A/N: Thank you for the enthusiastic reviews. I am touched. For those of you who wanted Kilton: I like Milton very much myself. He often ends up being a more prominent character in my stories. As for this story: the idea struck me while I was listening to Every Breath You Make (in minor key) and would not leave me alone. I imagined the whole story with Jack being possessed and I am afraid my muse would not cooperate if I change it to Kilton. Don't worry, Milton would be in this story a lot. I hope you would continue reading.
"Kim! What are you wearing for Halloween?" Grace was asking as she sat down next to the blonde. "And are you going to match with Jack, like couple's outfits?"
Kim threw a withering look at Jack, "I am going as a 20-s flapper girl. And Jack will be a pirate."
Her boyfriend of two months just smiled smugly at the girls, "yeah, I am. Pirates are awesome and I am not dressing up like some Gatsby wannabe."
"Please... You just didn't want to slick your hair and wear suspenders." Kim said pointedly.
"First, slicking my hair is a crime against all this beautiful bouncy volume." Jack scoffed and shook his head, which made his glossy brown mane flow and move, like expensive silk, and at least two girls nearby sighed at the sight. Jack, the smug, noticed and winked at them. Kim scowled, which Jack noticed and he gave her a more genuine smile that always got her. "Second, I don't mind suspenders, but that suit required high waisted and pleated pants. No way. I'll leave that to the actual Gatsby."
"You have read The Great Gatsby?" Milton looked impressed.
"Nah... Saw the movie though. Killer soundtrack." Jack answered truthfully and Jerry high-fived him.
"Of course. The movie. Which, you know, always falls short of the actual source material." Milton sniffed.
"Dunno, bro. Got me a B- on the book report." Jack said, smug again, and Jerry high-fived him, again.
Milton rolled his eyes so hard, Kim was worried the irises would disappear inside his eye sockets. "I weep for the state of the public education." He said dramatically and followed up, "and I worry about your education, Jack."
"Don't worry, man. I don't think anyone in the real world would care if I read that book."
"But they would want you to have a well rounded education and Gatsby is an iconic work of the American literature that explores the excesses of the..." Milton was clearly on the roll and nearly everyone groaned. "What? Oh, fine! I'll stop." Milton huffed. "But know that some day, this blatant disregard for books and learning would come and bite your... your behind."
Kim was ecstatic. She scored the best place to hold the Halloween party. The temple was a grand building and its courtyard with the stone garden was perfect for the party. And there were no adults in sight. Oh, fine... There were two chaperones, but they were quite into their cups (Ha! Take that, Milton. Public school education, baby!) and their supervision was superficial at best. Her outfit was super cute and she liked the shorter, blunt bob style a lot. Once she put the dark red lipstick, which was an unusual choice for her, but it worked with the whole flapper aesthetic, Kim felt an excitement, an energy, flow through her.
Tonight would be great.
Jack was by her side and, though they did not match, he stuck close to her the whole evening and they managed a few hurried kisses here and there, interspersed with laughter and joking.
After today's lunch, when Jack flirted with some of his fans, Kim was a little bummed out. No, Jack wouldn't cheat on her, she was sure. But it was hard sometimes to ignore his popularity and generally charming attitude. The wink, the smile, the physique, the hair... The 'Jack factor.' He was easy-going and liked to have fun, and people were drawn to him.
She didn't mind most of the time. She knew that what they had was a sure and serious 'thing' and his flirtatious nature was just part of the package.
She knew that. In her head. She just sometimes had to remind her own irrational heart.
Jack probably sensed her mood, because he took her side when Milton threw a fit and complimented her costume a lot. He even asked if her lipstick was one of the color-stay variety, making her blush at the implications.
When Milton disappeared to find a phone and try to kill the party, Kim only had to look at Jack once, without saying anything, and he followed their red-head friend. He squeezed her wrist to reassure her and was on the way to stop the spoilsport. She blushed and looked around to see if anyone caught them at this unexpectedly sweet display.
They were gone for a while and she began to wonder if something was wrong, when Jack and Milton came in. Rather, Jack stomped into the courtyard, looking mad and his bandanna missing, and shoving Milton roughly. Their friend stumbled, reluctant to go, and kept shooting puzzled looks at her boyfriend.
