Chapter 11
Sabrina sat nervously in the den as her friends entered the room. She wasn't sure how they would react to her request. Other than Ambrose and Prudence, they barely knew Nick. Yet today, she would ask all those who ventured into the Pit with her to help her save Nick once more. Possibly the last time.
"What's going on, Brina? You sounded nervous on the phone," Harvey said.
"Is it Nick? Is he ok?" Theo asked.
"Actually, he isn't," Sabrina said. "The infection is spreading quickly. His fever won't break and he's getting weaker. Breathing is becoming a chore for him." She paused and took a breath. "Ambrose thinks….he thinks this could be the end."
"Oh, Brina," Roz sympathized. "If there's anything we can do, we're here for you."
Sabrina looked over at Ambrose. He nodded before she continued. "Actually, there might be something you guys can do."
"The blade the Dark Lord pierced Nick with is said to have been the blade the False God used to carve Adam and Lilith from clay," Ambrose explained. "Before he banished Lucifer from the heavens, he bestowed the dagger to him as a thank you of sorts for his service in his Great Army. As the Dark Lord fell from grace, the blade became cursed. Any wound inflicted could only be healed by the one thing the Dark Lord never understood."
"Love," Sabrina continued. "It is an emotion that is foreign to witches and warlocks. Only the purest, most unselfish kind of love could heal him. The kind between brothers or sisters. The love family has for each other."
"I'm sorry. I'm not following. What does this have to do with us?" Harvey asked.
"They need us to save Nick, mortal," Prudence said as she rolled her eyes.
"More specifically….your blood," Ambrose said. "An offering to show we would give ourselves to save him. Just a few drops should suffice….hopefully."
"But we don't love him," Theo said. "I mean….not to sound rude, he's cool and all, but we barely know him."
"Yes, but you risked your lives for him."
"We did it for Sabrina," Harvey said.
"Guys, I know this is a long shot," Sabrina said, "but we have to try something. We're the closest thing he has to a family."
"I'll do it, Roz said.
"What? Are you serious?" Harvey asked as he looked over at her.
"Yes, I am," Roz snapped. "I know I wasn't always his biggest fan, but I'll do whatever I can to help. Like you said, Harvey, he deserves to have someone on his side."
It was a weird feeling for Roz to walk into the Spellman Mortuary and not intend to see Sabrina. It was an even weirder feeling to be there to see her best friend's boyfriend. For weeks, as Nick recovered and was unconscious, she came to support Sabrina as any good friend would in a time like this. Now that he was awake, she had a lot to say to him. She wanted to come without Theo and Harvey because they wouldn't understand completely the damage the man had done to her friend. It was a woman thing.
She walked into the room to find Nick sitting up. She could see the outline of the bandage on his chest through his black shirt. He looked miserable. His eyes were casted down, his expression almost longing. He looked up after a few moments, but said nothing. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Roz shook her head, reminding herself why she was there. "I'm Roz," she said. "I don't know if you remember me. I'm one of Sabrina's friends."
Nick nodded in response.
"I came here because….I wanted to say…." She was finding it hard to stay focused. The poor guy was trapped in Hell, then in a coma for weeks. All to prove he was sorry for what he did to Sabrina. "Look, what you did to Sabrina, it was shitty. She really cares about you and you did a real asshole thing. But you went and did something really….noble.
"I want to hate you. I should for breaking my girl's heart, but…."
Roz gasped as she touched Nick's arm. Flashes of images ran through her mind. Terrible, horrible images. She stood a few feet away from Nick's nearly frozen form that stuck out of an ice lake. Moments later, someone came, weaving chains around his body and yanking him from the icy water. She wanted to scream as the man began carving into Nick's body.
For as long as she lived, she would never forget the sound of Nicholas Scratch screaming and begging for mercy. The scenes began to move quickly before her eyes, each much worse than the last. She knew she would go mad if she continued to watch the warlock be tortured. Thankfully, Nick pulled his arm from her grasp.
