Protector | Ambrose Spellman and Nicholas Scratch [1]

03 | spiders

Ambrose thinks she's having a peaceful, happy dream, but he doesn't know what she's actually seeing.

In her dream, Selene is standing in the middle of a dark forest, and the sky is a dark orange color. She's standing in front of an old apple tree, but there are no apples hanging from the trees. In their places, the bodies of several witches are hanging. Once she registers who they are, the girl turns on her heel and begins to run through the woods as fast as she can. She continues to run until she tries to push through some foliage, and when she does, she jerks awake in Ambrose's bed with a petrified scream.

Hours had passed since she had fallen asleep, and Ambrose had drifted off into oblivion in that time. But as soon as soon as the girl starts screaming, he shoots awake, concerned for her. "Are you okay, Selene? Are you alright?"

"N-no. No," Selene sobs with wide eyes, burying her head head in his shoulder. The girl has tears in her eyes and she's shaking. "I saw them."

"Saw who?" Ambrose echoes, gently patting her back. This isn't the first time that this has happened. Selene has to take foxglove to sleep or the Dark Lord will find his way into her dreams, showing her horrid images from the past and things that have yet to happen. "Who did you see?"

"The Greendale thirteen."
——

The next day, Selene's father, Faustus Blackwood decides to make a visit to the Spellman home to see Sabrina since she's having second thoughts about her dark baptism. Selene has, of course, gathered her bearings, and looks a lot better. There's no trace of the sobbing girl that Ambrose saw last night.

So Selene, Faustus, Ambrose, Zelda, and Hilda sit in the living room of the Spellman household when Sabrina walks through the door, growing confused once she takes in the scene in front of her. She hastily takes a seat on the sofa, before raising an eyebrow at Faustus. "Father Blackwood, what're you doing here?"

"Your aunties told me you have questions, about your baptism and such," he replies with a flat voice, almost like he's bored.

"I do," Sabrina nods calmly. "But I'm not sure where to begin."

"Allow me," Faustus smirks, shifting in his seat so that he can fully face Sabrina. "A witch's dark baptism is our most sacred unholy sacrament. The oldest of our rites. We've been performing them for centuries. Our Dark Lord's book, the Book of the Beast, is the most ancient tome in existence-"

"About that," Sabrina cuts him off. "If I sign my name in the Book of the Beast, does that mean I'm giving the Dark Lord dominion over my soul?"

"That's one interpretation," Faustus admits as Selene watches them anxiously, not sure if and when she should intervene. "But it's largely a symbolic gesture, as rituals in most religions are. What else?"

"Let's say I do sign my name in his book. Doesn't that mean he can call on me?" Sabrina asks, not wanting to do the devil's dirty work. "To do his bidding?"

"All religions demand some sacrifice," Faustus states. "But signing your name in the book is more like... a pledge, let's say. That you'll abide by his commandments. Do you know the Thirteen Commandments?"

"She knows them like the back of her hand," Selene finally speaks up, narrowing her eyes at her father.

"I'm not an evil person, Father," Sabrina assures him, as he laughs.

"I am glad to hear it. Neither am I. Neither are you aunts. And neither is my daughter."

"But the devil..." Sabrina begins.

"The Dark Lord, yes?"

"He's the embodiment of evil," Sabrina points out bluntly.

"Incorrect," Faustus shakes his head sternly. "He is the embodiment of free will. Good. Evil. Those words matter to the False God, but the Dark Lord is beyond such precepts."