Chapter Six

Present Day

"I had to do what he asked," Lucinda explained. "He answered my prayer."

"I know, darling." Zelda nodded. "I shouldn't have tried to keep you from performing his will. You were just doing what I had been teaching you your whole life."

"I wanted to come back so many times." Luci closed her eyes to keep her tears from spilling over. "When I heard what happened to Edward I was gutted."

"He loved you so much." Zelda said, pulling Lucinda close. "He would be so proud of the witch you've become. I know I am."

"Thank you." Luci smiled softly, looking up at her mother. "You know, I should probably contact Winnie. Sabrina whisked me away so quickly I didn't have a chance to let her know that I was leaving."

"She's welcome to stay here if she'd like." Zelda offered.

"I'll let her know." Luci nodded as they made their way back to the house.

Lucinda went to the hall mirror and opened a line of communication back to their home across the country.

"Where the heaven did you go?" Winnie answered frantically. "I got home and you were just gone, and poor Clio..."

"I know, I'm so sorry darling." Lucinda began. "I got caught up in some family affairs."

"Family?" Winnie asked. "No wonder it was unexpected."

"I'll explain when you get here," Lucinda said. "And be sure to bring Clio with you, I can't believe I forgot her."

"Okay, I'll be there in a few hours." Winnie nodded. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Lucinda responded.

And just like that, the image of Winnie was replaced again with Luci's own reflection. She went back to the sitting room and found Sabrina and Zelda looking through spellbooks.

"This is the protection spell I was telling you about," Sabrina pointed to the page as she handed the spellbook to Lucinda. "I think we almost have everything we need."

Lucinda read through the spell, furrowing her brow as she tried to discern a translation.

"And this is dependent specifically on bloodline?" Lucinda clarified.

"Yes," Sabrina nodded. "We'll each need to contribute blood to the candle mixture and potion in order to seal the binding."

"I hate to break it to you," Luci sighed. "But my blood won't do you any good."

"Why not?" Zelda asked.

"Mother, please, I know that I'm adopted." Lucinda sat down and placed the book on the coffee table. "During my harrowing at the Academy some of the older students told me that I wasn't really a Spellman because I had been found in the woods. I knew they were just trying to upset me so I went to Father Malcolm and he told me it was true. I had been found in the Greendale woods and you intended to raise me as your own. He ended up punishing those girls because he said you never wanted me to find out. I figured it was easier to let you think I still didn't know. Not that it really matters, it just means I can't help with this particular spell."

"I told him not to tell you because it wasn't true." Zelda smirked.

"What?" Lucinda asked. "Why would you tell the coven I was adopted if I wasn't?"

"Because I wasn't particularly proud of the circumstances of your conception." Zelda shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "You were conceived during a Lupercalia festival and...there was no way of knowing exactly who your father was."

"Come again?" Lucinda asked, slightly amused at the horrified look on Sabrina's face.

"I'm gonna see if Aunt Hilda needs help in the kitchen." She said, scooping the spell book up to take with her.

As Sabrina left the room Lucinda moved to sit closer to Zelda.

"Continue," Lucinda prompted.

"Believe it or not your mother was young once, too." Zelda smirked. "I knew how it would look to the coven if they found out that I had gotten pregnant out of wedlock and I didn't want you to live with the label of being a bastard. So, I concealed my pregnancy with glamours and after you were born I waited a few days before announcing that I had adopted an orphan found in the woods. But I never wanted you to doubt that the Spellman name was your birthright. So I figured if I could keep the coven from knowing that you were a Lupercalia baby and keep you from knowing that everyone thought you were adopted that we could just move on from it."

"Wow," Lucinda chuckled. "So I spent most of my adult life thinking I was adopted when I wasn't."

"I guess I should have clued you in at some point to avoid that kind of confusion." Zelda admitted. "But, yes. You are a Spellman through and through.

"Nevermind Sabrina!" Luci called into the next room. "The spell is back on!"

Sabrina returned with jars of various herbs and elements in her arms.

"Great," She smiled. "I think I got everything we need to get started. I'll warn you, this spell is pretty involved and it may take us a couple of tries for it to stick. So we should go ahead and get started to make sure it's solid by nightfall."

"Yes ma'am." Lucinda smirked, impressed with her young cousin's leadership qualities. "So how is this supposed to work?"

First, they would have to make a candle that would be placed in the center of the pentagram that they would form while performing the spell. The candle would need to include protective elements in addition to a drop of blood from each member of the Spellman family. The process of making the candle took up multiple pages in the spellbook on its own.

