unheavenly creatures

Good Witch / Bad Witch

SABRINA

It's warm in V's car. She left the heat going for me and Salem while she's been inside the smoothie place grabbing our drinks. I still don't feel too good after my.... I don't even know what to call it. But the Dark Lord knows I'm here. He knows about my living condition. And when I....if I, go on trial, they'll point that out. They'll know I just ran away and avoided my problems. Maybe I am a coward for running. Maybe I was never meant to join the Path of Night, like all of my family before me.

But that's my fear talking. My subconscious is formulating these awful thoughts. I want to not think about what happened in that locker room, I don't even know if I want to tell Aunt Ali about it. The stress of it all eases away somewhat with Salem sitting in my lap, providing me with some comfort. His paws clench onto the bottom of my gym shorts, his head rotates up towards me. He's basking in what little sun we have left, and I don't blame him. I almost envy him.

V returns to the car with our drinks. "Whew, the line was taking forever." she comments as she hands me my drink order, giving Salem a scratch on the head. I still stay in my seat, numbly staring out of the windshield. V looks back up at me, "Hopefully the smoothie helps, 'Brina. Should be easy on your stomach."

"How would he have found me?" I croak out. "Was my arrangement made a public matter outside of Aunties and.....and your father?"

V sighs, "Honestly, I have no clue. I know my father had to go into do some business with the Witches Council, but whether it's over you, or not, is unknown." She takes a long sip of her drink. I reach for a straw and do so as well. Wow, this is a really good smoothie. I hope V's right about it being easy on my stomach. I take another sip and continue to pet Salem when V asks, "Hey - just to get context, how did that whole thing happen? That way....if he comes back...."

I set my drink down with a huff. My head flashes back to Midge - the foam coming out of her mouth, her eyes getting all red. Her voice before the Dark Lord showing up playing on a loop. Be careful when it comes to trusting the Lodges.

"It was nothing that important." I start to answer, partially because I'm afraid to tell V the information....the questionable information Midge provided. But V tilts her head at me, her lips go from being a flat line to what looks like a frown. I don't think I can lie to V, she told me about her witchcraft, and her father's. She told me about Nick St. Clair, and Chuck. She was honest with me, so I owe the same to her.

"She doesn't view your family as trustworthy." I admit. "And that....the Lodges might have orchestrated, or pulled the strings on, a number of deaths. Including Chuck's." V goes to open her mouth, then closes it. She grips the keys to the point where the sharp grooves could penetrate her skin. I reach for her hand. "But I know those rumors aren't true, V! I know they aren't, because you told me so! And I know your dad wasn't behind anything cruel...." I let my voice fade out. V starts to tear up, but she's trying to not make it obvious. She gives me an angry smile.

"You're not at fault, 'Brina. Just typical slander against the Lodge family, and the fact that I can't reveal any of my witchcraft to these neanderthals."

Salem purs in my lap. "And you wonder why I have my views on Midge Klump. She clearly has no sense of seeing someone else's life in their shoes. She only cares about her precious cheer team and that brawn following her around like a lost puppy."

"The issue is not with Midge, Salem." I have to remind my familiar, "The Dark Lord saw an opportunity to attempt to scare me into his servitude. And he just happened to use Midge as a messenger."

"Because she's a narcissistic control freak?" Salem comments. I roll my eyes at him.

V answers for me, "Because she has a right to be afraid of us, as does any other mortal." She glances up at her rear view mirror, removing the smudge of lipstick from her bottom lip. "They'll never see what a witch has to go through in order to lead a normal life. That's why witches always tend to stick to their own kind, and not mingle so much with mortals. Guess it must have been rare when Daddy chose to marry my mother, I don't know how he was able to bend the law on that...." V's words drown out in my thoughts. Her mother.....Mister Lodge married a mortal woman, just the way my father did. How were both my father and Mister Lodge able to get away with it, when it's practically against the law? And look what came of it - my parents are now dead, and.....and V's mom....