Summary: Brittany and her sister were born into a magical family. They are the youngest in a long line of witches with magical abilities but tragically, a curse on the Pierce women causes any person who falls for them to die an untimely death. When Brittany's abusive girlfriend dies, the Pierce sisters attempt to resurrect her and unwittingly bring about an evil entity that threatens to end their bloodline. This becomes a bigger problem when Detective Santana Lopez arrives in town in search of the missing woman and grows increasingly suspicious of the Pierces. A Brittana Practical Magic AU.
OR
Brittany is a young witch who was born into a magical family. As a little girl, she summoned up a love spell to find her true love - an impossible person who could never really exist. Or so she thinks, until Detective Santana Lopez arrives into town years later and ticks all of her boxes.
A/N: Practical Magic is one of my favourite movies from childhood. This fic won't be an exact copy of the movie's plot but it does have very similar storylines, so if you're already familiar with the movie, it should be a lot easier to follow this. I also really recommend Practical Magic if you haven't seen it.
It has a kickass 90s soundtrack and it's just a wonderful movie about the power of love in all its forms.
Even though Brittany is technically in the role of Sally Owens, I felt like their personalities are completely different. Brittany is much more like Gillian Owens in personality and outlook. I thought Brittany would be more hopeful and optimistic than Sally if she was in similar situations. She also wouldn't turn away from her magical heritage and wouldn't be nearly as responsible or practical of a person. Sally seemed more like a Rachel Berry type in personality but at the same time I could not imagine Brittany having a sister like Rachel either even though for a while I toyed with the idea of Rachel being the Sally Owens sister and Britt being the Gillian.
***Don't like, don't read. If you don't like Practical Magic, magic in general, witches, or anything of the sort then this is obviously not for you. Think magic is creepy? There's an easy solution. You can read another fanfic, write your own, or buy a book. Feel free to skip this one if you don't like it.
I would really appreciate you sharing your thoughts in the reviews if you enjoyed anything about the story. Thank you for reading.
Brittany could still remember her grandmother's feeble voice as she repeated the same story she had told them many times, "For more than two hundred years, we Pierce women have been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong in this town."
There had been a curse upon the Pierce women for as long as anyone could remember. Brittany's grandmother, Rose, told her that it went way back several hundred years to the time of the Salem witch trials. Broken-hearted by the betrayal of her male lover, Elizabeth Pierce, the Pierce matriarch, a tall, blonde and gorgeous young witch, had enacted a curse upon herself and her bloodline that whomever dared fall in love with a Pierce woman would inevitably die prematurely. Elizabeth vowed to never endure the agony of love again. Her descendants were all affected by the tragic curse.
"Is that why Daddy died? From the curse?" Phoebe Pierce asked sadly, looking up from her book of spells. Rosie Pierce nodded with a deep frown.
"Yes, My Dear. Your mother knew. She heard the beetles ticking for your father's death all day long. She knew that when you hear the sound of the deathwatch beetle the man you love is doomed to die."
Phoebe had inherited their mother Whitney's hazel eye colour but aside from that, she and her sister could almost be mistaken for each other at times. Brittany and her younger sister Phoebe might have looked alike with their long, cornsilk blonde hair, long legs, fair, freckled skin, and similar body types, but their personalities were quite different.
Their mother had been so devastated by the loss of their father, the love of her life, when the girls were very young that she had never been quite the same again. Whitney adored her family but she dreamed of the day when she could reunite once more with her true love and the adoptive father of the two girls, Pierce. Whitney was so terribly sad that Brittany's grandmother told the girls Whitney had almost died of a broken heart. It was only the fact that her young daughters needed her that kept her wanting to stay alive to raise them and love them.
"Can't we bring him back? Please? I know you can bring him back." Brittany and her sister overheard their mother's broken voice as she knelt on her knees beside their maternal grandmother and aunts, her shoulders trembling. The girls cried, hugging each other. They had never seen their mother in such a broken state.
"We can't do that. We don't do that. Even if we did bring Pierce back, he wouldn't be him. He'd be something else. Something dark and unnatural."
"Please do this for me. Please."
Grandma Rose just shook her head as she and the aunts did their best to comfort Whitney.
Brittany and her sister still cried for Pierce every year after he had passed when Brittany was just six. His ghostly presence would visit them on Halloween but he never stayed long enough. Sometimes the family would feel his protective presence around them watching over them. The girls would catch their mother sitting around the fireplace with Pierce's favourite gold watch he always wore and sometimes she said he'd appear before her or she'd feel a cool breeze and know it was him.
After the loss of their beloved father, Whitney had taken the girls to live in the eerie house owned by their ancient grandmother, Rose, herself a powerful witch. Sometimes, Whitney's younger sister, Phoebe, who her daughter had been named after would apparate into the house with suitcases and stay for a while whenever she was in town.
Living with the Pierces was anything but conventional. Every member of the family had magical abilities and the older women taught them everything they needed to know about magic. Black cats roamed freely everywhere, flower bushes grew way faster than anywhere else in town, brownies were a breakfast and dinner staple, and the adults didn't care about silly little things like homework for children.
Of course, it didn't stop the other children from teasing them.
"Witch, witch, you're a witch!" They'd chant, whenever they saw the young Pierce girls around town. It was annoying but Brittany and her sister just scoffed, not caring what the ordinary people thought of them. They knew magic beyond what those kids could even dream of and they wouldn't trade their gifts for the world.
Sometimes Brittany and Phoebe would watch secretly when Whitney and Grandma Rose would perform spells for women in the small town who came to them, in exchange for payment. The women were desperate for any way to have the men they desired, even if Whitney warned them that they should be careful what they wished for.
"I want him so, so badly. He's all I think about. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I want him to want me so much that he can't stand it!"
"Are you sure that's what you really want?" Whitney narrowed her eyes.
"I'll do anything to have him. He must leave her."
"This is terrible." Phoebe shivered, hugging her eight-year old sister as they watched from the tiny staircase while another woman who looked like she was possessed came into their old timey kitchen with a blank look in her blue eyes.
