ACT I — CHAPTER I
Bʟᴏᴏᴅ Cᴜʀsᴇs Aɴᴅ Aʟᴍᴏsᴛ Kɪssᴇs

───  ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅  ───

In the town of Greendale, where it always feels like Halloween, there lived two twin girls who were half-witch, half-mortal, who, on their sixteenth birthday, would have to choose between two worlds: the witch world of their family, and the human world of their friends.

My name is Lydia Spellman, and those girls are me and my sister, Sabrina.

─ ༓ ─

Lydia Spellman, her twin sister, Sabrina, and their friends sat in the movie theater watching Night of the Living Dead. On the screen, there was a jump scare, and everyone in the theater gasped in shock. Everyone, that is, except for the Spellman twins. They just sat and smiled in joy at the movie, where a man was currently being torn apart by zombies.

Lydia and Sabrina weren't like the others around them — they were witches.

Well, half-witches. Their mother, Diana, was a mortal, who at some point in time had met their father, Edward, who was a warlock. The two fell in love and had Lydia and Sabrina, but unfortunately passed away not long after.

If you took a glance at the Spellman girls, you would not think they were twins. They looked like cousins, at the most. Lydia resembled her father while Sabrina resembled their mother. They were different in more ways than their looks as well. For example, Sabrina often wore a red tailcoat and was rarely seen without her black headband. Lydia, on the other hand, wore a green jacket and was not a headband fan — they gave her headaches.

Even with their differences, the girls stuck together like glue and were hardly seen without the other. As Sabrina had once told her sister, "Twins are like built-in best friends. Even when you feel like you have no one, you'll always have your twin."

After the movie, the five friends walked down the stairs while Harvey Kinkle, Sabrina's boyfriend, began talking about the movie.

"I was confused by the zombies," he started, "I mean, why were they so freakin' slow?"

"Fast-moving zombies is a relatively new concept in horror," Sabrina said.

"She's right," Lydia continued, "Earlier incarnations assumed that reanimated corpses were afflicted by rigor mortis, which would make them move slowly."

Across the theater, Lydia spotted five high school boys wearing letterman jackets. She turned around to her friend, Susie Putnam, and gave her a sympathetic look. Susie peered at the boys, an uncomfortable look on her face.

Lydia grabbed Susie's hand and began walking away from the boys. Susie told her it was fine, to which Lydia turned around and —

Bumped right into someone.

"Oh, excuse me," the person said.

Before Lydia could turn around to see who it was, Sabrina said, "Ms. Wardwell!"

Ms. Wardwell was a teacher at their school, Baxter High, teaching history. Lydia was a major history buff, making Ms. Wardwell her favorite teacher.

"Sabrina, Lydia! Hi," Ms. Wardwell greeted.

"I didn't know you were a fan of horror movies," Sabrina said. Ms. Wardwell took her glasses off, cleaned them, then placed them back on.

"Sabrina and Lydia are nuts for 'em, the gorier the better," Harvey told her.

"Well, um, who doesn't enjoy a good scare every now and again?" Ms. Wardwell asked.

"That's exactly what I would have said," Lydia replied. The group walked outside.

"Ms. Wardwell," Lydia began, "We have a tradition of going to the movies and then to Dr. Cerberus' to dissect whatever we just saw. Would you like to join us?"

"I have papers to grade, but thank you for the offer," Ms. Wardwell replied, "Really."

The older woman began to walk away, but not before turning around and waving, "See you in class, guys!"

The group waved goodbye as she left.

"'Di, why would you do that?" Rosalind Walker, the twins' other friend, asked.

"Invite Ms. Wardwell?" Sabrina asked for her.

"Yeah," Susie answered.

"Well, first of all, she's my favorite teacher, and second of all, I just feel kind of bad for her, living in that house, all alone," Lydia said.

─ ༓ ─

The group of five found themselves in a booth at Dr. Cerberus'. Lydia and Susie sat on one side, Sabrina and Harvey sat on another, and Roz pulled up a chair, and they were all discussing the Night of the Living Dead.

"The whole thing functions as a metaphor!" Susie exclaimed.

"It's a monster movie, Susie," Harvey replied.

"Devil's advocate, can't it be both?" Sabrina asked.

"Exactly!" Lydia cried, "It is both. On one level, it's about zombies, but on another level, it's about the Cold War!"

"Civil rights!" Roz added.

"The collapse of the nuclear family!" Susie yelled, banging her hands on the table.

"Did we just watch different movies?" Harvey asked.

"You didn't get that?" Susie questioned, "From when the daughter turned into a zombie then ate her mother?"

"I think Harvey may have had his eyes closed during that part," Sabrina said, unable to contain her laughter.

The other three girls sighed or rolled their eyes at the Kinkle boy.

