If I thought that day had been bad the evening grew infinitely worse. After our visit from the High Priest I had settled in my room declining to join the others in the embalming room where Ambrose insisted on showing Father Blackwood whatever discovery he had made. I had prided myself on being a faithful member and servant of the Church of Night ever since I had signed my own name in the Book of the Beast. I never regretted my decision, in fact quite the opposite I had reveled in it. But in that moment I loathed myself for allowing them to lie to Sabrina. To honey coat the truth of it all. If our religion was truly built on the pillars of free will then why should she not have the choice? She was half mortal after all. Now I sat on my bed drowning out my thoughts with music blasting through the speakers absentmindedly scribbling notes in my grimoire. Books lay scattered on my bed as I committed myself to finishing decoding an ancient ritual written in a tongue lost to the ages. I scarcely heard the soft knock and refused to look up in fear of disappointing my mother again that day. " 'Cole? May I come in?" Ambrose was always respectful enough to ask but rarely cared about my answer. He made his way in cutting the music down to a reasonable level and carefully moved a few of the tomes to the side to perch on the end of my bed. "The High Priest has left?" He studied me carefully, "He has. Are you alright?" I sighed and moved the grimoire off my lap, "It has been a trying day to say the least. The closer we get to Sabrina's Baptism the harder things get. I worry for Sabrina if she doesn't sign her name but I find myself questioning if this is the way to go about it. And the High Priest.." Ambrose let out a breathy laugh, "You despise him?" I stared off at nothing in particular weighing the option of sharing with my cousin my worst fear. "He killed my Father, Ambrose. I know it to be true." Ambrose looked around as if to make sure no one was listening, "Nicole you know an inquiry was held. Witch hunters killed your father." I felt the hot tears welling in my eyes threatening to spill over. I refused to let them fall. "Witch hunters? You're telling me my Father was murdered by witch hunters and there haven't even been any in this part of the world for over a century?" I nearly flinched when Ambrose moved to take my hand, "I'm not so sure that's true, Cousin. A body was brought in with multiple stab wounds. At first I assumed it was just some mortal who met a tragic end. But he has a Witch's Mark, 'Cole. He was one of us. Father Blackwood all but confirmed that. What if they're back? The same ones who killed your Father." A hot tear rolled down my cheek, "He. Killed. Him. Ambrose." His thumb ran across my knuckles as his other hand reached up to wipe the tear away, "I know you believe that. But if you just come-" I pulled away looking at him incredulously, "I'm not going down there. You know I can't go down there." An image flashed through my mind instantly. Bright fluorescent lighting, cold frigid air, the smell of formaldehyde invading my senses and there my father lay on the table cold and lifeless. The only memory I had of him, the earliest memory I have. My mother didn't know I had wandered down. Wracked with grief she took her eyes off me for only a moment but that one moment would follow me to the grave. Since that day I have had nightmares of that place and I avoided the stairs leading down there like the plague. "I'm so sorry, cousin. I forgot-" I shook my head, "It's fine, Ambrose. I believe you. I believe he's a witch and I believe he was killed by witch hunters. But my father wasn't. Think about it. He was High Priest of the Church of the Infernal Flame which was quickly growing to be more powerful than his coven. He had my mother, he had me. Blackwood hated him just as much as he hated Uncle Edward. He had everything to gain from his death." Ambrose mulled over my words, "All of this is true. I promise we'll find out what happened to your father, Nicole. But there's also a very real threat coming to Greendale and I fear for our cousin if she doesn't go through with her Baptism." I knew he was right. I felt the winds changing. The threat lingering in the air and it wasn't just the possibility of witch hunters.
The following day at the mortal highschool I kept my head down. Soon I'd be free to leave and I could put all the business from the day before behind me. As I closed my locker and turned to leave I nearly collided with my downfall. "Ms. Spellman, I was wondering when I'd run into you," She purred. As she spoke my gaze fixated on those scarlet lips I hadn't stopped thinking about and cursed myself as she smirked noticing my misstep. "Ms. Wardwell there's still an hour until my free period," I looked down, noticing our still close proximity, "and it seems I ran into you, not the other way around." I glanced around making sure no one had noticed and took a step back, nearly running into the lockers. I was trapped. The smirk that graced her lips was positively sinful, "So it seems. I just had the most interesting conversation with your cousin. It seems that she's going to leave us after all. I hope that means I won't see less of you now that she'll be gone." To be honest I hadn't put much thought into any excuse for my sudden absence. I had no ties to the mortal world so my sudden disappearance wasn't something that seemed overly important. But the woman in front of me had me scrambling to find an adequate answer, "Of course not, Ms. Wardwell. I'll be around." Smooth, Spellman. I clearly had a death wish. Her smile widened and I thought my heart would stop right there. "Excellent. I'll see you next period then?" And with that she sauntered off my gaze following her until she rounded the corner. The rest of the day flew by. The short time I allowed myself to spend with Ms. Wardwell improved my mood greatly and if I was being honest with myself it concerned me. The more comfortable I became the more I felt I could divulge and she could not find out about the coven or what I truly was. As I pulled up the gravel drive to the family home I passed a car. No doubt some mortals who trusted my family with the burial rites of some lost family member. Shutting the door I noticed my mother walking up the path from the cemetery. Satan only knows what she was doing out there. Before I had the chance to ask she addressed my cousin who stood at the top of the stairs. "What were the Kemper's doing here?" As she reached me she looped her arm through my own as we walked the rest of the way up to the porch. "I invited them to inspect my handiwork on their son," he stated. My mother rolled her eyes and I suppressed a laugh, "Ambrose, you're not meddling in mortal affairs again, are you?" She wasn't wrong, he did have a bad habit of doing so. However if I was confined to house arrest I would be desperate to find ways to pass the time as well. "Connor wasn't mortal. In fact, I believe he even had a familiar. An iguana," He stated matter of factly. My mother and I looked at each other knowingly once we reached the top of the stairs. He was meddling. "Where's Aunt Hilda?" Ambrose questioned noticing we were short one family member. "She annoyed me, so I killed her and buried her in the yard," she answered nonchalantly before patting my cheek lovingly and disappearing inside. Ambrose gave me a look of confusion and I shrugged. "She's scary. You know that right? I see where you get it from." I smirked, "Like mother, like daughter."
Later that night Sabrina danced into my room flopping down on my bed dreamily. "Where exactly have you been so late, Cousin?" She smirked, "Oh you know. Teaching some mortal boys a lesson." She dropped a stack of Polaroids on the bed next to her. As I began to thumb through them I realized it was the misogynistic football players from school that had been giving her and her friends so much trouble.. and the weird sisters? "How'd you get them to help?" I questioned. Just a few days ago they hit my cousin with a nasty blood curse and while we had no issues they seemed heaven bent on getting my cousin to stay away from the Academy. "Well I told them if they helped me I wouldn't sign my name and I'd stay where I was at." At my deadpan expression she continued, "It was a bluff, 'Cole. I've learned a thing or two from you, don't worry. Tonight was actually.. fun." I nodded understanding completely the high you get from casting. "Just remember that all fades to nothing if you refuse the Dark Lord." Sabrina smoothed her skirt nervously, "I know but I think I'm ready. I'm ready to sign my name." I took her hand steadying the tremor, "Good. Because tomorrow everything changes."
