Protector | Ambrose Spellman and Nicholas Scratch [1]

22 | selene, wake up

twenty-two
selene, wake up.

THE NEXT DAY, Selene hesitantly goes to Ambrose's room to find him dressed in a blue tuxedo. "You look handsome, Ambrose."

"Oh, hey," Ambrose greets, looking down at his outfit. "Thanks. It's for my first day at the academy tomorrow, I thought I'd go for a little Carnaby Street cool. Too much?"

"No," Selene shakes her head, happy she had done something good for him. A couple of weeks ago, she had asked her father to look over Ambrose's file and see if he could lessen his sentence. And Faustus happily obliged, so now Ambrose gets to teach at the Academy of Unseen Arts. But Faustus has suspicions about Selene and Ambrose, so he made sure Ambrose isn't teaching any classes that Selene's in. "So I talked to Sabrina, and she said the ritual worked. Tommy's back, and he's with Harvey. Sabrina said Harvey's so happy."

"And how is Tommy feeling himself?" Ambrose asks as the girl shrugs.

"In all honesty, I'm not sure," Selene admits hastily. "Sabrina was very vague on the details, but she said he's in shock. The doctor said that's normal, but the doctor doesn't know what really happened. I'm hoping he'll be okay in a couple of days. But so far, he's not talking and he's not eating-"

"He's not eating?" Ambrose echoes, moving to go out the door. "We have to go tell the aunties."

"Not yet," Selene decides, putting her hand on his chest to stop him. "If it gets worse, then we'll tell them, but not yet. Tommy might get better."

"And what if he gets worse?" Ambrose counters.

"Then we'll tell them together. Please, Ambrose."

He heaves a sigh before nodding. She can't help but smile sadly at him. "Thank you."

She then goes into her room to read a book, only to find Nick. A psychopomp is resting on her windowsill, so it's not hard for her to guess how he's here. "Nick, why didn't you just come over? Why are you astral-projecting?"

"Agatha's sick. Really sick. Prudence says she's vomiting up dirt," Nick informs, as Selene realizes just how right Ambrose was. They had screwed up royally. "How's Tommy?"

"He's fine," Selene lies, her voice cracking as she does so.

"You're a terrible liar."

"I'm a great liar, actually."

"You might be, but you can't lie to me," Nick points out with an amused grin. Another psychopomp then lands on Selene's windowsill, and she looks at him in fear, knowing they'll try to get him if he doesn't leave soon. "You must really love Sabrina, to risk everything for her."

"I'll do anything for her," Selene replies sadly. "You know that."

"I know," Nick agrees as a third psychopomp appears at Selene's window.

"Nick, you need to go," Selene insists, unable to take her eyes off of the birds. "I'm sure Agatha will be okay, and so will Tommy. We just need to give them some time."

"You hope," Nick clarifies. "I'll see you tomorrow."

His soul then returns to his body, and the psychopomps leave. Selene allows herself to relax before she pulls Violet out of her cage.

"Vi, you need to go to the academy and keep an eye on Agatha. But make sure nobody sees you. We'll both be in trouble if my dad finds you."

The familiar nods before she sets her down. Violet then crawls out of the room, heading to the academy. Selene then heads to Sabrina's room, finding Sabrina's familiar, Salem laying on Sabrina's bed.

She smiles at the cat before petting it. "Salem, I need you to go to Harvey's house and keep an eye on everything."

The cat meows before taking the same route that Violet did. Selene then makes herself a cup of tea, pouring some foxglove in it. She drinks it before going to bed, allowing herself to be sucked into her dreams.

In her dreams, she's walking through the woods of Greendale. Snow is falling all around her when she hears the sounds of several hellhounds growling.

Selene then comes upon a clearing where two hellhounds are fighting over Tommy's body. Selene screams before turning on her heel and running as fast as she can in the other direction. She runs until the snow stops falling, and when it does, she spots a male's shadow. More importantly, Tommy's shadow.

"Tommy?" Selene falls, walking towards him. But as soon as she's about to reach him, she closes her eyes and she's back where she started. She tries this a couple of times, but she always ends up back at square one.

Until she feels somebody tap on her shoulder. She jumps at the person's touch, jerking away from the woman. But when she turns around, she sees her mother.

Except, she doesn't look like the woman she had seen in pictures. The woman in the pictures had a smile that could light up a room, tan skin, and fiery red hair. This woman has hollow eyes, ashen skin, and grey hair. But she still smiles at her daughter, instantly recognizing her. "Selene, my baby. Wake up. You need to wake up. Get out of here."

And as soon as she says it, Selene jerks awake in bed, screaming so loud that it shakes the house on its foundation. And Selene knows this can't mean anything good, because her visions are always a warning of something. And Selene can tell that nothing good is coming.

UNEDITED