The Pierce witches had already given her what she wanted - a spell to make the man who didn't notice her fall in love with her - but now it wasn't enough. The woman had come back, begging for the witches to make him leave his wife for her and marry her instead. She looked as if she never slept and barely ate because her life revolved around her obsession with the man.
Brittany nodded, frowning slightly. It was sad to watch the state these desperate women had succumbed to.
"That does it. I don't want to fall in love ever." Phoebe insisted, still shivering as the girls crept back up the stairs before they could get caught watching the sorcery.
"I can't wait to fall in love," Brittany murmured dreamily in response, thinking the complete opposite way to her sister. Phoebe shook her head, rolling her eyes but she knew better than to argue with her sister. "When I fall in love, it'll be different to those girls. It'll be better."
Despite all of the bad things people said, Brittany was determined to believe in the good of magic and love. She wanted to believe in it. Phoebe, on the other hand, was more cynical. She didn't want to get her hopes up by dreaming of love.
One night, the girls wandered through the greenhouse as they often did. Brittany began gathering flowers and herbs, saying her thoughts aloud and reading from the note she had written. She was thinking about the ideal man or woman she could imagine for herself one day when she was ready to meet her true love.
Brittany was naturally gifted at magic as the others in her family had noticed, from a young age. Her family were so proud of her abilities. Phoebe's skills were also improving over time.
"What are you doing?" Phoebe asked as she walked in, holding a black kitten in her arms while another circled between Brittany's legs. "Are you doing magic again?"
"Summoning up a true love spell called Amas Veritas. I'm creating a spell to find my true love."
"Why? You heard Grandma Rose. There's a curse on every Pierce woman that her true love will die."
Brittany shook her head.
"That's the point. This person I'm talking about doesn't exist anyway so they can't ever die from the curse."
Brittany didn't know where all these words and thoughts she had were coming from. She seemed to be pulling them from some deep place inside of her. The same part of her where true magic always came from. She stared up at the starry sky with her sister watching beside her, wondering if this dream person she was making up could ever really exist. She had a picture in her mind of exactly what they would be like.
Her words sounded silly to anyone else but to Brittany, they made perfect sense as she continued whispering and gathered rose petals of different colours, one for each trait she listed that would enhance her magic even more. She added each of the flower petals to her wooden bowl of water. She drew a little heart at the bottom of the page in red.
"They will hear my call a mile away.
They'll sing my favourite song.
They'll have the darkest black eyes.
Their hair will be as black as the night.
They can sing and their voice will be smoky and rich.
They'll have little crinkles by their eyes and nose when they smile.
They'll have two dimples matching - one on either cheek.
They'll have a duck lip.
Their shape will be a heart.
Summer is their season.
They have a quick temper.
Their animal will be a cat.
They'll be named after a devil.
Their element will be fire.
They'll have a secret alter ego.
They'll be strong and brave.
They'll be fiercely protective of me.
Their colour will be darkest red like wine.
They'll be left-handed.
They'll support my magic, even if they don't understand it.
They'll have the biggest, most wonderful laugh.
They'll have a psychic third eye.
They'll always feel warm like the sun."
The two girls watched in wonder as the wind picked up and her spell sent the flower petals floating higher into the night air, their faces glowing under the light of the full moon.
When the girls were young and Brittany accidentally cut her hand on the rose bush, Phoebe swiped her pocket knife lightly across her own palm, wincing slightly at the pain and looking away. They pressed their bleeding palms together, creating a blood pact, vowing that their sisterly bond would never break. They felt each other's pain even miles away, as a result of their oath.
The years went by fast and Brittany never met the imaginary person she created in her true love spell long ago. Even she was beginning to wonder if such a person could ever exist but some little part of her hoped they did.
They were now in their twenties and stunningly beautiful, Brittany being the slightly taller of the two. Both girls were partiers and the fun never seemed to stop for either of them. They travelled constantly, always returning to the Pierce house eventually.
Phoebe had many flings as she grew up but she dared not get close enough to any man to allow him to have the chance to love her. The men could not understand why she would never commit to anything more. The mystery of her only made her more attractive to them. If only they knew how dangerous the attraction was for them.
Brittany also had lots of flings with both men and women but she had hopes that one day the Pierce woman curse would be broken. Unfortunately, her heart was shattered many times by men and women who didn't want anything more than sex from her.
Nothing ever seemed to change. For the first time, even Brittany was beginning to doubt her own magic.
Then she met Keilani, a stunning and powerful business executive with a bad girl appeal.
Keilani was openly lesbian, incredibly rich, and made it pretty obvious that she wanted Brittany. There was something about Lani's dark brown hair, dark olive skin, and toned body that drew Brittany in like a moth to a flame.
More than that even, the slim brunette had this commanding presence and magnetic charm. She had this whole surfer girl appeal but she was also strong and other people were so intimidated by her that they gave in to whatever she wanted.
Lani moved closer to the blonde, leaning up to move her lips against hers and Brittany closed her eyes, allowing it.
Brittany noticed when she pulled back from their first kiss that Lani's eyes weren't black as she had described in her spell but an intense green. She only had one dimple on her left cheek and no crinkles when she smiled. She had a shark tooth necklace and no cats. Still, Lani kept trying to seduce Brittany and she proved to be irresistible.
Their fun times didn't last for long. Lani had become so possessive that she barely let Brittany out of her sight. In fact, she had become dangerously abusive, especially when she was drunk, which she frequently was. When she was like that, she didn't like Brittany's quirks anymore and grew impatient with her.
Sometimes Brittany wondered whether Lani liked anything about her other than her body. She also had no idea that the blonde was a witch.
Brittany was currently staying in a hotel with Lani. The dark-haired woman had been in a rage all day and taking her anger out on Brittany whenever anything set her off. Brittany was beginning to fear for her safety when Lani became increasingly physical with her. The woman was also watching Brittany like a hawk, barely letting her out of her sight.
Though she was a few inches shorter than Brittany, she had such a powerful, intimidating presence. The passive blonde never fought back with her.
