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Jack sat at the window all night, keeping his eyes on the shadows in the room, certain they would attack him should he turn his back.
His eyes were watchful, but his mind was otherwise occupied. He pondered how he might go back to his normal form (because this form was not his normal one, he refused to believe that), he mused on how to control the frost spiraling away from his fingers and toes, spilling on the window and covering the ledge, and, in the back of his mind, he wondered if it was his fault that clouds shielded the moon from view, and that a multitude of snowflakes fell gently from the sky (He struggled to keep the other thoughts at bay, the ones that wondered what the clouds would feel like if he touched them, the ones that were curious as to how long he could hang upside down, and he completely ignored the worst of the thoughts, the one that delighted in the feeling of frost leaking from his fingers and wanted to try doing more with this, this magic).
Most of all, though, he wondered how he had been changed.
He had been drinking from his flask almost religiously, and had been sure to add the proper amount of drops of the other stuff. Jack didn't actually know what the other stuff was, only that Mrs. Overland traveled away every few years to refill a bottle with the strange, mud-colored substance (It was from a cauldron witch, she'd said. Near impossible to find real witches, these days, but anyone who called themselves a witch had at least studied magic, and would be able to do something). No, it couldn't have been a lack of concealment.
Jack's mind ran in circles all night, and successfully came up with nothing. It was wasn't until the clouds outside had lightened that he realised he knew exactly how his hair had turned white, why he felt so wrong, why the world seemed just a little bit brighter, and why something new thrummed within him (something that he was afraid of, something that he knew would spill out of his control with no hesitance).
The pesky, unusual, and officially dangerous group had been on to him the whole time, and inviting them over had been the most foolish thing he could have done.
But why did they not confront him directly?
This bothered Jack. If they thought he was dangerous (and who wouldn't?) they would have studied him for a few day, made a conclusion, and broke the door down to kill him. They were either very subtle (and it really didn't seem like they were), or they had another purpose entirely. Tiana's amethyst eyes flashed in his head again, supporting his second idea.
Jack hopped off the window ledge, noting that his body felt more at ease as he did so. He began to pace the room, wondering if some of the other stuff, undiluted, might change him back. He purposefully didn't glance at his feet, in case the frost had followed him. He heard the door of the house open and close, and caught a glimpse of Emma crunching through the snow towards town through the window. Footsteps sounded in the hall, and Jack turned just in time to see Mrs. Overland enter the room. He noticed her pale complexion, slumped shoulders, and tired eyes.
"I've sent Emma out to tell Mr. Herke you're sick," she said, "I have to keep her out of the house, until we can figure out how to reverse all this," she gestured to Jack, "or until her curiosity abates."
"Send her to the Bennett's." Jack said automatically. "I was supposed to take a lot of the kids sledding, that will take her mind off things, hopefully."
Mrs. Overland beamed. "Perfect. I'll talk to Mrs. Bennett right now, and see if she has any ideas on what you could be sick with." She sagged for a minute, looking exhausted. "It'll keep up appearances. If Emma returns before me, don't let her in, keep careful watch and cover the window. When I get back, I'll take her over and then start to look for a solution-"
"No," Jack said firmly. "I'll look for a solution. You need to rest." He eyed her. "A lot."
There was a hint of a smile on the woman's face. "Jackson Overland," she scolded, trying to appear stern. "Are you commenting on my looks?"
Feigning horror, he said, "No ma'am. You just shouldn't work so hard." He smiled cheekily at her.
Dropping the playful act, she said, "I'll go talk to Mrs. Bennett, you think of what could have caused it, and definitely don't let Emma see you."
Jack's eyes widened. "It was Nick's food! I'm almost certain."
Mrs. Overland nodded thoughtfully. "I thought that was suspicious, but he might just be that sort of person. Or any of them, for that matter. None of them had seemed that dangerous at dinner." A determined look came into her eyes. "I'll keep an eye out for them, just in case." Turning on her heel, she left, and Jack was alone in a room with frost covering the floor.