"Ugh, that's awful! You missed the best part," Lydia said.

He didn't hear her, though, as he had started kissing Sabrina. Lydia grimaced, not enjoying watching her sister make out with her boyfriend right in front of her.

When the group decided it was time to leave, Lydia ran up to talk to Susie.

"Hey, do you think I could walk you home? Harvey's taking Sabrina home and I do not want to third wheel with those lovebirds," she said. Susie laughed and agreed.

The two girls walked to Susie's house, talking about movies and school and normal things that teenagers talk about.

"Do you remember when we were eleven and went to that amusement park?"

"Yes! It was awful."

"You threw up everywhere after we got off that ride! It was so gross, but at the same time kind of funny."

"Hey!"

When they reached Susie's house, the Spellman girl and the Putnam girl stopped right in front of the porch steps. They turned to face each other.

"Well, you live here," Lydia said. She couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Yep," Susie replied.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Lydia said, hugging her. When she pulled away, the two girls stared at each other for a few moments before Susie broke their eye contact. Lydia took a step back. They looked at each other once more, and then Lydia said goodbye and walked away.

There was a nagging voice in the back of her head saying, What in heaven are you doing? Get back there and kiss her!

But she didn't. Lydia Spellman walked away, leaving Susie Putnam staring back at her.

─ ༓ ─

When Lydia arrived at home, music from the little radio by the front door was playing. It was cheery, happy music. Lydia, not in the mood for cheery or happy, turned the music off with the point of a finger. She walked upstairs to her and Sabrina's shared room, opening the door. She walked over to her bed and fell onto it face-first.

Why didn't she just go back and kiss her?

"'Di? Are you alright?" Sabrina asked. Lydia ignored her.

"'Di? 'Di? 'Di. I'm not going to stop saying your name until you answer. 'Di. 'Di. Lydia. Lydia.     Ly—"

"Dear Satan, will you shut up?" Lydia asked, quite annoyed. She sat up on her bed, looking at Sabrina's concerned face.

"What happened?" Sabrina questioned. Lydia looked at her sister.

"I chickened out," Lydia said. She placed her hands over her face and fell backward on the bed.

"I was so close to kissing her, but I didn't. She was right there, right in front of me!" Lydia removed her hands and stared at the ceiling.

"You're overreacting. Before Harvey and I started dating I would always back out about telling him how I feel. Eventually, I did, and look where I am now!"

"Yeah, but Harvey told you how he felt first. Do you know how much easier things would be if she kissed me first?" Lydia said. Sabrina sighed.

"Don't worry about it, 'Di. It will all work out in the end."

"I hope you're right," Lydia sighed, turning around to face Sabrina, "So did anything noteworthy happen between you and Harvey?"

Sabrina blushed, and Lydia gasped.

"Something did happen! What was it?" she asked.

"He told me that he loves me."

"Unholy shit!" Lydia yelled. Sabrina laughed and shushed her.

"You'll wake our aunties and Ambrose!"

"Who cares? He told you he loves you! That's amazing!"

The twins continued to talk until they heard Ambrose yell down that if they continued making noise he'd curse them for thirty-eight years. It was then they decided it wouldn't be the worst idea to go to bed.

─ ༓ ─

At an early hour of the morning, Lydia woke up suddenly from a nightmare that she could no longer remember. She looked to her right and saw that Sabrina had also just woken up. A mortal might question this, but the twins did not.

It was commonly known that twin witches and warlocks were connected closer than normal siblings. They couldn't do telepathy, but they did certain things at the same time. Sometimes they spoke simultaneously, and it was normal for one to wake up around the same time as the other.

The Spellman twins got up out of bed and went to their desks. They each checked their calendars.

October 28th. In just three days, they would receive their Dark Baptism. They'd have to leave their mortal friends behind. Lydia would have to leave Susie behind.

Sabrina picked up a picture of the girls' parents. Lydia leaned over her shoulder to look at it as well. She smiled at it for a moment before walking to the window. As she was looking out at the early morning sky, a bat flew in, crashing through the window and landing on the floor of their room.

The bat, barely alive, squeaked and fluttered around on the floor. The Spellman twins looked at each other.

"I can't do it," Lydia said. Sabrina nodded, grabbing a book. She slowly walked over to the bat that was clearly in pain. She lifted the book above her head, closed her eyes, and whispered, "Absit omen."

As Sabrina slammed the book down, Lydia looked away. She wasn't exactly comfortable with killing things, or watching others kill things, for that matter.

─ ༓ ─

T U E S D A Y
OCTOBER 28
of this year

─ ༓ ─

Lydia and Sabrina walked downstairs later that morning. Lydia held a box in her hand, which contained the bat from last night.