Brittany grabbed her phone from her purse, sneaking off to send a text to her sister before her lover could catch her, pretending that she was just ordering a pizza.
Phoebe sensed Brittany's discomfort even before she reached for her phone. She walked into the Pierce house knowing her sister was in trouble.
"Phoebe, Keilani's gone crazy. I need your help. I need you to come get me. Please."
When Phoebe arrived at the hotel, Brittany had already run into the parking lot and the two girls hugged each other tightly.
"What happened, Brittany? I've been worried sick. Why are you still dating this girl again? She's such an ass. Did she do that? Don't tell me you fell down the stairs again."
Phoebe squinted, frowning deeply when she noticed the marks on Brittany's face.
"She can be really nice sometimes but her anger has been really bad lately and she's starting to hurt me."
"Britt, you've been saying that about her for months. Oh, she gives me the creeps. Well, c'mon, let's go already before she gets back." Phoebe urged her.
The girls noticed a ring around the moon up above. They both knew what it meant: bad luck, spirits, a curse in the air. It was the worst time for such an omen to appear. Brittany began to panic.
"Oh wait, blood on the moon. Blood on the moon. I forgot my tiger's eye! I'll be right back."
Her sister was exasperated when she heard this.
"It's probably in your bag! Brittany, don't bother with the tiger's eye! Britt-"
It was too late. When Phoebe rushed over to the dark-haired woman's car in search of Brittany, Keilani was sitting there in the backseat, casually smoking a cigarette with a tight hold around a terrified-looking Brittany and smirking at Phoebe when she saw her.
There was something about her creepy smirk that made both girls shiver. Phoebe mumbled something under her breath about Keilani being completely unhinged.
She pointed a gun at Phoebe and nodded in the direction of the driver's seat. This was exactly what Phoebe had been fearful of for herself and her sister when she realized how dangerous Keilani was.
"You. Drive."
It wasn't a plea but rather an order. Keilani always had a way of getting what she wanted. Phoebe reluctantly did as she was told, frightened about how this was going to go but not knowing what else to do. Keilani was clearly drunk, her eyes unfocused and the smell of alcohol seeping from her breath again.
Keilani's gaze turned lustfully to Phoebe when she noticed her watching her from the driver's seat.
"You know, Girls, I'm feeling very into sisters right now." She muttered lecherously, making both of the Pierce sisters feel disgusted. Brittany winced, making a face and Phoebe practically gagged.
Phoebe glared at her sister's lover when she noticed the way Keilani was grabbing at Brittany constantly, even when the blonde made it clear that she didn't want to be touched anymore. Though she was shorter than they were and had a small stature, there was something maniacal about her green stare that unnerved both of the sisters.
They were being held hostage.
Lani kept singing "Surfer Girl" by the Beach Boys and that was driving both of the Pierce girls crazy.
While Lani was distracted and singing, Phoebe grabbed the bottle of tequila Brittany passed to her. It was the bottle Keilani had been drinking from constantly. Brittany locked eyes with her sister, telepathically communicating a message and Phoebe knew instinctively what she was suggesting.
Belladonna. It's in my bag…
The younger sister added belladonna quickly to the bottle, passing it back to Brittany. Hopefully that would sedate Keilani and then they could be free.
Keilani drank from the bottle, unaware of what had been added to it. Brittany softened her voice as she turned to her, begging her quietly.
"C'mon, Baby. You know I love you. Please, just let us go. Please let us go." Brittany pleaded. It only made Lani more enraged.
Phoebe's jaw dropped, disgusted when she saw the woman push her sister down in the backseat, choking her. She reached around, trying to smack Lani.
"Lani, stop! Stop! You're hurting me! Let me go!" Brittany cried.
"You're hurting her, stop!" Her little sister snarled. Brittany might not have been too confident but Phoebe sure as hell wasn't afraid of this creep. Phoebe and Brittany continued slapping at the woman, trying desperately to pull her off.
"Wait, Phoebs, stop! She's out. She's passed out. I think?"
Keilani was lying on top of Brittany, clearly dead, her eyes open and blank. The girls began to scream when they realized what had happened.
"Oh my God. Whoa, how much did you give her?"
"I don't know, Big Sis, I wasn't using a measuring cup. In case you haven't realized, she was trying to kill you!"
Brittany couldn't argue with that logic. Her sister hadn't meant to do anything more than protect her, leading to this terrible tragedy.
"Please, God. Please, if you get us out of this, I'll be good. I'll have babies." Phoebe groaned, slipping into the driver's seat. She knew Brittany was too freaked out to even think about driving.
"We have to go to the police. It was self-defense."
"The 'old slowly poison them to death' self-defense trick? C'mon, Britt, you know they're never going to believe that. They already believe the worst of us."
They returned to the Pierce house, noticing that Whitney's car was gone. The house was completely empty. Their family wouldn't be able to help them with this emergency.
"I know. We can bring her back. There has to be a way to bring her back." Brittany rushed into the kitchen, going to the cabinet to search for Whitney's black grimoire she had inherited from their grandmother and setting it on the table as she rapidly flipped through the pages.
"I'm not sure if this is a good idea. It won't go well. She wouldn't be her… she'd be some creepy, half-alive thing. You heard what Grandma said when Dad died. It would be something dark and unnatural."
"She already is kind of dark and unnatural. You know that's my type. What does it matter, as long as she's back?" Brittany argued, "Maybe they're wrong. Maybe she'll actually be human if we do the spell the right way. We had good intentions. We never actually meant to kill her."
"Fine, I'll help you." Phoebe agreed finally, noticing how panicky and desperate Brittany was. The two of them struggled to lift Lani's body onto the table and set to work.
"Okay, Lani. I will get you out of this but we are definitely breaking up as soon as you come back. It is over." Brittany babbled.
They found the black book and began reciting the ancient spell to resurrect her. Phoebe read aloud.
"Lips pursed, emit wind over tongue in motion, teeth on edge. Okay, good enough. Touch bounded smudge of blue sage with braided wheat straw…"
"This feels really dark. I think we should wait for Mom and Grandma to get back."
