Strange Magic

Chapter 18

Zelda stood in the middle of the embalming room, her hair tied up in a high ponytail, reading glasses perched on her face, clad in a pair of tight black leggings and a long black t shirt. No one was allowed to see her like this, but she had a long day of embalming and preparing bodies ahead of her. If she was honest, this was her favorite part of the job. There was something therapeutic about spending time with her subjects, lovingly preparing them for their final test. Ambrose did much of the work but when they were overloaded Zelda was the first to step in. Her sister truly couldn't stand the sight of a dead body and Sabrina was still too young to involve herself in the inner workings of the family business.

"Alright, wee one," Zelda muttered as she looked over her instruments on the cold steel tray next to her, a series of scalpels and scissors spread out as if she were set to perform an operation. Zelda took a sip of her tea and set it down, then checked the toe tag. "Oh for fucks sake," she mumbled under her breath and rolled her eyes. Hilda had brought her the wrong body. Again.

"Hiiiiiiiildaaaaaaaaaaaaa," she screamed up the stairs, knowing she wouldn't have to do it twice to get her sister down there. Within moments her little sister appeared at the bottom of the stairs, ringing her hands nervously. Clad in a flannel top and jeans, her short blonde curls perfectly coiffed, the younger woman was a stark contrast to the redhead standing in the middle of the embalming room with her hands on her hips. "Yes sister?" She asked pleasantly.

"Hilda what do you think would happen if tomorrow afternoon at the viewing the Anderson's walked in to tell their mother goodbye and it was Mrs. Walker instead? Do you think they would be pleased?" Zelda spat as she scratched her head with one hand and returned to her tea cup, leaning against the counter behind the body. She motioned down to Mrs. Walker on the table with her head, then rolled her eyes again.

"Honest mistake?" Hilda muttered as she shrugged her shoulders, then began to move Mrs. Walker aside. "Is it, Hilda? Is it an honest mistake? Do you Have Mrs. Walkers arrangement file mistaken for Mrs. Anderson's too? Is the chain of custody confused? Have we filed their personal affects incorrectly? Honestly Hilda you have one job in this mortuary, could you please try to do it correctly?"

"Someone didn't sleep well last night," Hilda groaned as she wheeled Mrs. Walker out of the way, a chill running up her spine as the temperature in the room cooled her down to her bones. How Zelda worked in the embalming room in only a t shirt she would never understand. It was always freezing and her older sister acted like it was a nice, balmy day.

"I slept just fine, thank you, and you can keep your comments to yourself," Zelda snapped as she waited for the new body. That was a lie, but her sister didn't need to know that. She hadn't slept well at all; she had dreamt of Lilith all night long. Strange dreams of Lilith with Eve. Violent dreams of Lilith with the dark lord. Horrible dreams of the sacrifices she would have to make with Mary. Bizarre dreams about who Mary really was. She was utterly exhausted and uncomfortable and wished she had never spent the night with Mary in the first place.

"Alright, alright," Hilda snapped back, "here's your body you old grouch, take your anger out on that." Hilda wheeled the body in front of her sister and sighed, double checking the toe tag and then handing the appropriate forms to her sister. Zelda laughed at the comment and roughly kissed her sister on the side of the head before she, too, moved to double check the toe tag. If anyone outside heard them they'd think they hated one another, but that was simply how Zelda and Hilda communicated. Spending six hundred years with one's sister left a lot of room for bickering.

"Hilda...." Zelda caught her sister's attention as she began to walk away.

"Yes sister?" The younger woman turned, wishing she could just go back to the kitchen to finish what she was baking.