Roz stumbled back a few steps, gasping for breath as if she were running for her life.
"Nick…."
Nick shook his head furiously, putting a finger to his lips. Roz knew exactly what he was asking.
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone what I saw. I wish I could forget what I saw." Nick gave her a look as if to say 'sorry.' She let out a shaky breath. "Don't worry. It just means that it was something I was meant to see. I should go. I'm so sorry you went through that. I'm still mad at you for hurting Sabrina, but not so much now. I hope you guys work it out."
Roz hurried out of the room. Once the doors were closed behind her, she leaned into them, covering her face as tears started to fall.
"You're risking his life playing a loophole?" Theo asked. "What happens if this doesn't work?"
"Then he dies either way," Prudence said. "He did something not just for Sabrina, but for all of humanity - witches, warlocks, and mortals alike. What is a few drops of blood for the man that saved civilization?"
"Fine, I'm in," Theo said.
All eyes were on Harvey now. Sabrina knew he would be the hardest to convince. Despite the fact that he took Nick in, they were still at odds at times. Or at least that's what everyone believed.
"Harvey, I know this is a really difficult position to put you in," Sabrina said. "But…."
"I'll do it," Harvey interrupted.
"You will?" Sabrina was honestly shocked. She thought she would have to do more to try to convince him to participate.
"Yea. He's an ass, but he's not bad. I'll help."
Harvey and Roz were on the couch watching a movie when Nick stumbled into the house. He looked as if he was just in a fight, his shirt half pulled out and a nice looking bruise forming on his jaw.
"What happened to you?" Harvey asked.
"Ask Roz," Nick grumbled as he headed to his room.
They waited for the door to slam behind Nick before speaking. "Ok, what's going on?" Harvey asked.
Roz sighed. "I accidentally knocked over the trash earlier and when I was picking everything up, I saw some beer bottles hidden at the bottom of the trash can. I know your dad quit and you don't drink, so I knew it had to be Nick's," she explained.
"Roz…."
"I just thought it was insensitive for him to drink in the house with your dad, so I called Sabrina and asked her to talk to him about it. She called me back like a half hour ago and said they got into a fight and he stormed off."
"You shouldn't have done that, Roz."
"Why not? He shouldn't be sneaking drinks in here. I know your dad got 'help' to stop drinking, but it still shouldn't be in the house."
"Yea, but it wasn't Nick's fault."
"So the beer just magically appeared in the house with a warlock living downstairs?"
"The beer wasn't Nick's."
"Of course it was. Whose else would it be?"
"Mine."
Roz laughed in disbelief as if he told a bad joke. "Sure the beers were yours." Harvey looked up at her with serious and sad eyes. "Oh my God….the beer was yours. I don't understand."
"It's been hard since we got back. I couldn't sleep, sometimes I wouldn't eat. I was just having a difficult time with all we went through down there. Then Nick moved in. It wasn't easy living with him. He clearly hated me and the fact that this was the only place he could go.
"He eventually opened up. Told me that he appreciated the fact I let him stay here. We started sorta getting along. Soon it kinda felt like….like…."
"Like what Harvey?" Roz asked, putting her hand on his.
"Like I had a brother again. It made me feel guilty. Like I was replacing Tommy. I found a beer in the back of the fridge one day so I tried it. I'd have a few in my room. Nick found my stash and poured each bottle out in front of me. Those were the bottles you found. He promised not to tell anyone as long as I stopped drinking."
"And I told Sabrina he was drinking so…."
"He had to have taken the fall for me. I should go talk to him. Clear this whole thing up."
Harvey stood and headed down the hall to Nick's room. He knocked on the door before entering. Nick was sitting on his bed in a clean white t-shirt and a pair of sweats. He was rubbing his knuckles on his right hand, which looked pretty swollen.
"Hey," Harvey said.
