Strange Magic

Chapter 8

"You were out late last night, Aunt Zee," Sabrina smirked mischievously before she took a bite of toast, knowing exactly where her aunt had been.

Zelda rolled her eyes and took a sip of her espresso, then flipped her hair behind her shoulder. She was still clad in her long black robe and silk headband, reading glasses perched on her bare face. "Yes, I was, thanks to your utterly ridiculous antics, Sabrina," she chided as she reached for the newspaper in front of her niece.

"Ah... out with Mary then were we?" Hilda chimed in, an equally Cheshire grin crossing her face.

"Oh for the absolute love of Lilith don't tell me you helped her with this little trick, Hilda?" Zelda eyed the frying pan on the stove, half tempted to pick it up and whack her sister in the head right then and there. How dare Hilda, queen of the virgins, interfere with her love life.

"I didn't help!" Hilda practically screeched as she jumped up from the table to get to the pan before her sister could. "I have plans this evening, don't you dare do it Zelda."

Zelda rolled her lips together to hide the smile forming and looked back at the paper. She did love that her younger sister was still afraid of her. "Whomever did it, all your little games need to stop. There is to be no more enchantments on Mary. She is.... unwell." Zelda wasn't sure if it was hunger or worry rolling in her stomach, but she felt her body lurch in response to her own words. Lilith hadn't come to her last night.

"What do you mean unwell?" Sabrina asked innocently as she finished her toast and reached for her cell phone.

"Ah Ah- put that dreadful thing down while you're seated at my table," Zelda muttered from behind the paper, then folded it down so she could make eye contact with her family. Perhaps it was nothing to worry about,  but if it was then Sabrina most of all needed to understand the severity. She had already lost Lilith; Zelda hated the thought of her niece losing Mary, too. "Sabrina, my darling girl.... do you remember when you killed Agatha and brought her back? And in your ignorance and negligence hadn't thought that the earth would want a soul to claim?"

Sabrina nodded, understanding dawning on her, "no....  no. Aunt Zee you can't let that happen." Sabrina choked back tears at the thought of losing Ms. Wardwell and it nearly snapped Zelda's heart in two.

"I.... Sabrina now is not the time to worry."

Zelda didn't know what else to say. Now was absolutely the time to worry, but she wouldn't stand for making her niece suffer if that weren't in fact what was happening. Without another word Sabrina excused herself from the table and ran up the stairs, unable to quell her own emotions. The thought of losing another person weighed heavy on her heart. She couldn't do it again.

"I'll go talk to-" Zelda rested a hand on her sister's wrist and sighed.

"I had better take this one," she sighed, feeling a lump form in her own throat. "It's my fault she's so close to her in the first place."

Hilda nodded and gently squeezed her sister's hand, then watched her walk away. How could Lilith have gotten a resurrection wrong? Was that even possible?

Zelda took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself before she knocked on her niece's door. "Hey dandelion," she mumbled as she entered and saw her niece crumpled in the middle of her bed, tears already staining her cheeks. Dandelion had been Sabrina's nickname from Zelda since she'd come to live with them, though Zelda now reserved it for their most intimate moments.

"I'm sorry...." Sabrina cried, a new sob breaking out as she sat up and extended her arms, reaching for her aunt. Zelda rushed to her side and held her tightly, crawling fully onto the bed with her. "I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt her," Sabrina gasped as she wiped her tears on Zelda's shoulder and collarbone.