"Not today, Satan."
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."
― Roald Dahl
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THE FOLLOWING MORNING, THE SPELLMAN family sat around the dining room table, all of them exhausted from the lack of sleep from the previous night, however, Echo spotted almost as soon as she sat down that her Aunt Zelda and Ambrose had devastated looks in their eyes; as if they already knew something else, something she didn't.
"Ambrose and I have news," Zelda confessed, her voice softer than Echo had ever heard before, "Brace yourselves, it's not pleasant," She added, looking between everyone; especially the twins – who were seated at the opposite ends of the table.
"I was astral-projecting with Auntie Zee keeping watch..." Ambrose spoke up, his voice full of sorrow, "..and I went to the mines," He paused for a moment, refusing to make eye contact with either of his cousins, "There were no survivors in there."
Echo felt her heart drop.
The ebony-haired witch couldn't help but think of Harvey. She knew how completely and utterly devastated the boy would be to find out the news and it broke her heart.
"Dear Lucifer," Hilda muttered, keeping her teary eyes on the table, "A-Are you sure?" She suddenly asked, directing her question at Ambrose.
Ambrose nodded, "I'm fairly certain, yes."
"Well, in that case we should tell them," Sabrina spoke up, her voice scratchy, "Harvey is losing his mind with worry. P-People might get hurt if the search continues."
Echo sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. She wanted to pick up the phone and call Harvey, let him know about his brother, but she knew for the safety of the coven that just wasn't possible yet. They all needed to find out in their own time.
"Unfortunately, we can't do that," Aunt Zelda said, her voice more authoritative, "This is the perilousness of being a witch who consorts with mortals. Having knowledge they don't and not being able to act on it or share it."
Echo's chocolate coloured eyes fell down onto her hands as she fiddles with the jewellery that decorated her long fingers. As much as she understood why they couldn't let anyone know, it still hurt that they couldn't say anything, that they would have to sit as quietly as they could on this important information for who knows how much longer.
"It just–It just doesn't make any sense," Sabrina whispered, looking at Zelda with teary eyes.
Aunt Zelda sighed sadly, "Things happen. Awful things. Accidents. But the natural order is to be maintained. That's one of our basic tenets. Things must play out as they would without our interference. Otherwise--"
"Bad things happen," Sabrina cut her off, "I know."
"It's a terrible tragedy for all of them in there," Aunt Zelda added solemnly.
"Did you know him well, Sabrina?" Ambrose questioned softly.
"Tommy?"
"Hmm," Ambrose nodded.
Sabrina sighed, "I met him a few times, but..." She shook her head, "He meant everything to Harvey. He, uh...He's going to be devastated."
-
"HE CALLED OFF THE SEARCH!" Harvey Kinkle yelled angrily as he paced in front of the Spellman's house with Echo standing near the stairs, watching him with a puzzled expression.
"Who did?"
"My asshole father. He said he couldn't risk the loss of anymore lives, but I know that's bullshit!" He yelled, his face turning red with anger, "He was already talking to the bank and-and the insurance company because he cares more about the payout than he does about finding Tommy."
Echo frowned and shook her head, "Harvey, he's just worried; like you, he probably just doesn't know how to go about it all," She told him, trying her best to calm him down.
Harvey shook his head, "No, Echo, he's coming here to plan Tommy's funeral for tomorrow. He's rushing it because he can't collect the insurance check until there's been a funeral. And we-we haven't even found his body yet," He finally stopped pacing around and simply stood there, looking at Echo with teary, bloodshot eyes and a deep frown on his face.
Echo couldn't even look him in the eyes for too long. The guilt of knowing what happened to his brother but not being able to tell him seemed to eat at her insides, so, without giving it much thought, the witch stepped closer to him, gently wrapped her arms around him, hoping to bring him some comfort as she didn't exactly know what to say.
"What kind of man does that, when his own son could still be alive and suffering?" Harvey asked as he instinctively wrapped his arms around Echo's shoulder, resting his chin on the top of her head.
Echo didn't reply, instead she just squeezed him tighter and after several minutes of standing like that, she could finally feel his body relaxing slightly as his anger and pain faded away for those several minutes whilst a teary eyed Echo muttered a spell quietly under her breath.
