Chapter 12

Bambi woke up automatically knowing that she was dreaming, the field she was standing in was a dead giveaway, this field was the exact replica o the one that Severus and herself would take Sirius to when he was alive and in his Padfoot form, spinning around Bambi would fully admit that she was severally confused.

"Sorry to bring you here on such short notice Dove, but it was the only place I could think of that you would know and could keep us safe while we talked," a gravelly voice sounded behind her, turning around once more, Bambi whimpered softly at seeing a much alive Sirius Black and Severus Snape standing before her. Covering her mouth with her hand Bambi tried hard to stop the tears that fell down her cheeks anyways, they fell faster when Sirius and Severus held out their arms, Bambi broke into a run and slammed into both men as she sobbed heavily.

"Sirius! Severus! But how? why?" Bambi questioned feeling overwhelmed as tears continued to flow down her cheeks, Sirius cupped her cheeks softly as he ran his thumbs over them, brushing the tears away.

"Oh, my beautiful Dove, there is so much that we need to tell you, but we have so little time to do so," Sirius said before sighing as Severus wrapped his arms around the both of them, "the how isn't important right now, as for the why well that is why we are here playing messenger, so please do try not to interrupt with your many questions, ok Dove?" Severus asked, leading the both of them over to a bench where the three of them sat down, sensing the seriousness of what she was about to be told Bambi nodded.

"You know that both you and Mr. Crane have been charged with a larger purpose, correct?" Sirius asked.

"Uh yeah, to stop the four horseman of the religious apocalypse, yes?" Bambi stuttered, feeling out of place with a serious Sirius.

"Correct, we are talking about Conquest, War, Famine and death, dove the very one that your Crane claimed the head of on that battlefield 250 years ago, Death as you know has already returned, he's here to gather the others," Severus stated.

"Yeah we are very aware that he is back, I fought against him twice just last month, once when we went to go get his head from the fake grave of Katarina and then just a couple days before that he tried to kill my good friend and the sleepy hollow sheriff, August Corbin, it was during the fight when he went after Corbin that I actually learned something interesting," Bambi said sighing as she rubbed her hands over her face and leaned back against Severus, "since I am the mistress of death, I do have some semblance of control over death, not a whole lot but I will take everything I can get, we also figured out through the fragmented memories from Ichabod, that it was his wife Katrina or better known as Katarina was the one who tied Ichabod and death together before Ichabod's death," Bambi rambled slightly as she watched two proud smiles slide across Sirius' and Severus' faces.

"I knew you do it Dove! Let me guess you are already aware of who Pricilla is and how you tie into the sisterhood of the radiant heart," Sirius stated smugly.

"Of course she does love, how could she be aware of the heads location otherwise," Severus stated with his own smug smile, "tell me, once you had the head how did you render him blind to your location?" Severus asked curiously.

"I actually used one of your potions Sev, I used voir les tenebres, I know it translates to literally 'see darkness' but I still wasn't prepared for how utterly black it was," Bambi stated snuggling further into Severus side.

"That was brilliant! I knew you had some of my teachings in your brain somewhere in there!" Severus crowed while Sirius yelped indignantly, Bambi was giggling as she listened to their usual banter.

"I do have a question though," Bambi said seriously, looking between the two, "Ichabod read to me the chapter of revelations from the Washington bible, in it, it talks about two witnesses that are to go through seven years of trials together, if that's true why me? I'm a witch, a pagan, how can I be one of these religious apocalypse witness? so again I ask, why me?" Bambi asked, showing how confused she was.

"I don't-" Sirius started to say only for the whole 'world' to shake violently, hearing Severus curse, she turned to look at him wide-eyed.

"We are running out of time," Sirius stated looking at Severus, "as you know the four horseman together will bring forth the apocalypse, but before that can happen an army of evil must make way for their arrival," Sirius continued, squeezing her hand when Bambi made to interrupt before cupping her cheeks just as the 'world' shook again.

"The first dark spirit rises with the blood moon, she is one of us, you must stop her before she kills again," Severus stated as both he and Sirius stood backing into the growing shadows.

"Wait! guys come on, don't be all cryptic with me now! I still have so many questions!" Bambi yelled out, standing and trying to reach the two men but they just continued to fade until they were gone.

"No!" Bambi shouted as she shot up in bed, panting heavily and dripping in sweat.