"It's not as if she's going to stay fresh, Brittany! It's now or never. Quick, I need for you to get me something white to draw a star."
"I hope this works." Brittany found a can of whipped cream and used it to draw a pentacle on Lani's chest then the sisters began to chant.
"Black as night, erase death from our sight. White as light, mighty goddess make it right."
The being that came back was definitely not Brittany's ex-lover. When the corpse was reanimated, it was monstrous and instantly grabbed Brittany, choking her as the blonde struggled to get away.
The spell seemed to have brought her back with inhuman strength and she could now demolish either of the sisters if she wanted to, practically pelting Phoebe across the room with one hand. Lani, or rather the undead version of her, kept shouting something in a deadly voice.
"I want you to be my wife! I want you to be my wife!" Lani yelled at Brittany as the taller blonde backed away, terrified.
Noticing that Brittany was looking blue in the face, Phoebe acted quickly, grabbing the nearest frying pan and striking Keilani with it in the head. That was all it took to take her down.
It began to rain heavily again as the two sisters dragged the now dead again body outside into the back.
"Did I ever tell you that you have terrible taste in lovers, Britt?" Phoebe lamented as the two shoveled dirt as quickly as they could and struggled to dig a hole big enough for the body to be buried in the Pierce backyard. Brittany was still panicking just like her sister was. She couldn't believe they had killed another person, even if it was completely accidental.
"You really have to stay away from bad girls and bad boys even if they're really hot."
"I know but you're one to talk, Little Sis." Brittany sighed wearily, wiping the back of her hand across her cheek. They were both exhausted and covered in dirt as the rain continued to pour.
"At least I don't fall in love with my guys or let them fall for me."
There would be no sleeping for either of them that night.
Unbeknownst to the sisters, an evil presence began to haunt the Pierce house from then on. The rose bush over the area where the body was buried grew overnight, taking over almost the entire backyard.
If anyone was watching the garden closely after midnight, they might see flashes of a ghostly female figure lurking around with long dark hair and big, unblinking eyes accompanied with an aura of deep anger and revenge.
The next few weeks passed uneventfully. She grieved Lani but that love she thought she had felt for her felt warped, twisted into something painful. She could only think of the monster her ex-girlfriend had become.
Brittany and her sister continued working at the Pierce's family owned botanical shop, Verbena Apothecary, selling lotions, soaps, and medicines to the skeptical townspeople. They never told their mother or grandmother what had happened that night though they suspected that their relatives had a gut feeling something was amiss.
A little gardening was bound to make her feel more like herself. She put on a nice sundress and enjoyed the feeling of warm sunlight on her skin.
Brittany was in the middle of trimming the tall rose bushes that had grown to twelve feet overnight. In the back of her mind, Brittany wondered if Keilani was trying to get to them and scare them by making them grow. She got out her shears and began trimming them, startled by the presence of someone creeping up behind her into the backyard.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," A husky, low female voice drew her out of her thoughts. "Are you Brittany Pierce?"
There was a woman standing before her in a well-tailored black pantsuit and a red silk button up blouse. She was wearing gold-framed sunglasses and a gold watch. Her black hair, though slightly shorter than Brittany's long, beachy blonde loose curls, fell in soft waves that framed her attractive face.
Her jawline and high cheekbones were sharp and her lips were pouty, the upper lip slightly fuller than the lower one.
Brittany's first thought was of Keilani and how this dominant woman reminded her of her former lover. This woman was about the same height and build, even her colouring, full lips and sharp angles of her face were similar but something about this person's aura was so different.
Brittany nodded, feeling jittery in a way she never usually felt around people even if she was attracted to them, which she definitely was toward this person even though she had vowed to stay away from romance forever.
"Hi! Yep, I'm Brittany. Why? Is someone looking for me?"
The black-haired woman didn't answer but instead went on to the next question methodically, speaking in a calm but businesslike way with no emotion.
"Do you and your sister Phoebe live here?"
"We do."
"I see." She grunted.
She finally took off her shades and the first thing Brittany noticed was how dark her eyes were. Unlike Lani's green, these were the darkest shade of brown that bordered on black. Then her gaze drifted down to the gold necklace with the heart-shaped pendant she had around her neck and the way she fidgeted with her left hand, using it to grab a rose from the bush and bringing it up to her nose to breathe in the strong scent, then to the dark wine red of her shirt.
She smiled politely at Brittany and dimples appeared on both cheeks. Brittany shivered at distinctive dark eyes and dimples, and left handedness, instantly remembering her spell from long ago.
Yet there was something grounding about the woman's presence for her. Something that made Brittany feel secure when she was usually so air-headed and lost in the clouds.
"I'm Detective Santana Lopez. I'm here to investigate the disappearance of Keilani Kekoa of Hawaii." The woman finally explained and pulled out her badge to show her.
"Oh," Brittany should have felt terrified but she couldn't think clearly, lost in the spell of those eyes. There were so many things she needed to hide from this detective and she didn't know how she'd be able to hide anything from her. "Ow!"
"Are you okay, Miss?" Brittany noticed that the dark-haired, Hispanic detective was staring in concern at her pale finger that was oozing blood where she had just pricked it. Just one look from Detective Lopez had caused her to accidentally prick herself. This was bad.
"It's fine!"
"Lots of black cats around here, aren't there?" Santana huffed, bewildered by the crowd of black cats who were now surrounding her. Even Lord Tubbington, Brittany's tabby cat familiar, had appeared out of the blue and was watching Santana closely with a baleful stare.
Brittany bit her lip, her thoughts going back to the spell again. Their animal will be a cat…
"Brittany! Britt - where are you -" Phoebe ran out into the backyard, pausing dead in her tracks when she saw the woman standing with them. "Oh, hello there."
"Are you Phoebe Pierce?" Santana turned sharp eyes onto the other woman and stared her down. Phoebe looked like she wanted to run but Santana followed her as she began to walk away slowly.
"Um, yes, who's asking?"
Santana stiffened up, crossing her arms and watching Phoebe closely with a serious expression.
"I'm a detective investigating a woman's disappearance. Keilani Kekoa hasn't been seen for weeks."
