Eyeless Jack
It was incredibly weird and yet extremely comforting to wake up in my own bed again, the smell of stale pot hanging in the air while Jeff snored on the ground below me. I took a moment just to take it all in before I sat up and slid the window open, the rain already gone as the sun shone brightly outside. My clothes were a little dusty but I pulled a henley down before I walked out into the living room, finding Delilah on the couch with a cup of tea while she absentmindedly paged through a book. It was always interesting to watch her, the page flipping at the gentle wave of a hand like she was using a type of telekinesis.
"Good morning sunshine," she chuckled as I sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "you two doing okay?"
"He's still out, it's been a long trip," I sighed, "Del, I'm going to be honest with you, it's worse. I've hit stage three and...I— I don't know how much longer I've got left."
"Does he know?" She pulled her reading glasses off as she closed the book. I shook my head.
"I wanted to ask if you'd figured anything else out, maybe a way to stave it off a little longer," my stomach twisted while I practically begged, "the kidneys aren't doing what they used to."
"Well, I found something, but I don't know if you're going to like it. Delilah got up and put the book she was reading away before pulling another one down with a red spine and red symbols etched into the black cover. Not this one. "I'm not certain, but it looks like this curse you have might have two outcomes instead of one."
"What's the other outcome if it's not something I'd like?"
She held the page out to me and I read through the old English before taking a look at the diagram, my head spinning as the letters all jumbled together. This was...I didn't even have a good way to describe this.
"That craving for kidneys isn't just because you've been eating them for so long," she explained as she sat down next to me again. "it's your body trying to tell you it wants to change. Like puberty, but instead of desires like sex and testosterone, it's flooding your body with new hormones and hungers. The reason death is the typical outcome is because they don't want to go through the change, or in your case, don't know there's another option."
"I wouldn't be human anymore," I gagged a little as I handed it back, "do you really think it would be worth it?"
"Compared to dying? You're talking to the daughter of Morgana, I'd take that over death any day."
"I guess I'm not entirely changing, if I can help it," I groaned as I leaned back, "I'm already missing my eyes for Gods sake, I guess some added appendages and new teeth wouldn't be much different."
"That's the spirit," she chuckled to herself while I eased in my worries, "ultimately it's up to you whether or not you want to become an eldritch demon but you'd be able to help me out for the rest of eternity."
"As if I'm not already doing that anyway," I teased and she smacked my arm as she got to her feet.
"I've got to head into work, you two keep out of trouble. If a kitty shows up at the door his name is Grinny, leave some of the beef bits in the fridge out."
"I'll keep an eye out," I chuckled as she set her cup in the sink, grabbing her keys and waving to me before she walked out the door. There was a new key on the counter for me, silver and shiny that I snagged and slipped into my pocket.
When I wandered back to the bedroom I found shithead up and moving, letting out a yawn as he rubbed beneath his eyes. I smacked him as I walked by, earning myself a middle finger while I fell back down onto my bed.
"What time is it?" He asked, looking back at me, "is that why it's so fucking cold in here?"
"I thought you couldn't feel the cold?" I arched an eyebrow.
"Bitch I can feel when my fuckin' teeth start to chatter," he laughed as he got to his feet, "is there any coffee here?"
"Oh, speaking of coffee—" I sat back up, "I'm going to head into town later to see who's on shift at the Café. If it's Chelsea we can try to talk to her today."
"I've...got another stop I need to make," he admitted, "but yeah, if it's Chelsea we can talk to her. If not she's always on shift on Tuesday nights."
"How come you know that?"
"I used to go in every night before close when her or Snow worked, claim my free coffee, have a little bit of normal in my life," Jeff chuckled and I saw that sadness in his eyes again as he looked away, "I wonder if she'll be happy to see me."
"I know she'll be elated to see me," I groaned as I dropped back onto the bed.
"Well I'm going to go run my errand, I'll be back probably before noon, if I'm not just leave without me. We can always run by her apartment too."