"Bambi? Are you ok?" Ichabod asked rapidly as he sat up with her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and bringing against his chest. Looking over at her shoulder, Bambi took a deep breath when she saw Teddy was still fast asleep, then she remembered that she had started placing silencing charms around his bassinet due to Ichabod's own nightmares that had started coming with each of his new unlocked memories.

"Bambi? Darling are you ok?" Ichabod asked once more, lifting her face up so that he could see her eyes.

"I...I don't know," Bambi muttered softly as her mind raced with all the new information she had received.

"Hey, talk to me, what is going on in that beautiful brain of yours?" Ichabod asked smoothing her damp curls back while looking at her in concern.

"I just had a visit I guess you could call it, from Sirius and Severus," Bambi started slow, "they got chosen to play messenger, I think possibly for Pricilla, but I could be wrong," Bambi stated shaking her head "anyway our main concern about headless popping up anytime soon is unfounded at the moment, but according to Sirius we do have a new threat coming, he said that the 'first dark spirit awaits entry into our world,'" Bambi said softly as she wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled further into his side, "the thing that my mind is stuck on was that right before he disappeared, Sirius stated that 'she is one of us,' and I take that to mean that our new evil is a witch," Bambi said as Ichabod laid them back down against the pillows.

Ichabod didn't say anything just started playing with her curls a thoughtful look on his face, "It seems like evil is trying to find a home here in Sleepy Hollow," Ichabod stated softly, wrapping one of her ringlets around his finger.

"One that we are going to stop, right Ichabod?" Bambi asked softly, biting her lip in concern.

"Of course! I have faith in the two of us, now I suggest we get some sleep, who knows what tomorrow will bring," Ichabod said softly pressing a kiss to her forehead, Bambi nodded in agreement nuzzling her nose against his chest before they both drifted off only to be awoken a couple hours later by a hungry Teddy.

By 8 that morning Corbin, Ichabod, Bambi, and Teddy were all awake and downstairs, Ichabod and Bambi where watching an irritated Corbin pace back and forth in front of a the roaring fireplace as he talked angrily into his phone, Teddy was wrapped up in his blanket and was contentedly sucking down his bottle.

"I wonder what has the sheriff so agitated this morning," Ichabod muttered as he set down a plate of toast for the both of them along with a cup of tea for Bambi.

"I don't know, but hopefully it's nothing to bad," Bambi said as she gave his shoulder a kiss in thanks as before biting happily into her peanut butter toast.

The two ate in contented silence, the only noise that there really was, was them chewing, Corbin's stomping and Teddy's suckling and eventually the sound of his burp after he had finished his bottle, Corbin finally got off the phone a half an hour later with a frustrated sigh.

"Everything ok Corbin?" Bambi asked softly, watching as he ran hand over his short white hair.

"No, everything is not ok, that was Captain Irving, all the guns and bullet casing that headless brought to the cemetery? everything traces back to Deputy Andy Brooks," Corbin stated as he looked at the two of them, Bambi blinked in shock and confusion, "Andy? sweet and shy, keep to himself Andy was in bed with headless?" Bambi questioned.

"It certainly seems that way, and it gets worse not only did those guns trace back to Andy, but before the results came back he turned in his notice effective immediately, but didn't turn in his gun, badge or uniform," Corbin stated, sending a sense of doom through both Ichabod and Bambi who held Teddy closer.

Bambi sighed softly and rubbed her forehead to try and ward off an oncoming headache, "as much as I want to worry about Andy, we can't really until he shows himself, in some capacity, that and we have a new monster that's headed our way," Bambi said before telling Corbin everything that she could remember from Sirius and Severus dream visit.

"Well all we can do is to continue to keep an eye out for any weird or suspicious deaths until we have more information," Corbin stated, pulling out his phone from his belt when it beeped.

"Speaking of weird or suspicious cases, Irving is asking that I check out a car fire that the fire chief is asking help with, you two willing to tag along?" Corbin asked as he put his phone back.

"That does seem too coincidental, we probably should," Bambi mumbled to Ichabod who nodded in agreement as he took Teddy.

"Yeah, we'll come just give us about ten minutes to get dressed and get ready," Bambi said as she followed Ichabod towards the stairs.

"Sounds good, I'll pack the diaper bag," Corbin stated as he grabbed said bag and headed towards the fridge.

Bambi called down a quick 'thanks' before she went into her room closing the door behind her before quickly going into her closet where she pulled out a pair of dark wash jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt along with socks and a pair of tennis shoes, quickly dressing she opened her bedroom door just as Ichabod walked by.

