ACT I — CHAPTER XX
Aɴᴄɪᴇɴᴛ Cᴜʀsᴇs Aɴᴅ Aᴄᴛᴜᴀʟ Kɪssᴇs

───  ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅  ───

Why, look at the time. It's almost midnight. Very nearly the Witching Hour. Time enough for one more story about the Spellman twins, as they take one more step towards fulfilling the Dark Lord's prophecy.

It's a wonder anyone in Greendale was surprised by what what happened the night of the storm. All the signs were there, if you knew where to look. A dead bird brought in by a cat. A spilled bottle of black ink. A broken mirror in an empty room. A loaf of bread split clean down the middle. A blind woman knitting her own death shroud, aware of what's coming.

─ ༓ ─

It had been three days since the twins had been to Limbo, and Lydia had been avoiding Sabrina as if her life depended on it. She was still incredibly angry at Sabrina for outing her, so for the past few nights she had been sleeping in Ambrose's room. They had both missed school on Friday, but now it was Monday and Lydia couldn't afford to miss more class.

Lydia was sitting at the kitchen counter with Ambrose eating breakfast as Hilda was cooking. Zelda walked down the stairs, holding a newspaper and stirring her tea. Suddenly, she dropped the spoon she was also holding.

"Blast it," Zelda muttered, picking up the spoon and placing it in the sink.

"Someone's having a baby," Hilda said.

"What? What in Satan's name are you talking about, Hilda?" Zelda asked.

"You know the saying. If a spoon falls, a baby calls," Hilda explained, "Probably Lady Blackwood's."

"Kindly spare me your old wives' tales, sister. Lady Blackwood's barely started her fourth trimester. It'll be ages yet," Zelda told her, turning to Lydia," "Where's your sister?"

Lydia shrugged, "Don't know, why should I?"

"Are you finally going to tell me what she did that was so horrid that you have vowed to never speak to her again?" Zelda asked.

"If I told you, that would kind of beat the whole point," Lydia responded.

Zelda sighed, "Do you know where she is, Ambrose?"

"In her room, I believe," Ambrose said.

"Still?" Zelda questioned, "It's been days."

"Yeah, but considering what they've been through —"

"I know exactly what she's been through, Ambrose. I was there to pick up the pieces, wasn't I?"

No one responded. Lydia moved her spoon around in her cereal.

"The girls have school. People will start to talk," Zelda stated, stirring her new spoon around in her tea again.

"Well, I've made her a little balm for her broken heart," Hilda told them all, holding a little mason jar, "I'm gonna take it up to her —"

"No, I will," Zelda interrupted, setting the tea down and snatching the mason jar from Hilda's hands before walking towards the stairs.

"Alrighty then, I'm going to school now," Lydia announced, standing up.

"You're not going to wait for Sabrina? You two always walk together," Hilda said.

"Yeah, well, I don't wait for canaries," Lydia stated plainly. She walked into the foyer, grabbed her jacket and backpack from their hooks, and left the house.

It was the second time that the twins hadn't walked to school together. It seemed to Lydia as if the first time they hadn't was ages ago, but really, it had barely been a month. Lydia felt conflicted, because she missed talking to Sabrina, but she was still so angry. The more she thought about it, the more upset she got.

When Lydia reached school, she put her bag in her locker and then went straight to the bathroom. She locked herself in one of the stalls then leaned against the door, sighing. She was tired, and she didn't want to think about what would happen when she had to finally talk to Sabrina or face the people from the Academy.

Once she had calmed herself down enough, Lydia walked out of the stall, surprised to see Roz and Susie there.

"Oh, hey guys. I didn't hear you come in," Lydia greeted, walking up to the sink to wash her hands.

"Hey, Lydia," Susie said, as Roz just gave her a quick nod. Lydia thought they were acting weird, but she chose not to question it.

Then, Sabrina walked into the bathroom, and Lydia's shoulders tensed.

