Black Magic Women

95

Hilda's feet hit the stairs heavily, the old wood squeaking underneath her. Her hand was sliding down the railing and her head hung low. The cool wood felt soft in her roughened palm, the many blood and medical potions having taken a toll on her creamy skin. She looked at her hand, finding the many cracks and wrinkles on her skin.

"Probably should put something on there," she murmured to herself.

Her movements were slow and her overall appearance mirrored the turmoil going on inside of her head. Her face was as pale as snow, making the very present dark circles underneath her clouded eyes pop out even more. It had sunken in a bit over the course of the past months and she started to look tired. The usual sparkle her eyes gift a room was long gone and replaced by a dull aching for normalness to grace their lives once again.

The blonde witch didn't find it within her to be her usual bubbly self, much more quiet and reserved. In the middle of her way down the stairs, she stopped. Taking a deep breath, she felt the walls close in on her.

Through this all she had to be the strong one. Without Zelda by her side, she had to pick up the pieces of her family, seeming an impossible task to manage all by herself and all alone in the hallway her facade seemed to crumble and break down to her bare and vulnerable self.

But it was not the time to get lost in her own sorrow and worry. The worst wasn't over and she had to get a grip on herself for the sake of everybody. They could all cry when the Dark Lord was defeated and the family out of harm's way.

She continued her way down the stairs and fell heavy back into her seat after she had rejoined the rest of them in the living room. She almost missed the way Ambrose and Mary seemed to jump apart as soon as she had entered the room.

She almost missed the way Mary turned her face away in a way she always does when she gets flustered or wants to hide something. She almost missed the way the brunette wiped away the fallen tears quickly.

She would have missed all of it if it weren't for Ambrose's loud cough to distract her and move the center of attention away from Mary, despite it never being on Mary.

On a closer look, Hilda saw the red brims around Mary's glassy eyes and the way her gaze was strictly directed at the ground in a weak attempt to hide her face and the obvious signs from Hilda.

A quick glance at Ambrose told her how uncomfortable both of them were, probably having been disturbed during an intimate and very personal moment.

Her curious nature and Mary's alarmingly red eyes made her forget all about what she had come down to tell them about in the first, so she turned to Mary first.

"Have you been crying, my dear?" Hilda asked and tried to get Mary's attention.

"Maybe," Mary said weakly, her voice thin and shaky due to the big lump growing in her throat. She felt Hilda's eyes burning into the side of her face and knew her cover had already been blown so she slowly lifted her head and turned it to the side until her piercing blue orbs met Hilda's.

The sympathy she found in them almost overwhelmed her, making her feel comforted immediately. It all suddenly seemed as if everything would be okay, as if crying wasn't a weakness and she not broken nor bruised.

All of a sudden she realized that Hilda had this way of reassuring people with just one single look and she felt herself wanting to be pulled into her magic. She wanted to feel comforted just as Sabrina did and the sudden impact of how lonely she felt without Zelda by her side hit her harder than anything Adam could have thrown at her.

"Oh, love, why have you been crying?"

There was no answer. Mary simply found herself unable to speak, suddenly feeling awfully silly for crying about something as unimportant as that. She just looked at Hilda, her mouth wide open but no words leaving her mouth.

Ambrose watched Mary's struggle, slowly stroking her back as a matter of encouraging her to tell Hilda what happened herself. He could have easily done it but he didn't, feeling it important to give Mary a shot at it first.

The small gesture didn't go unnoticed by Hilda, who looked at Ambrose lovingly. Whatever happened, that Ambrose seemed to have developed a certain fondness of the brunette was obvious to her. She was relieved that the rest of the family seemed to have accepted her just as much as she had, though Sabrina was still far from liking the current situation.

"I-I can't. I am sorry," Mary said and looked at Ambrose for help, accepting the fact that she wasn't in any state to put her thoughts into words. The burning of her cheeks and embarrassment made her want to run and hide but she felt safe in a weird way.

"I convinced Mary that she is not at fault for what happened here, that she is a valid member and a great addition to this family because she was feeling a bit insecure about what happened," Ambrose decided to put it lightly. There was no need for details.

"Oh, honey. I hope we never made you feel that way because none of this is your fault. We love and treasure you very very much and though the past weeks have been rather challenging, I am sure that once you settle in, we'll be able to show you just how much of a Spellman you are now," Hilda said and took Mary's hands into her own, squeezing them gently.

"I think I know that now," Mary said, sending Ambrose a glance that seemed to say it all.

Now that it all seemed resolved, the reason why Hilda had come down popped back into her head, putting a bright smile onto her face.

"Now that this is settled... I think there is someone waiting for you impatiently."

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Sorry this might seem repetitive to last chapter but I needed to include it. I promise things will change up from next chapter on ;)