#this idea came to me when i was watching a trio of hummingbirds and i went 'hehe bird trine' and rhen i went 'harpy starscream'?

[the-enby-bird]

I have the world's stupidest idea for a silly fantasy/slice of life au where the entire cybertronian civil war is just Optimus and Megatron fighting over who has the better garden and everyone else in the war is just a bunch of pixies/animals/bugs who are very passionate that their guy has the better garden

[mischiefandspirits]

Doppelgänger (5/?)

Previously on Doppelgänger ~ Masterlist ~ Next time on Doppelgänger

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were just 14 when they took a look inside the portal Danny’s parents had built. From there, everything changed. They woke up with white hair, green skin, and powers they could learn to control. They were hybrids, halfas.

They were the hero Doppelgänger.

{Fright Night}

“So a trio of ghosts need to create a haunted house room,” Danny said, smirking at his partners as he dropped down on his bed.

“Think we could just stick Audrey II in there and call it a day?” Tucker asked and sat backwards on the desk chair.

Sam shrugged and sat next to Danny so she could put his head in her lap. “If I stopped pruning her, she should be big enough to give someone a scare by then. I don’t think just one thing will cut it though.”

“We could bring in some more plants for you to move around and have it be a haunted jungle,” Tucker said.

“Oh, so Danny makes a stupid bet and I have to do all the work.”

“Hey, I’m the one who gave Twoey sentience and unless you force her with your powers, she only listens to me. I think that counts for something,” Danny pointed out.

“You know, what is it with you and the non-sapient ghosts and ecto-beings?” Tucker asked. “Twoey, Cujo, those will-o'-wisp blob things that follow you around when we’re in the zone. You’d think Sam would be the one they're attracted to with her nature thing.”

Danny hummed and pressed into Sam’s hand so she’d start carding her fingers through his hair. “Well, like I said, I brought Twoey to life, so maybe she imprinted on me. And Cujo might just be able to sense that you guys hate dogs.”

“We don’t hate dogs. They're just loud and annoying,” Sam said.

“And Cujo is literally as demonic as his namesake,” Tucker added.

“He’s a good boy and this is why he doesn’t like you.”

“He trashed a lab for a toy!” Tucker said.

“And they put him down. Fair's fair.”

“Can’t disagree with you there,” Sam said with narrowed eyes. She’d launched quite the internet scandal when she’d dug up why, exactly, the old kennels she’d found the toy in were abandoned. “Back to the matter at hand though, you still haven’t explained the blobs.”

Danny blushed. “I, uh, might feed them chips sometimes when they show up while I’m cleaning the lab.”

There was a moment of silence before both his partners started snickering.

“Don’t feed the wildlife, Danny,” Sam said mockingly.

“All this time, they’ve been the ghost equivalent of pigeons.”

“Not pigeons! They're actually really sweet. Like… hummingbirds!”

“Sure, dude.”

“Whatever you say, Danny.”

“Can we just get back on topic? Sam, you’re goth, shouldn’t that make you our resident creepy person. What would go good with a living jungle and a literal man-eating plant?”

Sam patted his cheek condescendingly, but leaned back to plot. “I had something else planned, but if you guys insist on the jungle idea…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This has to beat whatever Dash has,” Danny said as the trio looked over the room.

Audrey II’s pot had been attached to the ceiling so her stalks could hang down, dripping -- thankfully only harmful to ectoplasm -- acid. Once the haunted house was open, she’d been instructed to snap at anyone who came near. She luckily didn’t like the taste of humans so there wasn’t any worry about her going overboard.

Sam had brought in some crawling vines and tropical plants to cover the walls and floor so she could have them tug at or trip people as they moved through the room and make it harder for people to find their way through.

Danny’s herd of blobs were drifting around the makeshift jungle, making soft lights flicker through the semi-darkness.

Tucker had set up electric field generators to give the room an eerie feeling.

The pièce de résistance, however…

“Did you get it set up?” Sam asked.

“Try it out,” Danny said.

The boys watched as she walked over to an archway on one side of the room. She walked through it, only to come out an archway on the opposite side a second later.

“Yes!” Tucker cheered, high-fiving Danny. “Thank you, Space Fold!”

Sam tested out all the other archways to be sure they had a similar effect then came over to join the boys. “Congratulations, you’ve built a cartoon hallway.”

“You’re just mad you didn’t think of it,” Danny said and she ruffled his hair.

“Well, my work here is done. Now if you’ll excuse me,” Tucker grabbed the empty pumpkin-shaped candy bucket waiting by the door, “I’m a little late to start scamming some free candy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny flinched when Sam pinched him for squirming.

“I’m almost done, you big baby.”

“Sorry if I’m a little creeped out by you sticking sharp things very close to my eyes.”

“Just be glad you don’t need contacts. There, perfect.”

Danny smiled when Sam held up a mirror. His hair was covered by a long, braided black wig that a crown of thorns sat atop. His face had been given a slight green tint while his lips were a deep forest. His smile showed off fangs that were just as long and sharp as their ghost form’s and prosthetic ears gave him the same points. Dark makeup made his eyes look sunken, which highlighted his eyes when he let the red of his ghost form glow through. His hands had been given claw-like fake nails before being dipped into blood-red paint while he’d been dressed in black and dark green princely clothes. It all came together to make him look like a ghastly elfin prince.

He stood up and turned to Sam. “Thanks, Sam. This is great.”

She frowned and shook her head. “No, more brooding.”

“I really don-”

She pointed a finger in his face. “You wanted my help. This is me helping. More brooding. Imagine all the light draining from your soul.”

Danny pushed her hand away. “You’re just using this as an excuse to make me goth for a night.”

“Only for a night, but yeah. It’s a good look on you. Now brood or I’ll leave and you can do without my plants.”

Danny rolled his eyes, then tried to channel his angstiest self.

Christmas Danny.

Sam blinked at his scowl. “Wow, I didn’t think you could even get that dark. You’re usually our resident prep.”

Jingle Bells. Gingerbread. SANTA.

Danny shoved it all down, but the scowl only lessened slightly. “That’s because your family always goes away for the holidays.”

Sam looked confused, but didn’t get a chance to ask before they heard footsteps approaching. She transformed, saying, “Showtime. Maybe lose the anger a little.”

“I’ll try.”

She disappeared and all the plants except Audrey II started to sway and glow slightly. They seemed to thicken, making it impossible to see more than a few feet into the room.

Danny shooed the flytrap’s stalks up towards the roof. “Alright, Twoey, just like we practiced. Remember, be a good girl and you get a nice big bottle of ectoplasm as a treat.”

One of the lobes nuzzled him then they all retreated into the darkness Tucker had carefully maneuvered the lights to create on the ceiling.

“This is why she likes us. We spoil her,” a voice whispered in his ear.

“I don’t… I only spoil her a little.”

Sam chuckled and he felt her drift off.

“Mr. Fenton, it��s time,” William Lancer said as he arrived at the door to the room Daniel had taken. It was painted with toxic green glowing runes and vines as well as the words, The Kingdom of Thorns.

The door creaked open slowly to reveal Daniel standing a few feet away.

Automatic door, nice touch, William noted. The boy was also in a more elaborate costume than Dashiell’s. His contacts were actually a bit disconcerting with how the light made them appear to glow. It wasn’t helped either that the normally cheerful, if downtrodden, boy had on a scowl that looked rather resentful and fell.

The boy gave a graceful bow. In an empty voice, he announced, “Welcome. May your stay be eternal.”

A shiver went up William’s spine. The boy’s voice sounded off. Echoey-perhaps, except it didn’t sound like Daniel’s voice echoing back. More like multiple someones were whispering his words alongside him. Some sort of speaker setup, maybe? But the teacher swore the voices were coming from Daniel.

Pushing down the emotions, William pointed to the door. “I hope that’s not permanent.”

“What?” The eerie expression and voice were gone in a blink. “Oh, yes. I mean no, it’s not permanent. It’s just a little ectoplasm from my parent’s lab. I have the dissolving agent.”

That… was not as comforting as Daniel seemed to think it should be. “Is that safe?”

“Yeah, sure. Pure ectoplasm is harmless to humans in small doses. You could eat the amount on there and still be perfectly fine. It’s the charged stuff that’s dangerous.”

Still not as comforting as the boy’s smile made it out to be. “Right. Shall we begin?”

Daniel gave a toothy -- fangy? -- grin and stepped to the side, gesturing William forward.

The door slammed closed once the teacher started walking, not close enough to hit, but enough that he could feel the breeze of it passing on the back of his neck. He glanced back and was surprised to see vines covering the door. He made note of it.

“You’re free to roam, but I would stick to the path,” Daniel said as William passed him, his show voice back on and just as creepy as the first time. “And I wouldn’t recommend eating anything. Or being eaten.”

William glanced back, only to see the boy was gone. But he had just heard him right behind him.

He shook his head and continued forward.