Tooth had been tasked with buying a few more days in their rooms at the Inn. North had been too hasty and had only payed enough money to have the rooms for four days. It was clear they would be in Burgess longer than that, so she walked down to the front counter, with enough money for about five more days. It was probably a lot, more than they would need, but they didn't know how fast Jack would get over his 'sickness', and they needed time to talk to him after he was supposedly 'better'.
Tooth smiled at the young man (maybe nineteen?) who was standing behind the counter. He smiled back, muddy brown eyes flicking towards the money to be sure she had the right amount. He wrote something in a book off to the side, and informed her that she and her companions had five more days in rooms 14 and 15. Nodding, and trying not to look smug (she was amazing with numbers, of course she knew how many days they had), she hurried upstairs to grab a small satchel, intending to go to the market and pick up some gossip. Bunny often complained that it was useless ("You just want to talk to lots of people!"), but Tooth knew that word traveled quickly in small towns, and that she would be able to learn something about the male Overland's 'illness'. Quickly telling Sandy where she was going (he was the only one still in the rooms at this point, and he was doing… something productive. Probably), she left the Inn.
Realizing there was no real rush, something she often forgot, Tooth slowed her quick pace. She wandered among the market stalls, and she noted there were fewer than the other days she had been in this small town. It was likely because of the extra snow. Turning a corner, she spotted that lovely woman, Mrs. Bennett, at her stall. As Tooth approached, she noticed two young children (obviously her own) also at the stall.
One was close to Emma's age, in fact, could easily have been part of the Overland family, with his chocolate brown hair and eyes. The other was a much younger girl, a toddler, with messy blonde hair and green eyes she must have inherited from Mrs. Bennett, although the woman's eyes looked different from the child's, since she had brown hair that framed her face. Tooth heard bits of conversation between the children and Mrs. Bennett.
"Aw, c'mon mom! The snow's thick enough for it, and even if we did crash it would be a really fluffy crash!"
Mrs. Bennett pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to pick up the blonde toddler, who was squirming and chanting: "Sled, sled, sled!"
Giving up on trying to lift the child into the air, Mrs. Bennett asked the brunet boy a question, "How many people are going?"
The boy beamed, as though he had been waiting for this. "Well-,"
A frazzled looking Abigail Overland hurried over and interrupted the boy. "Susan, do you think you could watch Emma for the day? Jack has come down with something and she keeps trying to sneak in to see him, even though he's likely contagious."
Tooth slowed her pace even more, trying not to appear as though she was eavesdropping. This was the exact sort of information she wanted to hear!
Before his mother could answer, the brown haired child did. "Yeah! She can come sledding with us!" he frowned. "It's too bad Jack is sick, he was going to go with us too."
Shooting the boy a small frown, Mrs. Bennett said, "We'd be happy to watch Emma for the day. And Jamie, you might not go sledding. I need to know who's going, and where you plan to sled."
"Oh thank you," Mrs. Overland breathed. "I can bring her over here, if you'd-"
"I can get her when we go sledding!" The boy, Jamie, exclaimed. "Please mom, everyone is going! Caleb and Claude, Jane, Monty, Rebecca and her older brother Richard, Pippa, Nathan, Cupcake, Emma, Molly's two younger sisters, and even Lucas is going! You have to let us! We'll be perfectly fine; it's just the hill where the woods end!"
Mrs. Bennett sighed in defeat, her son's onslaught clearly wearing down her resolve. "You may go, as long as it's fine with Mrs. Overland." She darted a glance to the other woman, who nodded.
"Yes!" Jamie shouted with victory, grabbing his little sister's hand and pulling her away. "Come on Sophie! We have to get ready!" Tooth could hear the young girl giggling as she finally reached the booth, turning her head as though she had been looking everywhere, and just sort of arrived there by chance. Bumping into the edge of the market stall, she let out a sound of surprise. When Mrs. Bennett saw who it was she smiled warmly, although Tooth noticed Mrs. Overland looked warily at her for a second.
