[color=silver][indent][indent][right][sub]Early Morning - What If
f. [b][color=681880]Sabrina Aviles[/color], [color=BCDD81]Clay Costigan[/color] and [color=855d80]Lilith Aviles-Costigan[/color][/b][/sub][/right][/indent][/indent][/color]

[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/231208/289cad4d31eea5d065685ac32293b509.png[/img]  [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/231208/0fac8306c9ee2cf1c68bd289b4a15b89.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/pujP2aD.png[/img]

[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/brutalbx][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/230217/4d03ced44d72ee9a8bd193b45ff0971f.png[/img][/url] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/230217/420eaf5e13f691ea3228efc7a2de120c.png[/img] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/neoaj][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/230217/22dd0ede7ce091ae106ca4851ca67ca8.png[/img][/url]
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[color=lightgray][indent][indent]The house was relatively cheery looking from the outside, a bit surprising given its position on the Edenridge landscape. With the imposing Aviles mansion just down the road, the relatively modest split-level with the white siding and the red door looked more like it belonged in Hawkins, Indiana, than the Upside Down that the manor inhabited. However, the nefarious deeds that were done in that seemingly innocent house were on par with those in the more notorious place down the way. 

One such spell was being concocted this very morning, a witch at work with deft hands easily manipulating the various ingredients necessary to make this particular effort a success. The molten sludge in the cauldron served as a welcoming base for the various powders that were being thrown into the mix, dissolving within the deep, dark muck. The levels had to be just right in order for it to work. Next, an offering of an unborn animal, binding the powders to the sludge, giving the spell cohesion. Sustenance for the child that would never be, curdled far beyond its time, the age giving it power. Then a black liquid, still piping hot, poured into the cauldron, melting the sludge, allowing it to accept the potion within the rest of the concoction.

[color=681880]“Soon…”[/color] the young witch gloated. [color=681880]“Soon, I will summon the demise of those who oppose me. Soon, they will know that they have been vanquished. Soon, they will taste death!”[/color] Evil laughter rang out in the witch’s domain, knowing that everything was coming according to plan. The kiln was ready, locking in the forbidden secrets that would bring everyone around her to their knees. The cauldron was emptied, the mold prepared, everything would be locked in place. There was nothing that could stop the witch…

[color=855d80]“Mommmmmma!”[/color]

The witch turned, startled by the noise behind her.

[color=855d80]“Mommma, is it time to go?”[/color]

The witch smiled. [color=681880]“Soon, Lilith. Soon. It’s only 9:30 after all.”[/color] With that, Sabrina Aviles slid the cake pan into the waiting oven, the batter now complete and set to bake for an hour.

It was strange at times, this feeling of contentment that washed over Sabrina with even the simplest tasks completed. In high school, she would have loathed this version of herself that stood in the kitchen, a white cotton t-shirt and a pair of black shorts completely given in to the domestic lifestyle. Sure she still had a job, but it was secondary to her tasks around the house, in the community, and most importantly, to the four-year-old that was standing in the kitchen, ready for another session of daycare. 

Lily seemed to get the best of both her parents. She had her father’s looks, down to the immaculate Aviles jet-black hair that feathered as it went down from her head. She had her mother’s brains though, and everyone agreed that was probably for the good of the child. She was already reading above her daycare classmates, able to hold distinct conversations while showing off the latest drawings, she was going to be able to do whatever she wanted in the world and take it by storm. She had the power. It was willed to her. Every thunderstorm that rolled into Edenridge, Sabrina would take her husband to the designated room and do her best to make sure that everything was aligned. If she was going to have a child after all, it was going to have to be in line with the beliefs she never fully shook from high school. Hard as her husband tried, Sabrina still was an Aviles, and she still embraced the dark side. And he was usually willing to go along with things. It’s part of what made him fall in love with her after all. That and a late night car ride in senior year that seemed to confirm that maybe there was more than just an odd-pairing friendship there.

Sure, Sabrina got a lot of stick from her younger siblings. Samara never let her hear the end of how she got Stepfordized, the second Aviles after her aunt Marina to embrace the normie culture and move into the town, even if it wasn’t that far away. Lucien usually tried to say something, but was met with a punch or a threatened drowning. Her mother was very pleased though. She doted after young Lilith the way it would be expected for a grandmother to look after her first grandchild. The gifts weren’t the same, but the emotions held true. Plus, Sabrina had to admit, it was going to take someone of immense talents, a steel will and an ability to find light in the pitch black to get her to come willingly into motherhood.

If only he could get his ass ready to go on time.