So far the room itself didn’t look particularly scary. It mostly looked like a poorly lit and abandoned greenhouse without the glass walls and ceiling. Though there was the odd lights flying about, like fireflies the size of softballs. The plants almost seemed to be moving as well, like in the wind though William couldn’t feel anything, and he swore they were glowing a bit. Some sort of paint?

“You didn’t put anything harmful on these plants, right?”

“Of course not,” whispered something in his ear and he jerked away. He looked around, but couldn’t see anything.

“No, they’re Sam’s. She’d kill me if I hurt her plants,” came Daniel’s normal voice from somewhere across the room.

“G-Good.”

“Are you alright, Mr. Lancer? You’re not lost are you?”

“No, Mr. Fenton.” He shook himself. He must have been hearing things. He took a step forward and immediately felt like he’d stepped into something, or through something. He rubbed his arms as goosebumps began to crawl up them. He made a note and quickly moved on.

After a few moments more of the random goosebumps and the feeling of vines or leaves brushing him despite being sure he wasn’t getting close to any of the plants, he reached an archway. The teacher frowned and he pulled aside the curtain to look in. He swore the passage was supposed to lead directly into the next room, but instead he found a short hallway. It appeared to be a pitch-black void littered in stars that went on forever, but directly ahead, perhaps two feet in, was another doorway with a curtain. Some sort of mirror trick?

He made another note and walked carefully through the hall. Perhaps it was the star pattern, but he almost felt weightless as he passed through. He pulled the curtain aside… and found himself in the room he’d started in? But that was impossible! And yet, the windows were on the archway’s left, just as they had been for the arch he’d come from. The chandelier hanging above, original to the house though Daniel had wrapped it in vines, was also the same one that had been in the previous room. He must have curved around, except he was sure he’d gone in a straight line.

“Something wrong, Mr. Lancer?”

The teacher jumped and spun around to find Daniel standing right next to him, staring up at him through half-lidded eyes. His head was tilted almost unnaturally to the side and he was giving his usual smile, though the sharp fangs made it feel like he was baring his teeth instead. Some of the flying lights were perched on his crown, but their shapes were indistinct which made it appear the crown was alight with swirling green flames.

“Just-just taking in your creativity, Mr. Fenton. I wish you would put such effort into your schoolwork.”

His grin grew and his eyes glowed brighter. “What can I say, I guess I have an affinity for all things ghostly and dead.” He turned on his heel and disappeared into the foliage. “I’ll leave you to it.”

If William was shaking as he moved through the room, there was no one around to tell. He kept a careful eye out, but even still it felt like more plants were brushing against him and he was in a constant state of goosebumps. Then, just as he reached the center of the room, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

He shrieked and spun around, dropping his clipboard in the process. There was no one there. He looked all around him, but couldn’t find any sign of a person.

Something creaked above him.

He slowly looked up and saw something moving in the shadows, multiple long necks and wide heads with gaping maws.

“Mr. Lancer?”

“The Iliad and the Odyssey!” William shouted, looking down to see Daniel standing right in front of him, looking worried.

Aside from his glowing crown, none of his showman’s grace was on him anymore. Not even in his voice as he glanced down and said, “Oh, you dropped your stuff.”

William’s eyes widened as he spotted the three long stalks that had lowered down from the ceiling, each carrying the heads of a horror-movie approximation of a venus flytrap. The flat lobes were all around a foot long and would have looked normal, if not huge, except for the toxic green acid dripping from their centers.

At the same time that Daniel leaned down, one of them shot forward to strike like a snake, its jaws closing around the space his head had been not a moment before. They all darted back to the ceiling as Daniel stood up, appearing his normal awkward and helpful self.

He held out William’s pen and clipboard. “Here you go.”

The teacher’s hands were shaking as he took his things from his student.

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, I guess we might have gone a little overboard. Was it the halls? I can take those out.”

Something grabbed William’s ankle. “No! No, it was wonderful. Leave it as is. I just remembered I have somewhere to be.”

“So… does that mean…”

“Yes, Mr. Fenton. You win. Now how do I get out of here?”

Daniel pointed to the side.

There was a straight path to the door that most definitely had not been there before.

William shook the vine off his leg and walked quickly out of the open door.

Danny threw his hands up and cheered as soon as the door shut behind Lancer. He turned and gave Sam a high-five. “That was great! He didn’t even stay long enough to see Twoey in action.”

“We’re an oblivious idiot,” she said as she turned visible.

“What do you mean?”

She plucked off one of the blob ghosts nuzzling his head and shook her own. “Nevermind. Come on, we’ve got a few new ideas from that test run.”

“Cool.”

“By the way, that line about eating ectoplasm. We haven’t actually done that, right?”

“Well, not on purpose, but you’ve seen my house. Sometimes a bit of ectoplasm ends up in the food.”

“We’re never eating at our house again.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I never let you guys stay for dinner when my parents or I cook and Jazz sterilizes everything so she never gets ectoplasm in anything.”

“Never again.”

“And besides, we’re ghosts now. Ghost food is made of ecto-”

Sam put her hand over his mouth. “Never.”

He nodded. Once she’d removed her hand and floated off, he muttered, “It’s not even bad as long as the food doesn’t come to life. Just kind of citrusy.”

“We’re going to throw up!”

[lynelovespopculture]

THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF ZELDA: CHAPTER 7-HILDA’S WEDDING I personally dedicate this chapter to my good friend @missxzeldaspellman, who beautiful piece of art based on my final scene so made me up my game! If she enjoyed this part only half as much I love that drawing, all the hard work will be well worth it!!! 😘💖😘 PLEASE REMEMBER TO  COMMENT AND REBLOG!!!

 CHAPTER 7-HILDA’S WEDDING

“Oh, it’s going so well! Don’t you think it’s going well? I think it’s going well.”

 Zelda rolled her eyes. If she hadn’t seen the pagans defeated with her own 2 eyes, she would swear they were back and had this time turned Hilda into a hummingbird. Zelda drew in a breath before she said.

 “Yes, Hilda, it is going well. Granted, we just had cocktails and still have a whole dinner to get through so you please calm down, sister!”

 It was a Friday evening and the reason Hilda was so nervous and on edge was because some of her fiancée’s family, namely his two brothers and their wives had arrived in Greendale yesterday for Christmas and the upcoming wedding and tonight, they all came to dinner at the Spellman house. Although this whole dinner had been her own idea, Hilda had been a nervous wreck all day and apparently still was, as Zelda watched her sister run around the kitchen trying to put finishing touches on all the food while Zelda sat calmly at the island focusing on a single dish.

  “Okay, it looks like we’re ready to serve the 1st course.” Hilda smiled.

“Finally,” muttered Zelda “Let’s get this show on the road,” She slipped off the stool, picked up her tray of food and was about to leave the kitchen when

“Zelda!”  Hilda called out, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Zelda turned back an eyebrow raised. “What?”

“You’re still smoking.”

The older sister glanced at her cigarette in its holder on her finger. “Yeah, so?”

“Mortals frown at smoking, especially during pregnancy and you are showing very much these days, sister.”

“But I’m not mortal.”

“I know you’re not-“ Hilda closed her eyes, let out a breath, and tried again.  “We’re not mortals, but as I’ll already explain it to you, 3 times today alone, Dr. C’s relatives are so will you please put that out? Hecate, Zelda! Why have you been so snippy today?”

Rather than answer her sister, Zelda stepped past her, laid the food tray on the island once again, and put out her cigarette in a nearby ashtray and placed the holder down before turning back to Hilda. “There. Better?”

Hilda shoved the forgotten food dish in her sister’s arms, “There, perfect.” Hilda grabbed her own dish and the 2 sisters journeyed into the dining room where Dr. C and the others were chatting. There were the 2 brothers, Sam and Mike and their wives, Rose and Sara. So far, the Cerberus family outnumbered the Spellmans which only consisted of the 2 sisters. Ambrose and Sabrina left while the getting was good, a part of  Zelda envied the children’s getaway and Faustus, well,  he said he would be there for the family dinner, but it didn’t exactly take a genius or a fortune teller to tell that this would be a hard day for Faustus, no matter what he did or where he went. Like the loving and supportive wife Zelda thought she could never be but somehow had become, she made plans, handed over her classes and made sure her other duties were taken care of so she could spend the whole day with Faustus. Yet when Zelda woke up this morning, her husband was already gone; not only from their bed or from their room but from the house. Zelda told herself not to worry. After all, if she was Faustus, she would need some alone time too, today of all days. When there was still no sign of him an hour after breakfast, Zelda decided to go to work after all. Work proved a good distraction so many times before and it did today, up to a point. It was about noon that the worry Zelda told herself not to content with, started to creep up in. Prudence casually saying that she hadn’t seen her father at all today. That didn’t help matters. Zelda placed several calls to the house throughout the afternoon.  Either Faustus wasn’t home or didn’t care to pick up the phone. After school, Prudence joined her in the church when they met up to pray for the twins’ safe return. There, in the stillness, Zelda studied her stepdaughter. 2 years ago, Zelda could barely tell who was who in the trio known as the weird sisters. Now it was overwhelming how much love and pride Zelda felt for the strong outgoing young woman that reminded Zelda so much of herself at her age.  As soon as she stepped out of the church a student approached with a message from Hilda, who wanted her home right away. Zelda returned home to see her sister whipping herself into a frenzy. Zelda could barely get a word in, let alone explain what day today was and that Faustus was MIA. Someone’s laugh bought Zelda back to reality.