"Roz, Susie. Lydia," Sabrina quickly greeted, walking up to the only spare sink. Susie and Roz both said hello to her.

Lydia stayed silent, and instead went to get a paper towel, avoiding eye contact with Sabrina.

"What's going on?" Sabrina asked Susie and Roz.

"What's going on with you two?" Roz asked.

"Yeah, you both look a little freaked out," Susie noticed. Lydia gulped, and looked at Susie.

"I called you all weekend," Roz continued.

"Me, too," Susie added.

"I, uh — had a really bad weekend," Lydia said, quickly.

"Yeah, and I wasn't feeling that great," Sabrina added. She grabbed a paper towel, as Lydia threw hers away.

"'Brina, 'Di, we want — we need to ask you —"

"Are you witches?"

For the first time in nearly four days, the twins looked at each other. In both of their eyes, there was fear, confusion, and shock. Lydia tried to collect herself quickly, hoping that Susie and Roz hadn't noticed.

"What? Where would you even get that idea? Like, what do you even mean?" Lydia questioned, laughing it off, "Guys, is this some sort of weird joke —"

"It's not a joke," Roz interjected, "The Cunning showed me something. A vision."

"And, my Aunt Dorothea, wrote about you in her journals. She said the Spellmans were a family of witches," Susie explained.

"Well, that's just ridiculous," Lydia reaffirmed, "Witches aren't real, so obviously we aren't —"

"We wanted to tell you so many times, but — but how could we?"

Lydia pinched the bridge of her nose before sighing deeply and turning to face Sabrina.

"You really just can't keep your mouth shut, can you?" Lydia asked. Sabrina looked at her with tears in her eyes.

"It's true! And we did want to tell them! And Harvey already knows. Everything is —"

"Harvey knows?" Roz asked.

"It's over. He broke up with me," Sabrina said, turning to face them.

"What? Why?" Susie asked.

"Because of everything! All the lying. We've been hiding the whole other life, going to this different school —"

"What do you mean?" Roz questioned.

"Sabrina, just stop fucking talking," Lydia hissed.

"It's a school for witches. But we're still the same people. Even after what happened with Tommy."

"Oh, Satan," Lydia sighed.

"Oh, Satan?" Roz repeated.

"Well, there's no point in hiding it now!"

"Sabrina, what happened with Tommy?" Susie questioned, trying to get back on topic.

"I did it. I resurrected Tommy," Sabrina continued, full on crying now.

"I told her not to do it," Lydia cut in. Now that they were spilling family secrets, she figured that she might as well defend herself.

"I wanted to help. But then he came back all wrong and — it's all my fault, and Harvey — Harvey had to kill him."

The shocked looks on Susie and Roz's faces were clear, but it seemed there was also sympathy. That gave Lydia some hope that they wouldn't hate her and Sabrina.

"And then I outed Lydia to our friends at the Academy, and I didn't mean to —"

"Why are you still talking!" Lydia almost yelled, and Sabrina realized that she had outed Lydia again.

"Lydia, I'm so sorry. I know I'm a terrible sister and a terrible person, and I didn't mean to tell them. I know you were just trying to be kind and I just exploded and I know you weren't leading Thomas on —"

"Who's Thomas?" Susie asked.

"He does not matter," Lydia quickly answered, not wanting Sabrina to spill anymore of her secrets.

"I've done awful things, things I didn't mean to do, and I want to take them back because everything I've done recently has just caused people so much pain, and —"

Suddenly, Susie and Roz stepped towards the twins and pulled both of them in for a hug. It was then that Lydia realized that she was on the verge of tears, as well.

"How could anyone ever forgive me?" Sabrina sobbed. As angry as Lydia still was, she still found herself placing a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder.

"You have to know that we didn't want to lie or hurt you in anyway," Lydia said.

"It's all I've been doing!" Sabrina cried.

"It's okay, It's okay," Roz told them.

"We're here for you both," Susie said.

"We will always be here for you."

As they hugged one another, Lydia realized just how grateful she was for her friends. She was also grateful that neither of them questioned her about her outing.