Nick looked up with a scowl. "What do you want?" he snapped.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't know Roz was going to tell Sabrina."
"Ok."
"Ok? That's it?"
"Yea. What else do you want?"
"I don't know."
"You want me to tell you it's ok, Farm Boy? Say, 'hey my girlfriend's cousin just beat the shit out of me for something you did but don't worry about it'."
"I didn't ask you to take the blame."
"Yea and I'm not looking for praise or sympathy for doing it either. What's done is done."
"Why are you such an asshole all the time?"
Nick quickly got to his feet and was inches from Harvey is a second. The Kinkle boy was a good couple inches taller than Nick, but he was still intimidated for some reason.
"I just got my ass beat. My girlfriend thinks I'm a drunk and he cousin wants to kill me. All that because of you, Harry. I'll probably be dead in a few months, so who gives a shit. You….she still has you. If I die, I need someone to protect her and you can't fucking do it if she doesn't trust your drunk ass. If I need to shove a potion to make you stop drinking down your throat, I'll do it. Got it?"
"Yea. I got it."
Nick too a step back. "Good. And I'm not replacing your brother. I still hate you."
"So what do we do?" Roz asked as she, Theo, and Harvey stood.
"we already made and gave Nick the potion needed to purify his body," Ambrose said. "It is expelling the poison from his body. It should have worked through his system. Now we each take this knife and cut out hands enough to drip a few drops on him wound."
"Time out," Theo said. "You want us to cut ourselves and drip our blood in his open wound? Um, that can't be sanitary."
"Our kind don't succumb to disease as easily as mortals," Prudence said.
"Ok, still, kinda sounds like how STDs are spread." Harvey elbowed Theo. "Ow!"
"Come on, we need to get this started. He's running out of time," Sabrina said as they hurried into Nick's room.
They were met by Hilda and Zelda. The sisters stood between the group of and Nick.
"I knew you would try this," Hilda said. "You're going to try to give your blood."
"Aunties, we have to," Sabrina said desperately.
"You most certainly do not. You three," Zelda called pointing to Roz, Theo, and Harvey,, "go home. And you three, you are forbidden from being in this room alone with Nicholas."
"Auntie Zee, Sabrina is right. We have to do this," Ambrose stated. "He'll die if we don't."
"Do you even realize what you would be attempting?" Hilda asked. No one spoke. "If, and that is a big if, this worked you wouldn't be curing Nick of this damned curse. You think you are just going to nick yourselves and sprinkle some blood on him then he'll be all better?"
Hilda pulled out a leather bound journal, much like the ones Ambrose, Sabrina, and Nick had. She flipped the book open to a bookmarked page, shoving it into Ambrose's hands.
"You aren't ridding him of the bloody curse," Hilda said. "You're sharing it. Edward speculated that the bonds between a family would eventually diminish the curse but there's no telling if it would actually work. If it doesn't, the infection will spread quickly in Nicholas until he is dead."
"And then it will torture and kill you all the same way it had him," Zelda stated.
"Then I'll do it myself," Sabrina said firmly. Everyone protested, but she just shook her head. "I'm not going to stand by and watch him die. I won't. I can't. Please, Aunties, you have to let me try."
"Sabrina," Nick called weakly.
Sabrina quickly made her way to Nick's side. "I'm here. I'm right here, Nick," she assured him as she took his hand.
"You promised."
She shook her head as tears streamed down her face. "I can't, Nick. I can't let you leave me."
"But you promised," he reminded her with heavy breaths. "You promised when it was my time, you let it be my time."
"I know. I'm sorry, Nick, but I don't want it to be your time. Not now. Please, let us help you."
He reached up his free hand, cupping the side of her face as he had when he woke from his coma. This time, she did not pull away. She leaned into his soft touch, her heart breaking knowing this may be the last time.
"The first time I saw you, you were more beautiful than any angel any god could create. I knew then I loved you. You were my first, my last, my only and truest love. Thank you, Sabrina Spellman, for showing me what it meant to love and be loved."