“You 2 plan to be married on New Year’s Day and you’re going to do it outside, in the woods? Why?” asked 1 of the brothers who’s name escaped Zelda at the moment.

 “I told you, Sam,” Dr. C answered “Hilda and her family are of a different faith than ours. We want to have the wedding on neutral ground. Plus, the Greendale woods have their own natural beauty.”

“Plus, we plan to decorate, dress it up a bit more.” Added Hilda.

 “What about the reception?” Asked Mike, Dr. C’s other brother. “Do you get a hall or something?”

“No,” said Dr. C, “We’re going to have to have the reception right here.”

 Rose, Sam’s wife looked horrified. “Here?! But this is a funeral home.”

Zelda immediately felt insulted.  “Excuse me, this is our family home!”

“Yes, it is and we had lots of lovely parties here, you’ll see.” Hilda got up to clear the table before laying out the main course, and Dr. C got up to help her. Hilda was able to whisper into her sister’s ear. 

“Please Zelda, just calm down and behave!”

Zelda was about to answer her sister when she felt her baby kick within her. Instantly, Zelda forgot her sister, looked down, smiled, and placed a hand on top of her swollen middle.

 “So, how far along in your pregnancy?” Sara, Dr. C’s other sister-in-law asked Zelda, edger as Hilda was to change the subject.

“Oh, I’m 10-“ Zelda caught herself before she said months because a mortal pregnancy is 9 months rather than a witches’ 13. “I’m 10 days in my 8th month,” Zelda said.

 “Nice save,” Dr. C whispered as he grabbed Zelda’s plate. As Hilda and Dr. C went into the kitchen and Zelda found herself alone with 4 mortals. What came next was the same boring small talk Zelda had come to expect while dining with mortals. Yes, she and Hilda were truly sisters. No, no one was adopted or was a half-sibling. Zelda could’ve sworn she had this exact conversation with Diana’s family. Thank Hecate it wasn’t too long before Hilda emerged from the kitchen, bearing a wonderfully cooked turkey in her arms, Dr. C was right behind her, carrying side dishes.

They were in the middle of the main course when the front door opened and closed. Zelda only had to turn a little in her seat to see that her husband was finally home, Zelda couldn’t help but smile.

“Faustus!”

For some reason, Faustus was filthy, covered head to toe with mud and dirt. “I apologize, the time got away from me but I didn’t forget about dinner, I just need a moment to clean up.” With that, Faustus disappeared upstairs. However, it was 10 minutes before Faustus slid into the chair next to Zelda.

“I’m sorry I took so long. It takes me forever to do anything now that I don’t have magic-um, magic soap. I hate when they discontinue things.” Faustus laughed nervously.

 A confused Sam looked over to Dr. C. “I thought you said the brother was dead.”

Rose, his wife, gasped in shock. “Sam! You can’t just say things like that!” Rose scolded

“Sorry,” Sam muttered.

 Hilda smiled. “It okay! It’s true that Zelda and I have a brother who died 16 years ago. His name is Edward.”

 “That’s right,” Added Dr. C. “But this is Faustus” when his family still had no reaction, Dr. C tried again.  “Blackwood? Come on, guys, I told you about him. He saved me when the store was robbed.” Dr. C finally got the reaction he was waiting for.

 Mike pointed at Faustus and Zelda with his fork. “So, you 2 together?” 

Faustus gave a tender look at his wife before answering. “Yes, very much so,” He said while Zelda nodded.

“Oh? How did you guys meet?” asked Mike’s wife, Sara.

“We were 16. It was our first day at the academy,” replied Zelda.

 You’re high school sweethearts?”

 Zelda smiled. “You could say that.”

 Sam laughed.  “Well, who knows? With Robert and Hilda getting hitched, maybe wedding bells can ring a 2nd time.” 

 “Oh no, you misunderstand. Zelda and I already got married last year.” Faustus explained.

 “You can’t be all that serious about marriage, neither of you is wearing a ring,” muttered Sam.

The table fell silent. Apparently, there was no easy way to tell Hilda’s future mortal in-laws that those slivery wedding bands were painful reminders of their first few weeks of marriage. A time when Faustus and Zelda were both suffering under awful bewitchments. So together, not long after destroying the music box, they agreed to get rid of the rings and gave them to Ambrose to smite them. So far, there was no talk of replacing them.

 Dr. C was desperate to change the subject. “So, Mike, how are the kids?”

 “Pretty good,” Mike responded. “though Sara and I try not to think too hard about them getting down here once school lets out.  Can you imagine? Only 1 licensed driver, that small car and 4 kids?”

Inwardly, Zelda flinched. Did the mortal really have to pick right now to mention 4 children? It took a moment for Zelda to gather the courage to look beside her. When she did, it only confirmed what she already knew. That Faustus stiffened in his seat.

 “I’m really sorry. I thought I could do this but I just can’t. Sorry again, Dr. C, Hilda, please excuse me.” Faustus got up and left out the front door. With only an ‘I’m sorry’ glance at her sister, Zelda followed her husband out to the porch, pausing only to grab a jacket on the way out.

Hilda laughed nervously at her remaining guests. “Desert, anyone?”

 Outside in the cold night air, Faustus could feel hot tears forming in his eyes. “That mortal doesn’t know lucky he is! I would give anything to know where all my children are!” He muttered to himself. Faustus wasn’t aware of Zelda’s presence until he felt her putting his coat around his shoulders.

 He turned to her.  “I’m sorry I ran off like that.”

“Don’t be, it was a boring dinner party.”

 “I’m also sorry that I didn’t leave a note for you this morning. I was across town before I remembered.”

 “That’s alright.”

Faustus gave his wife a half-smile. “You’re being pretty understanding with me today. You remember, don’t you? You know what day today is.”

 “That it’s the twins’ birthday? Of course, I remembered!”

Faustus felt his wife shiver in the cold so he led Zelda to the bench, sat beside her, and put the coat over both of them. Then he put an arm around Zelda.

 “I knew that you would never forget the twins’ birthday! After all, apart from their DNA, they’re as much your children as they are mine.”

 Zelda looked at him. “Do you really feel that way, Faustus? Truly?”

“I do, truly.” Faustus smiled at the wife he so adored.

Rather than give in to tears, Zelda sighed and put her head on Faustus’s shoulder. Faustus kissed her brow while she said, “I can’t believe the twins are already 1.”

Faustus looked up sharply. “1? You keep on forgetting they were raised in that damn time loop. Zelda, it’s their 16th birthday and you know how important this day or rather, this night is to our people.”

“It’s their dark baptism,” Zelda whispered.

“Exactly and I can’t stand that the twins, our twins, are with him!  Especially tonight, the night of their dark baptism. I’m so afraid that damn curse will go ahead with his stupid plan!”

“What plan?”

“This curse seems to be an extreme version of me and sometimes I do think the old ways are best but he-it-takes it too far. You see, centuries ago, Blackwoods would wed brother to sister to keep bloodlines pure.”

 Zelda’s eyes widened as the true horror dawned on her. “Faustus, no!”

 “We can only pray to Hecate that something happens. Like the curse changes its mind, or perhaps the twins will object and refuse to go through with it.”

 Zelda didn’t know what to say in order to comfort him, so she just snuggled closer to her husband. For a few moments, they sat in comfortable silence. Then Zelda felt Faustus’s hand on her middle.

 “Say, what do you think we find a spell that will keep our child right where he or she is, safe and warm forever.”

Despite herself, Zelda laughed out loud. “Darling, when this baby is 16 and out of control, you have my permission to bring up this conversation but until then, my body can’t do any more than the 3 months remaining in this pregnancy.”

 Faustus smiled. “Just a thought.”

“So, what did you do all day?” Zelda asked casually.

 “Well, in an effort to locate the children I spent the whole morning trying to find my own ‘twin’. Then I spent a lot of the public library, researching.”

 “Researching? Researching what? I mean, what could possibly be of any use to you at the public library?”

 “Dearest, this is Greendale, the spell books are everywhere if you know where to look. I was researching a couple of things, mostly pagans.”

 Zelda was beyond confused. “Why are you reading about pagans?”

 Faustus got up and sighed. “I was unsuccessful in finding my middle children today but maybe I can still give my firstborn her sister back.”

 Zelda immediately understood what he was saying. “Agatha? Have you found a cure for her madness?”

 “No, not a cure exactly, not yet. More like a lead.”

 Zelda was entranced. “Go on.”