[color=681880]“Clay?!?”[/color] she shouted down the hall, hoping that her husband would hear her. [color=681880]“You said you’d take Lilith to daycare today, right? I still have this cake in the oven, and if you want this chocolate to be deadly, I need to make sure it’s glazed at the right time!”[/color]

Yawning and stretching his arms out widely, Clay Costigan shuffled down the hall of his home towards the kitchen which smelled suspiciously and decadently of baked goods. [color=BCDD81]“I got her, babe, I got her. Don’t you…”[/color] His words were interrupted by another yawn as he entered the kitchen. [color=BCDD81]“Worry.”[/color] He said as his agape mouth finally began to close. [color=BCDD81]“There’s my girl.”[/color] It took less than a second for Lilith to sprint across the kitchen and into her father’s arms. He picked her up and smiled as he booped her little nose.

Clay had never seen himself fully as a father type. He had always wanted kids but as his high school years wore on, he began to wonder if he was even built for it. He had searched for love in too many places and he had seen first hand that the world around him did not encourage people like him to become fathers. All he ever wanted was to find someone that he could share his soul with and start a future with. Very few people ever truly realized just how lonely Clay Costigan was. Even with his Elite and Foundling status, even with a bevy of beauties at his beck and call; the boy was scratching and clawing for something more. He was desperately searching for someone to fill a void, a hole in his life that he just couldn’t quite figure out.

Then he got a phone call.

It was supposed to be a great night. The Celtics had just won their state championships and Clay had a date with a hot-as-all-hell Pinehurst girl. Basically everyone was at a party on the Southside when Beau broke it up and helped prevent Allison from od’ing on some bad coke. Clay himself was elsewhere when he got a call to help out someone he knew only as a friend, Sabrina. He didn’t know what it was about that particular night but there was something in her usually monotonous if not disdain filled voice that was telling him that she needed him. Clay dropped his date and went to pick up Sabrina straight away. He didn’t take her home immediately, she said she didn’t want that. Instead, they just drove around town all night, talking. It was just little things at first but then it got deep and by the rise of the sun they found themselves sharing a kiss so electric that it likely would’ve raised Frankenstein's monster from its slumber…or knowing Sabrina, her grandfather Julio. 

They had been together from then on, and despite the looks and the glares and the world around them’s misgivings, they found happiness in one another. They shared vows and eventually welcomed their daughter into their lives. Clay had finally found what he had been searching his whole life for and he’d be damned if he let it go. [color=BCDD81]“It’s not a problem. I’ll drop her off on my way to do…whatever jobs I’m given. I don’t really know what I’m doing but it’s fine! It’s all gravy.”[/color]

Sabrina smiled as she heard Clay confirmed yet again that he was going to be up to the task. [color=681880]“I know it’ll be gravy. It’ll be freakin’ dijon mustard.”[/color] She walks over from the oven to where her immediate family stood. [color=681880]“But if you want gravy on this cake, you say the word, babe.”[/color] She kissed Clay quickly but sweetly on the lips.

It was a pale imitation of that first kiss in Clay’s car during that December night, but trying to recreate that moment would be like trying to repaint the Mona Lisa. Even Sabrina herself didn’t really know how to bring the separate facets together that led to that fateful liplock. Learning what had nearly happened to Allison, how she nearly met her end at that party on Carlisle, it affected her more than she actually cared to admit. Like it or not, Allison was the one who brought her onto the cheerleading squad in the first place and took her out of what she realized soon into the beginnings of her relationship with Clay was a rather unhealthy obsession with the despair and dark tendrils of the town that settled in after the death of her older sister Bianca. The head Clover saw something in the raven-haired girl that Sabrina herself couldn’t see through the haze and smoke. By the time that party rolled around, the macabre Aviles princess was a model member, taking Mei Ramsey under her raven wing and actually contributing to the senior squad.

In her own dark way, of course. She was still an Aviles after all.

But Sabrina couldn’t fathom what would have happened to her if Allison had actually died that fateful night. The emotions were overwhelming, forcing her to confront the buried trauma that she thought rested with her sister underneath that tiny tombstone in the backyard. It almost consumed her… until she reached out with her phone. With the rest of the squad at the party still reeling from Beau’s actions, there was one noticeable absence that she hoped would have been rectified. And it was. Clay was a doofus, but he was reliable. To this day, he was just that, but on Dec. 4, he was above and beyond. He was the pair of wings she needed. 

