They reached the stairs without incident, inching along in the dark and poking fun at each other. Sabina tried not enjoy the feeling of Jack's hands on her shoulders or the way his breath hit her neck and gave her goosebumps. As they changed strategies to climb the stairs, she held his hand instead. That didn't make things any easier. Jack's hands were smooth to touch but had lots of character as they wrapped around hers.
When they reached the second story, it was only a few quick turns to the room with the relic. It was one of the bedrooms with windows facing the nearest streetlight, such that the general outlines of the furniture were illuminated. It was also one of the rare hands-on stations in the house where reproductions of real historic pieces were substituted in to allow guests to experience the limited comforts of a wealthy family living in Salem in the 1600s. Between the lack of barriers and the presence of at least some light, Sabina couldn't justify holding Jack's hand anymore. She tried to drop it gracefully under the guise of gesturing to the vanity set across from the simple bed. "There it is." The mirror of the vanity shone with an oil slick kind of coloring; shimmers of green, purple, and blue crossed the foggy surface as it reflected the image of the room. Sheepishly, Sabina faced Jack, giving him a half-hearted smile. "Seems like it's here. I guess that's that, then."
Jack's eyes remained on the mirror. "I recognized it when I passed through, earlier." He stepped closer, shoes making dry creaks on the aging wood flooring. "This is very powerful. Forgive me, but you should not have it on display like this."
Sabina sighed, backing up to the bed and flopping on the side in sudden exhaustion. "That's what I've been telling the management. But will they remove the one object which has led to so many 'supernatural' encounters for guests over the years?" Sabina pressed her hands to her eyes, massaging back a headache. "No. Because it's the closest thing they have to a witch, and if there's anything I've come to know while working here, Jack Russell, is that the management loves to sensationalize anything for a buck."
She heard the creak of wooden floors as Jack left the mirror, circled the bed, and took a seat on the mattress opposite her. After a long moment where she wondered what he was thinking, Jack asked quietly, "Why do you stay here, Sabina Carver? Surely there can be better places for you to live as you are."
Pulling her hands away from her eyes, Sabina slumped and let out a long breath in thought. "I used to think I had a very good reason for staying here," She murmured. "I used to think that if I stood here, in this dress, at this place, for long enough, then I would be able to talk with enough people to make the world a better place. I could tell them about the real story of the Salem Witch Trials, and in so doing I could clear the names of the poor souls who died because of it. I thought I could even educate the public about the dignity of real witches."
This statement from her heart left Sabina feeling out of breath. As she curled up and tried to take some healing breaths, she heard Jack delicately clear his throat. "And so...you don't feel this way now."
Sabina shrugged, then changed her mind and shook her head. "No...I still do. I think I just can't –" Tears slipped down her cheeks, warming the skin and unloosing a tightness in her chest that she hadn't even known was there all night. She thought of the boys earlier, of the million questions she heard a day, of the constant customer-service smile, of always being on and taking the brunt of all harmful ideas about witches all the time. And she broke down. "I think I just need a break. I can't do this anymore right now." Falling back against the mattress, Sabina covered her face and quietly cried, "Oh god, Jack. This is it. I can't stay here after all."
Sabina was absorbed in her tears for a few minutes, crying out her exhaustion and hurt as Jack silently sat with her. Then, as she started to hiccup and get her breath back, she felt his hand press the mattress close to her head. When she glanced sideways at it, Jack raised his hand tentatively and mimed stroking her hair. "May I?"
Startled, but not unpleasantly so, Sabina mutely nodded. She laid there and took deep breaths in time to the soothing pressure of Jack's strong hand smoothing her tangled black hair into the mattress. Slowly, Jack ventured, "Sabina Carver, I know we are still new to each other. But I wonder if... maybe you might like to leave with me when I depart Salem."
Sabina sat up in a flash, meeting Jack halfway across the bed and leaning close to make out his expression in the dark. "Do you mean it?"
The white tattoos lining the bones of his handsome face shone in the dim light, revealing an earnest, wide smile across his lips. "I do. Very much." Jack shifted to get closer. "I think that you are remarkable and formidable and very beautiful. And slightly frightening."
"Oh, good," Sabina laughed. She let herself slip under Jack's silhouette, finding his hand in the dark and feeling their fingers bond together. "I was thinking the same about you."
"And there's something..." Jack trailed off, his nose brushing hers and the volume of his words barely loud enough to leave his throat, "I don't think I could bear to leave, otherwise."
"I don't understand it, either." The live-power-line feeling charged every vein in Sabina's body and she let Jack draw even closer. She sensed him holding back just before brushing her lips, and her heart felt like it would envelop him outright. In a whisper, Sabina asked, "Is it all right if I kiss you, Jack Russell?"
"You beat me to it," Jack laughed, pressing his forehead to hers. "What do you think?"
"Yes." The end of her voice was chased by Jack's kiss, his hands wrapping around the rough brown fabric of her 1600s dress and drawing her into his body. Sabina swept her arms and legs around his solid core, guiding him down to lie entwined with her.
"Are you scared yet?" He grinned, a smile still on his lips as he melted into a kiss over Sabina's mouth.
As they drew apart for breath, Sabina ran a hand up the line of Jack's ribcage and maneuvered him down below her. She let her cat's eyes shine at him and her canine teeth glisten in a fierce smile of her own. "Are you?"
Jack kissed her neck with a growling laugh. "Perhaps I should be."
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Familiar: A Werewolf by Night Story
फैनफिक्शनLater in his life, Jack Russell would tell someone that, after transforming into the Werewolf by Night, he had only been able to prevent himself from attacking a friend "once." This is the story of that one time, and the one other person Jack would...