 “I found an old book about local pagans way down in the library archives. In the back of this book was a map for some sort of wooden puzzle box that according to legend can cure any witch of any insanity bought on by a pagan. I immediately knew that it was a map of the Greendale woods!”

 “Is that why you were so dirty when you came home?” Asked Zelda.

 “Exactly! I think I got carried away and left big holes in the woods. I just kept thinking about Prudence and how happy this would make her and I kept digging and digging until I lost the light. I didn’t find anything but if it’s out there I will find it.”

 Zelda said nothing but just smiled as she got up, put her arms around Faustus’s neck, and kissed him. “I love you and I’m so proud that you’ve come so far in so short of time.”

 The husband and wife kissed again but the moment was interpreted by Dr. C and his family who came out the door.

 “We’re going now,” Dr. C told them as the brothers and their wives went to the car. “Zelda, can I have word with you please?”

 “Sure”

They walked a few steps before Dr. C explained. “I need a favor from you. You see, I need your help to plan a surprise for Hilda.”

  Meanwhile, Faustus went inside and turned into the kitchen where Hilda was wrapping up food.

 “I’m sorry I ran off during dinner like that.”

 “Don’t worry about it.”

Faustus smiled. “I wanted to talk to you, Hilda. I need a favor from you. You see, I need your help to plan a surprise for Zelda."

  “What are you looking at, dearest?”

 Zelda was sitting up in bed when she saw Faustus coming to take his place in bed beside her. “Oh, nothing,” Zelda dismissed, “It’s just a picture of me and Letitia, er, I mean Judith that Sabrina took last Yule.”

 Faustus shook his head. “I think you were right the 1st time. I think her true name is and always will be Letitia.  I mean, you’ve been her mother since the very beginning.”

“That’s just a nice way to say that I stole your daughter.”

 Faustus laughed. “I preferred to think of it of saving her from the curse without even realizing it. By the way, where did you get that photo?”

 “Oh, I always keep this in my nightstand.”

 Faustus’s smile only grew wider. “Really? Then great minds think alike.” Faustus turned and got something out of his own nightstand and then placed another photo in Zelda’s hands. “I believe that this picture of you and Judas was taken after we got engaged.”

Smiling, Zelda nodded. “I remember.” Zelda then took one photo each in 1 hand and moved her knees to lay both pictures down side by side on the bed. “You know, it’s just too tempting” Zelda touched both photos, spelling them into 1. Now, it looked like Zelda held both babes in a single pic. “But that’s too easy,” Zelda frowned as she turned 1 back into 2 again. “We need to be realistic about this.”  Zelda offered her hand and Faustus took it in his.  Zelda closed her eyes and started to pray. “We pray to our dark mother, Hecate, and to Hera, the mother of all mothers, to watch over these babes, our children until they’re safely back in our arms.” After the photos were laid aside, and she laid in Faustus’s arms in the dark when she said, “They’re going to come home, Faustus, I know it. Soon, this house will be packed with children.”

 If Zelda needed a distraction to keep her mind off the twins, there were a lot of distractions for her to choose from. On top of preparing for Hilda’s wedding, the Yule season was fast approaching so Zelda was needed everywhere. At the school, at church, and at home. On top of all her duties, Zelda still managed to work on Hilda’s surprise, even if she had to depend on Sabrina and Ambrose to teach her the technology. The very busy high priestess even found time to steal away for an afternoon to go up to the mountains to visit Gryla. Over a brand new never been opened bottle of gin, Zelda explained the insanity curse and Gryla said she would keep an eye out for the twins.

 Before Zelda even knew it, it was December 23, the start of the winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night. It was also when the Spellmans gathered together to exchange gifts. Sabrina gave Zelda ‘the book of Hecate’. It was so infamously banned by the dark lord that Zelda was shocked that it was in her hands. She tried to keep her reaction reasonable, for Sabrina’s sake. Zelda gave her husband a silver pocket watch. Faustus gave his wife a golden charm bracelet with one 1 tiny charm on it in the shape of a baby carriage.

 “Open it,” Faustus suggested excitedly.

 Zelda did so and on the left side of the tiny charm/locket was a picture Zelda had never seen before. It was of Prudence and both twins as infants. “Faustus, it’s beautiful. But when was it taken? You don’t have the magic to spell pictures and Prudence had such a short time with Letitia and Judas when they were babies.”

 Faustus laughed. “I can’t get anything past you can’t I, Zelda? It’s true no one posed for this picture and no, I didn’t spell it. Instead, Ambrose taught me some new kind of magic on the computer. He called it photoshop. Anyway, I put the children all on the left side and the right side empty so we could put a picture of the baby in it once he or she is born. That way” 

“I will have all my children all in 1 charm.” Zelda nodded while finishing her husband’s thought.

“And I promise to give you another charm every year until that bracelet is full.”

Zelda smiled. “I love it and I love you,” she smiled and kissed him.

 After a relaxing solstice, Zelda went back to her busy schedule.  The Academy was still in the semi-holiday mode so Zelda focused on helping Hilda, whose wedding was less than a week away. On December 30th, Dr. C closed the bookstore so he and Hilda could host a unisex bridal shower. They had party favors, unwrapping of gifts, and something called a cake pulling.  A cake pulling is where there are little blue ribbons and all the guests pick a ribbon and pull out a charm that had been baked into the cake. The charm you pulled predicts the future. The next day, New Year’s Eve, was spent in the woods. Setting up for the wedding the next day. A white runner was tapped down to mark the aisle, fold-out chairs were arranged. The 2 trees that Dr. C and Hilda were going to be married under was all decked out with pink streamers were wrapped around the trunks and fairy lights in the branches. Zelda found the streamers a little tacky, but since it was Hilda’s wedding tomorrow, she held her tongue.

  “Well, do you ladies need or want anything else before Ambrose and I head out?” Faustus asked as he was dropping off a bottle of champagne in Hilda and Zelda’s old room. It was New Year’s Eve but even more importantly, it was the night before Hilda’s wedding. Dr. C was hosting a little boys’ night at the bookstore. Now that a bride didn’t have to wait for the dark lord on her wedding eve, Hilda took Sabrina up on her suggestion for all girls’ movie night. Sabrina was downstairs right now, making popcorn.

“Actually, Father, um, Faustus, I’ve been meaning to talk to you all week, but I’ve been so busy,” Hilda explained. “Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you will do me the honor of giving me away?

Faustus’s eyes widened. “Me? You want me to walk you down the aisle?”

 “Well, my father and Edward are dead. You are the most senior male member of this family now. Of course, if you rather not, I’m sure Ambrose”

 “No, no I’d love too,” Faustus smiled. “Do you really consider me part of the family? Now I feel bad about the shower.”

Hilda frowned. “What about the shower?”

Faustus reddened. “Nothing, it’s silly. It’s the cake pulling. I was grumpy because I got the heart charm. According to the meaning list you gave us, the heart means I’ll meet and fall in love with someone new.”

Hilda smiled and shook her head. “But the heart token has a double meaning. If you’re single, it means you’ll meet someone new. If you have a partner and you have the heart, it means that your partner is your true love.

“I don’t care if you made that up or not, I’ll take it!” Faustus kissed Zelda goodbye and left.

 “I’m not making anything up!” Hilda called out after him.  “Gosh, the cake pulling was a big hit with Dr. C’s family. What did you think of it, Zelda?”

 Zelda looked up from where she was giving the dresses a once over with a lint brush. “Oh, I don’t believe that a cake can predict the future.”

“That’s just Zelda-speak for I didn’t like my token either!”

Zelda sighed. “Okay, you got me. I got the engagement ring which means that I’m the next to be married but that’s impossible because I’m already married, the last 2 months, quite happily.”

  Hilda frowned. “Well, maybe Sabrina liked her token.” Then Hilda saw her sister smirk. “What? What token did Sabrina get?”

 Zelda bit her lip as if to keep from laughing. “The thimble.”

 Hilda’s jaw dropped. “No!” Both sisters knew exactly what the thimble meant. “The old maid!” The sisters laughed together.

 They were still laughing when Sabrina came in with the popcorn and the all-girls movie night began for Hilda, Zelda, and Sabrina. They had invited Prudence to join them but it was her night to do bed check at the Academy. So, the line-up tonight was films like Beaches, Pretty Woman, and 27 Dresses. These were girlish dramas and romcoms that Hilda and Sabrina loved. Zelda didn’t but once again she held her tongue. It didn’t even matter because Zelda fell asleep half-way through the 1st movie.

“Should we wake her up?” Asked Sabrina.

Hilda shook her head. “No.  Let her sleep. I think this is the 1st time your poor aunt Zelda had been asleep before 10 in over a month.” So, they put a quick silence spell around Zelda and returned to the movie.