The family of four left quickly with Corbin getting into his sheriffs car while Bambi got into her car, Ichabod following quickly after he loaded Teddy into his car seat before Bambi pulled out behind Corbin and followed him to the crime scene.

The car ride was silent Bambi was focusing on driving while Ichabod was looking out the window coming to a stop at a red light she turned to look at her silent partner only to be taken aback by the dark look on his face. "Ichabod? talk to me, I can hear your dark and twisty thoughts from here," Bambi said softly, rubbing her hand along his arm.

"If I asked you a question would you answer it truthfully?" Ichabod asked, looking at her with slight fear, Bambi sighed and cursed Katarina in her head for giving this wonderful man such trust issues.

"I will try my best," Bambi answered honestly, turning her eyes to the road as the line of cars started moving.

"Do you think that Katarina ever truly loved me? Or was I just a means to an end?" Ichabod asked softly and Bambi mentally groaned.

He would ask that question now, Bambi thought to herself before taking a deep breath, "to be perfectly honest, no I don't think she loved you, I honestly think you were a tool, nothing more," Bambi said truthfully, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I know that you said that when you first met Katarina that you hated her and how she acted...but what about now? with the love potion now out of your system, how do you feel?" Bambi asked, trying to hid her nervousness.

Ichabod was quiet for a moment, before he blew out his own breath, "without the love potions influence, I have no romantic feelings for her and that almost makes it worse," Ichabod said sadly and Bambi felt her heart break.

"I'm sorry," Bambi said softly, Ichabod didn't say anything just lightly squeezed her thigh, before the car fell into silence once more.

The silence lasted until they pulled up at the crime scene and parked the car, Bambi was about to get out of the car when Ichabod laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her, "I remember reading something that said that witches can draw power from the lunar cycle, is that true?" Ichabod asked softly, looking at Bambi curiously.

"That it true, its slightly more complicated than that, which I will explain later," Bambi stated just as softly and Ichabod nodded before they got out of the car.

Corbin was already talking to the fire chief to get more information, seeing as someone needed to stay with Teddy, Bambi waved Ichabod off to go check on the body.

Leaning against the car Bambi watched the comings and goings of everyone at the scene, that it until she saw Corbin lean against the car as well beside her, turning she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just got done speaking with the fire chief, he said he and his boys are still piecing everything together what we do know is the victims name is Jeremy Furth, the theory right now is that something inside the car caught fire and it just went from there," Corbin stated and Bambi looked over her shoulder to where Ichabod was still trying to cut through the crowd to get to the vehicle.

"I doubt that's actually what happened," Bambi muttered softly before turning to look at Corbin, "do you mind watching Teddy while I go help Ichabod with the body?" Bambi asked. Corbin chuckled and nodded towards the body while he opened the back door and slid inside to keep an eye on Teddy, Bambi smiled and mouthed 'Thank you' before jogging over to catch up with Ichabod.

As soon as Bambi reached Ichabod, she was hit with an overwhelming feeling of dizziness, nausea and the general feeling as if her body had been dipped into a vat of oil, reaching out Bambi grabbed Ichabod's arm to help hold her up while she focused on breathing through her symptoms.

"Bambi?" Ichabod questioned as he stepped closer to help stabilize her better, before bringing her closer when he saw how pale she was, "what's wrong?" Ichabod continued to ask, sounding concerned.

"I'm ok, I just wasn't prepared to feel the presence of Black magic first thing this morning," Bambi said softly as she took several deep breaths of Ichabod's woodsy smell, feeling herself slowly become less dizzy with each lungful, "but at least we seemed to have found the witches first victim, hopefully we will get something from that," Bambi said as she finally felt well enough to continue on.

Reaching what should have been the drives side door, Bambi couldn't help the wince she gave when her eyes laid on the badly burned body, unfortunately the body wasn't burned bad enough to not show the fact that Mr. Furth died in immense pain, looking the body over Ichabod and Bambi bent over at the same time for further inspection.

"I am assuming you see the gaping hole in this poor souls chest as well?" Ichabod questioned sarcastically.

"You mean the one where it looks like someone clawed open his chest? Yeah, kind of hard to miss," Bambi said wrinkling her nose.

Ichabod snorted softly, "I think someone purposefully dug into his chest and ripped out his heart," Ichabod said sounding off.