"You assume we had something to do with it?" Phoebe scoffed. "Is this because we're witches? Let me guess, the evil witch women have to be the villains."
"I also noticed Kekoa's car is parked outside your house."
Phoebe swallowed hard, turning to catch Brittany's eye and noticing she was in a similar state of nerves. How were they going to talk their way out of this one?
Brittany ran up to Phoebe, pulling her aside.
"What is wrong with you?" Phoebe whisper-yelled, her eyes darting around to make sure they were alone.
"I don't know! I know it might sound strange but I don't think I can lie to her."
"Of course you can lie to her. It's easy!"
Brittany strolled into the greenhouse and found Santana inspecting everything she found there, seemingly confused by all of it just like she was by everything about their house so far.
"They're just herbs and flowers, you know, from the garden," Brittany explained. "So, what brings you to Massachusetts?"
Santana followed Brittany into the kitchen, noticing Phoebe standing in the corner. The state investigator turned to face Brittany again, her mouth set in a serious frown.
"Listen, I'm not going to beat around the bush here. So this Keilani girl, was she a friend to you?"
"She was my girlfriend but she's more like a big mistake." Brittany shuddered at the thought, feeling Santana's intense eyes on her.
"I see. Did she hurt you?"
Brittany nodded, avoiding Santana's narrowed eyes. Santana growled under her breath, glaring at nothing in particular.
"I mean, she sort of kidnapped my sister and I." Brittany admitted. Santana's dark eyebrows were raised and her lips parted.
"She kidnapped you?" The detective lost her temper when she heard this, angry at the woman who she could tell was a horrible human being.
"It was sort of a - um - little nap but then we drove it back here and we don't know where she is now. So we'd, you know, love to find her and give her back her car!" Phoebe stuttered, grabbing Brittany by the shoulders and trying to convey to her telepathically that she needed to calm down.
"Any help you ladies can give me in locating this ex-girlfriend of hers will be much appreciated." Santana mumbled in a gruff voice as she stood up from the table, watching each of them closely, obviously still skeptical about what she was hearing.
They both knew they weren't going to be able to get rid of this gritty detective anytime soon. She was too good at her job and too stubborn.
"Oh, Dad. I wish you were here with us. What should I do?" Brittany spoke out loud, laying back in her bed that night and holding the framed picture she still had of herself and her father when she was little. She needed his guidance and protection now more than ever.
Brittany rolled her eyes as she ran into Detective Lopez who was watching her the whole time she strolled through the village to do her shopping. Brittany snorted derisively.
"Am I under some kind of surveillance? You can ask me whatever you'd like." Brittany quipped, flipping her hair over her shoulder sassily.
"I already did but all I can tell you is there appears to be something missing from your stories," Santana chuckled. Brittany tried to bite back the surge of attraction she felt when she saw a flash of those dimples again as Santana smirked. "I'll see you soon, Miss Pierce. You don't mind if I swing by tomorrow, do you?"
"Of course I don't mind, Detective Dimples." Brittany shrugged, acting as if she had nothing to hide but being sure to avoid Santana's gaze and remain tight-lipped.
"Detective Dimples?" Santana scowled, outraged and feeling like this nickname took away from her badass, tough girl detective appeal.
"It suits you, Dimps." Brittany shrugged with another cheeky smile, attempting to slip away after toying with her. Usually her flirtations were enough to distract anyone who wanted to know her secrets. Santana stood in front of her with her arms crossed.
"Is that so. You know, for all of the sass you still seem pretty flustered around me. Why is that?" Santana countered. "Got something to hide?"
Brittany's pale face flushed pink for more reasons than one and she turned to face away from the detective.
"Gotcha tongue-tied? Can't resist that Lopez charm, can ya, Sugar?" Santana teased as Brittany finally stormed away in a huff in response. "I'll be there around one."
Phoebe caught Brittany lost in a stupor when she returned to the family's botanical shop. She was so lost in the clouds that she didn't hear her sister call her name several times.
"Sorry. It's Detective Dimples again. She's just getting into my head."
"Seriously, what is up with you and that brooding gay detective?" Phoebe giggled while Brittany just groaned, covering her face with her hands. "Don't tell me you've got a crush. Now is really not the best time, Sis."
"Maybe she's the one who has a crush on me." Brittany shrugged, trying to be casual and pretend that she wasn't constantly thinking about Santana and the way she seemed to fit the description of the person she made up in her love spell long ago so well.
The sisters were also growing increasingly paranoid about the presence of that evil spirit that seemed to have latched onto the Pierce house. They both knew who it was and why she had a thirst for vengeance.
The relentless Santana was back the next afternoon, of course, true to her word, then the next one after that, and each day after that. Each time, Brittany and Phoebe left her increasingly mystified with their vague, confusing answers.
That Sunday, Santana followed Brittany around the greenhouse again, questioning her and watching her intently with those dark eyes that seemed to see right through Brittany's façade. Santana was nothing if not persistent. It was frustrating and really hot at the same time. Now it was more than about tracking down a murderer and solving a crime; it was personal. Santana had to know the truth.
The two were alone and the Pierce family's many sleek black cats were still following Santana around, much to her exasperation and Brittany's amusement.
"Are you ready to tell me now?" Santana drawled, smirking as Brittany caught her eye and kept her lips sealed, moving over to the other side to gather some herbs. She remained silent, not trusting herself to speak.
Santana was back to business when she spoke up, losing the playful edge to her tone.
"I'm asking you again. Did you or your sister kill that woman?"
"Yeah, we totally killed her. A couple of times, actually." Brittany rolled her eyes and confessed sarcastically, trying to ignore how Santana's presence was getting her worked up in more ways than one.
She meant it when she told Phoebe before that Santana was one person she didn't think she could ever lie to as silly as that sounded.
Of course, Santana took her words as a joke as she expected her to, not realizing Brittany was actually confessing. Brittany had learned that it didn't take much for Santana to lose her temper. She also knew how to press all of Santana's buttons if she wanted to.