 Hilda didn’t like the idea of getting married in white or black.  So, she looked around until she found a material she liked in soft peach. Hilda sewed herself a wonderful looking peach wedding dress of cotton and a little lace. She also had heels, a straw hat, and a short fur coat, all dyed to match and they were all Yule gifts from Zelda. Zelda, the maid of dishonor and the bridesmaid, Sabrina, were both dressed in royal purple. The dresses, which Hilda also made herself, was slim and form-fitting, except Zelda, had a built-in elastic waist to support her baby bump.  Hilda and Dr. C chose to have a night ceremony, which served them well, as the fairy lights and dozen of candles used looked wonderful against the glimmering snow. The precession began; Sabrina went first, followed by Zelda, and then Hilda took the arm that a smiling Faustus offered her.

“You look wonderful,” Faustus said to Hilda they began their walk together.

 Dr. C winked at his bride as she came closer to him. Faustus and Dr. C nodded to each other as Faustus handed over the bride. Side by side, Dr. C and Hilda smiled adorably at each other. Still, something was missing.

“Where is the justice of the peace?” Hilda whispered to her groom.

Dr. C smiled, “I canceled him so that I could do this,” Dr. C turned to address the crowd.  “Hello, friends and family. Hilda and I would like to welcome all of you to our wedding! But before we get started, I have a surprise for my bride. As most of you know, Hilda and I are from different faiths.  What most of you don’t know, not even Hilda is that we have 2 ministers of each faith in our own families. Per my request, they’ve been working together via skype on a joint ceremony to marry Hilda and me here tonight. Please welcome my cousin, Brian, and Hilda’s sister, Zelda.”

 As the crowd clapped, Zelda drew a nervous breath, handed Hilda’s bouquet of daisies to Sabrina, and then took her place beside Brian.

 “Okay, this is my 1st joint wedding, so bear with me.” Explained Brian.

 The crowd laughed.

 “This is my 1st wedding ever, so bear with me too.” Explained Zelda.

 The crowd laughed even harder.

 Brian then got serious.  “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to bear witness and celebrate the marriage of Robert and Hilda. Marriage will always be a symbol of God’s perfect love for his people but in these modern times, with marriages become more and more unsuccessful or sometimes skipped altogether, why do people still marry? People marry because it’s the strongest way to say to your partner and the world that ‘I choose this person before anyone else in the world.’ When 2 people enter into wedlock, it’s a true union of mind to mind, heart, to heart and soul to soul.”

 As Brian delivered his address, Faustus and Zelda kept stealing glances at each other. He winked at her and she smiled deeply at him, blushing. Then, it was Zelda’s turn to speak.

 “For millions and millions of years, the goddess Hecate has presented herself as the 3 in 1. Those 3 are the maiden, the mother, and the crone. Yet before she could become a mother, she became a wife when she wedded the god Aeete and bore his children. To honor their union, we have been marrying in Hecate’s name ever since.”

 “Do you, Hildegard Antionette Spellman, take this man, Robert David Cerberus, to be your legally wedded husband? Do you promise to love him, honor him and comfort him, for better or worse, in sickness or health, for richer or poorer and will you keep yourself only on to him until death do you part?” Asked Brian.

Hilda looked at Dr. C and smiled. “I do.”

  “Do you, Robert David Cerberus, take this woman, Hildegard Antionette Spellman, to be your legally wedded wife? Do you promise to love her, honor her and comfort her, for better or worse, in sickness or health, for richer or poorer and will you keep yourself only on to her until death do you part? And do you promise to take her to visit her family at least once a week?” Asked Zelda. There was a silent pause before Zelda confirmed “I know what I said.”

 The crowd roared with laughter and when it died down, Dr. C was still smiling. “I do.

Brian walked over to Dr. C’s best man and took a ring from him. “The wedding ring is perfect for marriage because a ring, like love itself, has no beginning and no end. Robert, you may place this ring on Hilda’s finger and say ‘With this ring, I thee wed.’”

Dr. C placed the ring on Hilda’s finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

 Sabrina passed the ring on to Zelda. “We believe that the ring is a circle to match a full moon, which is a phase of every wit- woman’s life.  Hilda, you may place this ring on Robert’s finger and say ‘With this ring, I thee wed.’”

Hilda smiled and did so. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

“By the exchanging of vows and the giving and receiving of rings, we now pronounce you husband and wife.” Declared Brian. “Robert, you may kiss your bride.”

Hilda gave a happy giggle as Dr. C kissed her.

 “Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s my honor and pleasure to present to you Mr.  & Mrs. Robert & Hilda Cerberus!” Announced Zelda.

 Everyone left the woods and returned to the house for a very successful reception.  Despite earlier misgivings, Ambrose made a wonderful DJ. Everyone agreed it was so them when the bride and groom chose ‘the Monster Mash’ for their 1st dance. Everyone loved the wedding cake that Hilda make herself and Sabrina caught the bouquet.

 After Hilda and Dr. C left for their 2 weeks honeymoon in Hollywood, life got back to normal for the rest of the family. For Faustus, that meant looking after the bookshop, per Dr. C’s request, and digging in the woods. It had been nearly 3 weeks since Faustus had found the map of the wooden puzzle box that may hold the cure to Agatha’s madness. Faustus had been digging nearly day. Even when he was helping set up for the wedding, he was eyeing his next digging site. One afternoon, Faustus was worried he was running out of places to dig when his shovel hit something hard. He knelt, dug with his fingers. Faustus smiled and laughed when he realized he was holding the very puzzle box he was seeking.  He ran all the way home and up to his room when he studied a photocopy of the spell.

“Yes! Yes, this should work!”

Faustus looked up when the brick broke the window.

  Ambrose and Sabrina ran down the hall as fast as they could and burst into Zelda’s office.

“Aunt Z! Aunt Z! You have to come with us!” cried Sabrina.

 “I don’t know what happened! They just stormed into the house and took him!” Ambrose was trembling.

Zelda held up her hands. “Children, calm down. Now, who took who?”

  They led Zelda to the tree where they hung the Greendale 13. Only today, there was only 1 noose for 1 witch.

Zelda felt her heart leaped into her throat as she saw who the angry coven was getting ready to hang. “Faustus!” Zelda heard sniffing so she looked up and saw her stepdaughter. Zelda ran to her. “Prudence! Prudence, what is happening?”

 Prudence, arms crossed and her cheeks stained with tears, shook her head. “I don’t know, Sister Zelda. Dorcas and I were just talking a walk when we saw the adults of our coven leading my father, who had his hands bound behind his back, here, shouting and yelling that they were going to kill him. I tried to talk to some of them but no one will listen to me.”

 “Stay with her,” Zelda told Sabrina and Ambrose before disappearing into the crowd. As Zelda fought to get to the tree, Faustus was led out, forced to stand still on a barrel as they put the noose around his neck. Zelda got to the tree trunk then. “Faustus, darling, what is happening?”

 He looked down at her and smiled. “Zelda, my dearest, and only love. I’m so glad I got to see you 1 final time.”

  “Don’t speak that way! I’m sure we can sort this out.”  Zelda was about to say more but someone grabbed her arm and whirled her around. Now Zelda was looking at 1 of the teachers in her employ. “Brother Lovecraft?”

“Well, if it isn’t the traitor, Zelda Spellman!” He spat at her.

 “I’m not a traitor” Zelda snapped.

 “You’re a traitor and a lair! You claimed the titles of high priestess and headmistress for yourself and then you gave shelter to the villain who tried to kill us all.”

 Zelda shook her head. “He’s not a villain!”

 Lovecraft gave a short laughed. “You referred to him as one many times.”

 “That was before. I was misinformed. I can explain-“

 “Explain what? That you lied to the whole coven when you told them you fully intended to be a single mother or that you faked your relationship with Mambo Marie?”

 “I faked nothing!”

 “Enough!” Lovecraft turned back to Faustus. “Faustus Blackwood, any last words before you die?”

 “Forgive me,” Faustus whispered.

 “Like that’s ever going to happen.” Lovecraft sneered before he kicked the barrel out from under Faustus’s feet.

 “NOO!” Faustus heard Zelda scream before everything black.

 The next thing Faustus knew, he was underwater. How did I get here? He wondered. Did they hang me and then tossed my body in the river? Am I dead? It was then that Faustus heard a low moaning.  Faustus looked beside him and saw a woman he knew but had not seen in years, Prudence’s mother.

 “Madeline?”

The back of her head looked perfectly normal but when she turned, her rotting skin was peeling off her face and the eyes were missing from their sockets. Before he even knew what was happening, Faustus was swimming for the surface.  When he got there, someone was waiting for him.

 “Father?!”

“Hello, boy,” Liam sneered. “Not dead yet? Here, let me help” Liam reached out to reach his son’s head pushed him underwater, and held him there.

 “No!” Faustus struggled and somehow grabbed on to his father’s wrist. Just then, Faustus sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily and realized that he had Zelda’s wrist, who held a damp washcloth, in a death grip. He blinked. “Zelda?”

 “Oh, Faustus, you’re finally up! Darling, I was so worried!” She hugged him tightly. 

“Was-was it all a dream?”

