-Well... I guess we do huh- you said a tad bit nervously as Doe smiled at you. Gosh he smiled a lot, a lot.
You classified yourself as somehow of an ambivert, leaning more towards introvert. You would ask your friends to ask for a fork in a restaurant because you were too shy to do it yourself, but at the same time you could ask for one yourself if you were alone or hanging out with someone who was even more diffident than you were. With John Doe, you were more on the shy side.
Usually you were introverted around people you liked because you were afraid of saying literally anything that could make them even frown at you... Gosh, sometimes you were so afraid of people disliking you.
So even if you knew that Doe wasn't the most normal person you knew, that sometimes he himself would comment weird stuff out of the blue in the gas station, you thought that maybe the rotting thing that you were carrying in that jar would be too much... Even for him.
But you had been deep in your thoughts when you saw him just carefully approaching his hand towards the bag. You instinctively slapped it away. He didn't budge tho, just looked at you a tad bit surprised. You didn't meant to slap him but it was a stupid reflex, you brought you hand to your mouth and just looked at him... Staring at you, had you hit him too hard??. -... sorry- you said wide eyed at him. He just snorted in return, and as if that hadn't happened, he asked -Soo... The bag?- he pointed at it with his previously slapped hand. -uhm... Well so... You gotta promise me first you won't yell or anything tho- you said in a serious tone after remembering the damn near meltdown Faye had had in the morning, but maybe her reaction was exaggerated. -sure- he said as he held his pinky out to you, you looked at it, how sweet. -see now pinky promise means that if you break this promise you will literally die- you said, extending your own. -I mean if I ever die would you be the one to bury me??- he said playfully, - Dude you're saying "if" and "ever" instead of "when I inevitably die"-
He just started laughing at this, a contagious laugh, -what? I mean we all die don't we??- you asked smiling, -sure- he replied, almost as if he was just shrugging off the question, -but then, would you bury me?- it seemed like a dumb thing to ask. You were friends, but no as close, and you sure as hell couldn't afford funeral services and that crap. Besides, you were both young so why even worry about it?? -nope, you know how expensive it is to bury someone?? I won't take that bagage- he looked at you a bit confused at your answer -why would it be expensive? You just need a shovel-, you cackled a bit at his response, turning to look at him thinking he was joking...his confused smile said otherwise, then you stopped laughing -oh... Wait for real?- you asked, furrowing your brows -would you then? I mean you could also dispose of me in a different way, it doesn't have to be a burial- ...he was being genuine. You hummed at his answer, trying to find something to say because in all honesty, the conversation was weirding you out a bit -well just... Don't die on me dude, it'd be too difficult to get rid of your corpse.- his sole answer was to laugh, getting rid of some of the tension that had begun to build up, you just smiled and stared at him.
-... Right, the bag- you said as you quickly lifted it to your lap. He stopped laughing and turned his body at you, curious.
-Do you believe in witchery, spells and stuff??- you asked him, to which he responded with a cackle -well I don't have a reason NOT not believe so...- -Right, ok but you don't feel weirded out by it?-, he just responded by shaking his head. -ok then- you said more towards yourself than towards him, here goes nothing.
You slowly opened the bag in your legs, waiting for the man beside you to run or act disgusted... Or at least be weirded out considering who he was. To your surprise, there was no shocking response.
-...so that's what it was-, the words quickly came out of his lips after examining the jar. He didn't hesitate to stick his hand in the bag and pull it out, holding it from the lid. -Careful with it- was all you could say before noticing his expression. As he brought the jar to eye level and stared at it, you noticed a weird expression, at least weird for him. He looked at it amused and angry, narrowing his eyes. -do you... know what it is?- you finally spoke up, making his expression soften when he turned at you, -No, an eye?-. He looked at It as if he knew exactly what it was before, and acted so calm about it, you had thought he maybe knew the spell or something, but he had no idea it seems. -No it's- well yeah it's an eye, a cat eye, but it's a protection spell- you said, looking back at the jar in his hand, which he had now lowered to his knee.