"Brittany, look. All I'm asking is that you tell me the truth. I don't have time for this!"
"I did tell you everything you need to know," Brittany smirked, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously. "My, my, you have a hot temper, Detective."
Santana just watched her with that serious frown that rarely left her face.
"You say you only use these spells for healing and protection but I'm confused. Do you have any idea how strange this all sounds to me? I have people all over this town telling me that the Pierce women sold their souls to Satan and have naked outdoor rituals every weekend."
"We don't believe in Satan but the naked ritual stuff is pretty fun. Maybe you'd like to join me next time, Detective Lopez," Brittany winked. Santana became flustered, distracted by the thought of the blonde being naked but then irritated by the way Brittany was clearly deflecting her questions. "Just come around here on Halloween, you'd really see something then."
"So you people really are witches? What kind of craft do you do?"
"I make bath oils and soaps. Sometimes I meddle in people's love lives but that's mainly my mom's job. My family loves midnight margaritas too and chocolate for breakfast. Santana, magic isn't just spells and potions. Your necklace…" Brittany pointed at the heart pendant on Santana's necklace. "The heart. It's just a symbol, when you really think about it. It's your talisman. Maybe whoever gave that to you loved you. It can't really give you their love or anything like that but it has power because you believe it does."
"Miss Pierce, I really like you and for the record, I actually believe you and your sister are innocent. I want to believe it. Hell, I'd put that Keilani freak six feet under myself if I could based on what I heard of her but that's not up to me. I'm just trying to do my job here and I know you're not being fully honest with me."
"If I tell you the truth, will you finally leave us alone?"
Santana nodded but there was a trace of vulnerability in her voice and a sad, resigned look to her eyes when she looked up again, as if she thought Brittany was also putting an end to any possibility of a romance between them.
"If that's what you really want me to do."
Brittany went quiet, not knowing how to explain herself. She couldn't handle that sad look from Santana and she didn't want to make her feel like everything between them was over.
"I guess there's nothing more for me to say. I'd better go."
Brittany turned to her, dropping the sarcastic, closed off act and was completely honest when she faced her, grabbing Santana's attention and making her stop dead in her tracks.
"No, wait, don't go. I'll tell you. Come with me." The blonde grabbed her hand and lead her into the house then all the way upstairs. She didn't know what was compelling her to bring Santana with her to her room. Santana tilted her head in confusion when she brought her into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
"What is it?"
"The truth is…" Brittany started to say. Now that she had Santana as a captive audience like this, all coherent thoughts left Brittany's head. She wanted to be honest with Santana but she wasn't sure what she was going to tell her. Her mind felt blank. All she could think about was the little sparks she felt when Santana's hand was in hers.
Both of them were strongly aware of how the mood between them felt even more charged now that they were alone together in Brittany's bedroom.
The tension between them rose as Santana moved closer, cornering her as Brittany backed up against the wall and her gaze lowered to Brittany's lips. Brittany turned her face away but made no move to push her off of her, avoiding her dark eyes and stuttering when she spoke up again.
"No. I- I can't."
"Why?" Santana pressed. It was so hard for Brittany to resist the detective, especially when she was looking at her like that and their bodies were pressed up together so intimately.
"I just can't."
It was clear that this wasn't about confessing to a crime at all but rather to the pent up feelings Brittany was trying to hide from.
Brittany kept thinking back to her ex-lover, the way she told herself she wouldn't trust so easily after her. She couldn't allow herself to. Santana made her want to break all of her rules and believe in the magic she always had believed in since she was a little girl.
Then there was the curse to think about. Would Santana be killed if she fell in love with Brittany? Would she be the one exception to the Pierce curse?
Santana's eyes softened and when she spoke up again it was in her natural voice instead of the tough growl she used when she was in detective mode. Her voice was shaking now as she tried to unravel Brittany's feelings.
"Because of her? She hurt you, didn't she," Santana traced the tips of her fingers over Brittany's cheek. "That bitch hurt you real bad, made you feel like you're less than you're worth. You're so beautiful, I don't think you realize how much. You deserve so much better than her. I'd treat you better."
Brittany got lost in those smoldering dark brown eyes again. Santana swept her up in her arms, pulling her into a soul-stealing kiss that made Brittany's toes curl. Brittany grabbed her by the back of the neck, parting her lips and Santana deepened the kiss. Before Brittany knew what was happening, Santana steered them towards the bed and they were desperately pawing at each other's clothes.
Santana trailed kisses up her neck, slipping her left hand up between her inner thighs and Brittany whimpered at the first touch then the feeling of her deep inside of her.
Brittany was so wet that it didn't take much for her fingers to be fully buried inside. Santana leaned up, hovering over her as she continued to pump her fingers roughly, watching Brittany's face to gauge her reactions and then moving in closer to press her lips to her neck, kissing the delicate skin and nipping her ear.
"Tell me what you need, Beautiful. Tell me."
Brittany felt herself tighten around her fingers and arched her back, grabbing onto Santana's bicep and spreading her legs further. She moaned Santana's name in a wanton gasp of a sound and felt her tracing the curve of her waist with the fingertips of her right hand.
Brittany woke up in a warm bed to a smoky, husky voice singing gently beside her. Santana's arm was around her waist and she was spooning her. Brittany leaned back into her frame happily.
"You're still here. You were singing," Brittany pointed out. "Songbird. You were singing my favourite song."
Santana blinked, flustered about Brittany catching her.
"Sorry. I do that sometimes. Didn't mean to wake you up."
"I loved it. Your voice is beautiful. It's smoky."
"Thanks." Santana grinned, rolling over and standing up beside the bed, then casually stretching her nude body and yawning.
"What's that? Oh, it's a cat." Brittany couldn't help staring, amused and giggling when she saw the clearly cat-shaped blue mark on Santana's perfect ass cheek. Santana was embarrassed and visibly flushed as she brought her palm down to cover it.
Of course it would be a cat of all things because that was what Brittany wished for…
"Mongolian spot. I've always had it since I was a baby." Santana hung her head after this admission, as if expecting Brittany to mock her or be turned off. She felt awkward about her mark. It wasn't exactly typical. "It's like I've been haunted by cats my whole life. First this mark, then being followed by cats everywhere I go… Glad I make you laugh."