 Zelda frowned and shook her head sadly. “No, my darling. Unfortunately, the hanging was very real.”

“Then how am I alive and back here?”

“It was a team effort,” Zelda explained, “Ambrose made the rope disappear and he transported you back here where he and Sabrina sealed down the house while Prudence helped me seal the coven in the church until cooler heads prevailed and we reached a deal.”

“A deal? What deal?”

 “You know, I think this washcloth needs more water.  You rest here, you’ve been out of it for 2 days.”

 Zelda quickly left the room and Faustus did lay back until the puzzle box and the spell caught his eye.  Agatha’s cure! He got up, grabbed the puzzle box and the spell, and ran downstairs. On the 1st floor, he rushed past by Ambrose, Sabrina, and Zelda.

 “Faustus, don’t!” called Zelda.

“I got to go do this.” Faustus continued to run, opened the door but could not cross the threshold. He tried over and over again but he couldn’t do it. “What’s going on?”

 “You didn’t tell him?”  Ambrose asked Zelda.

“Not yet” Zelda muttered.  “I’m sorry darling, but the coven voted to put you under extreme house arrest, you’re not even allowed to leave the house.”

Faustus said nothing, he just turned and went into the kitchen. He grabbed a pen and hurryingly wrote down instructions on the back of the page of the spell. Then he rushed back to the trio. “Go to the Academy, find Prudence then go to Agatha’s cell and perform this spell exactly the way I’ve written it. I believe that this will cure Agatha’s insanity.” Faustus watched Ambrose and Sabrina scatter out the door but he was puzzled when Zelda didn’t move. “Aren’t you going with them, dearest?”

“No, I trust them. They will do well.”

 “It almost sounds like you’re under house arrest too.” Faustus was joking but 1 look at his wife’s somber face and he knew the truth. “Oh Zelda, you didn’t.”

“I had no other choice, Faustus. The only way I could get the coven to allow you to live, was to  agree to step down as the coven’s high priestess and the academy’s headmistress and if I shared your punishment of house arrest.”

“That’s absurd! Why should you be punished even more than I was? You did nothing.”

“Neither did you! I tried to tell them about the curse but no one would listen. I don’t care what I have to give up, as long as I have yo

Faustus stepped forward, took Zelda’s hands in his, and kissed her. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” They kissed again and just as Faustus was gathering Zelda into his arms, a fury of knocking came from the front door. Zelda went to the front hall and she barely turned the knob when a group of boys barged in, ignored her, and went straight to the living room where Faustus was.

“Father Blackwood, we knew you would come back to us, what are our orders? Should we burn down the school? Or kill that heretic that now called himself father, Lovecraft?”

 Faustus looked at them in shocked horror.  These were his boys, his Judas society. Some were once very fine, decent young men, they now were bitter, angry and murderous and it was all his fault. All his fault! Faustus felt his heart sink like a stone.

 “You’ll be happy to know, sir, that we kept your manifesto, the 5 facets of Judas, safe for you.”

 “Wait a minute,” Zelda said, coming forward. “When we reopened the school, I ordered every copy of that to be destroyed.”

 The head boy laughed. “Right, us listening to you over Father Blackwood is as laughable as you calling yourself a high priestess.”

“Shut up!” Faustus finally spoke as he grabbed the manifesto. “I had hoped to never see this again. I’m ashamed of every word of this. Every letter! This is complete and utter shit!” Faustus threw it into the fireplace and enjoyed watching it burn.

 The head boy was puzzled. “What happened to you? You’re not our leader anymore.”  Then he turned his eyes to Zelda. “You!” he hissed. “What did you do to him? You did something to him, I know it!”

 The head boy tried to advance on Zelda but Faustus quickly stepped in between them. “Hey! You want a leader, fine.  Here’s my final order.  From this day on, from this moment the Judas Society is disbanded!”

The head boy shrugged. “Fine by us. The way you’re acting now no self-respecting warlock would ever follow you.”

 “I would.”

The entire room turned to see Ambrose in the door, smiling. “It’s funny. I was so unsure about following Father Blackwood last year, you know, about the time when you all swore your lives to him and now, you guys are writing him off, I would follow him anywhere. He saved Agatha from her insanity tonight for no other reason than it was the right thing to do.”

For a moment, Faustus forgot all about the Judas boys and focused only on Ambrose. “The spell? Did it work?”

“To borrow a mortal phrase, like a charm.”

“So what?” Said the head boy. “Agatha is only a witch, witches don’t matter. You taught us that.”

 “Then I taught you wrong,” Faustus muttered

“No, you didn’t, the curse did.” Ambrose corrected and stood up to the head boy. “This man is the better choice. Not only would I follow him, but I’m also proud to call him my uncle!”

“You’re only saying all this because you’re banging his daughter!”

“That’s it!” Faustus snapped. “You boys are leaving right now! Now, will you be going on your own according or do I have to throw you out?”

 “Oh please, allow me.” Faustus watched Ambrose escort the boys out. Zelda saw that he was upset so she took his arm and kissed his cheek.

 Soon after, Sabrina came home and brought all 3 of the Weird Sisters with her. It was so good to see Prudence, Dorcas, and Agatha, all together and all safe and whole.

  “Sabrina? I thought you were going out with Roz tonight?”  It was 2 days later and Ambrose was just walking by Sabrina’s room and saw his cousin lying across her bed.

 “Yeah, but I don’t feel like going out tonight.”

Ambrose smiled and sat on the bed beside Sabrina. “Oh, you don’t have to pretend with me, cuz. You feel guilty of going out because Father Blackwood and Aunt Z are under house arrest. Am I right?”

“Well, yeah, of course. Aren’t you?”

“You mean because the very man who helped me get off house arrest got it worse than me and he didn’t even commit a crime? Yes, I feel bad but what can we do about it?”

Sabrina sighed. “I don’t know. Aunt Zelda is so afraid the coven will kill Father Blackwood, she won’t even talk about how unfair this is.”

 “Excuse me, guys,” Faustus stood in the doorway, holding a laundry basket. “Sabrina, here are your clothes. Oh, I’m sorry I brunt dinner tonight. I guess your Aunt Hilda will have to give me some more cooking lessons when she gets back.”

 Sabrina smiled. “Thanks Mr. Blackwood.”

 “It’s really sweet how he barely lets Aunt Z lift a finger the more pregnant she gets. Now with Aunt Hilda out of the house, he’ll pick up even more of the slack. Too bad the coven can’t see him the way he is now.”

 “That’s it!  Ambrose, you’re a genius!”

 “What? What did I say?”

 For the rest of the week, Sabrina secretly took pictures of Faustus doing housework, or as the curse would have called it, ‘women work’. It was Sabrina’s hope that if Sabrina showed these pictures to Brother Lovecraft, who had overnight become the head of school, and if she could convince him that Father Blackwood had changed and then explain about the curse. Then Brother Lovecraft hopefully would go to the coven. By Monday, Sabrina had enough evidence and was waiting outside the main office when she heard a voice.

 “Hello, muffin.”

“Aunt Hilda? When did you get back?”

 “Just this morning. Ambrose was waiting for Dr. C and me at the bookstore when we pulled up. He explained all that happened and I thought I would come down and help you, be a 2nd witness.”

“Good idea! Hmm? Did you hear that?

“What? Sabrina?”

“I thought I heard Father Blackwood’s voice but he’s stuck at home.”

Hilda grabbed Sabrina’s hand and together they snuck up to the office door that was slightly ajar.

 Inside, Lovecraft was pouring 2 drinks. “There’s 1 thing I still don’t understand. Why didn’t you let us hang Faustus? He could have been dead right then.”

 “I want that pathetic weakling alive. Alive and close when I kill his beloved Zelda Spellman.”

“It’s Blackwood, the curse,” Sabrina mouthed to Hilda.

“Besides, we both got what we wanted. You’re now the head of the coven and with the strong sister housebound and the ditzy one living uptown, I can kill those damn Spellmans 1 by 1 any time I want.”

“Sabrina, do you have your camera with you?” Hilda whispered. When her niece nodded, Hilda continued. “Get ready to take a picture and make sure the flash is on. Ready, on 3.”

Hilda counted to 3 and then threw open the door as Sabrina took a photo. The 2 men were both dazed by the flash and Hilda worked fast, grabbed both men, and transport them all to the Spellman’s kitchen.

Zelda was at the table and when she saw the others, she stood up. “What on earth?”

 “Aunt Z, it was all a setup. Blackwood and Lovecraft have been working together the whole time. Lovecraft wanted to be the head of the coven and Blackwood to control where we go so, he can kill us more easily. It was probably Blackwood who told the coven that Faustus was even here.”

 Before a shocked Zelda could say anything, Faustus came into the room and saw Blackwood. “You!”  Faustus hissed and charged for him. “Where are my children? Where are the twins, you bastard!”

 “Don’t hurt him, at least not yet. Just hold him there.” Hilda took Sabrina’s camera and took a picture of the two. “There!  This will be useful when I tell the coven about the curse.”