"Alright, don't get caught."
"I'm not you asshole, I actually know how to avoid cameras!"
I chuckled as the door closed, getting to my feet and walking to the closet before I stuck my hand into one of my jacket pockets, pulling out a cart of cigarettes and popping one into my mouth for old time's sake. I lit it as I hung my head out the window, reminiscing on the day I had to run as I watched Kitty break my lava lamp over the officer's hand. I reached back to trace the two scars in the back of my head from her smashing the actual lamp on my thick skull, laughing as the nicotine rush hit.
"That bitch owes me a new lava lamp," I said with a smile as I flicked the ash away, "God, I can't believe we're actually back here."
I took in the rest of the street, the sound of coyotes in the distance ringing out through the low hanging fog and suddenly, I wasn't alone. A small figure appeared below my sill and I heard a cat meow, looking down to see big orange eyes staring at me expectantly, a little pink bell around his neck chiming. I chuckled and put my cigarette out, walking to the kitchen and finding the beef bits in the fridge before I loaded a few onto a paper plate to bring to the front. Grinny was already waiting for me and as I set the plate down a chill crept up my spine as he...smiled at me? It was like a Cheshire grin and I only saw it for a split second before he dug into the plate and I decided to close the door without petting the weird Coraline cat.
Jeff
A thick fog permeated the whole town that made it a little difficult to navigate but also meant it was more difficult to see any faces in particular, moving effortlessly through the streets until I reached that nostalgic fork in the road. I didn't dare to pause as I continued up the hill, jogging until I saw her blue house on the horizon. A quick peek around and I walked up to the garage, peering inside the window to find that there was only one car here— exactly the one I was hoping for.
All of the doors were locked, as to be expected, but I rounded the house to the back and found the trellis still in place as I reached up to start the climb. I remained a little wary as I finally reached her bedroom but it was dark and the window was unlocked, almost as if someone left it that way, hoping she'd come home. The bed was made and had been for months, clothes swept off of the floor that had been there when I left and tucked away neatly into her closet. I'd never seen Snow's room this tidy and it felt...upsetting.
I took my shoes off and set them in the usual spot beneath the bed, sitting on the edge and just taking it in for a moment. Her knives were all gone and half of her closet was missing but the holes in the wall from our fight were still there, her broken dartboard hanging on the wall as I got to my feet to turn the Christmas lights around the bed on. It felt a little more like home again but until I had her here nothing would feel the same.
I moved to unclasp her necklace and cradled it in my palm, staring at myself in the mirror ahead while I fought against the tremble in my fingers. It didn't feel right being here but at the same time I knew we were so close. I'd just been about to get up and leave when I heard footsteps, soft as they paused in front of the door. It swung open and I didn't even flinch, knowing exactly who was there and the hope in her eyes shifted. She'd been waiting for Snow all this time.
"Jeff?" Her mom gasped quietly as I smiled.
"I know, I wouldn't want to see me either," I chuckled through my breaking voice, surprised as she leaned down and wrapped her arms around my neck. Without thinking I held her back just as tight, familiar scents of hospitals and scrubs gently wafting around my nose.
"She...isn't with you, is she?"
"No," I shook my head as she took a seat beside me, "Thomas and I are here looking for her though."
"You and Tom? Even after the fighting?"
"He shaped up, realized he made a huge mistake with Chelsea and got us into this mess," I explained, "she's been leaving clues. polaroids with addresses and coordinates, little hints on where she's going. This was the last one we got in New Mexico."
I handed it over to let her see before she flipped it over, "what promise did you make?"
"Remember how I was supposed to leave at the end of July?" I asked, to which she nodded, "I promised her I'd be back for her birthday this year. It's on Thursday, and here I am."
"Are you sure she'll come home?" She asked hopefully and I gave her an equally hopeful smile.