"Thank you guys, you're the best," the twins thanked, simultaneously.

─ ༓ ─

I can't tell you how disappointed I was to hear Lydia and Sabrina's mortal friends rally around them. Despite my every manipulation, despite everything they'd learned about the twins, their friends would not be cleaved from them.

The Dark Lord was growing impatient with me. I needed to change tactics. Introduce a threat to Greendale that would compel Lydia and Sabrina to make certain choices that would, in turn, force the twins to separate from them.

As for the threat, I had an idea or two. Or thirteen, buried right under our noses. But I would have to wait till midnight, the witching hour. And I would need a warm body.

─ ༓ ─

"Will you ever forgive me? Can you ever forgive me?"

The twins had been quietly walking to the Academy when Sabrina broke the silence. This had been a conversation that Lydia had been trying her best to avoid. She sighed.

"No, Sabrina, I can't forgive you. Not yet, anyway. Well, let's be honest, probably never," Lydia answered, "I mean, you outed me. Twice. That's something that I was supposed to do when I was ready, and you took that away from me."

Sabrina nodded her head as the two walked up the steps to the Academy. Another thing that Lydia had been dreading was having to go back to there. The thought of having to face Thomas and everyone else terrified her.

"Is there a chance you won't hate me forever?" Sabrina asked.

Lydia sighed, "I don't hate you, 'Brina, but right now I'm royally pissed, so I'd really appreciate it if you would just —"

"Lydia!"

She spun around, and was then face to face with Thomas Loher, the one person she didn't want to see. Lydia hadn't realized that she and Sabrina had already walked far enough into the school that they were at the Dark Lord's statue. Sabrina gave her a sympathetic look before walking away from them and to go talk to Nicholas, who wasn't too far behind Thomas.

"Hi," Lydia greeted curtly, her eyes looking anywhere but his face.

"Hi," Thomas replied, "I'm sorry about your friend's brother. I didn't get the chance to give my condolences the other day."

Lydia nodded, but didn't respond. Thomas cleared his throat.

"So — so this Susie," he began, "You love her, right?"

"Love is a strong word," Lydia said.

"Okay, so you like her," Thomas stated, and she nodded her head in agreement, "So when you say you like Susie, does that mean you only like girls? Or that you like girls and guys? I don't care either way."

Lydia raised her eyebrows, slightly surprised by his question.

In truth, Lydia had been doing a lot of thinking about her sexuality the last few weeks. She knew she liked girls, that much was certain, but she had crushes on boys when she was younger. When Lydia thought about it, she didn't have any issues dating anyone. She was still figuring things out though. It all felt so confusing.

"I would say both," Lydia answered.

"Okay, so I stand a chance?" Thomas asked, which caused Lydia to remember the other thing Sabrina had said.

"Look, Thomas, you're really nice and all, but —"

"I know, you like this Susie girl. I get it. I'm just saying down the road, if the opportunity is available," Thomas explained, "And I don't think you were leading me on, either. You made it very clear that you didn't like me like that from the beginning."

Lydia gave him a tight smile, "Thank you, for understanding. And for not making it such a big deal. It really means a lot to me."

"Of course."

The sound of trickling liquid caused the two of them to divert their eyes from each other and to the statue of the Dark Lord. His eyes, nose, and the pentagram on his forehead were all leaking blood. Lydia gulped.

"That can't be good," Thomas muttered.

─ ༓ ─

The next day at Baxter High, Lydia was in the locker room and had just finished changing after gym class when Susie approached her. She turned to face the Putnam girl, smiling as she tied her shoes.

"Hey, Susie. What's up?"

Susie shifted on her feet, and Lydia noticed her wringing her fingers together. She finished tying her shoes and then stood up, putting her book bag on.

"I had a question about what Sabrina said the other day," Susie began, speaking very quickly. Lydia tensed, having a feeling what Susie was going to say before she said it, "What did she mean when she said she outed you? Are you — well — you know?"

