The Witching Hour {Nick Scratch}

14. ACHERON CONFIGURATION

CHAPTER FOURTEE

ACHERON CONFIGURATION. 

ECHO'S FIRST WEEK AT THE Academy seemed to fly by, and before she even knew it she was back at home for the weekend.

Father Blackwood kept to his promise. Adding Demonology, conjuring and binding rituals to her schedule, classes that she found the most interesting by far. 

The Weird Sisters took her right under their wing, the black haired witch seemed to fit in perfectly at the Academy and with the three girls. When she wasn't spending her time in classes or with the trio, she was usually in Nick's company.

Nicholas Scratch. He was definitely something special. His presence caused Echo to feel strangely comfortable and bubbly, something no guy in Baxter High had ever managed to do. Sure, the black haired witch was good looking; she was gorgeous. But, unlike her sister, she knew the dangers of falling in love with a mortal and so she never got too interested in any of the boys at her old school, even when they would try to flirt with her.

Echo heard about Sabrina's trial. The trial that aged their aunts and even caused Echo's magic to backfire at her, causing her to spend the last few days of the week locked away in her dorm whilst everyone else went to class. The headaches she experienced due to her spells were torture, and she couldn't help but blame her sister for them. In the end, it was Sabrina who refused to sign her name over, so why shouldn't Echo blame the blonde?

Her magic returned to her on the first Saturday she spend back at home. It turned out that the twins had already undergone their dark baptisms. When they were babies, their father secretly signed their names in the Book of the Beast, signing their rights away right there and then. Echo felt anger and hatred towards her father. Sure, she signed her own name in the book but it should have been her choice to do so. Not her fathers, not her aunts and not Sabrina's. 

However, it turned out that the day before Edward Spellman signed their names in the book, their mother had them baptised at a real Church with their Aunt Hilda present. This created a lot of friction between Zelda and Hilda, however, it meant that Sabrina's sentence wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could've been. The blonde agreed to go to the Academy of the Unseen Arts for three days of the week.

-

SABRINA SPELLMAN CERTAINLY DIDN'T FIT in the Academy of Unseen Arts. Most definitely, nowhere near as well as her sister did. The blonde had to prove to everyone that she was fit to stay there.

Echo was outside, leaning against the stone staircase with Nicholas Scratch. She was laughing at a joke he said, when he suddenly went quiet. Spotting him looking over her shoulder, the black haired witch turned around, a smirk prominent on her face when she spotted her twin huffing at something.

"What's wrong now, Sabrina?" Echo questioned, catching the blonde's attention. Merely three hours ago, Echo spotted Sabrina walking through the halls of the academy still in her pyjamas and dredged in sweat, "I heard you got into a fight with Prudence?"

"I did," Sabrina stated, stepping down the steps.

Echo sighed, "I'll talk to her, if you want?"

"Please don't. That will only make her hate me more," Sabrina said, sending her sister a small smile. The twins haven't properly talked in weeks now, with everything that seemed to happened, they began growing further and further apart, "So, are you part of their gang now?"

Echo shrugged, "I wouldn't call it a gang," Her eyes landed on the object in Sabrina's hand and she shared a confused look with Nick, "What are you doing with an Acheron Configuration?"

Sabrina glanced down at the strange object, "Blackwood gave it to me. Says as soon as I solve it, I get to take conjuring classes," She glanced back up at Echo, "What did you have to do?"

Echo looked confused, "Nothing," She stated whilst Nicholas chuckled, gaining both of the twins attention.

"What?" Sabrina questioned, "What's so funny?"

"That particular configuration was your father's thesis," Nick stated, nodding his head at the Acheron Configuration, "He designed and built it."

Sabrina observed the object, moving it from one hand to the other whilst Echo stared at it, remembering a drawing of it that Nick showed her in the library.

"Our father did?" Sabrina asked, genuine surprise lacing her voice.

Nick nodded, grabbing the object from the blonde, "Yeah. Blackwood's been trying to solve this damn thing for twenty years. I tried for three. Gave up. See, the configuration's almost like a kaleidoscope. Its colours and patterns are..." He looked inside, "Addictive," He pulled the object away from his face, "And the more you stare at it, the harder it is to solve. If you're not careful it can mess with your head. You can get lost in it," Nick stated, giving the object back to Sabrina.

"Wonderful," Sabrina said sarcastically.

"Due respect, Sabrina you're never gonna be able to do it," Nick added.

Echo snorted as Sabrina looked offended, "If our father made it, then I don't see why - as his daughter - I wouldn't be able to do it. He probably wrote it down in one of his journals, right?"

"How do you know about his journals?" Echo questioned, folding her arms over her chest as she looked at her sister. She remembered asking their aunts about the journals, but she never mentioned anything to Sabrina.

"I overheard you talking to Aunt Hilda," Sabrina simply said, sending Echo an innocent smile.

Echo rolled her eyes and turned to look at Nick, who clicked his tongue before shaking his head, "Nothing explicit. Nothing I've come across."

"Yes, but you're not a Spellman," Sabrina stated, sending a pointed look at the warlock. The blonde glanced down at her sister, "Get your boyfriend to sneak me into the library, get me access to his journals."

Echo raised her eyebrows, feeling annoyance bubbling in her stomach, "First of all, you don't get to tell me what to do. I'm not one of your toys you can just boss about," Echo said, clenching her teeth together as she stepped closer to her sister, "Second of all, he's not my boyfriend. And last of all, you're on your own with this one, Sabrina. You can't just shit on everyone's life then expect them to help you at the snap of your fingers." With that, the black haired witch walked off, purposefully bumping into Sabrina's shoulder on her way past.

The blonde's mouth was agape. Staring in shock at where her sister was stood merely seconds before.

Nick, on the other hand, looked impressed. His eyes followed the retreating figure. A strange feeling in his chest.