Madame Spellman - Kissed by Fire

Chapter 13

Every day for the past two weeks she had lived in fear. In fear of Him. In fear of Him to appear unexpectedly and cause nothing but pain. The Dark Lord tried to hurt her, punish her. Zelda would only be collateral damage. As if she hadn’t already endured enough pain. The main cause of that was Zelda, really. To think her words hadn’t hurt her, still hurt her, would be foolish. After everything they’d been through, after Lilith had finally confessed to herself that she loved the ginger haired woman, how could she have done this to her? No empathy indeed. She cared so much about the witch and she had thought that it was mutual. She could’ve never hurt her like she had. But that was over now. Zelda had made her choice. To stand alone. Lilith felt as if her whole life would slowly fade. As if she had already died. Without hope. Without witness. Without reward.

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Zelda’s POV:

The words I was reading became illegible as my vision became blurred. I wasn’t able to concentrate on my Austrian newspaper anymore. The faint sound of Hilda chopping carrots was the only thing that echoed through the antiquated kitchen this Monday forenoon. I sighed deep and put down my newspaper. Closing my eyes, I rested my head on my palms.
“Sister, are you okay”, Hilda asked. She stopped chopping the vegetable and looked over at me.
“Huh? Yeah, yes. I am. I’m fine”, I answered absent minded. I could tell by her expression that my response didn’t please the British witch in the slightest.
“Okay.” She continued her chopping. “But you can always tell me, you know? I’m your sister.”
“Yes, I am painfully aware of that”, I sighed.
“Do you have to be so-”, Hilda started but suddenly froze. “Did you hear that?”
I listened closely but the only thing I heard was both of our scarcely audible breathing.
“Hear what? What is it, Sister?”
Hilda didn’t have to say anything, my answer already came flying towards us. Fast, I might add.
“Get down!”
We threw ourselves to the ground, the knife had barely missed my head. Strained, we waited and listened. Nothing happened. No more knifes came inexplicably flying in our direction. I breathed in deep before I slowly got up again. Hilda immediately followed suit.
“What in the heaven was that”, the blonde breathed out.
“Witchcraft”, I answered, already lighting a cigarette from my fresh pack.

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Lilith’s POV:

Sighing, I let the front door swing open with only a flick of my wrist. It was a Monday noon and I had taken the day off. The last thing I desired in this very moment was teaching incompetent mortal teenagers with inadequate education. Instead, I had gone into town, running some errands. I grabbed some grocery bags from Wardwell’s car and entered the cottage. The moment I stepped inside, I felt magic lingering in the air. Something was terribly off. I set the bags on the counter and looked around. The inverted cross over the fireplace, the loveseat, the chairs, everything looked normal. It took me a moment to realize the most obvious thing; the table wasn’t there. That’s when I heard a creaking noise right above where I was standing, right above my head. I slowly lifted my head in order to look up to the ceiling, just to see… my table! Before I could even process my discovery, the object came crashing down.  My body fell to the floor. I tried to roll out of the way but wasn’t quick enough. Suddenly I felt unbearable pain. My gaze wandered down to my legs, which I found trapped under the table. It felt as if my feet had been crushed under it’s weight. I gritted my teeth and mumbled a spell to lift the table. As soon as I found the table removed my pain ebbed away, and my clouded mind became clear again. I bent forward in order to look at the demolition that was my body. A sharp bent on both of my shins. Fractured, I thought. I sighed deep, composing myself, before I put both hands on my shaking legs. A wave of pain shot through my whole body, causing me to breathe in sharply. I felt the warmth emanating from my hands as I let Latin words spill from my tongue. I flinched at the cracking sounds of bones shifting back in place. A relieving feeling overcame me as soon as I was able to move my toes again. I slowly got up, still in pain but nothing compared to a few moments ago. I stood on shaking legs, knowing that what I feared for so long could be lingering behind every corner now.