Sabrina rested her head on his chest as she cried, not caring who heard her.
"Shh," Nick comforted her as he kissed the top of her head. "It's ok."
His breathing started to become more labored. Sabrina could heart his heart slowing down. This was it. This was the end. She held onto him as tightly as she could.
There was a gasp and Sabrina felt pressure against Nick's chest. She looked up to see Hilda with her hand pressed against Nick's wound and the other holding a knife with a single drop of blood running down the blade.
"Hilda, what have you done?" Zelda asked in a panic.
"I couldn't let him die," Hilda said. "I have no children of my own. But I've tended to this boy for months. I couldn't love him more if he were my own son." She pressed her hand into Nick's wound. "The mother to care for her son, loving him beyond means."
Hilda heard the sound of tue piano coming from the parlor. She could have swirn she was home alone. Zelda was at the desecrated church with the twins. Ambrose and Prudence were taking a well deserved mini vacation to the small town just across Sweetwater River. Lastly, Sabrina was at school.
She recognized the tune being played. It was one of her favorties: Against All Odds. She quietly entered the parlor just as Nick began to sing. He played with more emotion than she ever saw from him. It shocked her. Mostly because tje young warlock spent most of his time laying in bed with the covers pulled up to his neck as he stared blankly at the wall.
He and Sabrina weren't doing so well. Every time they would fight, Sabrina refused to visit Nick for a few days. Nick in turn would sulk and slip into what could only be described as depression. It couldn't be easy for him. To have gone through such an ordeal only to watch the very thing he stayed alive for slip away.
The moment Hilda shifted, she floor beneath her creaked and Nick stopped, turning around to face her.
"Please, do continue," Hilda said. "It was rather lovely. I mean, who doesn't love a little Phil Collins?"
Nick forced a half smile. "I'm sorry. I thought everyone was gone," Nicm said.
"Don't apologize. I'm just glad to see you out of bed." Hilda sat beside Nick at the piano, pressing a few keys. "Zelda and I used to play. Our parents made us learn, but the realy talent came from our brother Edward. Where did you learn to play so beautifully?"
"The Academy. I used to sneak into the chior room at night to practice my scales and one day I just….taught myself."
"I have a feeling that was all to impress girls."
"Well, a girl." Nick sighed.
"I wasn't your fan at first," Hilda admitted. "I wasn't sure if Sabrina should trust you. Perhaps on some level she shouldn't have, but can I be honest with you?"
"Aren't you already?"
"I could tell you loved her. It is a beautiful, joyful love that people should envy. You two are lucky to have found each other so young. My life is almost half over and I only now meet Dr. Cee."
"Half a life for us is several full lives for mortals. Don't you worry that you will have to watch Dr. Cerberus age and….die?"
Hilda laughed. "Well, the succubus that lives in him will keep him living for almost as long as us. But I do fear death. One day, he or I will die and the other will havr to continue living. We can either worry about the tome we have left or accept our time has come when it comes. Love your life until that moment. Love in that time."
Ambrose took the knife and cut his hand. He wiped the blade and handed it to Harvey who did the same before handing the knife to Theo. Hilda removed her hand as each boy pressed their hand against the wound.
"Brothers to stand beside you along your path," they chanted.
Prudence and Roz cut their hands and placed them against the wound after the boys stepped aside. "Sisters, to lift you up when you fall."
Once they lifted their hands, Prudence handed Sabrina the knife. Sabrina looked up at Nick, keeping her eyes on his as she felt the sharp sting against her hand.
"Sabrina," Nick said as his breathing slowed.
Sabrina pressed her hand against his wound. "Lovers. One mind, one body. Forever intertwined. Hearts beating as one, until our days are done."
Sabrina pressed her lips against Nick's, kissing him softly but filled with every emotion she was feeling. She pulled back, his lips lingering against hers. That's when she realized he wasn't breathing.