Kim walked up to them and bumped Jack's shoulder with hers, "Good job!"
Jack looked startled at this and when she saw his face Kim was shocked herself. It seemed like the dark irises of his eyes spread impossibly over the entire surface of the eye and he looked positively demonic.
"C... c... clever. I like this look. A demon pirate? A ghost pirate? How did you get your eyes to look like this? Lenses?" She stuttered at first, because Jack was staring at her with those freaky eyes and was clenching fists.
"I am neither of those, girl!" The voice was even freakier than eyes, because it sounded like two voices overlaying one another and she shivered at that. "I am Yoshimi and I intend to enjoy this evening. Oh, if only my sweet love could see me now." The out-of-character Jack said and his face had a thousand yard stare.
Ok... That was getting real weird, real fast. And what was this about his sweet love?
"Psst... Psst... Kim!" She looked away from her super strange boyfriend and saw Milton miming for her to come closer.
She took one step to Milton and suddenly Jack was between her and the other boy. "You look familiar, girl. Are you of the Takanada family? And why are you wearing... this?"
The voice was really creepy now and Kim instinctively took a step back. She was not sure what Jack was playing at, but she was not into this role-play and she certainly was pants at improvising. "So, listen, Jack..." she was interrupted when he loudly said Yoshimi, "Fine. Yoshimi... Jack... I am not sure what's going on, but I am not of the Takanada family. And I am not playing this game."
Freaky Jack made a disgruntled noise, "Insolent girl! Give me your name!" The last part was so loud that people started to look at them. Keeping one eye out for the chaperons, Kim wondered if Jack took some drugs and was simply high or something. She was horrified to think that, but, if this was the case, she did not want Jack to get into trouble, so she stepped closer to Jack and put one hand on him.
He stilled under the light touch and looked at her hand, at her face, back to her hand, several times.
"It's Kim." she said quietly, trying to surreptitiously sniff at him.
"Kim. Kim. Kimi. Kimiko." He said just as quietly, but the voice was making this new nickname sound sinister. "I suppose you are a Takanada. Like my Mariko." Once again he had a thousand yard stare and Kim looked at Milton, who was practically dancing a cheer routine by now.
She stepped carefully around her boyfriend, who was definitely not himself at the moment, and hurried over to Milton. "What is going? Did he take something?"
Milton gave her a long and exasperated look, "Kim, if there is a drug that makes people speak like they are possessed and adds strength, then I have not heard of it. Come to think of it, I probably wouldn't have, because the government would keep it under wraps. There are obvious side-effects: the freaky eyes and the single-minded focus. Although that could be an advantage, depending on what the focus is and how that could be achieved..." Milton trailed off obviously thinking of the implications of creating single-minded and strong people, with freaky eyes and voices.
It was Kim's turn to give him a long and exasperated look. She pinched his arm and waived one hand in front of his face, "Milton. I need that single-minded focus now, if you please. We have a problem here."
Milton's eyes refocused on her and he whispered hurriedly, while looking at the spaced-out Jack. "I think he is possessed. By a ghost. Or a spirit. Whichever... I am, not surprisingly, not abreast on the terminology of the paranormal activities on the account of it being a junky voodoo." Milton managed to convey both his certitude that Jack was possessed and the general disdain for the occult matters.
Kim started wondering if Milton also took something that made him insane, as opposed to freaky. "What?" she said eloquently.
"I know how it sounds. But hear me out. Earlier, one of the monks told me the legend of the studious Yoshimi, who died of broken heart when his Mariko left him for another. His spirit is supposedly trapped in this temple." Milton said very quickly and Kim stared at him wide-eyed.
"You are serious, aren't you?"
"Yes! He calls himself Yoshimi, he mentions his sweet love, whose name is Mariko and..." Milton trailed off unsure and Kim motioned for him to go on. "I know it sound really weird when I say this, but when we were inside, I opened a journal that belonged to Yoshimi and... and something moved in the room, invisible but palpable. I think it was the spirit. And it is occupying Jack now..."
She stood there, shocked and unsure, looking between her possibly possessed boyfriend and possibly insane friend.