You began to explain what had happened earlier this morning, Faye's reaction, about Lucas and why he decided to give it to you and everything, making sure he fully understood that you actually had a reason to have such thing. But he didn't look disgusted or anything, this reaction was more expected than the way Faye acted in the morning, but still made you relax. When you finished your long thought speech you stopped looking at him and stared at the jar once again. The insects or whatever they were had stopped squirming around long ago, they almost looked like dirt at the bottom of the jar, probably dead.
-Huh- was all John Doe mustered before a small silence became present. -Do you think it has worked?- -The spell? Well... It's supposed to keep malicious entities or something like that at bay and nothing bad has happened since Lucas gave it to me so yeah, I guess- you answered sincerely. Thinking about it, just by having the jar you had felt safer than before through the last week, sometimes you even took it to work with you and hid it under the counter until your shift ended. Perhaps it was a placebo effect, which while you highly doubted because you believed in that kind of stuff, it still was a recurrent thought in the back of your mind, but it still helped you ease some anxiety either way.
Thinking about it, you even got to hang outside even more, and even met someone new, Lucian. He was a fun guy, and showed that he could be trusted in a short period of time. Thinking of which, you still hadn't replied to the message he sent you yesterday.
Doe interrupted your thoughts, -I think so too, I think it actually works in an odd but effective way- he said. You looked at him confused -yeah? What does that mean?- -Like when I found you at the party. That day I didn't want to go outside but somehow... Something inside of me just felt like I had to go- his tone was now whimsical, almost as if he was relating a miracle. He hugged the jar towards him. -pfft yeah... I'm very grateful about that, and maybe at the time it was a gigantic deal, but now that I'm sober and looking back, the worst that could've happened to me was to vomit in the living room and be embarrassed by a bunch of strangers, so I wouldn't describe that as the product of an "evil entity" that follows me around- you said shaking it off. He looked at you, with an almost confused expression -No, that wasn't a big deal, I'm talking about that guy you were with... What was his name??? Lucy or something like that?- -Lucian?- -Yes! him, don't you remember how much of a bad time he was causing you? Maybe he was the evil entity- he smirked at the last thing he said in a joking manner. Lucian? But he wasn't giving you a hard time at all, if anything he was being nice. Sure, you had no idea how he got your number but aside from that, he was being nice and taking care of you... Right?. Noticing your confused look, he quickly spoke, -You do remember, right? That he refused to let you go with me and even followed us outside? He was so insistent in taking you home-. If that happened you had no idea, you didn't even know how you got to Doe's house, last thing you remember was you vomiting in the bathroom and Doe waiting outside, after that everything was a blur, but you do remember Lucian asking you if you were sure you wanted to go with him. You doubted Doe, after all you don't think Lucian would do something like that. You looked back at him, his expression was genuine but... Well, yet again how could you say "that's not something he'd do" about a stranger you'd only know for a night? You knew Doe, you knew his antics and that he was weird at times but so far he hadn't lied to you, and why would he lie about something like that?.
As soon as John Doe noticed how your expression fell from surprise, to concern, and then confusion he knew he had to say something. -but hey, I was there and helped you out without a scratch right? I mean you did vomit in the front yard but- -I WHAT??- you instantly groaned and covered your face, embarrassed. How cute. He just laughed at this, making you shrink more.
After some embarrassing silence, you took the hands off your face, dragging it downwards before leaving it alone. -hey, I guess if you didn't break a sink or puked in some public space where people definitely saw you, the party wasn't that good huh.- looking upwards, you smiled to yourself. Now you had done three of the things on the party essentials list, breaking a sink happened during high school at your first party, no one really knew who it was and they couldn't point at you because the place was filled to the brim with drunk or high teenagers, no one noticed it so you got away with it. At the same party you kissed like 7 people, some from your school and some that you didn't even knew and looked way older, 16 year old you thought she was the absolute shit when telling about it to other people. Same party where you got high and drunk, you still were able to stand still after you asked one of your friend's mom to take you home. All the way in the car you were snacking on some skittles and drinking sparkling water so your parents wouldn't notice how absolutely wasted you were. It worked, if only you were as good in problem solving at school...