She doesn’t fully remember the conversation in Clay’s car, but it was more emotional than she had been in years. No one in her family had been able to pull the thorns out of her soul like the Costigan boy with a cocksure glance and a friendly ear. Clay had been one of the athletes she had gotten along with, him not judging Sabrina for her stylistic choices, or Allison for having an “emo girl” on the sidelines. He just… was good. A beacon of light to counteract the darkness she used to put into the community. It made for an odd yin-yang friendship… that moved into a yin-yang relationship… and now a yin-yang family. With Lilith, who was only called that by her mother’s side of the family as her father and everyone else usually went with her nickname Lily, the perfect combination of both. Sabrina also moved to give her daughter a loving peck on the cheek.

[color=681880]“I just wanted to make sure you remembered,”[/color] Sabrina finally told Clay. [color=681880]“She doesn’t [b]have[/b] to be there for another 45 minutes, but she can go whenever you’re ready.”[/color] She booped Lilith’s nose. [color=681880]“And don’t worry. If Daddy wants gravy on his slice of cake, he can have it, but I’ll make sure you have the full amount of chocolate required for death to take hold, my sweet.”[/color] Lily giggled at the consecutive boops.

As Clay gazed upon his wife and child, a feeling of love washed over him, a feeling of thankfulness. He had long and always considered himself a lucky man. It was never lost on him just how better he had it growing up in Edenridge, Massachusetts as a Foundling in comparison to many of his compatriots from elsewhere in the town. He was white, rich and athletic, a WASP dream child. There was an underlying guilt that he often could not shake, that he had no right to the troubles that weighed heavily on his heart because there were so many more people who had it far worse than he could even possibly imagine. 

Sabrina was one of those people from the upside down of Clay’s white picket world. Laughed at, mocked, drowning in heartache from what he would come to learn was her older sister's passing. The Aviles family held strange beliefs and basically worshiped within their own private religion, facts which people would use to torture Sab. Still, for as long as he could remember, all Clay ever saw was the cute dark haired girl at the back of the class who just seemed sad and lonely so he would start every morning by offering her a smile. It took a while but eventually she would smile back and that smile of hers would change his life forever. Sabrina became yet another part of his being which he could thank his blessed stars for. 

[color=BCDD81]“You are as literal as a hammer sometimes, babe.”[/color] No luck but what we make. It was a common theme for a Celtic but Clay didn’t subscribe to that theory like the O’Hara clan did. Someone up there, or maybe down below considering who the woman that gave his life meaning was, was looking out for the idiot and had gifted him a raven-haired lady of the wood and a mischievous little sprite to be the family that he had sought for so long. [color=BCDD81]“I love you.”[/color] Clay couldn’t help but lean and kiss his wife again, blessed or cursed he be.

With Lily still in his arms, he made his way over to the fridge to grab his daughter a juice box. [color=BCDD81]“I just had a quick call with Laura, she said she and Prim are happy to take Lilith for the night whilst we’re at Beau’s thing. She’s got Jasmine too, so Lily will get to play with her. Would you like that baby?”[/color] As Clay handed his daughter her juice, he immediately saw the darks of the eyes light up just like her mothers often did when she perfected a spell or decided to torture her brother Lucien. Lily loved spending time with her aunt Lamb but she also loved causing mischief with Clay’s cousin JJ’s daughter Jasmine. He worried for the future of Edenridge when those two grew up, especially considering who Jaz’s father was. [color=BCDD81]“Maybe do her a protection charm just in case.”[/color]

[color=681880]"To be fair, my white magic isn't nearly as good as my dark magic, so it's just as likely I protect Lilith from good things instead of what you want her protected from. But I trust Lamb can definitely make up the difference, especially if she has Prim as backup. And Lilith’s little coven with Jasmine will surely yield great results when they enter school. The jungle gym will be theirs!”[/color] 

Sabrina smiles and laughs, punctuated with a happy sigh, so different from the huffed expressions of annoyance she was known for in the early part of her Clovers career. She swore she could already see shades of her older sister in what would have been Bianca’s first niece. The sparkle in her eyes, the curiosity in her surroundings, the penchant for sweets. A lot of things that she thought were lost given herself and her younger twin siblings. However, more and more of those things were starting to surface in her lately. It was… weird.

[color=681880]“I love you too, doofus. I’ll talk to Allison and see what she’s thinking. We can do a little coordinating. I’ll cut the cake up and have that ready to go whenever we head over.”[/color]

[color=BCDD81]“There’s gonna be so much cake.”[/color] Clay proclaimed as he dusted a small bit of food from Lily’s charcoal hair. [color=BCDD81]“I know David said CeCe was doing the majority of the main baking but you already know you and I aren’t the only ones bringing extra food to this thing.”[/color] His dark eyes glanced down at his daughter as he placed her on the floor to play with some of the million and one toys she had scattered around their suburban gothic homestead. [color=BCDD81]“We’re gonna go from the most haunted town in America to the fattest town in America in the span of forty eight hours.”[/color]

Just as Clayton had finished speaking, the kitchen radio which had been playing adverts during the husband and wife’s conversation burst into life with the familiar sounds of Mei Ramsey, DJing on her morning show, the Dawn Patrol with Jade Taylor. Mei and Sabrina had a history which was even to this day steeped in mist for Clay. He knew that his wife and the radio host were very close, to the point where Sabby had insisted on making Mei Lilith’s Godmother but there was still much about their relationship he was not aware of and probably didn’t need to be aware of.