"Hello!" Tooth chirped cheerily at the two women.
"Tiana," Mrs. Bennett said, "have you met Abigail?"
Tooth nodded, smiling brightly. "We met last night! Ms. Abigail is a wonderful cook!" She sent a dazzling grin Mrs. Overland's way.
"Oh, you invited them over? That's nice, Abigail. I assume it was Emma's idea? Jamie said she liked the one man, what was his name?" Mrs. Bennett thought for a minute.
"His name is Sandy. It was actually Jack's idea to invite them over." At Mrs. Bennett's shocked look, Mrs. Overland elaborated, "Emma immediately agreed with him, but his reasoning was that he wanted to pay them back for taking the two of them out to lunch."
"Which really wasn't necessary," Tooth cut in. "But I wouldn't have wanted to miss that meal." There was a pause in the conversation, and Tooth wondered if Mrs. Overland was looking at her a little resentfully. Shaking it off, she brushed her dark hair behind her ear. "I heard Jack got sick last night, is there anything I can do to help?"
Mrs. Overland immediately shook her head. "That's very kind of you, but I'm not exactly sure what he's come down with, and I would prefer it if as few people came into contact with him as possible."
"Oh," Tooth nodded. "When Sandy told us Emma said he was sick, I was afraid it was an allergic reaction to North's pirozhki. But we got all the ingredients in this market, and a few at the little corner store, so unless he's allergic to anything around here, I don't know what it could be." Tooth lied smoothly.
Looking disheartened, Mrs. Overland said, "He doesn't have many allergies, certainly nothing around here." Nodding a good-bye to Mrs. Bennett, she hurried away.
"Poor thing," Mrs. Bennett frowned at Mrs. Overland's retreating figure. "I don't think Jack has been sick in years, must to be hard on her." She sighed. "She relies on him so much, what with his job. She must be so worried."
Tooth nodded, bought a few apples (Tooth wondered if Mrs. Bennett had magic, it was impossible these apples were still growing this late in winter), and left for the Inn. She laughed, and Bunny said gossip was useless.
A/N: *gasp* What? And update less than a week from the last one? I've gone mad (just kidding I've actually been writing ahead several chapters (trying to stock up for the fast-approaching and dreaded 'school') and needed to put something out, plus there were a lot of reviews last chapter that made me impatient to post so have this chapter). Speaking of reviews...
Serami Nefera: A few of those should be answered within the next few chapters, I think. Yeah, winter is the darker half of the year because longer nights but will that reflect on Jack? Hmm...
MagicWarriorDragon: He's still pretty scared at this point, and could use that hug. :D
Brenne: More is here.
WinterCrystal1009: (I got really happy reading your review because it had an analytical tone and I really like reading things like that) The way he referred to her was the only way you can tell, aside from the hesitations over calling her 'mom'. as for WHY he is adopted... well, lets just say that's asking the real questions. Anyway, here's that update and thanks for understanding even if I wouldn't be able to. (I find getting away from the story and your usual work space is helpful in finding inspiration ;3)
IReviewThings: She might be able to pull it off if said brother wasn't ready for that.
the flower bed: Thank you so much! Here's an update!
The purple hippocampus: Thank you, but you think your questions are bad now? *muffled evil laughter* Just you wait...
KorrieChan: Pirozhki was mentioned in like chapter eight I think. And oh mY GOSH MAN IN MOON SPIT! I almost started crying from laughter reading that!
Melancholy's Sunshine: No, he certainly isn't. Emma would think that, but Jack kind of has issues so he doesn't know that.
Apparently I'm doing something right with this story because it's getting way more attention than I thought it would. Thanks for all the lovely reviews, follows, and favorites!
Until next time!