Hi everyone! Thank you for being so very patient with me. I did not like the way this story was going. It was too fast-paced and dialogue-heavy. I have really developed my writing style since I started publishing my work here and on other platforms. Long story short I rewrote everything starting from the chapter 'The Eldritch Dark.' If this is your first time back to my story since before the rewrite I encourage you to reread from the beginning. It is going to be a slow burn this time with a lot more little moments that we didn't get to see, like the wedding cake tasting Lilith mentioned. Dorcas will reprise her role from my previous version of this fic, and people will talk about their trauma.Get ready for a long, turbulent ride.Let's be internet friends! You can follow me on tumblr @justateenagewitch & on Instagram @justateenagewitch3Updates will be every Wednesday/Thursday at Midnight CDT
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"Cousin?" Ambrose asked, "Are you sure that leaving the two of them alone is wise?"
Sabrina finished lighting the last candle in the circle on the living room carpet and looked up.
Caliban and Nick were glaring daggers in each other's directions. They were both sizing each other up as if they were looking to fight, but Sabrina had made her opinion on that very clear.
Even though Nick might not follow her orders, Caliban would. At the very least, he wouldn't start anything.
"It'll be fine," she assured him, "It's not like we have any other options."
"Nicholas-" he protested.
"Doesn't look strong enough to astral project," she pointed out, "We'll only be gone a minute. In and out, right?"
"That's the plan, Cousin."
They settled themselves down onto the carpet. Sabrina didn't think she would be doing this again so soon, but the conditions were much improved from the last time. A soft, plush carpet was at her back instead of cold, unforgiving marble.
"Good luck," Nick said.
Caliban scoffed, "She does not need your luck, warlock."
She rolled her half-closed, heavy eyes, and sighed. She was definitely coming back to a murder scene.
When they closed their eyes they traveled to the cave where the 1949 disaster took place, where all those men were killed in the dark.
The entrance of the cave was bathed in shadows which was odd for this time of day. She could see stones blocking the tunnel. It felt ominous and ancient.
"Is this it?" Ambrose questioned.
She nodded and headed into the cave. They passed through boulders as if they were insignificant, not a force of nature that had the power to crush anything in their path. It was a little disorienting. The distance was short, but the walk seemed to take forever.
It was there. She was certain of it, and she was proven right when they came across a large pool of something dark and bubbling. It was blacker than black. All light was absent. A strange energy was radiating from it.
"That is either a tar pit or the source of Absolute Darkness."
She circled the pool before crouching down and extending a hand over it to get a better feel for its energy, "Can you feel that, Ambrose? Hopelessness. Despair."
Forget Hell invading her blood, the Darkness was invading her mind. It was so much stronger, so much more tempting, so much harder to resist. It was right there. It was close enough for her to touch...
"It is as Aunt Zelda said. The Darkness is preying on our fears, our insecurities."
At the mention of her aunt's name, Sabrina snapped out of her trance, and she backed away from the Darkness as though it had harmed her. "We're not prepared for this. We should go. Now."
"I do believe you are right, Cousin," Ambrose agreed, "When we come back we'll be... we'll be armed physically and then psychologically."
They left the Darkness behind in a wisp of smoke.
When Sabrina opened her eyes, she discovered that the Spellman family living room had an additional occupant.
She pushed herself up on her elbows to get a better look, "Prudence?"
Once it was clear that she was conscious, Caliban offered to assist her off the floor, but she ignored him.
"Hello, Sabrina," the elder witch said with her usual, devilish smile, "Welcome back to the realm of Earth."
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I called her," Nick explained, "For back-up."
"If this 'Darkness' is an Eldritch Terror, as Nicholas said, then my father can't be far behind. And this time..." Prudence seethed, "This time he will get no reprieve."
Anger was radiating off of her in waves, and the tone of her voice was deadly. Sabrina knew that whatever Prudence had planned would be as creative as it would be painful. Just when she was about to ask if Blackwood had left anything behind before his departure, the lights started to flicker.
