Bewitched

Chapter 20

I explained to Jesse what had happened and he seemed just as shocked about it as I did. Neither of us knew what to make of it, what it was supposed to mean. After a good while thinking about it, we just decided to wait and see what happened, if anything was going to happen, which I was not fully convinced myself that it was.

I talked with him for a couple hours, just about random things. Neither of us wanted to go into the subject of 'us', which we were so carefully avoiding. I for one was not going to be the one to bring that up.

It was pretty soon that I could feel my eyes drooping again. The small window in my room indicated that it was dark out and by the position of the moon it was around nine o'clock. I let out a big yawn accidentally and Jesse smiled at me in amusement.

"I think you should sleep, querida," he said. "I can tell I am boring you."

Affronted, I said back, "You were not boring me, I am just...tired."

He chuckled lightly. "I know. I was just joking with you." He moved from next to me and brought the covers over my body and tucked me in like a little child.

"I am not five!"

He chuckled again and said, "I never said you were. But I know it gets chilly at night now, so you will need the covering."

I rolled my eyes at him and rolled over in the bed, facing the wall. I heard him chuckle again and he slid in next to me, wrapping those nice, strong arms around me protectively. He craned his neck and kissed me on the cheek. "Goodnight, querida."

I smiled to myself and allowed my eyes to drift closed once again.

- § -

When I awoke again it was morning. I could tell by the light streaming in through the window above my head. The first thought that struck me when I awoke was 'Wow. I do not think I have ever slept in until the sun had already risen.' Because, normally, I was up before the sun was.

However, that was not the strangest thing to happen that morning. Not at all.

I adjusted myself a little, snuggling in closer to Jesse. "Good morning, querida," came Jesse's voice.

Since I was laying on his chest (which turned out to be my new pillow) I could practically feel him talking. I heard his voice reverberating through his body.

But that was not the only thing I heard whilst my head was against his chest. No, I heard something else. At first I just thought I was imagining things, that maybe it was my own...

But it was not.

I pressed my head closer against his chest, trying to prove to myself that it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but when I did listen, I heard a soft thump-thump, indicating that I was not dreaming, nor was I crazy.

I jumped away from Jesse like he was on fire. How could...it could not be true. I had not just heard what I did.

I backed myself up against the wall and Jesse looked at me in shock, getting off the bed and standing up next to it, a few feet away from me. "What is it, Susannah?" he asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

For some odd reason, I could not fully create sentences, so all that came out of my mouth was mindless babble. I pointed at his chest and said shakily, "You—you...Jesse you have—" And yet I could not say it. I do not know why, but I could not tell him what I heard, what he suddenly had that he didn't have since he died.

Jesse looked down at himself and suddenly I noticed he did not possess that odd glow that ghosts have. He was...my thoughts were suddenly not making any sense. How could he be? How could this have happened, all of a sudden?

That was it. I told myself I was dreaming. That was the only explanation for what I was suddenly seeing and hearing.

Jesse looked back up at me confusedly. "What is it?" He touched himself and patted all down his body. "Is there something on me?" he asked.

And suddenly everything just seemed hilarious. I was suddenly hysteric. I was laughing uncontrollably and Jesse was looking at me like I was a lunatic. And who knows? Maybe I am. There was no other explanation for how he could suddenly possess something a dead man cannot possess.

It took me about five minutes to calm myself down. Jesse took that as an opportunity to again ask me what was going on.

I had calmed down considerably by then and could form coherent sentences. "I...I do not know. I could have sworn that I heard..." I trailed off and shook my head. "Its just wishful thinking. I'm dreaming. I know I am." I looked down at the floor, trying to sort my thoughts out. I had to be dreaming. And if I was, it would not be that far off. I had dreamt before that Jesse had suddenly become alive.

But then why did it seem so real?

Jesse easily strode over to me and cupped my face in his hands. "What is going on, Susannah?" he asked seriously, forcing me to meet his gaze.

I shook my head. "I don't know. I thought...Jesse, I thought I heard..." I do not know why it was so hard for me to say it. Maybe because if it was really happening and I said it, it would all go away and ruin everything.

I pressed my head against his chest once again. At first I did not hear anything and I thought for sure that that was all just my mind playing tricks on me. But then...then I heard it again. That soft thump-thump of a heart beating. A heart that was not my own.

I removed my head from his chest and said, my eyes filling up with joyous tears, "You have a heart beat."