"Not one hundred percent, but we haven't been wrong yet," I chuckled, "we need to talk to Chelsea. These pictures are always specific and she's the only one who remembers where this was taken."
"Well, she's definitely still rolling like she always did," her mom laughed quietly, "it took her a while to recover but you can hardly tell what happened unless you see her in the right light."
"Tom filled me in. He wants to apologize to her but he knows she might not forgive him."
"He's always been a good kid, just a little misguided. I'm sure Chelsea will understand," she smiled at me as she reached for the necklace and I happily handed it over. "You've had this all this time?"
"She gave it to me the day this all happened. Tried to make it a little good luck charm, really helped when I needed it. I'm hoping I get to give it back to her in a couple days."
"If...if she does show up," she started a little warily, "can you bring her home?"
"It's the first thing I plan on doing," I reassured her, watching as grateful tears ran down her cheeks, "I half-hoped she'd be here already, but I was happy to see you were home. Are you off today?"
"I am actually. I'll admit, while I was hoping for Kitty, I'm still glad to see you," she chuckled as she wiped at her face, her fingers looping around a strand of my hair, "you look healthy. Your hair is so long, I'm sure she'd be jealous."
"I've been meaning to trim it actually," I laughed as I pulled it over my shoulder, "never thought I'd let it grow this long."
"I can cut it if you'd like. It's not a professional job but it'll at least help."
"Yeah, actually. I'd really appreciate it."
"Come on," she waved, holding a hand out to pull me to my feet, "I'll make some coffee and you can tell me about everything."
I followed her out into the foyer, descending the steps with a dusty nostalgia before we walked into the kitchen. Everything was still the same; I sat down at the stool next to the island and she grabbed a towel, plucking at my hoodie before pulled it off, her smile spreading as she saw the tattoos on my arms.
"These look good. They suit you," she chuckled, wrapping the towel around my shoulders while the coffee pot rumbled on the back counter. "I'm sure Kitty convinced you they'd be cool."
"What can I say, she looked pretty cool with them," I said with a chuckle while I patted my chest. "Tom didn't know where I'd snuck off to but I have her name here. I know it's never a good idea to get your girlfriend's name tattooed but she got my knife, so I figured it fit."
"Did you get Kitty or Snow?"
"Snow. I don't think I ever knew Kitty, really."
"I don't think so either," her mom laughed as she collected the coffee mug and a pair of scissors, letting me sip on the bittersweet liquid while the snip-snip passed by my ear, "Did you ever get close to catching up to her?"
"She was always two steps ahead, closest I got was in New York. I saw her in the crowd and lost her in the same second. She was gone within the hour." An ease like I hadn't felt in months began to set in while I talked to her. "She sent us to Tempe. We found Nina. Snow brought her a birthday present last month before she left again."
"How's she doing? Is her mom still trying to keep her in line?"
"Oh yeah," I laughed, "she's got two knives now though and not a single speck of pink in her closet. Tom and I scared the girl who was picking on her so hopefully she'll have things a little easier from now on."
"You boys are nothing but trouble," she chuckled as her hand went through my hair, "I'm glad she's finally got a little freedom. I know how close she and Kitty were, it breaks my heart to think she's down there on her own without Kit-Kat to at least text."
"She wanted to come up here with us. I would've taken her but I knew her mom would report her missing, plus we didn't know what exactly we were walking into here."
"I'm not surprised, she's always jumped at the chance for adventure," the scissors stopped before she made a small chirp, "there, all done. Go take a look."
"That was quick, last time I got my hair cut your kid had to brush the mattes out." I laughed as I got to my feet, leaving the half empty cup on the counter while I wandered up to the bathroom. I looked odd in the mirror, more like myself. My hair was just past my shoulders and felt a lot softer, lighter now that a few inches were gone. When I came back downstairs she'd already cleaned the mess up and made her own cup of coffee, giving me a warm, matronly smile while I took my seat again. I'd missed this.