Once. Twice. Thrice. Then they went out, bathing the room in Darkness.
"I imagine that isn't normal," Caliban said.
Nick scoffed, "You think?"
"No," Sabrina confirmed, ignoring him, "It isn't."
"I'll wager this is their doing," Ambrose said, rushing around to pull back curtains and open window blinds to let the light in.
"Whose doing?" Prudence asked.
"The avatars of Darkness," Ambrose explained, "If the whole town has lost power, come sundown the entire town will be without light, allowing the Darkness to escape the mines, and enter the world."
"How do you even fight a Terror?" Nick questioned.
"On multiple fronts," Prudence stated, sounding as confident as Sabrina wished she felt in the face of impending doom, "We surround it. Block every means of escape. I will get Mambo Marie and Zelda to help. The whole coven if need be."
"Then there are the miners," Ambrose reminded them, "I'd take them off the table."
"From what I've seen, they're drawn to light, like moths to a flame," Sabrina said, remembering the way they were drawn to Gus's fire, "Fright Club should be able to help with that."
She didn't want to put them in danger again, but they needed all the help they could get.
"I'm on it," Nick volunteered, and everyone looked at him as though he had grown a second head, "What? We had a team-up against the pagans. It was fun."
"Then there's the Darkness itself," Ambrose said, effectively having everyone focus again, "We need power to disperse it. Wattage, and lots of it, and some brave soul who's willing to venture into the heart of the Darkness and generate light from within it."
"I'll do it," Sabrina volunteered.
"My lady, you are far too valuable-"
She cut him off, "I'm a Morningstar, Caliban, I can generate light. I'm our best hope."
"What if your powers aren't strong enough?" Nick questioned, "What if something happens to you down there?"
"You dare doubt her?"
"Caliban," she exclaimed, "This is so not the time!"
He didn't say anything further, and she turned back to the rest of the occupants of the room, "I'm a little out of practice, but I've gotten stronger since I've been in Hell. I can feel it."
"I wish there was some way we could help you, Cousin, but our knowledge of the Terrors is quite limited."
"Yours may be, but Hells' knowledge is rather extensive," Caliban informed them, "The library is in possession of the original works of Howard Philips Lovecraft, who wrote about his visions of the Terrors."
"We can go to Hell and be back before sunset," Sabrina suggested.
Ambrose wrapped her up in a hug, "Take care."
"I will," she said, squeezing him tightly.
When she let go, she turned back to Caliban who had been patiently waiting to transport them back to Hell.
"Can I speak with you, Sabrina?" Prudence asked.
"Sure," she agreed, taking any excuse to stay in her old home a little longer.
"Is Dorcas there with you?"
"Is Dorcas with me?" she repeated, "In Hell?"
Prudence nodded solemnly. She had never seen her so... sad.
"Dorcas is dead?" she asked, the realization hitting her like a ton of bricks.
"After you left for Hell, we found the Academy in ruins. Dorcas... we found her butchered in a cupboard. It was Agatha."
"Prudence..."
"I know we aren't friends, Sabrina, but Dorcas is my sister."
Dorcas is- was always the nicest of the Weird Sisters. They were witches, so that wasn't saying much, but it was something. She helped cause the mine collapse that initially killed Tommy, but it wasn't her idea, and she was willing to make up for it.
She even had a fond memory of her. It was the Winter Solstice, and she had asked the Weird Sisters to assist her in having a seance to contact her mother. Dorcas had begged Prudence to participate, and she had indulged her.
"I don't know if she's in Hell, but if she is, I'll find her," Sabrina promised.
"Thank you."
Sabrina watched as Prudence regained her composure and turned away as though she wasn't in any pain at all.
"May I ask what that was about, my lady?" Caliban questioned.
"A favor," she murmured.
"One you see fit to grant?"
She nodded, tearing her gaze away from her family. Feeling human again wasn't going to help them.
She raised her hands and flames surrounded them, much like they had earlier.
The only difference was that this time...
This time they were blue.