Hilda stirred wax on the stove as they measured out the ingredients needed. Sabrina closed her eyes as she held her hand over the boiling pot and Lucinda pricked her finger with a silver needle. She squeezed three drops of blood into the pot before covering the spot with a cotton swab.

"All done." Lucinda told her. She then pricked her own finger as well Zelda, Hilda, and Ambrose's fingers. They moved on to the next part of the spell while Hilda finished making the candle.

"Next, we have to scrub all window sills and door frames with salt water." Sabrina read through the spell book.

"Is that really necessary?" Lucinda asked. "The salt is going to wreck the hardwood."

Zelda smirked to herself, proud that her daughter remembered the lessons she had been taught.

"A small price to pay," Zelda patted Lucinda's back. "We'll start up front."

They rolled back the carpet and pulled back the curtains, Sabrina put a record on to make the scrubbing feel less like housework. Just as Lucinda went to open the front door and begin scrubbing there was a knock on the other side. Lucinda opened the door to see Winnie with a suitcase in her hand and the cages for their respective familiars sitting behind her. Winnie dropped her suitcase with a loud thud as she threw her arms around Lucinda's neck. Lucinda wrapped her arms around Winnie's waist and kissed her cheek.

"Don't do that to me again," Winnie warned. "I was so worried something had happened to you."

"I know, I'm sorry." Lucinda nodded, pulling back a bit to look at Winnie's face as she brushed a strand of hair back. "Thanks for coming."

"How's everything been?" Winnie asked as her hands dropped from Lucinda's neck to her shoulders, giving them a light squeeze.

"Surprisingly well, actually. Beside the fact that apparently someone is sending evil spirits to torment my family. That's why I left so quickly. My cousin called for me and before I had a chance to call back home and let you know what was happening there was a wendigo-"

"Satan in Hell, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Lucinda assured. "But in order to put a stop to it for good there's a spell we have to perform that requires five member of the same family. Which is why Sabrina called me, they were one person short."

Winnie looked past Lucinda and into the foyer.

"So this is where you grew up?" She asked as she picked her suitcase back up. Lucinda picked up the carriers holding Clio and Winnie's guinea pig Oliver.

"This is it," Lucinda smiled, leading the way back inside.

Zelda turned down the volume on the music dried her hands on a towel.

"You must be Winnie," She smiled, extending her hand. "I'm Lucinda's mother, Zelda."

"Nice to meet you." Winnie shook Zelda's hand.

"And this is Sabrina," Lucinda gestured toward her cousin. "Hilda's probably in the kitchen making lunch and I think Ambrose is in the morgue."

"Morgue?" Winnie asked.

"Spellman Family Mortuary," Zelda explained. "Our family business. Here, let me show you to Lucinda's old room. Sabrina and Lucinda, keep scrubbing. We've got a lot of entrances to cover."

Lucinda and Sabrina continued the process of preparing the house for the spell.

"You know, when Luci said she was visiting family I was kind of surprised." Winnie mentioned as she looked around at the antique decor. "She's never really talked about you guys much."

"I'm afraid we had a falling out many years ago," Zelda sighed as approached Lucinda's bedroom. She had done her best to avoid going in there since she left, though she knew Hilda had gone in to clean from time to time in case Lucinda ever came back. She opened the door and was glad to see that it was almost exactly as she remembered. "But I think we're working things out."

"I'm glad to hear that." Winnie smiled. "It would be nice for us to have some family to visit during the solstice."

"What about your family?" Zelda asked.

"They were killed by witch hunters when I was a girl." Winnie answered, setting her suitcase on the bed. "I was taken in by a hippie commune but I still wasn't able to practice in the open. I was terrified that someone would find out and kill me like they did my parents."

"I'm very sorry to hear that." Zelda apologized.

"Lucinda basically taught me everything I know." Winnie said. "Though, seeing how devout you are in your unholy practices, it's no wonder she knows so much."

"That's very kind." Zelda responded. "And you two are welcome here anytime you like."

"Mother!" Lucinda called up the stairs. "Where do you keep the mugwort?"

"There should be some in the kitchen," Zelda called back, poking her head into the hallway. "Ask Hilda!"

"I guess we should get back down there," Winnie suggested.

"Yes, if we want to have this completed by nightfall." Zelda agreed. "I would hate for you to have to help ward off a demon on your first night in Greendale."