The Witching Hour {Nick Scratch}

3. A GRAVEN IMAGE

CHAPTER THREE

A GRAVEN IMAGE.

"MY HEART WEEPS FOR YOUR friend," Ms. Wardwell said as she strolled around her small office.

Echo sat besides Sabrina in Ms. Wardwell's office. She couldn't help but feel awkward from the stares that she received from the older woman. She couldn't tell why, but she seemed completely different to usual.

The woman placed her hand on the redhead's shoulder, causing Echo to look at Sabrina with a weirded out expression, "Such a difficult thing to be going through."

"Yeah..." Echo nodded, watching the woman, from the corner of her eye, as she walked past her and over to her chair.

"This town, this school, theres a culture of--"

"Puritanical masculinity?" Ms. Wardwell cut Sabrina off, "And Principal Hawthorne is the most intolerant, the most buffoonish, the most misogynist of all. When will the world learn?" Echo shared yet another look with Sabrina, "Women should be in charge of everything. Our assistant principal, Ms. Glover, she wouldn't turn a blind eye to what's happening."

Echo stayed quiet, observing the woman as Sabrina finally spoke up, "I just wish Hawthorne would just--"

"Just what?"

"Hawthorne's a bully...and I wish someone would teach him a lesson."

"Why not you? Ms. Wardwell suddenly suggested, her eyes quickly shifted over to the redhead, "Or even better, you, Echo."

Echo raised her eyebrow, "How exactly would that help Susie?" She questioned. 

"A fish rots from the head down," Ms. Wardwell commented, she stood up from her seat and slowly began moving towards the window in her office, "Principal Hawthorne isn't an ally. If he were to take a sabbatical, say, I suspect you two and your friends would come up with some way to help Susie."

"The problem is, Hawthorne doesn't take sabbaticals or days off even," Sabrina commented.

A moment of silence overcame the room before Ms. Wardwell turned back to the twins, "He's scared of spiders, you know."

"Principal Hawthorne is?" Echo quizzed, sharing a look with Sabrina.

"Hmm," Ms. Wardwell nodded, giggling quietly to herself, "He's absolutely terrified of them."

"Would you excuse us?" Echo suddenly asked, she shot up from her seat and before the older woman could reply, the redhead grabbed hold of her twin. Pulling her up and rushing out of the classroom.

"Where are we going?" Sabrina questioned, her voice filled with confusion as she was dragged through the school hallway by her sister.

"He's scared of spiders, Brina," Echo said, parroting Ms. Wardwell's words, leading the blonde into the library. When the pair walked through the door threshold, Echo finally let go off Sabrina's wrist and rushed over to the yearbook section of the library.

Confused, Sabrina followed her sister and watched carefully as Echo opened the newest yearbook and flipped through the pages, before landing on a page with Principal Hawthorne's photograph on it. Suddenly, the idea clicked in the blonde's head and she whispered, "A graven image."

"That's right, dear sister," Echo smirked, she glanced at Sabrina briefly before looking back down at the yearbook and ripping that page out, "That's right."

-

"THE FOOTBALL PLAYERS ARE A symptom," Sabrina explained as she, Echo, Rosalind and Harvey walked towards the school picnic benches, "But the disease goes much deeper, into the bedrock of the school. So, that's where we fight it, with a club," Echo raised her eyebrow, "For young women," Sabrina continued, "To meet and bolster each other. Where we can discuss issues and problems we're facing and come up with proactive solutions."

The group took their seats at the picnic table, all of them taking out heir lunches. However, it seemed only Harvey and Echo were interested in food as Ros and Sabrina chatted more about the new club idea.

"You mean, like, a club to topple the white patriarchy?" Ros asked.

"Wait, what?" Harvey looked up from his sandwich with a confused expression on his face.

"Exactly," Sabrina nodded, "To mobilise and protest if we need to get political, to fight when we need to fight, to defend each other. So Susie never feels alone, so none of us do."

"Won't Hawthorne block this?" Rosalind quizzed, "I mean, he wouldn't let me start a 'Daughters of the Black Panthers' club last year."

"A what?" Echo asked, stopping mid-bite to look confused at her friend.

Sabrina ignored her twin, "We might have a plan for getting this through without the interference of Hawthorne. We just need to do it fast," Sabrina explained, pointing to Echo and herself.

"How fast?"

"As soon as possible. But definitely by Friday."

"Just in time for your birthday," Ros pointed out, smiling at the twins.

"Yeah, but remember, we're not making a big deal out of that this year," Echo quickly reminded her friends as Sabrina nodded, agreeing with her twin sister.

"But it is a big deal!" Rosalind exclaimed, "It's both of your sweet sixteenths, on Halloween, Echo you love Halloween! And there's an eclipse. I mean, that kind of cosmic alignment demands a party. Harvey, back me up."

"I've tried, Ros, multiple times, but--"

"But we have plans with our aunts," Sabrina quickly cut her boyfriend off as Echo sent her a pointed look, "Years-in-the-making plans."

"It's a super-secret Spellman family tradition that we're not allowed to talk about," Echo added, "so let's focus on what we can talk about," She sent a pointed look to her sister, "Like what will happen on Monday."

Sabrina's eyes widened and she shook her head causing Echo to let out a sigh.

"What's happening on Monday?" Harvey asked as he and Ros shared confused looks.

Echo took a look at her sister and noticed her saddened expression immediately. Nonchalantly playing with her nose ring - like she always did when she felt under pressure or nervous - Echo looked back at her friends, "Nothing. It doesn't matter," She quickly dismissed herself and took a large bite out of her cheese sandwich.

"Let's focus on the club!" Sabrina quickly said, trying to make Harvey and Ros forget about what Echo almost said, "Like, what should we name it?"

"The She-Hawks!" Rosalind exclaimed with an excited look on her face.

That's when Echo fell into her thoughts. More specifically, the thought of her and Sabrina's dark baptism. The redhead knew this was what she wanted, of course, she had more questions about it and still kept an open mind. But, unlike Sabrina, Echo knew more than anything that she wanted to be a full witch and that after her dark baptism, she would be transferred to the Academy of Unseen Arts, where she could finally find out her potential.