Freya Hale only wanted to have a normal life. Everyone had always said that there was something different about her. It only took someone special for her to realize that they were all right.
"Ambrose?" Sabrina calls waking me. I groan and pull him closer, hoping he didn't hear the voice. "Ambrose?" Sabrina calls. Ambrose goes to sit up and laughs at my feeble attempt to keep him down next to me.
"In here, cous!" He calls. "Hey I was wondering if Freya was with you." Sabrina says coming through the door. She looks around the room at the candles and flowers, quickly putting together what happening in her mind. "Seems like I was right." She says looking down at me with a laugh.
"Did you find her yet?" Prudence asks pushing past Sabrina into the room. She looks around and groans. "Are you two done in here? I need her. Now." Prudence says pushing the basket of food with her foot. Ambrose stands and helps me to my feet. Being with Prudence is the last thing I want right now, but I know better than to try to argue.
"Get dressed. Something black. Meet me downstairs in 5 minutes." She demands before turning on her heel and walks out the door. "What was that all about?" I ask Sabrina while dusting off my skirt. I look up, waiting for a reply. Sabrina just stands there, eyes darting from me to Ambrose and back to me again. She squeaks and grabs my hand.
"Come on. We have to talk!" She exclaims dragging me out the door. "Please do return her in one piece." Ambrose calls after Sabrina while she drags me down the stairs. "Uh huh! Sure! See you later!" I just smile like an idiot. My best friend sure is something else.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
With about 30 seconds to spare, Sabrina and I make it downstairs to find the Weird Sisters waiting for us. Dorcas and Agatha smile when they see me, but Prudence still looks just as annoyed as when she walked into Ambrose's room.
"Much better. Now can we go?" Prudence asks. We all nod and head out the door. Sabrina was too busy asking questions to tell me where we were going, so for all I know, Prudence could be walking me into the woods to kill me. I ignore this thought and we press on further into the woods.
"Why did I have to put on black?" I ask Prudence thinking that it was some kind of ritual thing. "Because, you were wearing far too much color. Stick to black. It looks good on you." She says without looking at me. Cool. Thanks. I guess? Further into the clearing, Miss Wardwell waits for us. She skips a greeting and continues the walk. I still have no clue what the fuck is going on. Nothing is said until we reach a small hut a few miles in.
"What if she's not home?" Dorcas asks. "She's always home." Miss Wardwell snaps at her. "Isn't that right Dezmelda?" Out of the shack comes a short woman. Some might call her ugly for how her face looked. But I thought that she was the most interesting witch I've ever seen. I'd overheard Parker tell Winter about a beautiful witch named Dezmelda who lived in the woods. Was she referring to this Dezmelda.
"We are witches like you. We seek counsel." Wardwell explains. Dezmelda motions to a few tree stumps around a small campfire and invited us to sit. "Why did you run Dezmelda?" Sabrina asks suddenly. "From the Dark Lord." Sabrina says.
"I didn't run from the Dark Lord. I ran from my High Priest." Dezmelda says with a sigh. "I was a child. We all were. All 14 of us who took part in the lottery. Younger than you all. No one questioned why that was. And I was selected to be queen. And then...." She says trailing off. Miss Wardwell sees how hard this is for her so she finishes the story. "Her High Priest had a revelation. Delivered unto him by the Dark Lord, allegedly. The night before the feast, the High Priest was to.... initiate her." She explains for Dezmelda. So that's why we are here? So we could visit a Queen who didn't get sacrificed?
"What happened then isn't what Father Blackwood is asking now." Prudence argues. "Just listen to your words. Father Blackwood is asking you to do this, not the Dark Lord." Sabrina tells her. Oh. I get it. This is Sabrina's foolish attempt to try to change Prudence's mind. Even I know that Prudence wouldn't be swayed. She wanted this more than anything.
"Father Blackwood is a righteous messenger." Prudence fires back at Sabrina. "But he isn't divine!" He's flesh and blood, just like you and me. Which means he has faults and he sins." Sabrina explains. Prudence takes a second to think this over before responding. She opens her mouth to say something but never gets the chance to due to a gunshot. All of us stand up to try to figure out where the noise had come from.
"What have you done? Who else have you brought to this place?" Dezmelda cries rising from her tree stump. I reach over and help her stand since her walking stick is leaned against her shelter. "No one. I swear." Miss Wardwell tells her. Dezmelda shrugs out of my grip and hobbles to her little hut. "Go and never come back." She demands. I look back at the rest of the girls and then we start running though the woods.
"Miss Wardwell!" Sabrina yells from about 30 feet in front of us. "What is this?" She asks pointing to something that we can't see. It isn't until we get closer that we see what it is. Laying on the ground, is a deer. Only it's not just a deer. It's a familiar. "It was a familiar. Many live in Moon Valley." Dorcas says sadly.
"Who would do such a thing?" I ask no one in particular. "Men." Miss Wardwell says plainly. Suddenly, there are voices and they sound like they are coming this was. Miss Wardwell reaches into her jacket and pulls out a ball of yarn. "Quickly, take this wool yarn. Form a pentagram around the creature." She tells us. Everyone takes a corner and forms a pentagram, with Miss Wardwell standing in the center, above the familiar.
"Wait, what are we doing?" Sabrina whisper shouts. "Pulling the wool over their eyes." She responds. "Don't speak. Stay very quiet, or the cloaking won't take." She instructs. We all nod and brace ourselves to see the monsters that come to claim their prize.
Only it's not monsters that come around the corner. It's the Kinkles.
"Blood stops here." Harvey's grandpa says. "Where the hell is that thing?" He asks, clearly getting frustrated. Harvey walks towards us and glances around to see if he can see the deer. But little does he know, he's lined his gun up directly with my face. I gulp and try not to make a sound even though I'm literally staring down the barrel of a gun.
And to think I could have avoided all this by just staying in bed.
