awakening

by green-lights-n-rabbit-holes98

Something is rotten in the town of Riverdale. Sabrina must come to terms with her choices before the odds turn against new. The Uktena, once forgotten by the Serpents, makes a powerful resurgence, led by no other than a descendant of the founding members. And Alice has to decide once and for all - to let the guilt of her past swallow her or to embrace her roots as a witch.

1. Interlude

TONI

The spirits are screaming in my head tonight. Something bad is about to happen, I can't tell what. The shop is completely empty, so that gives me the free space to perform a quick ritual. My granddad taught me to play nice with the spirits, they can either bring messages of good fortunes or omens of doom. I think tonight, the spirits have brought me an omen.

This isn't the first time I've dealt with this uneasy feeling. Certainly not in the past few weeks. Back before Thanksgiving, I almost had a seizure. A malevolent creature of some sorts got let out. A week later, I suffered a migraine. A boy was killed, a football player on the Northside of town. I'm experiencing that same ache tonight. If I can learn what's causing it, maybe I can stop it. Even if I'm just a seance for hire.

I make a circle with the candle I had in my pantry, lighting them one by one. I take a piece of colorful chalk and draw out the symbols. I call for the spirits to rise, the same way Granddad showed me when I was a young witch. My powers aren't as strong as his, I can really only speak to the spirits on a good day. I mean, the only reason I run this shop is because of my blood. I guess that's the one upside of being a descendant of the Uktena.

Voices whisper in my eardrums. It tickles my bones, it makes a draft of wind form. "Spirits," I speak, "Blood is about to be shed. And I fear I've felt this bad presence before. Guide me to it. Show me the face of this unknown evil." It gets quiet all the sudden. My friends on the other side are getting to work. I just need to be patient.

My eyes roll to the back of my head. Images swirl in my head. A young girl with short brown hair glares at a cheerleader with a sick smile. Her face is green. She looks possessed. A voice ripples. I'll take care of everything…..just like I promised. The image goes in and out, intercutting with the same girl, now pinned against a set of lockers, bleeding out. A new voice enters the scene, someone much older. Who let you out of that house? Who did you latch onto? I see the face of this new voice, a blonde with red coming out of her nostrils. She searches around a bathroom all panicked. Her eyes form tears of blood. A black silhouette enters the scene. It holds a goblet of some sort in its hands. What are the spirits trying to show me?

A reckoning is coming….. And that reckoning IS ME.

Bloodshed. Fire. A crumpled photo. Girls falling down in hallways. One girl screams. Black are her veins. Something that isn't all witchcraft flies out of her. It kills. And a cat…..no…..I've felt this before. It morphs into a human, then…..

My eyes snap open. My nose and my ears bleed. I scream.

I know what the spirits have been trying to tell me. The Riverdale Reaper has returned.