"Don't be embarrassed. It's so cute. I love it."
It felt like a relief to break up all of the dark moods they had been in recently with this moment of pure humour.
Santana turned to her with an aroused gaze when Brittany said this and then pushed her back on the bed, kissing the daylights out of her as Brittany let her hands trail down her back to her ass, pausing to trace the outline of the spot with her fingertip.
"Your skin feels so hot. It feels good."
"Does it?" Santana smirked sexily, her voice a low purr. She captured Brittany's lips with hers again, putting an end to that conversation and distracting Brittany from all of her other worries.
Brittany tried to ignore how intimate it felt for them to shower together - which of course lead to her fooling around with the sexy lesbian detective again - and then have breakfast together. Santana barely ate, explaining she wasn't much of a breakfast person and only drinking a black coffee while Brittany made pancakes for the two of them.
"So… You're not named after a devil, are you?" Brittany played her question off as a joke. Santana almost choked on her coffee.
"Diabla. It's my middle name. Dad must have been drunk when he came up with that one, especially since we're all Catholics," Santana flushed red. "That's a pretty random thing to ask. How did you know?"
"Just a lucky guess." Brittany laughed awkwardly, trying to change the subject. Santana had to be the person she dreamed up when she was a child. There was no way she couldn't be.
Brittany was quieter than normal and Santana could tell she was lost in her thoughts.
Santana came up behind her, slipping her arms around Brittany's waist and holding her in a way that made Brittany melt, almost forgetting about the fact that she needed to keep secrets from Santana.
"Listen, I know you're in some kind of trouble, Brittany. I can sense it. If you tell me everything you know, I promise I will do everything in my power to keep you out of harm's way."
Brittany's heart began to beat faster against her chest. She turned to face Santana and distracted her by grabbing the back of her neck and pulling her into a deep kiss. She looped her arms around Santana's neck. She could never get enough of kissing the detective, her lips so warm and soft against hers. She couldn't get enough of the feel and smell of Santana.
"I- I guess I should go before we start something we can't finish." Santana huffed, awkwardly running her fingers through black hair and noticing the position their bodies were in as they finally separated.
Brittany pouted, not wanting her to go but not knowing how she'd be able to handle being in Santana's presence for a second longer without confessing she was in love with her or confessing to accidental manslaughter.
They were interrupted by the sounds of piercing shrieks and screams coming from upstairs.
"Brittany, come quick! It's your sister." Her aunt, the older Phoebe ran into the room, barely noticing Detective Lopez's presence.
"What happened?" Brittany followed closely at her heels and Santana was behind them.
"She- she - well, you just have to see it."
Brittany heard Santana inhale sharply behind her when they both clearly saw it. The ghostly form of Keilani was climbing out of Phoebe's unconscious body- at least that's the best way they could describe it - a deadly glare on her face as she noticed her ex-lover and Santana standing there.
Santana couldn't believe what she was seeing. For a moment she wondered if this could be a dream, or a hallucination.
"What the hell is going on?!" The detective grunted, colour draining from her face.
"Ah, Brittany. Brittany, my dearest love. You're here and I see you've brought a visitor. Detective Santana Lopez. I've heard so much about you," She raised her eyebrows playfully then her gaze turned to Brittany. "She stole you away from me, didn't she?"
Santana said nothing but moved in front of Brittany protectively.
"Oh hell no! I won't let you hurt Brittany." Santana growled, even though she was terrified of this evil entity that had come back from the dead.
"Stay away from my wife!" The demonic form of Keilani spat. The girls flinched in horror as the evil being reached out for Detective Lopez, clearly intent on killing her. As soon as her ghostly hand touched the gold necklace, she shrieked in terror as if it burned her and let go of the detective.
"Whoa… whoa. Jesus Christ." Santana breathed heavily when the ordeal was over, bent over and clutching her chest. She was shaken up but unharmed.
"Are you okay? You protected me. Thank you." Brittany stroked Santana's shoulder.
"N-no problem, Britt. Never had to deal with the undead before. If that's what that was. Just give a girl some warning next time."
"Your necklace! It seems to be some kind of amulet. It saved you from the demon." Phoebe pointed out. Santana trailed her fingers over the heart pendant, astonished and not sure what to think.
"This old thing? I got this as a gift from my mom when I was ten. You guys still have a lot of explaining to do," Santana's eyes flashed. "Especially after what I just saw."
Phoebe glanced at Brittany and they both knew it was time. Brittany didn't know if she could keep running.
"Fine, you know what? I'll tell you when we killed her. I'll tell you what we used to do it." Brittany began to ramble and eventually it all spilled out. Brittany was so nervous.
"Whoa, Britt, slow down. One thing at a time. So you're telling me you and your little sister killed this girl accidentally in self-defense, then brought the bitch back to life again, then tried to kill her again and now her half-alive warped self is just hanging out here haunting you all for all of eternity?"
Brittany nodded, wincing and biting her lip.
"I know this all sounds crazy to you."
"Believe me, after tonight, nothing sounds crazy to me anymore but I think I need something with alcohol." Santana groaned.
"I guess this might be a bad time to ask you to join us for midnight margaritas tonight?" Phoebe quipped playfully with her hands on her hips.
"Oh, I'll be there."
Santana wasn't expecting Brittany to practically run out of the room but she guessed she shouldn't have expected anything less, knowing how upset the blonde was about everything.
"I'll go get her." She announced.
Santana ran after Brittany, finding her out in the backyard by the flower bushes.
"You probably think I'm a bad person. You shouldn't blame Phoebe. I know it's my fault Keilani is dead."
Santana shook her head, walking up to Brittany and cupping her cheeks. She knew Brittany was bound to be feeling overwhelmed by her guilt and other emotions.