Zelda’s POV:

Sitting at the table, I had already finished my eleventh cigarette. I must confess, the earliest events had frightened me because I knew exactly what that knife meant. It had been a warning. A threat. My sister looked at me with worry in her green eyes.
“Don’t worry, Hildy”, I said softly. “Nothing’s going to happen to our family.” I did indeed despise my sister sometimes. Treated her like Hell-rot. Killed her. But despite our differences, I was still her elder sister. And as the eldest Spellman it was my responsibility to protect our family.
“Zelds, do you think that- do you think that Lilith might…”, Hilda started.
“No”, I said plainly. “Lilith had nothing to do with this.”
“How can you be so sure of that? After what you said.”

I sighed deeply. It would have been a lie if I insisted that it was all Lilith’s fault in the first place and that I hated her for it. It would have been a lie if I said I didn’t blame myself. And it would have been a lie if I said I didn’t stay up most nights, whip in my hand, seeking for forgiveness in pain. In flagellation.

“I shouldn’t have said what I said, Sister. It was hurtful and untrue, but I know this isn’t her doing. I know exactly whose it is. The Dark Lord’s.”
Hilda looked at me, eyes wide open.
“The Dark Lord? But why would He do that?”

And so I told her. I told her everything that Lilith had told me.

“Do you miss her”, she asked when I finished.
“I do”, I answered truthfully.
“And how do we proceed?”
“I don’t know. Yet”, I added. “First I’ll need to have a talk with Lilith.”
“Will you apologize”, the British witch asked.
“I better not. I don’t deserve her forgiveness.”

Lilith’s POV:

I had known it was just a matter of time, though I couldn’t say I was ready now that it was happening. My legs still hurting, I sat on the couch, spell books and ancient scriptures scattered around me. There had to be something. Something that could help me defeat the Dark Lord. Permanently. I had also known that it was just a matter of time until the matriarch of the Spellman family would show up at my doorstep, so it wasn’t a surprise, really when I heard a soft knock at the front door only minutes later. Too weak to walk, I only shouted a lazy “Come in” as an invitation. I was a demoness after all and wouldn’t count hospitality as one of my many qualities. The sound of clicking heels echoed through the cottage and I had to stop my heart from aching.

Zelda Spellman was the definition of composure and grace when she entered the room. Upright posture, perfectly curled hair, tight dress, hugging every curve, cherry red painted lips and a countenance that wouldn’t allow anyone to see what was going on in the red head’s mind. Her demeanour spoke confidence and mystery and I didn’t dare decipher it.

“Zelda”, I spoke coldly. “To what do I owe the honor?”
“Lilith.” She didn’t continue but seemed at a loss of words.
“Let me guess why you’re here”, I said instead. “You’ve received a threat.”
“I’m assuming you did too.”
I couldn’t read anything in her eyes. No emotion. No flicker of love or regret. I needed to stop myself from wanting to see such thing in her eyes.

“He broke my legs”, I said. Her eyelid twitched.
“I almost ended up with a knife in my skull”, she said. “What are we going to do?”
“You didn’t want my help”, I reminded her.
Silence.
“I will let you know if I find something.” I pointed at the book in my lap.
Zelda nodded, hesitating a few heartbeats longer than she had to before she finally turned around and left the cottage.
"Goodbye, Zelda", I whispered to myself.

Author's Note:

Hey coven! 🌹🌻 I am so glad I finally finished chapter 13! Y'all can expect two more chapters 👀 It's all coming down to a final showdown!!! I also wanna talk about Netflix cancelling CAOS... We have to try n' renew it!!! Sign the petition, and please use the hashtags #renewcaos and #savecaos under Netflix's posts and in your stories! ❤🍒 We can do this, coven! I also wanna wish my friend Manon a happy birthday 🥺✌ this chapter is for u gurl!
✌🍒🖤🌹 ily, stay safe and sign the petition babes!!!