Like his fathers band, Gallows, used to say, that’s Witch Shit.

[color=BCDD81]“I’ll give your girl her due babe.”[/color] Clayton made his way over to his wife as music began to pour out of the VAL speakers of their home stereo. [color=BCDD81]“She’s got amazing taste in music.”[/color] He wrapped his arms around Sabrina and offered those big, expressive and mesmerizing eyes a stupid Clay-grin. [color=BCDD81]“Even better taste in women.”[/color] He winked as he pressed his lips to Sabby’s. Blessed be he for another day in paradise with his girls. [color=BCDD81]“Any other jobs before I head out with the demon spawn?”[/color]

[color=681880]“I’ll give you a better taste of a woman,”[/color] Sabrina whispered to her husband, making sure that her daughter was out of earshot for that one. Clay had mentioned Mei, and hearing Miss Midnight’s voice on the morning radio was certainly strange, but she had to admit that her and Jade had a lot of chemistry together. Maybe not as much as she did. A part of her thinks that maybe she could take a more public role in the community now that she was somewhat out of the shadows. At least she was offering to do things again. Childbirth had taken a lot of energy out of her, but it was worth it every time Lilith looked up with that devil-may-fear grin of hers. [color=681880]“And there won’t be that much cake. I told CeCe I would take some of the baking off her plate so she wasn’t being completely overloaded with cooking for the whole town. But, a few slices will be Aviles and Costigan property only, so don’t worry. At least one of those pounds gained will be solely yours.”[/color]

Talking about weight and caring about damaging children’s brains with sexy talk were just the latest signs that while the outward veneer of Sabrina Aviles remained somewhat dedicated to the images of high school, she just didn’t feel it fully in her soul anymore. It wasn’t black anymore, it was… almost an Oreo by this point. She remembered how much losing her sister hurt, how all she wanted was to contract the demons to bring her back, but as she enveloped herself more in the Clovers and in her relationship with Clay, it felt almost like Bianca’s spirit was soothed seeing her siblings in better places. Sure, she was probably the most well-adjusted of the three direct descendants, with Samara still committed to her dark witch act (although Amy Robinson had asked for help finding the right city to get Taylor Swift tickets in, and that girl didn’t have a boyfriend as far as Sabrina knew, so confirming that she had that ammo against her sister was a nice surprise), and Lucien was… still Lucien, but she felt so much more at peace with her position in Edenridge, and in life. Maybe it was time to crack the dark cookie a little more.

[color=681880]“I don’t think we need anything else for the party. I believe there are a couple bottles of wine in the fridge still, although we could probably use one more in case if you want to grab one…”[/color] Sabrina trailed off a little bit. The tiny thought in her head wanted out. [color=681880]“Clay… how do you think I would look as a blonde? I just… I thought I might try it. Sam has those silver streaks in her hair, but I can’t do that. But the blonde… I don’t know. It’s stupid. Never mind.”[/color]

[color=BCDD81]“Oh shit.”[/color] Clay was somewhat taken aback by his lover's words. Sabrina going blonde, now there was a thought. [color=BCDD81]“Lilith, daddy owes for the swear jar. Go get a dollar from my wallet.”[/color] The youngling didn’t have to be asked twice as she sprinted to the other side of the kitchen and began to rummage through  the pockets of her fathers brown leather jacket that was hanging on the back of the door. 

Sab had always had the strikingly dark obsidian mane for as long as he had known her (which was from diapers at their current point), which perfectly matched the tar pits of her eyes where he often found himself trapped, sinking and loving it. As Sab had suggested, only her younger sister Samara had ever ventured beyond the dark to add some color to their infamous locks. Sab, Sam and Luci all were pitch black, their still hot as hell mother Drusilla still had a full head of raven hair, their father Dorian was a silver fox but which had grown out from his jet black roots. Hell, even their stupid sexy uncle Felix possessed a mane that was as black as the ace in a deck of cards.

Blonde would be a change.