Now you could cross off "vomit in someone's lawn" off the list. Embarrassing for some, cool for the dude beside you.
Who by the way was silently looking at his shoes, looking at him brought you back to reality, at what he had just told you. You then opened your phone to see Lucian's message, you had been embarrassed about the late response but now you didn't really care, you didn't respond and just closed the chat.
-I did make sure you hold your hair so it wouldn't get filthy- were the words that Doe said out of nowhere, almost as if he was talking to himself. You muttered a confused "huh" in response but before you could say anything, the movement stopped.
... The movement stopped? The movement of what?. This whole time you had completely forgotten you were in the subway, how the hell do you forget something like that?? You're literally IN it. The ride was way too long, no damn ride in the subway lasted half an hour, which was more or likely the amount of time you and Doe had been talking for. The doors opened, and you turned to look at him.
You stood up in front of him, -hey we're here. Let me take that out of your hands- you said referring to the jar in his hands. He nodded and approached it towards you, but just as he did the wagon shook quite harshly, making you drop the jar that was almost on your hands.
As it fell and broke to the floor, you could feel some liquid splashing in your legs and immediately moved away with disgust in your face. -Damn it, fuck!- it really was gross. -What the hell was that?- you asked the air, to which Doe answered by standing up and looking down at the now scattered liquid -Dunno, ask that to whoever operates this thing-.
The smell was absolutely disgusting, it was putrid, no wet specimen smells that bad because they are literally being conserved, but because this one somehow was rotting, it smelled like absolute shit. Looking at it gave you a shiver, and there was no way you'd pick that up... Even if you actually were able to because right now It looked like someone jumped on jelly and played around with it.
Doe was standing beside you, just looking at the same direction as you.
-Lets just go-
You said as you grabbed his sleeve and tugged on it without thinking. He followed with no hesitation.
To you it was nothing but a small, thoughtless grab onto his sleeve, but for him it felt like you were about to get married on the spot.
-Are we still going to that place?- he asked when he saw you quiet.
-I guess. If only the damn ride hadn't lasted almost an hour maybe we'd have more time to do stuff but we'll see.-
He stopped moving, -An hour? We were the for 10 minutes-. Now you weren't crazy, you even noticed the hour before getting off, it clearly had been almost 40 minutes since both of you had gotten in. You took out your phone and showed him you lock screen, -See?-.
He looked at it for a second, -Oh, so it was only 8 minutes then. Record.-
And he wasn't lying, because when you looked at the screen you had showed him the hour had changed, it was earlier. You felt dizzy, almost tired. Weird stuff had happened to you in front of him and when you looked back everything was normal. If you tried explaining he would just think you're nuts, just like the times before, so you just decided to shut up at this point. Writing a whole damn paragraph detailing the explanation you would give him would be too much as well, it was too much trouble for you, just let it go.
-... Maybe we can grab something to eat before?? I think I'm hungry- -You think?- -Yeah, I'm not sure but let's just go eat at the first place we see-.
Just then your phone beeped, it was Lucian again.
Doe observed as you deleted the chat with a sigh. -Everything ok?- -Yeah, it was just a meme Faye sent, nothing important-.
He was so happy about the answer you gave him, but he was even more happy to see how your face dropped back then when he told you about what had happened, how you lost all trust you had in that man just by his words. And he was particularly happy to see you delete that man from your phone.
None of that however, compared to the satisfaction and happiness it gave him to see how you blindly trusted his words. If he had told you that a month ago, you would check yourself if that was true, but now you had fully believed him. And even if that didn't mean you absolutely trusted him with your life, it meant that you both were getting closer. And that was all that he cared about.
Notes:
Can y'all tell I based this chapter a lot from actual stuff that has happened to me?? Lmao.
Also, please do let me know if any pacing or wording sounds weird, English isn't my first language and sometimes mine doesn't work lmfao (also the fact that it's 4 in the morning and I haven't slept).
Thank you all for your comments and support, I always try to read each and every comment but sometimes I can miss some. Virtual hugs :]