"Good morning, aunties, Ambrose," the two said simultaneously. They walked to the table and sat down, Sabrina at the end of the table, and Lydia on the bench next to their cousin, Ambrose.

"Morning, darlings. How did you sleep?" their aunt, Hilda Spellman, asked. Their other aunt, Zelda Spellman, set down the newspaper she was reading.

"Tempestuously, by the sounds of it," Zelda said.

"Now that you mention it Aunt Zee, Lydia and I did wake up once or twice," Sabrina told her, "It's an exciting time."

"In more ways than one," Lydia softly spoke. The sisters glanced at each other, then to Zelda, who was trying to relate to them.

"I remember the week before my Dark Baptism. It felt as if my real life were finally beginning. I barely slept," she was saying.

Hilda walked over with the girls' breakfast, saying, "Rabbit's feet, under your pillows tonight, you'll sleep like the dead."

"Speaking of the dead," Lydia began, "A bat flew into our room last night. It crashed through one of the windows —"

"Oh, want me to bring it back?" Ambrose asked.

Before either twin could answer, Zelda snapped, "No, Ambrose, we'll have none of your necromancy."

"Is it okay if we bury it in the garden?" Lydia asked.

"Yes, as you wish," Hilda answered, "You can bury it in the pet cemetery by the sundial. There's room there."

Hilda placed two mason jars filled with green liquid on the table in front of the twins.

"Oh, wait, what's this?" the girls asked simultaneously.

Ambrose shuddered, "You two have got to stop doing that."

Lydia shot him a glare.

"Before you can be baptized, the temple of your body needs to be purified," Zelda stated, ignoring what Ambrose had just said, "Cleansed of its toxins."

"This is actually milk and eggs and rosemary and agrimony, and a cupful of vanilla and a pinch of John the Conqueror root and tannis," Hilda explained, "and other herbs from my garden. Drink up, darlings."

Ambrose, through fake coughs, said, "Don't do it, cousins."

"Ambrose!" Zelda snapped, giving him a pointed look. She grabbed a book from beside her and placed it on the table.

"Sabrina, Lydia, you two need to pick a familiar before your Dark Baptism. The council sent the registry. I've indicated a few suitable options," she began, "Now, there's a very handsome hedgehog, a noble-looking owl. Vinegar Tom would happily welcome another dog."

Vinegar Tom was Zelda's familiar. If you asked Lydia, he wasn't in very good shape, as he was more taxidermy than animal now.

"About that, Aunt Zee," Sabrina started.

"Instead of picking a familiar out of a book," Lydia continued, "Which is so, I don't know —"

"Dehumanizing," Sabrina suggested. Lydia nodded.

"Familiars are goblins who have taken the shape of animals to better serve their witch masters. there's nothing human about them," Zelda said.

"But," Lydia said, "Sabrina and I have been practicing a summoning spell we found in the Demonomicon —"

"And what if we put it out there that we're looking for a familiar and see if anyone wants to volunteer?" Sabrina finished. The twins flashed their aunts a smile.

"I think that's a charming idea," Hilda said.

"What about your Baptismal names? Have you two settled on them yet?" Zelda asked.

"We have, as a matter of fact," Sabrina said.

"As I'm sure you are aware, Sabrina resembles our mother and I resemble our father. So, to honor our mother, I chose Diana," Lydia said.

"And I chose Edwina, which is almost Edward, to honor our father," Sabrina said.

"And not just to honor them, but to feel closer with them and have them with us, as we walk the Path of Night," Lydia said.

"I wasn't gonna cry," Hilda sighed, her voice breaking, "and ... I just wish your mom and dad were here to see this, to see you."

"Me too, Auntie," Sabrina said. Lydia gave her aunt a small smile.

Hilda sniffed, and said, "They would be so proud of you. They would be so proud of the young women you've become."

"Correction, Hilda," Zelda cut in, "They'd be so proud of the young witches they are becoming."

The twins looked away from their Aunt Zelda and glanced at each other. They finished their breakfast, grabbed their jackets, and headed outside with the bat-in-the-box. The girls were followed by Ambrose.

Lydia buried the box and looked into the woods where they would be Baptized in three days time. Sabrina did the same.

Ambrose, who was sitting on one of the gravestones, waved his hand to try to get the girls' attention.

"Penny dreadful for your thoughts, cousins?" he prompted. Lydia stood up, wiping the dirt off her hands.

"It's just ... some people might say that a bat crashing through a window is a bad omen," Lydia said.

"I also found a two-headed frog in my shoe yesterday," Sabrina added.

"Hold a tick, you're not having doubts about your Dark Baptisms?" Ambrose asked. "Because back inside with Madams Jekyll and Hyde, you two seemed excited."

"And we are" Sabrina began, "but we're also a little —"

"It's alright to — to be a little nervous," Ambrose said, "Going into the woods, signing your name in the Dark Lord's book. Even I had butterflies."

