Cult of Two

Happiness

Sabrina had shut her chamber doors under the pretense of wanting to get ready alone and told Dorcas to turn away anyone who came to see her.

The reality of the situation was that she had put on the least flamboyant dress from her closet and headed to the newly consecrated Temple of Hecate for her Auntie Hilda's wedding.

She had told Salem to stay behind and linger at Dorcas' feet. She hardly ever went anywhere without her familiar. It was strange, but it would convince everyone that everything was as it should be.

When she arrived, it seemed like the last of the guests were being ushered to their seats by Nick. He didn't seem to notice her approach, as he was too busy staring at a piece of paper in his hands.

"Invitation," he said, voice monotone. He must've said that word a thousand times today.

"Do I really need one?" she asked.

That seemed to capture his attention, and he looked up, "Spellman, hey."

"Hey," she echoed, "Is there somewhere for me to sit?"

"I'm sure there is," he replied, "You can ask your family. They're around back."

She offered a half-hearted thanks and headed to the back porch. She turned back to look at Nick just in time to see him turn a man in a plain beige suit away from the Temple. She had never seen him before.

However, she didn't let her curiosity get the better of her and banished all thoughts of him, and Nick, from her mind the moment she saw her family

Ambrose spotted her first. Zelda was busy fussing with her outfit, and Prudence was touching up Hilda's lipstick.

"Cousin?" he said, turning everyone's attention to her.

"Hey," she said as she embraced him.

"I thought you were-"

She cut him off, not wanting to discuss it, "Not until the witching hour."

She hugged her Auntie Hilda next.

"We didn't think you were coming," she said, "The Dark Lord let you out of his grasp once. We didn't think we would get that lucky a second time."

"Would you believe me if I said I had the day off?"

Zelda raised a skeptical eyebrow but said nothing.

"Anyway," Sabrina said. She extended her hands and a flat, square box appeared in her hands in a whirlwind of smoke and fire, "I brought a gift. I hope you don't already have something blue."

"Darling, you shouldn't have," she opened the box and her eyes immediately went wide, "This is just too much."

It wasn't nearly enough in Sabrina's opinion, but she thought the strand of blue Akoya pearls suited her Auntie's personality quite nicely.

"Let me put them on you," she offered.

Prudence beat her to it, taking the box and gesturing to Hilda's hair and makeup, "I'm not giving you the chance to mess up my masterpiece."

She huffed but didn't object, and leaned over to talk to her in a hushed voice, "I found her."

Prudence's hands faltered slightly, knowing instantly who she was talking about, but Hilda didn't appear to notice, "How is she?"

"Safe," Sabrina answered, "She misses you, and says she wants to come home."

"And what did you tell her?"

"The truth. Hell is our home now. Is there something you want me to tell her?"

"Tell her that we won't forget her," Prudence said softly, "She always did hate the thought of being forgotten. Tell her that she will always be our sister. That her heart will always beat in our chests."

It was easy to figure out what she meant by 'we.' She was talking about Agatha. Lost, mad, Agatha. Hecate only knew what Blackwood was doing to her, but she had prayed that she was alright. She had heard Dorcas praying, too.

Sabrina didn't know if Agatha was aware of what she had done. She wondered if she would just snap out of it one day, and it would hit her like a ton of bricks. Someone she had spent her whole life protecting, and being protected by, was dead by her own hand. A trio down to two.

She nodded her understanding and filed away the information for later. The clasp on the necklace clicked into place, and Prudence plastered on a satisfied smile.

"Perfect."

"You look beautiful, Auntie," Ambrose agreed.

Prudence gave Hilda an affectionate pat on the shoulder before heading around the corner of the building, presumably to take her seat. Sabrina was all set to follow her, but Hilda stopped her in her tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?" she said, "You've got to walk me down the aisle with Ambrose."

She immediately took the arm her Auntie offered her and smiled. She looked beautiful draped in cream-colored lace and gauzy white fabric. Flowers were pinned in her carefully curled updo, and Sabrina realized that this was the way it was always supposed to be.

A black wedding never would have suited her. Hilda was always meant to walk in the light. The daylight, to be specific. The only light they had before was Lucifer, the Morningstar himself, and whatever he chose to give them.

He had made witchkind completely dependant upon him in that way, but the world was changing, and it was a world in which Hilda Spellman shined.

"Are you happy, Auntie?" she asked.

Hilda gave her a contented smile, "I am. I made my own happiness."

"How?"

"Well, it takes work," she said, "No one is just going to hand it to you on a silver platter. You have to go out there and take it. I did."

Sabrina remembered the way she moved out of the room she shared with Zelda when it became an unhealthy environment, and how she didn't just wallow in her sorrows when she was excommunicated from the Church of Night. She went out into the world and found a job she loved.

When she met a man she was interested in, she didn't wait around for him to make the first move. Now, she was marrying him.

"Yeah," she agreed, "You did."

"I know you can too."

"Oh, Auntie," she murmured.

It must have been obvious how close she was to bursting into tears and shattering like a looking glass, because her Aunt pulled her into her arms and held her tightly.

"Oh, darling," Hilda soothed, "I wish for you the life you've always dreamed of."