She was about to unload on him about pulling her leg together with Jack, but Albert chose that moment to approach her. "Kim, this party is mediocre at best. Not surprising, considering I was not involved. As I keep telling you, you need to diversify the people who sit on these committees. For example, a unified theme for costumes is always a good idea. If it was an Elvis theme, you could have been here in a Vegas show girl outfit right now..." He trailed off, pompous and lecherous, looking her up and down and Kim shuddered a little.
Ugh, what a creep...
She gathered her disgust to deliver some put down, when Jack pulled out of his daydream and turned to face Albert.
"You must show proper manners when speaking to a young lady, you fool." His double voice was loud and angry, and his weird eyes were trained on Albert.
"Cute, but hardly scary. You should try harder next time, Jack. And, if I am not mistaken, you yourself thought that bobbing apples was lame. Were you the one to nix that idea?" Albert was smarmy, but still edged a little away from Jack.
"You won't stop making a fool of yourself. Is this how you address your betters?" Jack frowned and stepped closer to the other boy, straitening to tower over him.
"B...betters? What? Just because you are strong? I hardly think it qualifies as..." But Albert didn't get to finish, because Jack grabbed him by the throat and lifted him clean off his feet. Albert's face reddened and he wheezed, "all... Right... Ok... You are... more than... just... stronger... Argh... Help..." He clawed frantically at Jack's hand and Kim gasped when she realized it was all happening in real life.
"Jerry, Milton, do something!" She spoke urgently and Jerry sauntered over and tried to throw an arm over Jacks shoulder.
"Hey, buddy, why don't we let the nerd go, huh?"
Jack pushed Jerry away with another hand, still holding Albert in the air. "He needs to learn manners."
Jerry stumbled so much, the push must have been much harder than he expected, and straightened, "Milton, some assist here would be nice." He said wincing.
Milton approached Jack and spoke in a placating tone, "I am sure Albert here learned his lesson and would never address a young lady with anything other than a total respect. Isn't that right, Albert?" The unfortunate boy nodded as much as he could.
"You are tying to trick me. You were there in the basement keeping me trapped." Jack growled deep and inadvertently squeezed Albert's throat harder. At which point Albert fainted and Jack let his slackened body go.
Milton looked at the crumpled Elvis stupefied and slowly looked up to Jack, who started to approach him.
"Ahhhh... Jack..." At another low growl, he corrected, "Yoshimi. I am a friend. We can help you find your lost love."
Jack stopped his progress, "Mariko? You know where she is? Who is hiding her from me? Mariko, my sweet blossom, I am coming..." He trailed off once again and Kim had enough.
"How do we get him to leave?" Apparently Kim was closer to the same insane end of the spectrum as Milton. Plus, she did not see other, better, explanations and they needed a solution.
"I don't know! I told you I am not familiar with the paranormal." Milton huffed and Kim's heart fell a little.
"All right. I'll look through his journals and may be something will come up. Keep an eye on him, please."
She made to go, but Jack turned to her and once more placed himself between her and wherever she was heading. "Kim...iko, I must find her. Where is Mariko?" he asked earnestly, his voice going slightly breathless at the name of his lost love and Kim was moved by the obvious love there.
"I will find her and bring her here. Where she is you can't go. Not yet..." She said softly and Jack started nodding along.
"Of course. She is not free right now. My little caged angel... And I am not welcome there. But you are. You are a Takanada yourself, young Kimiko. You'll bring her to me, right?" He spoke urgently, his weird eyes pinning her in spot.
That look... It was... Intense. And really-really hard to let go of. Like, Kim felt the connection between them at the moment, so strong it made her shiver. She could not remember Jack ever looking at her like that. This was a dark, impassioned, encompassing and fierce feeling, whether it was love or obsession Kim could not tell, but she hoped that they could get the spirit to leave Jack soon. She didn't think anyone could withstand this feeling for too long.
She left in a hurry to find the journal and a solution, trying to shake off the feeling of looking into the abyss when she and Yoshimi locked eyes.
The spirit was off its rocker and belligerent. They needed to free Jack soon.
A/N: Ok, thoughts? opinions? critique?
