Chapter One
It was a cold, dreary day. It started raining in the early hours before most people were even awake. When Sabrina Spellman-Scratch awoke, she realized that her plans for the day would have to change. Instead of working out in the garden for her Aunt Hilda, maybe she could finally get to putting her new home in order. With her Aunt Zelda trying to establish both their Academy of Unseen Arts and the new desecrated Church, saying she's been busy would be an understatement. Same could be said of Hilda. She was in the process of setting up their mortuary business as well as trying to buy a shop in town. Since Dr. Cerberus was possessed by an Incubus, his life span was greatly increased, almost to that of witches. He had moved with the coven and was trying to reestablish his book store.
The problem witches had with aging slower than mortals was the fact that they could only live in an area for so long before they had to find somewhere new, lest the mortals figured out something was amiss. The last thing any witch wanted was to start another witch hunt. Every fifty or so years, The Coven, formerly known as the Church of Night but now known as the Church of Lillith, would all pack up and move to a new area. Sabrina wasn't sure if she would ever get used to it all. Since signing her name in the Book of the Beast, this would be her third move. The first two times were rough. She was born and raised in Greendale. That was all she had ever known. Sure, she had crossed Sweetwater River that separated Greendale from Riverdale but to pack up her life and move to a whole new area was a new thing entirely.
She had made the mistake on her first two moves, to try to attend mortal high school. Even though Sabrina was one hundred and sixty-six years old, she still looked like she did when she signed her name and became a full witch. To Sabrina, it made sense to attend mortal school because she still looked sixteen and didn't want to draw unwanted attention to her coven if people started to question why a girl 'her age' wasn't enrolled in school. She had plead her case to Aunt Zelda, who wasn't just the matriarch of the Spellman family but was also the Coven's High Priestess, for a week before Zelda finally gave in. Zelda had her reservations about mingling with mortals, but Nicholas Scratch was over the moon to finally have the chance to learn more about mortals. While most witches thought mortals to be inferior to them, Nicholas actually had an interest in them, which was understandable because Sabrina herself was half mortal.
It took Sabrina twice to realize that perhaps mingling with mortals, while not inherently bad, was not a good idea. The first time she attended, she had unintentionally drawn attention to herself and her family. She was being heralded, (heaven how she hated that word and for good reason) for being a teen genius. She always knew the answer to every question, always aced her exams. She even knew the answers to questions that weren't studied in high school. Was it her fault that she had already attended not only mortal high school but mortal college? Sabrina didn't think so. It wasn't until the media got involved that Zelda decided to abandon ship and move the coven yet again.
The second move is what finally hit her. While she didn't draw any attention to herself this time, she played dumb like the teenager she was supposed to be, she had made mortal friends. After Harvey, Rosalind and Theo, Sabrina was afraid to let mortals get close to her again. But it happened. However, unlike her older friends, she didn't trust her secret with these ones. It wasn't a problem until after her and Nick graduated from college and while their mortal friends began to show signs of aging (laugh lines, crows feet), Nick and Sabrina still looked very much like a teenager, not a sign of age on them. Throughout college, their friends would joke about their perfect skin and how they looked ageless but they always joked about having a skin regimen that worked wonders. When their friends started to really wonder why they, who should have been in their Mid-Thirties, still looked like teenagers, Sabrina realized that perhaps getting close to mortals was not a good thing. So here they were, on their third location. This time, if anyone questions why a group of 'teenagers' aren't enrolled in school, the answer given will be simple. "We're homeschooled."
The opening and almost slamming of the front door brought Sabrina from her thoughts and back to the present. She looked at the clock on her nightstand and wondered who that would be. Hilda was supposed to be shop hunting with Dr. Cee and Zelda was supposed to be placing various wards and protection spells around the abandoned building they found to be their new Academy. Her cousin, Ambrose, was on a mission from Zelda in England. Whatever the nature of this mission, it was a mystery to her. She slipped on her robe and proceeded downstairs to find out.
When she got to the bottom of the stairs, Salem, her familiar, meowed a greeting letting her know all was well. She heard her Aunt Hilda cursing from the kitchen. "Bloody weather. Makes it so nothing can get done."
Sabrina walked into the kitchen, "Is everything okay, Auntie?" She looked her aunt up and down. For being several hundred years old, her aunt looked to be in her mid-forties. 'I hope I look that good when I'm her age' Sabrina thought to herself. Her aunt was wringing her hair out over the kitchen sink. Her wet clothes were clinging to every part of her body.
"I'm fine, Love. Just absolutely dreadful out there." She started wringing out her clothes. "I thought we might be able to get by with an umbrella but the wind came along and practically ripped it from my hand and blew it into a tree. Between the rain and the wind, which i thought was going to blow the door off its hinges when I got here, it is not good weather to be out in." Ah so that explained the slamming she heard. "I do hope Zelda is alright." Her aunt said, a hint of worry in her voice as she looked out the window.
"I'm sure she's fine, Auntie. I mean, she's our High Priestess. Also, she has Nick, Prudence, Agatha and Dorcas with her." Sabrina tried to reassure her aunt. It took a minute but she saw her aunt's shoulders relax a bit and the genuine smile that her aunt normally sported returned to her face. "Since we can't work out in the garden today, I was thinking of getting the library set up. I know it would help us all greatly to have all of our spellbooks in order incase we need them."
"That is a marvelous idea, my love. Go on ahead and I'll fetch us some tea to warm our bones and keep the chill of this weather out."
Sabrina made her way into what they decided would be their library. Thanks to buying an old Victorian house (and a little magic) there was more than enough room to accomodate all of their needs. As before, the morgue would be in the basement, the funeral parlor would be in the back of their house with its own entrance from the outside. That worked perfectly for their needs so that funeral guests weren't traipsing through the house and possibly getting into things that not ought concern them. Their library was a room in the center of the house, with doors on each wall. The shape of the room was what helped make their decision. The room was almost a perfect pentagram. They had shelves built into four of the walls, the fifth wall contained a reading couch and recliner with a solid dark oak desk sitting in the middle of the room. Several boxes littered the room, each box containing at least fifty or more books. Some were magic books, others were works of fiction.
Sabrina made her way to the closest box and picked it up. Due to the sheer weight of the box's contents, the bottom split open and showered Sabrina's feet in a myriad of books. "Of course this would happen" she muttered to herself. She tossed the now empty box aside and bent down to start picking up. She froze when she realized the first book her hand reached.
"Alright, love, got the tea, where should we…" Aunt Hilda started as she walked into the room. She took in the scene. Sabrina was standing, surrounded by a mess of books, motionless, with a book in her hand. She couldn't see what book as Sabrina's back was to her. "Love? Is everything alright?" She set the tea tray down on the desk and made her way to face her niece. That's when she saw what book Sabrina was holding and realized why Sabrina was motionless. The white, leather bound photo album with gold corner caps was filled with wondrous memories, but it was also filled with sad ones as well. Hilda gently pried the book from Sabrina's hand and made her way over to the sofa. "Why don't you pour us some tea and let's take a trip down memory lane. With a day like today, we could use some good feelings."
Sabrina did as she was instructed and made her way over to the sofa. After taking a long sip of tea, she opened the cover.