"I mean there are a great many rituals that would need a human heart, but this heart would have been ash by the time whoever clawed at his chest got to it," Bambi said confused.

"You are indeed correct, it's as though somebody collected the ashes of his heart," Ichabod said in a peculiar tone as he stood up.

Bambi stood up as well and looked over at Ichabod with an eyebrow raised, "You make it sound like you've seen this before," Bambi stated softly.

"Indeed," Ichabod said before turning, "come les us head back to the car, this is for Corbin's ears as well," Ichabod stated as he held out his elbow to Bambi., nodding she looped her arm through his and made for the car before they both got in.

"What's up? did you two find something?" Corbin asked curiously, Bambi just nodded at Ichabod with her own curious look.

"What I am about to tell you, I myself dismissed as superstitious folly, but that was before the war began, one night my regiment was returning to our camp near Albany, the moon hung low in its cycle, as it does now," Ichabod started and Bambi blinked but let him continue.

"The destruction was far too extensive for common artillery, there were bodies everywhere, our men reduced to ash, which gave way to a darker revelation as I sensed a presence in the woods around us. I could not have told you back then what it was I saw that night, but it chilled my blood like nothing before. These strange murders became more frequent, soon a talk of a dark coven, led by a high priestess known as Serilda of Abaddon, General Washington came to believe the redcoast had formed a dark alliance with this sorceress," Ichabod said finishing his story.

"I did find research to suggest that there were two covens of witches here in Sleepy Hollow, one good and the other evil," Corbin stated thoughtfully.

"You know when I read Pricilla's journal, I remember her mentioning something about the dark coven, only she believed Katarina to be the one who led it, Bambi said softly as she rubbed her bottom lip thoughtfully.

"It stands to reason when Katarina infiltrated the sisterhood that someone needed to step up and take charge, seems like Serilda was the one to do so," Corbin stated and Bambi nodded in agreement.

"It looks like we will need to take another look at the files," Bambi muttered through a yawn.

Corbin nodded as well before biting his lip, "I do have a favor to ask though," Corbin said, causing Bambi to raise her eyebrow. "Could you bring my files to the Annex building across the street and possibly ward it? I had a thought the other night, with everything there, the house becomes a target and that's not something I want to do," Corbin stated and Bambi nodded with a soft smile.

"Of course, we will meet you at the Annex in about an hour, I'll also probably bring the journals as well, just to be safe and so everything will be together," Bambi said to Corbin as he got out of the backseat to head to his own car.

Bambi quickly started up the car and made a u-turn in order to head back home.

"You know I had a thought of my own, since the moon hangs so low in this lunar cycle that usually signifies that a blood moon will follow in about three days and Sirius said that the first dark spirit rises with the blood moon, that means we have three days to find this witch," Bambi stated and Ichabod nodded, looking at her thoughtfully.

"Do you practice during the Blood moon?" Ichabod asked curiously, Bambi looked at him sharply, trying very hard not to take offence to his question.

"No, I do not, since the Blood moon is mainly for those who dabble and or practice Black magic, and that is something I will ever practice," Bambi said firmly, her face set.

"I have offended you, I apologize, that was not my intention," Ichabod said softly, laying his hand on hers, Bambi took a deep breath forcing her anger away.

"I know you didn't, you are just trying to learn," Bambi said in a softer voice, "but you have to understand something, those who practice under the Blood moon aren't just doing Black magic, they also tend to o some pretty horrendous things, like human sacrifice, rape murder and so many other disgusting things that it's hard not to get offended," Bambi explained softly, seeing out of the corner of her eye that Ichabod flinched slightly.

"I am truly sorry Bambi," Ichabod said softly, Bambi smiled before twining their fingers together and pressing a kiss to the back of his hand, "I know," Bambi said simply.

The two of them spent the rest of the car ride in silence, though Ichabod never removed his hand from hers for the duration of the drive.

Alright here is the next chapter, it's up later than I would have liked, mainly due to some serious heat that blew through my city, it was insane.

This chapter and more than likely the one to follow will be very dialogue heavy from season 1 Ep 2 which is called Blood moon, so to appease those who think we FF writers are stealing content I will put this down now I own nothing! I am not getting paid for this!, this is all for pure entertainment.

Also side note in the process of redoing my home so it might take some time to get the next chapter up since I'll be painting here soon and will have to look into a hotel that will take dogs

Till next time

Rose