[color=BCDD81]“Babe if it’s something you want to try, you know I’ll always support you.”[/color] Clay made sure that his grip around her waist was comforting and not too tight. [color=BCDD81]“Personally, you know whether you have these lovely locks..”[/color] He pushed a strand of the topic of conversation behind her ear. [color=BCDD81]“Or if you’re blonde, ginger, green, red, blue, candy floss or whatever the shit…”[/color] the sailor cupped his wife’s face in his hand and looked deep into her eyes. [color=BCDD81]“That I will find you the most beautiful woman on the planet. Sexy as all fuck and I will love you anyway, eyeballs to entrails my sweet.”[/color] 

It was a silly thought. Blonde was the color of light, of summer, of bleach that wasn’t being drank. It was seemingly everything Sabrina wasn’t for so many years. Would she actually go through with such a thing? Maybe. But not today. Not as much as one of the Lucastas would probably love seeing an Aviles turned towards the bright side. She wouldn’t go that far. Samara and Marina had the right idea, with the streaks in their hair proving as a nice contrast to the jet black they boasted. A colorful flash in the night.

But as Lilith dropped the dollar bill in the jar on the counter that was to be used for the child’s entertainment, Sabrina let that silly thought go. Why did she need to change so drastically if she didn’t want to? Clay loved her. LOVED. She’d never forget the day she heard that from him. Family love is one thing. Aviles stuck together, no matter if they had the name or not as her cousin Karina taught her. Not only was Clay stricken with her entirety, it was clear that he was already absorbed into the culture her clan fostered. She was certain that Clay Costigan, one of the princes of Edenridge High, would never have tried that line on anyone but her. Would never have dreamed uttering it. But it made her love him even more

She darted her head forward and pecked sweetly at her husband. [color=681880]“Mmmmm, maybe I just wanted to hear you say such perfectly suited words to me.”[/color] She smirks. [color=681880]“Or maybe I just wanted clearance in case I have to try and make a bet with Samara to get her to babysit one of these nights. I don’t think I can be ginger, CeCe would not stand for it. Or Jill if she ever came back. Hope that girl doesn’t get turned the wrong kind of evil at Harvard.”[/color] She shakes her head. [color=681880]“I mean, my evil is fine, but that?”[/color] She laughs. [color=681880]“Satan damn it, Clay, you got me giggling again.”[/color]

[color=BCDD81]“It’s what I do, Sabby.”[/color] Clay savored the brief moment his wife’s lips were pressed to his. He also understood her trepidation of the young Jill and her potential evil. In a town such as Edenridge, to be branded a Foundling comes with the unbearable weight of expectation. This was a weight Clayton and his sister knew all too well. Going to an Ivy League school or making something of yourself in an accepted and respectable way was the norm for people like them. Failure to do so was almost unheard of but it had happened. Nepotism was alive and well in Massachusetts and it was eating away at the souls of the youth.

Clay leaned down and picked up his daughter, flinging her over his shoulder much to Lilith’s delight based on her fluffy giggles. [color=BCDD81]“Alright Gremlin, we gotta get outta here so Mom can mix her potions and bake her cakes without either of our sticky fingers stealing the Butterscotch.”[/color] He glanced down at the watch that Sabrina had gotten him for their last anniversary, it was a beautiful chronograph style piece, probably an Uncle Randy special. Watching the hands move and feeling the weight of his child on his shoulder, Clay said a silent prayer to himself. He wished that Lilith wouldn’t grow up too fast. For all their jokes and for the deep beliefs of Sab and her family, there was always darkness in this town, a different kind of darkness that crept along its borders at night, waiting for open doors to invite itself into unsuspecting lives. He prayed that Lilith would keep her door closed.

With his free hand, Clay caressed his wife’s face before reaching behind her to pick up a soccer ball that was on the side. [color=BCDD81]“Can’t forget this!”[/color] The ball itself was a gift from Clay’s cousin Emerald and Lily worshiped it. [color=BCDD81]“Stay in touch today? Let me know if you need a hand with anything or if you just wanna take our clothes off and stare at each other. Maybe touch butts?”[/color]

Another giggle. Happy Sabrina was clearly in charge today. It was very easy to give in when Clay was continuing to be as goofy as he was. A source of infinite jest in the dead seriousness of this town. [color=681880]"Oh, I think we can potentially touch a few things. I shall be summoning you when I have everything in place for tonight."[/color] She booped her daughter on the nose. [color=681880]"Now you be good at daycare, young witch! No hexing the boys or anything, OK?"[/color]

Lilith matched her mother's giggle and nodded. [color=855d80]"No heck-sing."[/color]

[color=681880]"Good girl."[/color] Sabrina smiles again. [color=681880]"See you later, doofus."[/color]
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