Lydia sighed slightly, not because she was annoyed with Susie, but because she was so angry with Sabrina. She had envisioned her coming out to be more comfortable, and possibly a bit more romantic in Susie's case. And yet, here she was, about to explain her sexuality in Baxter High's locker room.

"Uh, yeah. I am," Lydia answered, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. The only ones who knew were Sabrina and Ambrose, and I was going to tell you, I just —"

"You don't need to explain yourself, 'Di," Susie said, cutting the Spellman girl off, "I get it. You don't have to say anything else."

Lydia nodded and gave her a small smile. She was tempted to ask what Susie had meant by I get it, but decided not to. If Susie wanted to tell her something, she would.

"It's crazy that you're a witch," Susie blurted out, changing the subject, "I mean, it's still kind of hard to believe."

Lydia laughed, "Yeah, I can see why it would be."

"Do you know any spells or anything?" Susie asked.

"Yeah, but it's a bit more complicated than that."

"How so?"

"Well —"

"Lydia! There you are, I've been looking for you everywhere."

Lydia looked past Susie and saw Hilda walking towards her.

Her brow furrowed, "Aunt Hilda? What are you doing here?"

"You need to come to the Church of Night straight away. Father Blackwood has called an emergency meeting," Hilda explained.

"But it's the middle of the day," Lydia noted.

"Apparently it's some sort of an emergency, so if you could meet me there? I already told your sister," Hilda said, and then she turned around to walk out the door. The moment before she left, she turned around and added, "It's nice to see you again, Susie. You should come around again soon."

And then she was gone, leaving Lydia and Susie alone once again.

"How did she get in here?" Susie asked, still looking at the doorway Hilda had left through.

"I'm guessing she astral-projected. Sabrina must've told her that you and Roz know about us," Lydia said.

Susie nodded, "And the Church of Night is your church?"

"Yeah," Lydia answered.

"Can I ask who exactly you guys pray to?"

Lydia laughed a little, patting Susie on the shoulder as she walked out, "I think you already know."

─ ༓ ─

Lydia sat in the front row of the church next to Sabrina and Zelda, and Hilda was on the other side of Sabrina. Father Blackwood stood up on his podium, and was currently explaining why they were all there.

"Brothers and sisters, last night I witnessed an omen. As so many of you did. A horrifying sign that can portend only one thing: the Fires of the Abyss are being made ready," Blackwood began, walking down from his podium, "The Pit is yawning beneath us. The Dark Lord has seen our contemptible weakness. Our blatant disregard for witch law and doctrine. And Satan, vengeful God that he is, plans to punish us!"

"Father Blackwood!" a voice called.

Lydia turned around and saw Ambrose and the boy he had been seeing burst into the church, looking frightened.

"It is not the Dark Lord's wrath that has come for us, it is the Greendale Thirteen!" Ambrose announced.

"We stumbled upon them in the woods last night," the other boy — Logan? — added, "They were performing some kind of ritual. A summoning spell."

"They bore into our minds. Bewitched us. We're only alive because they wanted us to deliver a message," Ambrose said.

"What message? Spit it out!" Blackwood commanded.

"They've returned to visit death upon the town of Greendale. last night, they rose to call forth their crimson avenger. Tonight, on the Witching Hour, he rides!"

"Who rides, Ambrose? What are you talking about?" Zelda asked, grasping onto Lydia's arm.

With shaky hands, Ambrose held up a toy horse in his hand, "The Red Angel of Death, Auntie! The Thirteen will knock down all the doors in town for him, and in his wake, the firstborns of Greendale, both mortal and witch alike, will perish!"

The coven immediately started talking amongst themselves. Lydia looked around and found herself meeting eyes with Thomas, who had a wary look on his face.

"Silence! Silence!" Blackwood yelled, trying to calm the crowd, "You've done well to bring this to us, Brother Ambrose, but if it is the wrath of the Thirteen and their messenger of Crimson Death we face, I, your High Priest, will protect you!"

