Strange Magic

Chapter 2

"You did WHAT? You told her... you invited her?" Zelda paced the length of the kitchen, a lit cigarette dangling off the tip of her fingers in its holder as she processed the information her niece had just given her. Sabrina had invited Mary Wardwell into their home.

What in Lilith's name was she going to do for an entire evening with Mary Wardwell when she couldn't even get through five minutes in a public place with the woman? Honestly, how ignorant and shallow minded could her niece be?

"I can... tell her we're busy... that something has come up. We have too many bodies?" Sabrina shrank at the tone of her aunt's voice. She knew she'd crossed a line in inviting Mary over, but what else could she do? The woman wanted explanations and she didn't have them. She needed her aunt's help in dealing with her memory.

"Oh for Lilith's sake, Sabrina, we cannot uninvite someone whom you have already invited," Zelda snapped before she took a long drag off her cigarette and brushed her hair out of her face, "we will have her over for dinner tomorrow evening. We will make it as fast a meal as possible, restore her memory as if she'd been here the last nine months, and send her on her merry, dreadful little way. No dawdling, no extra mindless chatter, do you understand me? I do not want this woman in our house any longer than she must stay."

"I.... understand Aunt Zelda," Sabrina muttered sadly, thinking of how often Mary Wardwell had frequented their home not so long ago. "It's just so weird, Aunt Zelda. I got so used to her being here."

Zelda closed her eyes as she turned her back to her niece, the thought of Lilith and Mary and her time in their home cutting straight through her. "Please, Sabrina. That is over. There is no need to make mention of it now. We are all.... foolish at one time or another."

"Aunt Zee?" Sabrina muttered as she watched her aunt carefully, wishing she wouldn't be so unnecessarily hard, "did you love her? Lilith or... Mary or, however you saw her?"

Zelda pondered the question for a moment, thoughts of the woman nearly stealing her breath, then sighed. "I've not got the time for such silly questions, Sabrina. It's late. Lilith is our dark queen, and Mary is a stranger. There is no room for love there, my foolish child. Now go to bed."

Zelda turned on her heel, but before she walked away she placed a gentle kiss on Sabrina's forehead, indicating that she was not mad at her niece; rather, she was touched by the gentle question. Of course she had loved Lilith. Of course it was foolish. The two, sadly, were not mutually exclusive.

Now, however, her only job was to lead a coven into the pious worship of Lilith. There would be no room for the kind of love they'd experienced, and Lilith would not abide her finding that love with a mortal in Mary Wardwell.

No, Zelda must make the ultimate sacrifice for her queen, whether or not she wanted to.

And now, thanks to her ever dim witted niece, she must also entertain Mary. How could Sabrina be so stupid and thoughtless? Zelda rolled her eyes as she ascended the steps to her bedroom. Praise Lilith that Hilda was off at the bookstore and she could have a moment alone. She knew she should pray, but all she really want to do was curse her lover.

Silently, Zelda got on her knees and bowed her head, her eyes closed. "Lilith, my queen...." she muttered, feeling positively ridiculous.

"Damn it Lilith," she sighed, opening her eyes as the tears formed in the corners of her ducts. How could she pray when she felt so stupid? How could she worship something she was so angry with?

"How could you? How could you do this knowing this was your plan?"

Zelda scolded the air angrily as she stood and unzipped her dress and tossed it on the end of her bed, stripping down to nothing but her black bra and panties, searching for a long nightgown in her closet.

"Why Lilith? Why on earth would you bring that woman back? So I have to look at her every day? So I must be reminded of everything that I cannot have?"

Zelda knew she was working herself up as the tears streamed down her cheeks, but she didn't care. She was angry. She wanted to scream and throw things and yell at Lilith, not praise her in adoration and obedience. She tugged the straps of her bra off her shoulders and unhooked the contraption with one hand, then tossed it on the bed with her dress and slid her silk night gown over her head. How many times had she worn that gown to please her sweet Lilith? How many times had the woman stripped it off of her body?

Zelda exhaled loudly and tugged the gown back off, opting instead for a simpler, softer gown that had less memories attached to it. She quickly tied her robe around her body and wiped the tears from her cheeks, angry with herself for being emotional again.

"You're no better than him, Lilith. You are jealous and vengeful. You are hateful and spiteful and hurtful," she muttered as she discarded the pile of clothes in the hamper in her closet and crawled into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.

"Curse you, Lilith. Curse you and that damn Mary Wardwell."

Zelda closed her eyes as tightly as she could, already feeling guilty about her outburst. Yes, she was a lover scorned, but she was first and foremost a pious, religious woman and she had just cursed her highest deity. She wasn't exactly expecting Lilith to crawl out of the ground and smite her, but she needed to get a handle on her emotions as soon as possible.

She had to remember that Lilith in her human form was subject to the weakness of the flesh but she was no longer subject to such base and humiliating tendencies. It was Zelda's responsibility to elevate herself to a better standard of behavior, not the other way around. Still, she'd give anything for one more evening with Lilith in her human form.

As Zelda drifted off to sleep she could feel an outline of warmth surround her, almost comforting her. She knew it was the three highball glasses of scotch she'd downed when Sabrina told her Mary Wardwell would be joining them for dinner tomorrow night, but she liked to think, in her half asleep state of mind, that it was her beloved Lilith come to escort her to the beyond for the evening. If they couldn't be together in this world, at least they could there.