Page 19 of They Were Broom-Mates

“That’s not going to happen.” Delia shot back. “I am not capable of raising the dead. How many times do I need to tell you that before you get it through your thick head?”

“Guys.” Regina’s voice was barely audible across the room as she stared past Amelie to the doorway.

“Well, between the four of us, you are the only one who is proficient with death magic. So I really don’t know who else it could be. If you’ve been experimenting with new applications for your abilities, just tell us-”

“Guys.” Regina piped up again, a little louder this time.

“Oh, you would think that.” Delia crossed her arms. “Just because you work with illusions doesn’t mean that everyone around you is capable of the same level of deception.”

“Deception?!”

“Guys!” Amelie finally pulled her attention away from the storm brewing in front of her very eyes. Seemingly pausing from their spat, Delia and Hestia tore their gazes from one another and turned to Regina, who was frozen in space, a single finger pointing to the open door behind them.

Hestia’s irritation waned immediately upon noticing the look on her girlfriend’s face, causing the temperature to drop back down to a normal level.

“Regina, what is it?” Hestia turned her head, following the direction of Regina’s finger. Then, as Delia leaned to the side to peer over the redhead’s shoulder, Amelie finally gathered up the courage to turn around herself. However, when she did, nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

Shambling toward them at an unsettlingly slow yet deliberate pace was… well, the only way Amelie could describe it was a zombie. Mostly made of bone, the creature had a single eye that looked almost half-formed and was grotesquely dripping blood from malformed organs, seemingly haphazardly placed around its ribcage.

Amelie screamed. Fight-or-flight response kicking in, Amelie scrambled around to the other side of the mausoleum, Hestia close behind as they joined Regina and Delia on the far side.

“That’s a fucking zombie!” Hestia cried hoarsely as she looked desperately around for someone, anyone, to provide a reasonable explanation.

However, as Amelie glanced at Regina, she realized from the lack of surprise in her fearful expression what the Seer had been about to tell them.

“This is what you meant?” Amelie’s voice trembled as the creature arrived on the front steps of the crypt.

“Partially.” Regina whispered back.

“Partially?” Hestia’s panic was evident in her voice. “You mean there’s more?”

“Delia, what do we do?” Ignoring Hestia’s follow-up, Regina turned her attention back to Delia, who was simply standing frozen in shock.

“Delia?” Amelie tried, and with a grotesque squelch and an unnatural snap of its neck, the zombie made its way inside the mausoleum.

“I…” Delia stuttered, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Okay.” Hestia grabbed Amelie’s wrist and, with her other arm out, herded Regina and Delia quickly around the opposite side of the coffin that the zombie was coming at them from and out the door. “We can figure out a plan later; now we just need to run.”

The second that the group was outside, Hestia shoved the door shut as quickly as she could, hands shaking all the while. Delia looked like she was about to collapse, and Regina was looking around the cemetery, a desperate expression on her face.

“We need to get inside.” Regina’s voice was strained, but clear and authoritative. With no other direction, Amelie simply nodded and took Delia’s hand in her free one and set them all in motion up the cobblestone path and back toward the cathedral.

Once they made their way into the kitchen through the side door, Amelie locked the deadbolt and, for good measure, shut the curtains that framed the window on the upper half of the door.

Silence pervaded the space as all four witches stood perfectly still, as though any movement would attract the creature again despite it being locked in the mausoleum. Feeling the comforting embrace of the cathedral’s energy and the fire flickering from her Hearth, Amelie came back to her senses first.

“Regina.” Amelie cleared her throat as she made her way over to the cabinets. “I am going to make us all some tea, but in the meantime, I think there was a prophecy you needed to tell us about.”

Snapping back to reality, Regina took a deep breath and shook her head. “Yes… of course. You’re right.”

Making her way over to the other two, still standing frozen in the middle of the kitchen, Regina gently led them to seats at the kitchen table.

“I had an incredibly disturbing vision earlier today.” Regina started, settling in herself. “Amelie walked in on me while I was having it, and normally I wouldn’t say anything about my visions, shortly after Hestia registered some abnormalities with the town’s illusory cloak. I couldn’t be sure that the two were connected, but I was concerned enough that I reached out to the Council of Seers.”

Amelie scooped some chamomile tea into the teapot, before quickly filling it up with a heated water spell. As it steeped, she summoned four teacups out of the cabinets and floated them over to the table as she carried the pot before settling into her own seat, placing the teapot on the table.

“They agreed that the vision was concerning.” Regina continued. “And considering it put the safety of Pumpkin Hollow at risk, particularly our potential exposure to the outside world, they gave me permission to share with the three of you.”