curious warmth in the pit of her stomach at the mention of Zelda's name, as if the woman had meant something to her at some point, but she couldn't fathom why. She was absolutely positive she'd never so much as said hello to Sabrina's aunts before. Of course she knew they ran the local mortuary; everyone knew that, but she'd never had any cause to deal with them.

"I see..." she muttered, mostly to herself, as she neared the space Sabrina's aunts occupied. Dr. Cerberus' cafe and bookshop was not a particularly large venue so it did not take them long to reach the register. "Say Sabrina, would you like to sit and grab a soda before I head back to my office? Perhaps you can answer a couple of questions for me."

She knew it was somewhat inappropriate to ask a student, but for some strange reason Mary trusted Sabrina and knew she would tell her the truth. Beyond that, she knew that her questions wouldn't go anywhere.

"Of course, Miss Wardwell, I'd really like that," Sabrina beamed as she moved closer to her Aunt Zelda, "I've... missed you."

Zelda stiffened at the sound of Mary Wardwell's voice behind her in conversation with her niece. She felt as if all the air had been drawn out of the room. She hadn't laid eyes on the woman since Lilith's return to hell. She preferred it that way; after all, Lilith and Mary were not, in fact, one in the same, but that didn't make the missing her any easier. Lilith had looked the part of Mary Wardwell for the better part of a year, and Zelda had grown awfully fond of the woman's body, if not her heart and mind. If she were being honest with herself, she didn't want to see Mary Wardwell. Ever. Part of her wished that Lilith had left her dead.  Zelda took a deep breath before she turned around, unsure exactly of what seeing Mary would do to her.

Finally, she did turn around, and painted a pleasant, closed lip smile on her face.

"Sabrina, I thought that was you," she said politely, "and who do we have here?"

"Auntie," Sabrina said carefully, unsure of how to navigate, "this is Ms. Wardwell, my... my old teacher? She's our principal now."

Zelda felt her heart race and her breath hitch in her chest as Mary flashed her bright blue eyes at her and smiled. Gone was the deep red lipstick she'd grown accustomed to with Lilith and her thick, black hair was pinned back in a neat bun, but it was still.... difficult to see her. "It's a uh, a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Wardwell," Zelda stuttered as she extended a hand, "Sabrina has said many wonderful things about you."

Zelda's blood ran cold as Mary took her hand and squeezed it firmly, smiling back at her. "The pleasure is mine, Ms. Spellman. What a lovely young woman you and your sister Hilda have raised, and now I see where she gets it." Zelda hesitated to let her go. Mary felt it too; the spark in her veins and the longing in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't sure how or why, but this woman was not a stranger to her.

"How very kind of you," Zelda smiled as she let her fingers linger over Mary's a little too long before she caught herself and snapped her hand back, quickly folding both her hands behind her torso.

"Well I uh, I must be going. Academy things to attend to," she muttered before she excused herself quickly, darting out the door before anyone could see the tears forming on her eyelids. She refused to cry over Mary. She refused to give that satisfaction to  Lilith.

Mary blinked her eyes a few times and licked her lips then silently paid for her books, not offering to introduce herself to Hilda. She felt unsettled by her interaction with Zelda; the introduction had left her with far more questions than answers.

"Well, now, shall we grab a table?" She asked politely as she turned to Sabrina and smiled, trying her best not to look alarmed.

Sabrina nodded and followed her teacher to the booths in the store, taking a seat across from her. "You look bothered, Miss Wardwell, are you sure you're alright?"

Mary thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "I... well no, Sabrina, I'm not entirely sure. If I ask you something, will you please keep it between us?"

Sabrina felt the guilt rising in the pit of her stomach as she watched her teacher carefully, knowing that what had happened to Ms. Wardwell was her fault. If the dark lord hadn't wanted her for his pawn she never would have been killed and resurrected. "Of course Ms. Wardwell, I promise."

"Sabrina," Mary whispered, leaning closer in to the girl across from her, "I... what month is it? And what happened to the principal? How did I become the principal?"

"Well, he, you- I...." Sabrina didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure how she could talk herself out of this one. "He resigned? I think. I'm not sure. But you do so much for the school, and you volunteered? Yea. I think you volunteered? You know, Ms. Wardwell, I've been so busy with some of my.... after school activities that I just haven't been paying that much attention!"

It wasn't that Sabrina necessarily wanted to lie to Ms. Wardwell, but what could she do? It's not like she could tell the woman she'd been murdered and taken over by Satan's handmaiden herself only to wreak havoc on their whole town, fall in love with her aunt, run their school... could she? Even if she could get the words out, who in their right mind would believe a story like that?

"You know if you'd like to come over for dinner, or something like that, my aunties have been volunteering at the school a lot and they could maybe fill you in better?" Sabrina thought it was a brilliant idea. It would give her aunt a chance to see Mary again and it might give them a chance to do something with her memory; either fix it or wipe it or at least do something with it so she'd stop asking so many questions.

Mary rose an eyebrow as she thought about the idea. If she went to Sabrina's for dinner it would give her a chance to have another interaction with that peculiar Zelda. Maybe then she could figure out how they really knew one another.

"That sounds lovely, Sabrina. You just let me know when might work for your aunties. Now I suppose I must be off. Thank you for sitting down with me."

"Any time, Ms. Wardwell. Any time." Sabrina smiled and waved as she watched her teacher stand and quickly depart the book store, rushing down the street in the direction of the high school.

Dear Lilith, what was she about to get her family in to with this woman?