"With all due respect, your Excellency, and acknowledging that I'm excommunicated, protect us how?" Hilda asked.

"The coven will gather within the walls of the Academy," Blackwood announced, "Fortified, bound by our combined impenetrable magics, we will stand together until the blood-red horseman has passed through Greendale!"

The coven clapped, and Blackwood looked very pleased with himself.

"But what about the mortals?" Sabrina suddenly asked, standing up, "The people of Greendale?"

Lydia looked up at her sister. In all honesty, she had forgotten about the mortals, who had no idea what was coming and couldn't defend themselves. It made her feel selfish, in a way.

Father Blackwood walked back up to his podium and answered, "Let them run to their False God and gnash their teeth and wail, or whatever it is they do."

Once again, Lydia had somehow managed to forget how much witches hated mortals. Susie and Roz were both only children, making them the oldest. If no one helped them, then they would die. It made Lydia sick to her stomach.

"Brethren, be inside the Academy by midnight," Blackwood said, "Or face the Thirteen and their avenging angel alone."

─ ༓ ─

"I don't really get why the Greendale Thirteen would be mad at us. I mean, I get the mortals, but why other witches?" Lydia asked.

Back at the the Spellman household, Lydia, Sabrina, Zelda, Hilda, and Ambrose were all in their kitchen. Lydia sat at the table with her cousin and Hilda while Sabrina leaned against the counter and Zelda stared out the window.

"It's a bloody mess, what happened to the Greendale Thirteen. The most ignoble chapter of the Church of Night's history, but it is our history, and we cannot deny it," Zelda began, "After the witch trials of Salem, all the witches in this part of the country were terrified —"

"Trouble was brewing in Greendale, and people — mortals were identifying and arresting witches, including the Original Thirteen," Hilda explained, "and while they sat in their cell, the other witches met and decided —"

"The Thirteen would be sacrificed. To appease the mortals' bloodlust. While those thirteen women were tortured and hung, the rest of the witches burned their poppets and buried their cauldrons," Zelda continued.

"They were scapegoats to quell the rising witch hysteria," Ambrose added.

"The coven could have come together to save the Thirteen, but they —" Zelda paused, turning around, "We, our ancestors, decided not to risk it."

"Ao we're all descendants of the witches who turned their backs on the Thirteen and let them die?" Sabrina questioned.

"I take back what I said, their hatred for us is justifiable," Lydia said, stirring her spoon around in her teacup.

"And their hatred for mortals that did the actual hunting and hanging, to be fair," Ambrose added.

"Well, you'd better believe that we are not abandoning our friends to go hide in some magic doomsday bunker," Sabrina said.

"Don't speak for me," Lydia spat, glaring at Sabrina, before turning back to the rest of her family, "but she is right. Susie and Roz are both the oldest in their families. I'm not leaving them, and there's no point in arguing with me, Aunt Zee —"

"On the contrary. I think we should all stay and protect the town," Zelda said.

"Really?" Hilda asked.

"I didn't expect that," Ambrose muttered.

"And why not? The Greendale Thirteen were sacrificed so that the pack might survive," Zelda said, "but we need not make the same mistake again. We are Spellmans. That means we stand tall, with dignity, and we do what is right. As your father always did, girls. The mortals may be weak, but they do not deserve this grim fate. Doom has been unleashed by witches. It must be averted by witches."

"All right, but protect them how?" Ambrose asked, "We can hardly be all places at once. We can't protect the whole town."

"We can if we do the same that Father Blackwood is doing," Zelda expalined, leaning over the kitchen table, "We gather the mortals together —"

"Zelda, I think I might have the answer," Hilda cut in, "Um — Dr. Cerberus told me something. He used to be the local weatherman."

"Oh, for Satan's sake."

"He said that in the event of a tornado or severe weather, that the town's designated shelter was Baxter High basement."