He let go of me immediately, looking at me with pure shock. "What? Susannah, maybe you hit your head or—"

I narrowed my eyes at him, the tears spilling over down my cheeks. "Don't tell me I hit my head! You were with me the whole time and I did not fall once! If you don't believe me, see for yourself!" And I took his hand and brought it over where his heart should be in his chest.

At first there was no reaction from him, but then suddenly his face changed. It was a mix between pure shock and joy.

Then he looked back at me, his eyes widened and mouth hanging open. "How...wha..."

I smiled, delighted that this was true, and that I was not a lunatic. "I don't know, Jesse, but...isn't this great? You—you're alive! You're alive, Jesse!"

Jesse looked down at himself in wonder. It was clear that he did not believe it was true. I was having difficulty believing it myself. But it was true. He was alive. I do not know how and I do not know why, but whatever source gave him life I was eternally grateful.

When he looked back up at him with a grin on his beautiful face, I took a step toward him and hugged him tightly. He returned the embrace and kissed the top of my head. "Oh, Susannah..." he mumbled into my hair.

I rested my head on his chest and yet again I heard that wonderful sound, proof that my Jesse was alive, that some way, somehow, he possessed life, just like me. Now there was no way he could say he was not good enough for me.

Hesitantly I lifted my head off his chest and looked up into his warm, dark eyes. He looked down into mine with a certain happiness that I had never seen in his eyes before. "How did this happen?" he whispered.

I shook my head, tears still carefully rolling down my cheeks. "Does it matter? You are alive, Jesse, and that means we can truly be together."

"I know," he said, his smile slowly getting wider. "And that also means that I can give you what you truly deserve."

I smiled back up at him in pure joy. Then he lowered his head and kissed me slowly, sweetly, lovingly, and, well, lively.

I do not know how this happened, but honestly, I didn't care. I was grateful to whatever higher power decided to give him his life back, but I didn't care how they did it or why they did it. I was just thankful that it happened, because it made things a lot less complicated.

When he pulled away from (now having needed air, unlike all those other times we kissed), he asked, "What do we do now?"

I looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, where do we go from here? We cannot stay at this woman's house forever. We have to live by ourselves for a few years. We cannot go back to see your family for a while, Susannah. And, well, I do not even technically exist."

I shook my head. "You do now, Jesse. You exist now. People other than Father Dom and me will be able to see you. Look, I'll show you."

And I dragged him out of the room and into the room where, for some odd reason, I knew Madame Zara would be. She did not even look at us until we were standing right in front of her. Then she carefully lifted her gaze and smiled. "Ah," she said, not in the least alarmed that there was a man in her house that she did not let in, "it worked."

Puzzled, I asked, "what worked?"

She smiled kindly at me. "Well, didn't you wonder why your beloved is alive?"

My eyes widened considerably. "Th-that was...that was you?" I stammered.

She nodded her head at us. "Why, of course it was. Who did you think could do that?"

"I...I do not know. I just...how? How did you do that?"

She grinned. "A magician never reveals their secret."

I could see that she was not going to tell me. But that was okay, I did not need to know. Yes, I was curious, but my concern won. "Will there be any side-affects? Is this permanent?"

She smiled at me again. "Yes, this is permanent. I would not have done it if it was temporary. I made that mistake with Benj—"

And there it was again. Who was this Benjamin she keeps talking about?

I voiced this and she looked away from me. "He was the man I was in love with. He died right before we were to be wed and I thought he was gone forever. But he came back to me. I could not see him, but I could hear him. We talked sometimes when we were alone, but we could do nothing else. That was when I found this incantation that could do what I just did for Hector. It worked for Benjamin, but only for a little while. I realized then that I did not do it correctly and before I could correct my mistake, he was gone, forever."

I did not ask an explanation like that from her, but she still gave it to me. I saw the tears rolling down her cheeks that she tried to hide. I felt horribly for her. She lost the only person that she had ever loved. If that happened to me I would—

"Did you do it right this time?"

This time it was Jesse asking the question.

She looked back at us with tearstained cheeks. Nodding, she said, "Yes, I made sure of it. I knew you loved him, Susannah, and it was the proper thing to do for both of you."

And I hugged her. Normally I am not a very touchy person, but when someone does something so great like that for you, you cannot help but hug them.

"Thank you, so much."

She hugged me back, then quickly released me. "You are very welcome. Think of it as an early wedding present."

I laughed, despite myself and thanked her again. Then I told her that we were going to go back to "my" room and talk. She nodded and told me to ask her for anything I needed.

I smiled at her gratefully. "You have given me all that I will ever need."

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