 “You’re going to talk to the coven, auntie?”

Hilda nodded. “I’m going to call a coven meeting first thing in the morning.”

 That was exactly what Hilda did. She went armed with every piece of information the Spellmans had. This included the page that Zelda ripped from Lucifer’s book, the one detailing Edward’s deal with the dark lord and the details of the curse itself. The recording Ambrose had made of Zelda confronting Edward about the curse, the spell that saved Agatha, and that had  Faustus’s handwritten instructions proving his involvement and of course, the pictures. There was a lot of ground to cover so the meeting took most of the day. Meanwhile, Zelda and Faustus could do nothing but wait on pins and needles at home. They were in the living room when Zelda brought up what had been on her mind all day.

“You know what I don’t understand is why would Brother Lovecraft team up with the curse against us?”

 Faustus lowered his eyes. “I may know why. Last year, before we were married and we were just being professional, I discovered that Lovecraft had a thing for you. I caught him stalking your classroom once or twice and I told him, not so nicely, to back off.”

“I never knew about any of this.”

 “I know, I think that made Lovecraft even angrier.” Faustus looked out the window and froze.  “Dearest, the entire coven is outside and headed this way.”

 “They must have reached a decision.” Zelda put her cigarette out and stood up. Faustus caught up with her in the hall, grabbed her hands, and kissed her deeply.

 Zelda no matter what the coven says or does, just know that I love you and that you are everything to me.”

Zelda smiled. “Same.”

“Zelda Spellman and Faustus Blackwood!” Came a booming voice. “Please come out on to the porch.”

 For the 1st time in over a week, nothing stopped Zelda or Faustus from going out the front door. As they faced the coven, Zelda slid her hand into Faustus’s.

“Faustus, Zelda, the coven has reviewed your cave and have come to personally welcome you back into the coven.”

Faustus shook his head. “I can’t. I’m sorry. I am very grateful for your understanding and mentally, I know that the curse’s actions are not my actions but just the thought of entering the school or church makes me anxious.”

 Hilda, who was with the crowd, spoke up. “They already agreed to put Zelda back as high priestess so it’s basically her choice.”

 “In that case,” Zelda declared, “It shall be an open invitation. Brother Faustus may attend mass. He may even return to teaching if he so wishes but only when he is ready.”

 The very next night, Faustus was turning down his bed when a sighing Zelda entered with her medical bag. “So, how was Lilith tonight?”

“Cranky,” Zelda answered shortly. Lucifer too. Don’t ask me why I didn’t care enough to pay attention. I just did my job and came home. What?” Zelda asked when she saw her husband’s frown.

 “The school called about an hour ago. At supper, they checked the cell. They found Lovecraft dead and the curse…was nowhere to be found.”

 “It got away again? This is the 2nd time!” Zelda sighed. “I was hoping that he would tell us where the twins were and we could live a quiet life for a while.”

 In a way, Zelda got her wish. True, they didn’t have the twins, but the rest of January, as well as all of February, was uneventful. After dinner on Feb. 28th, Zelda took a bath, but when she came out of the bathroom, she found herself alone in the house. When Zelda got to her room, she gasped. No one else was there at that moment but someone had put candles upon candles all around the place as well as a few wrapped gifts on the bed. Right in the middle where it was unable to miss lay a sealed envelope with her name on it. Smiling, Zelda picked up the envelope, unsealed it, and began to read.

My Dearest Zelda, the letter began;

It has been downright impossible not to be swept up in ‘wedding fever’ that has surged through this house lately (well, before that terrible week) and it got me thinking. Yes, Hilda’s wedding was lovely and I’m truly happy for your sister and Dr. C but what about you? Every woman should get a day that they will never forget. Granted, our wedding day was memorable but for all the wrong reasons. Ever since Hilda and Dr. C got back from their honeymoon, the whole family had aided me in this little side project. That’s right, this time your family not only approves of me, they helped! How? Open the packages on the bed and it will all become clear.

Then if you want to marry me again (no pressure!) Meet me in the woods by the stone altar.

I love you,

Faustus

After putting the letter down, Zelda eyed a garment bag with the tag SOMETHING BLUE on it. Zelda unzipped the bag and beheld a beautiful airy blue gown with a diamond belt and a note. The note said I really hope you like your new dress! Don’t worry, dear sister, with my alterations it should fit like a glove. -HILDA

SOMETHING OLD was written on the top of a small golden box. Inside, another note.  Great-grandmother Spellman’s diamond clips. They’ll look lovely on you. -AMBROSE Under the note, Zelda found the earrings.

SOMETHING NEW was the top of a note sitting next to a velvet ring box. The rest of the note said 2 new white gold eternity wedding bands, Father insisted. Yours is the one with all the diamonds. -PRUDENCE

The SOMETHING BORROWED note rested on a pair of shoes. My very best white dress flats. Auntie, don’t even think of wearing heels in your 12th month! -SABRINA

Wiping away happy tears, Zelda got ready. When she stepped out of the house, Dr. C was there to drive into the wood. When they got there, Zelda could see fairy lights in the trees and a white runner to mark the aisle, like Hilda’s wedding. The family was all gathered around the stone altar. Each dressed in their best, complete with a beaming Faustus in his best suit. Dr. C escorted Zelda down the aisle. After handing her purple primroses to Hilda, Zelda turned and held hands with the man she now knew she belonged with forever. 

“The bride and groom will now say their own vows.” Said Hilda.

Zelda laughed. “No, we won’t. Until 5 minutes ago, I didn’t know I was a bride.”

“Please, then, let me,” Faustus smiled. “September 19, 1826, was my 1st day at the Academy of Unseen Arts. It was during the morning assembly while the headmaster was taking attendance, that I looked across the hall and saw her. The redheaded girl, who that day had her hair in curls and wore a green dress. It is 2 centuries later and the fates have tried to keep us apart more times than I can count but there is 1 thing that hasn’t changed, that will never change, how desperately, hopelessly in love I am with the redhead girl and how she grew into an amazingly strong and intelligent woman that I have the honor to call my wife.”

 “Oh, Faustus!”

He took the diamond ring and slid it on Zelda’s finger. “I love you, Zelda and just being near you makes me want to be a better man.”

Zelda smiled and placed the matching ring on her husband’s hand. “The insanity curse got the best of you because I lost faith in who you are. I promise never to lose that faith again because I love you Faustus, so much. I also promise to be the best wife and mother I can be.”

“It’s time for the signing.” Dr. C said.

Zelda was confused. Signing a marriage license at a vow renewal? When she saw the papers on the stone altar, she was even more confused. “A legal name change?”

“I know the family calls the curse Blackwood when I’m not around and if the name Blackwood only brings up the curse or my father, then why am I holding on it? I want to take your name Zelda,” Faustus smiled. “I want to be a Spellman.”

“We’ve talked about it a lot, Aunt Z,” Sabrina told her “and we think he’s ready. It was just so sweet how he asked Hilda to set up a secret family meeting so he could ask our permission.”

“What about you, Prudence?” Zelda wanted to know. “Are you comfortable with being the only Blackwood in Greendale?”

“I’m going back to the surname, Night, like my sisters”

“But you’re still my beloved daughter” Faustus added quickly.

“Trust us, Zelds, we thought this through from every single angle. We’ve been working on this since before Solstice. The final papers just came in this morning.” Said Hilda

Faustus nodded. “That’s right. All I need now to be a Spellman, is a witness’s final signature.” He smiled and offered her a pen.

She took it and signed it. Then the family clapped.

“Ladies and gentlemen, for the 1st time, Zelda and Faustus Spellman!” Dr. C announced.

Faustus and Zelda kissed and were half-way down the aisle when Zelda doubled over. “I think the baby is coming!”

[freshcollectionnightmare-blog]

Do As I Do

Short story inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s, A woman with a spade, seen from behind painting

"Do as I do," The lady prompted. "Just like this." She buried the spade deep within the first layer of soil, twisting and pulling out a large sum of dirt. Tossing it to her side, she repeated the process with ease. Many years of fieldwork had engrained the tender care into muscle memory, hard work seemingly effortless to the lady nowadays.  

The little brown haired boy with freckles like snowflakes huffed in frustration. He furrowed his untamed brows, arms like sapling branches swinging the spade. "Mama, please let me play with Lucille and Wesson," He half-whined, sidelong eyes glued onto his two friends playing in the distance. "My arms are sore and the day is almost done. At least let me be with them until the sun's set."

The mother stopped what she was doing, planting the tip of the spade into the soft ground and leaning against it. She looked towards the horizon and the sun with a couple more hours of light left. "Home before sun set, yeah?" She asked skeptically.  The boy nodded eagerly, legs practically vibrating in excitement. His mother paused to think, chewing her lip thoughtfully. It wouldn't get cold until much later and he was exceptional at returning safely on time. Worst comes to worst she could finish the farm with his help tomorrow morning.