"I don't think you're a bad person and it's not your fault. She was going to kill you. You were defending yourself. Hey, look at me, Brittany. You don't have to be afraid. As far as I'm concerned, you and your sister are innocent. Even if you weren't, to hell with that. I'm going to fight for you. You won't be in any trouble," Santana tried to reassure her. "I just have to admit, I'm confused about all of this. I've always only believed in logic and science. Anything I could see and touch was real to me. I was just trying to do my job, find the bad guy, and it turned out to be way more complicated than that. What I don't understand is why I felt this urge in me to come here and look for you out of the blue."
"That's the thing. There's also something else I need to tell you."
Santana noticed that Brittany was starting to cry and it was painful to watch. She moved closer, cupping Brittany's cheek and wiping away a tear.
"What is it?"
"Santana, you're here because I wished for you. I brought you to me. It's all my fault you're in danger now too. When I was a little girl, I summoned up a love spell, called Amas Veritas. I asked for qualities that I knew couldn't possibly exist. But you do, somehow. All of the things you are, your eyes, your singing, your dimples, even your birthmark and the heart you wear on your neck. I wished for someone with those exact traits."
Santana thought this over, trying to make sense of it. She was stunned speechless. Part of her felt flattered that Brittany had wanted someone who was just like her but she was confused by the magic and the worried expression on Brittany's face.
"You're saying I'm here because you wished for me as a little girl?"
Brittany nodded sadly.
"The reason why you're here and you don't know exactly why you feel so drawn to me is because I sent for you. I called you. So if you stayed, I wonder would it only be because of my spell holding you captive?"
Santana shook her head, not even willing to entertain that idea. She knew herself. She knew the feelings she had weren't just because of some witch's spell and she could sense that Brittany had genuine feelings for her as well.
"I'm not giving up on you so easily," Santana argued fiercely, "I don't care if you wished for me, although it's so flipping cute that you did. Magic and curses, they only work if you believe in them and I never did. I'm in love with you and no spell made me love you. If this isn't real then I'd rather be, I don't know, caught in your love spell forever if this is my chance to be with you. I don't care about the law, or magic or whatever, I only care about you. Hey, if love is just a form of magic anyway then maybe your spell just made it work a little faster."
"I love you too." Brittany admitted, whimpering softly. She couldn't help but worry about everything.
"Look, I'll give you some space, if that's what you really want," Santana reluctantly spoke up after a long moment of silence. "But I'm not gonna stop wanting you. I'll be looking out for you. Just call me if you need me."
Santana glanced at Brittany sadly over her shoulder before turning to walk away.
"By the way, I wished for a girl like you too."
Brittany sobbed quietly to herself. She really didn't want to see Santana go. She was sure she was the love of her life.
Phoebe was completely taken over by the dark essence of Brittany's ex-lover days later. She was terrifying to all who saw her in her possessed state, snarling and gnashing her teeth in blind, boiling rage.
Brittany was so afraid of losing her sister. She had lost her father and there was no way she was going to lose her sister too. For once, Brittany took action and protected her sister, the way she had been protected by Phoebe, Santana, and her father. She cut both of their hands again, just like they had as children.
"My blood. Your blood. Our blood!" Brittany remembered the pact they had made long ago, grabbing her sister's bleeding hand in hers and holding it tightly. As she held her hand, she remembered a million moments of them holding hands just like this from the time they were little girls. There was nothing that could ever separate the sisters. There was a blinding light and a powerful surge of energy throughout the room.
The demonic energy had been banished, once and for all due to their shared blood and the reenactment of the oath.
It was all over. She had saved Phoebe through the power of the pure love the sisters had for each other.
The curse on the Pierce women had been broken so they would never have to be afraid of falling in love again. She never had to be afraid of losing Santana and Phoebe didn't have to be afraid of falling in love either.
The sisters and their family were in awe as the spirits of Brittany's father, Elizabeth Pierce, and many others appeared before them. It was as if all of their spirits were finally free and happy.
"Dad?" Brittany ran up to the ghostly image of Pierce as he began to fade away again. He was smiling softly. "I miss you. Please don't go."
"I'll always be around, Princess. I love you. Tell your mother and sister I love them too."
Santana came looking for Brittany, finding her after it was all over.
"Santana?" Brittany whispered. Santana rushed up to her out of nowhere as if hearing her voice from far away and cupping her face.
"Brittany, are you okay? I had this feeling in my bones that something wasn't right. Then I heard all this noise and saw this bright light. What's up with all the broomsticks in here?"
"More than okay now." Brittany chuckled, shaking her head fondly and not knowing how to explain everything that happened with Phoebe and the spirits in a way that the detective would understand. She could tell her more about that later.
At the moment, she had more important things to do. She wrapped her arms around Santana's shoulders and smirked when Santana's brown eyes lit up, as if she understood what Brittany was trying to convey. Brittany wanted to be with her too and there was nothing holding them back anymore.
Santana leaned in, kissing her breathless and it was clear that neither of them were willing to let the love they had for each other go.
Whitney, her sister, and the rest of the Pierce family cheered the lovers on, fully approving of this match.
Brittany opened up a new page of her diary, a grin on her face as she thought about her wife of several years. Santana was playing nearby with their toddler son who was already obsessed with magic and excitedly casting spells on everything he could much to their amusement. They had given little Salem the middle name "Pierce" to honour Brittany's father.
The blonde held her youngest baby, Felix, in her arms, cuddled close as he dozed off. Both of their sons, whom Brittany had given birth to, had inherited the magical abilities of the Pierces. They were the first boys to be born to any woman in the Pierce family in many decades and they had conceived them through magic quite accidentally as Brittany had discovered she was pregnant with their first, much to her delight and surprise, not long after their marriage. Their sons, being biologically their children, were a combination of both Santana and Brittany's genes.
Her father's spirit still visited often. Brittany could feel him smiling down on her and her family with Santana.
The Lopez family were preparing to go over to the Pierce house to celebrate Halloween. Brittany couldn't have been happier and her deep love for Santana had never faded. She began to write.
Can love really travel back in time and heal a broken heart? Was it our joined hands that finally lifted Elizabeth Pierce's curse? I'd like to think so. But there are some things I know for certain: always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck, and fall in love whenever you can.