"That's a great idea, Aunt Hilda," the twins said, simultaneously, causing Lydia to roll her eyes. She hated being mad at Sabrina while also having a telepathic connection to her.

"All we need is a tornado," Sabrina said.

"That's easy enough," Ambrose told her, getting up and running to his room.

Once it was revealed what spell they would be doing, and that it was only a four person spell, the twins flipped a coin to decide who would get to do it. It landed on heads, so Sabrina ended up winning, but a harsh look from Lydia made Sabrina give up the chance. Lydia felt a little bad about it, but she was still angry about the outing, so she was relieved from most of her guilt.

Ambrose laid the map of Greendale on the kitchen table and Zelda placed a bowl of water on top of that. Lydia, Hilda, Ambrose, and Zelda all held mason jars in their hands.

Zelda began the spell by opening her jar, saying, "Boreas, North Wind, I summon you."

"Euros, East Wind, I summon you," Hilda said, opening her jar.

"Notos, South Wind, I summon you," Ambrose continued, opening his jar.

Finally, Lydia opened her jar, "Zephuros, West Wind, I summon you."

The water in the bowl began to spin, and the air around them began to blow into a slight breeze, but only for a moment.

"Is it working? How will we know?" Sabrina asked.

"Give it a moment," Zelda told her.

Just as Zelda spoke, the wind inside the room began picking up, and the wind outside did as well. Then, the tornado sirens stationed around Greendale began to sound. The wind in the room died down, but outside it only grew stronger. They put their jars down.

"Pray to Satan the mortals heed the warning," Zelda muttered.

─ ༓ ─

And for the most part, they did. The mortals of Greendale gathered to take refuge in the bowels of Baxter High.

─ ༓ ─

Now in Baxter High, the twins were running around the school trying to find their friends. They were even searching the upstairs classrooms, before running downstairs and finally running into Susie, who was swamped in the mass of people trying to get to the basement. Lydia gave a sigh of relief.

"Susie, thank goodness," she breathed out, hugging her.

"Have you seen Harvey?" Sabrina asked. Lydia let go of the Putnam Girl as she shook her head. 

"No, and I saw Roz's dad, but I don't think Roz is here," Susie said.

"I'll go to Harvey's," Sabrina told her,

"I'll go to Roz's," Susie replied.

"And I'll —"

"No, Lydia, you need to stay here and help Aunties and Ambrose," Sabrina said. Lydia contemplated protesting, but Sabrina did have a good point. She simply nodded.

Susie began to run off, but Lydia grabbed her arm.

"Susie, you have to be back before midnight," Lydia warned her. Susie gave her a confused look, before realization set in.

"It's not a tornado, is it?" she asked. Lydia shook her head.

"Okay, I promise I'll be back," Susie said.

And there they were, surrounded by people running past them, and Lydia became very aware that her hand had slipped from Susie's arm down to her hand.

"Susie," Lydia whispered, and even though the hallway was browsed and loud, Susie still heard her. She nodded.

Before she knew what she was doing, Lydia had Susie's face in her hands and had pulled her close, kissing her. They were surrounded by people, and either no one else noticed or neither of them cared.

Lydia pulled away, scared to see Susie's reaction. But Susie was smiling, which made her smile too.

"Don't die," Lydia told her.

"I won't. I promise," Susie said, before running off and disappearing into the crowd.

Lydia didn't move, even as people bumped into her, because she had kissed Susie in the spur of the moment, and Susie had smiled.

When she turned around, she saw Sabrina giving her a knowing look. Lydia rolled her eyes, and muttered a, "Shut up," as she walked past her sister in order to find the rest of their family.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

REWRITTEN: march 2024
WORDS: 4,392

AUTHOR'S NOTE! i wish i was not so exhausted or i would have much more to say, but i'll make it quick.

lydia and susie have kissed *we cheer*, i love how the title of this chapter is paralleling the first chapter (i remember how proud i was when i came up with it), and sabrina girl stop yapping

this is the last chapter until i get through finals. if you liked this chapter, please vote and comment!!