"Just be safe, alright?" She said. "And Rudy, don't do anything stupid."

Rudy practically jumped to the heavens in excitement. He threw his arms around his mother, burying his face into the worn, mulled apple scented fabric. She patted her son's back taking out a cut rag. With her index finger, she pushed the boy's chin up to look her in the eyes. Round eyes like a storm at sea looked back beaming with joy. The dusty and dirty face was no match for the stormy current in his eyes. They were always the brightest feature of Rudy. Round cheeks and smooth skin gave off the impression of youth, but underneath the boy was a tempered storm filled with life.  

"You have to be presentable for your friends." She mumbled, cleaning her son's dirty face up with the rag. Most kids his aged didn't do chores as daily and strenuous as his. Granted most kids at his school came from families with more than enough, whereas his small family could get by if their luck was just right.

Her son squirmed under her grasp, shrugging away from the rag and slipped past her fingers. He pulled up his sleeves, adjusting his collar all while walking backwards.

"Gotitloveyou, bye!" His words rushed out, mind already set on playing with his friends. He twisted around and ran towards the silhouettes of his friends, uneven and clumpy soil making his run that much less graceful.

"Be back before the roosters!" The protective mother called out to him.

"What took you so long? We've been waiting for ten minutes!" Wesson complained as Rudy hopped the weathered fence onto the side road. The two Aryan children, both clean and filled waited for the farm boy to reach them.

"Sorry, my mom was being overprotective again." Rudy lied. It wasn't that he was ashamed of his mother, he just didn't want to seem like a measly farmer's boy in front of his friends. Lucille and Wesson came from a wealthy family. Their father was the owner of a oil company, while their mother was a successful lawyer travelling all parts of the country. Needless to say, they had money.  

"Don't worry, Rudy," The quiet voice of Lucille spoke up. "I think it's great that your mother cares for you so much."

A rosy blush crept up on both the girl and the boy, eyes adverting to the ground in unison. Wesson rolled his eyes in annoyance, groaning. "Well I think it's lame and knocked off like two hours for us. Let's go to the forest before we waste any more time."

The boy and girl snapped from their infatuated like trance, following the blonde boy down the road. By the time the trio got to the edge of the forest the sun was just about to set, morning animals settling in for bed, whilst the nocturnal were just waking up. With a simple rock, paper, scissors they decided who would be "it." The two Aryan children running into the woods, leaving the farm boy to count down from ten.

Rudy's known these woods since he could walk upright. Climbed every tall tree he saw and explored every animal nest he could find. As far as Rudy was concerned, this was his fortune.  It was something no oil company or lawyer could ever dream of obtaining. A true sense of adventure every time he step foot in the woods.

"Nine…. Ten!" He finished, "Ready or not, here I come!" The boy took two steps forward just starting to run. As soon as his foot lifted off the mushy ground, it caught on the edge of a stone, toppling his balance. He fell to the floor with an ’oof,' scrapping his elbows, however recovering as quickly as a hummingbird. The boy scrambled back up milliseconds later without stopping to survey any cuts or scrapes.  

Rudy took off running, booking it into the woods. All around the noises of the forest were echoing, his loud breathing, twigs and leaves crumbling at his feet with each stride getting progressively longer and slower. Four minutes later he was in the heart of the forest, stopping to check his dark surroundings.

"Wes!" He called out with his hands cupped around his mouth.  If he had to guess, they'd either be hiding up and tree or behind a fallen log. "Lucille!"

What he didn't expect was the surprisingly loud wail of Lucille's voice coming from his left.

"Rudy!" That was Wesson's too.

Were they hurt? Did one of them step in a bear trap or touched a snare? He should have warned them that hunting season had just started a couple of days ago. Traps were littered all around the forest by now.

"I'm coming!" Taking off into a run, Rudy followed the cries of his friends. He jumped over a thin creek where he had caught his first frog with his mother, and passed a great big willow tree deemed his first official treehouse. The woods seemed to get darker as he ran, obscuring his sight to barely a couple feet ahead.

As the voices of his friends grew louder, so did his anxiousness. He was so caught up in fear for his friends, that he didn't notice the small flash of silver close to the ground in front of him. Oblivious to the obstruction in front of him, Rudy tripped forward, tumbling down a steep incline.

He finally hit the bottom, landing on his right shoulder. The unbearable, burning like sensation travelled down his arm, making him see only white briefly.  A small pair of hands grabbed him swiftly, thankfully avoiding his limp shoulder. The hands rolled him over and he looked up through the pain to see Wesson and Lucille.

The siblings were sporting minor injuries, however Lucille seemed to be cradling her wrist more gingerly than the rest.

"Well great, now we're stuck." Wesson groaned. Something Rudy figured he did a lot.  Rudy craned his neck to look around, they appeared to be in the middle of a massive construction sized hole. Each wall to high too jump and grab and too steep to run up. "Stupid over here-" The Aryan boy gestured to Lucille. "Thought it would be a smart idea to hide down here."

"I thought there was a way out." Lucille mumbled guiltily staring at the floor. "Besides, you're the one that pushed me!"

"And you're the one that grabbed me on the way down!" Wesson bickered back. This wasn't getting them anywhere. Arguing back and forth would just tire them out and annoy each other. Rudy highly doubted that the constantly sibling bickering would force the hole's walls to fall apart.

The farmer's boy got up minding his limp shoulder and planted his two feet firmly into the ground. "Guys!" He interrupted. The sibling's mouths shut abruptly. "Fighting isn't going to get us anywhere. We have to figure a way out."

Wesson crossed his arms, a frown etched onto his face. "The only way out is up and even then it's too steep and tall to climb."

"Then we wait for someone to look for us."

"Our mom is out of town in some big city for a court case and our dad's in America trying to get a business deal signed. The only other person in our house is our maid, but she only comes in the mornings." Lucille eyes grew hopeless and round as she informed the two boys of the bad news. Her bottom lip wobbled in trepidation, tears bubbling in the younger girl's eyes.

"It is okay, Lucille. My mom will notice we aren't back yet. She'll come to look for us."

Wesson snickered, "Lemme guess, after she milks the cows?"

Rudy brushed the comment aside, attention set on the much more compassionate of the two. "Lucille, are you hurt?"

She nodded quickly, showing her cradled wrist to Rudy. "I think I broke it." The skin around her bone was swollen and tender, her hand hanging loosely. "Every time I move my hand it hurts." She murmured.

Rudy studied her wrist, gently tracing his fingers along it. He apologized when she winced in pain, furrowing his brows. This was hopeless, his shoulder might be dislocated, Lucille's wrist is broken and Wesson was uncooperative per usual. What could he do in a situation like this? It wasn't like there was a first aid kit laying anyway in the hole. If his mama was here, she would be able to tell him what to do, she'd help him.  

"Do as I do." His mother's soothing voice rang inside his head. As if the old door was unlocked, Rudy suddenly remembered months back when one of his horses had broken its leg. It was in the middle of a snow storm and neither of them could go out to buy the supplies needed to help the horse.

Instead, Rudy's mother had grabbed some fabric, tape and a sturdy wooden board. She had made him watch as she tended to the horse, his body shivering from the cold and complaining about why he had to be there.

"The world won't always work around your needs, Rudy. Sometimes you have to adapt to the situation you are given to fit yourself." She explained patiently. He remembered her motioning to come in closer to watch she wrap the horse's leg. "We're all a part of a big picture… and sometimes things go wrong, but that doesn't mean it's the end of the world."

"Y'know…" Rudy started off slowly, Lucille looked to him hopeful. "My mama once taught me how to mend a broken bone."

"Mama?" The Aryan boy questioned critically.

"You do?" The Aryan girl said in amazement.

Rudy nodded, "She taught me after one of our horses broke their leg."

Branching off, Rudy searched for a couple of different size branches. Once he gathered some up, he brought them back to the others, ripping a long piece of his sleeve in the process. There wasn't any tape nearby so he'd have to improvise. Untying his boot, he pulled the string out from their hoops.

After some trial and error, Rudy managed to comfortably secure the branch and fabric to Lucille's thin wrist. It wasn't much, but it would work until someone found them. Halfway through, he had gotten Wesson to help with what he couldn't do with his dislocated shoulder. The Aryan boy had quieted noticeably through the process, possibly succumbing to guilt.

Finally Lucille admired Rudy's work carefully, looking back up to him. "Your mom's pretty cool." The praise forced a sheepish smile out from Rudy.

"Thanks, she is pretty awesome."

Fortunately for their luck, only an hour later did the rustling of movement above catch their ears. They all looked up in surprise, catching sight of a light beam.

"Mama?" Rudy called out hopefully. The light got brighter and soon the figure of his mother appeared holding a flashlight. She teetered on the edge of the hole, peering down.

In all her calloused fingers, scruffy appearance and dirt and worms glory, it was the best thing Rudy's ever seen.

The farmer looked down at the kids, a sigh of relief and small smile escaping her lips. "Do as I do, or else the roosters might beat us back."