The three gave a little chuckle before Ambrose brought up a more pressing matter.

"What have you told your mortal friends?" he asked, "That you're being transferred to some posh boarding school in Connecticut?"

Lydia and Sabrina avoided Ambrose's eye. A look of realization appeared on his face.

"Cousins," he sighed, "You have told them something, I hope."

"Not yet," Sabrina said.

"It's a work in progress," Lydia told him.

"We're waiting for the right time," they said, together. The two girls started to walk away.

"But it will never be the right time," Ambrose said, following after them, "That's why you two must rip this particular Band-Aid off."

"You wouldn't understand, Ambrose, you were born a full witch," Lydia said.

"You didn't have to say goodbye to half your life, your friends, your boyfriend —" Sabrina started, but was cut off by Ambrose.

"True, but afterwards, when you're fully a witch, you'll stay younger longer. You'll cultivate your gifts at the Academy of Unseen Arts, where your father was headmaster. You will belong, cousins, in every sense of the word."

"We know!" Sabrina cried, "And we want all those things, we really do, it's just —"

Sabrina sighed and slightly shook her head.

"I thought you're only supposed to start missing things after you say goodbye to them," Lydia said.

"I've been under house arrest with our aunties for the last seventy-five years, Lydia. Forbidden from leaving these grounds," Ambrose said, "I am continuously missing everything."

He gave the twins a small smile and then headed back inside.

─ ༓ ─

The Spellman twins walked deep into the woods. They stopped and stood approximately five feet apart from one another. They each took out a little bell and rang it. With a stick, the girls drew in the dirt and began reciting the summoning spell together.

"Spirits of the forest,
I pronounce my intentions to thee.
Come forth and seek me,
And equal we will be."

They rang the bell again.

"Not master and servant,
But familiar to familiar,
To share our knowledge,
Our spirit,
And our traits."

They rang the bell a final time.

"And now,
Spirits,
We will wait."

The twins kneeled on the ground. Lydia set her stick down and began putting the bell back in her book bag, which, unlike Sabrina, she carried on her back.

Then, the wind began blowing. The twins looked at each other, and then quickly turned around.

There, in front of them, were the Weird Sisters.

"A summoning spell, girls?" Prudence, the "leader" of the Weird Sisters, asked.

"Calling forth a familiar?" Dorcas, another Weird Sister, asked.

"Then you are being Baptized," Agatha, the final Weird Sister, spoke.

Lydia and Sabrina stood up.

"Prudence, Dorcas, Agatha," Sabrina greeted.

"Well, well, well," Prudence began, "and are we to assume that means you'll be transferring to the Academy of Unseen Arts as well?"

"Considering that is what one does after they are Baptized, you'd be correct," Lydia said. She felt her sister step on her foot, trying to signal not to make the Weird Sisters mad.

"That's unfortunate," Prudence started, "We don't want half-breeds at the Academy."

Lydia clenched her fists. Sabrina, sensing her sister's anger, spoke before Lydia could.

"And who, exactly, are you calling a half-breed?"

"Isn't that what you two are?" Prudence asked, "Half-witch, half-mortal?"

At this point, the Weird Sisters had formed a circle around the twins. Prudence spoke again, "Stay with your own kind. You don't want what happened to your mother and father to happen to the two of you."

"What did you just say?" Lydia questioned, anger laced in her voice. They were getting to her, and they knew it.

"The accident," Dorcas spoke, "that took their lives."

"It would be tragic if a similar one befell you," Agatha said.

"We aren't going to be baited or bullied by you," Sabrina stated, "Not in the woods, and not at the Academy."

"Yeah, so you punk ass bitches better get that idea out of your heads," Lydia spat. Sabrina stepped on her foot again, harder this time.

"Stubborn mutts," Prudence said. And then, they started reciting a spell.

"What are you doing?" Sabrina asked. Lydia was confused for a moment, but quickly realized what was going on.

"Are you guys serious? A curse? You're cursing us?" she asked.

They continued reciting the spell, ignoring her.

"Very mature, guys, very mature," Lydia said.

Then, they finished the curse, and they disappeared into thin air.

Lydia felt something under her nose. She felt the area and saw blood on her finger. She looked at Sabrina, who's nose was also bleeding. It was probably a blood curse.

Simultaneously, the girls mumbled,

"Succubitches."

And then ran to school to try and wash off the curse.

───  ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅  ───

REWRITTEN: august 2023
EDITED: march 2024
WORDS: 3,429

AUTHOR'S NOTE! the first chapter is up!! o hope you all like it, i am very proud. i'm sure my 14 year old self is jumping with glee.

the next chapter should be out next sundays i hope you all have had a wonderful day!!