Black Curiosities
Unshakable Feeling

Sometimes there was a feeling, one that Sebastian could never shake.

For example, Sebastian, for the life of him, couldn't shake the feeling Bell, Book & Candle was somehow important ever since he saw the sign for the store, although he was able to shake the feeling of dread he felt when he first saw the sign. That instead shifted to the mark that mysteriously appeared on his arm, that tattoo of a snake writhing through some magical means on his arm from a skull, dark and foreboding.

Yet, he couldn't place it, the feeling, or the flashes of memories that felt like flashes from a previous life. They'd come in the dreams the night before, but as he was helping Rebekah Teagan find books on gardening, another moment came as pain surged through his arm. He just stood in the middle of the bookstore staring at the shelves, but he must have struck a strange sight to those watching as he held onto his arm.

And the sight in front of him, there was, of course, the memory of that horrid man enjoying placing the mark on his arm while another person he'd thought his mother, or the person he suspected to be the mother of the person whose memories they belonged too, looked on quite pleased with the event, hoping he liked what she'd gotten him for his sixteenth birthday. There were also the memories of the cave in that sudden, involuntary flashback where just as in his dreams, the hands of corpses reached for him.

Sebastian flinched away from someone, coming to when he felt someone latch onto his forearm, his grey eyes blinking upon seeing Rebekah Teagan staring at him in a way which made Sebastian feel, yes, he struck a strange sight to those watching as she said, "Are you alright, Mr. Sebastian."

"Yes," he'd said, yet as the words came from his tongue, he knew they were a lie. The lie coming off his tongue felt strange, as he wasn't used to lying to those around him, yet for some unknown reason, the lie came with a natural ease as if, at that moment, he was someone else. His eyes blinked, looking at the books on gardening, feeling that those memories belonged to someone else, someone from a past life. Sebastian took a deep breath.

"Are you sure? Because you just clutched your arm as if you were in pain," Rebekah said.

"Um," he nodded his head towards the book. "Just a slight migraine," which wasn't a lie on his part. "Where were we?"

"Oh! You helped me pick out a couple of good books, ones my grandmother might have used," Rebekah said. "Why don't I go and purchase the books from Mr. Richard? Hope you feel better soon."

"Me too," Sebastian said, returning to staring at the books on the shelf, feeling better once the other customers in the shop stopped staring. He then started walking, touching the tops of the books with his fingers, letting the feeling of the old books under his finger calm him as it always had. His lips pushed together, his mind preventing him from smiling as he found himself in a dark place, a place Sebastian didn't want to be.

"Sebastian?"

He turned, finally able to smile, as the familiar face made him feel safe. "Grandpa."

"Rebekah Teagan said something to me regarding you having a possible migraine?" his grandfather said. "Why don't you pick a book from the shelves to read, and I'll make you some tea to sip in the back room?"

"You don't have to," Sebastian said, suddenly feeling he was being a nuisance and should go home.

"It's not a problem. Olivia told the rest of the family you weren't feeling well. You might have returned to work early, but I also know staying still has never been your strong suit. It's quiet back there, and if you need to lie down your head, you can."

"Right," Sebastian said, letting out a sigh. "I just wish I could be more useful."

"Sebastian, you are useful. And my precious grandson, so whatever dark thoughts are running around in your head, put them out of your mind, alright?"

"Sometimes that's easier said than done."

"Sometimes it's made easier by picking up a good book and having a cup of tea," Richard Granger said, patting him on the shoulder. "Go on. You know you're always free to read anything in my store."

"I know," Sebastian sighed, wondering how the Granger family could so quickly after he appeared, after his memories disappeared, treat him as if he weren't a complete stranger. Richard Granger was one of the first to accept him, just as Richard Granger had been the first to welcome Cassie Nightingale.

A frown spread across Sebastian's face, remembering how Rebekah Teagan said something about what Cassie did in helping Rebekah find the answer to her essay dilemma. He shook his head, not paying attention to the books as he traced his fingers over their tops, randomly picking one simply because it felt like the right choice before heading to the back room, but as he did, Sebastian passed right by a mother just as she started yelling at her son which—

There he was, in another place, a place he didn't recognize. Green, his least favorite color, was everywhere, but he was sitting in front of an easel, a portrait in front of him of a woman he didn't recognize screaming and drooling, trying to claw her way out of the portrait at him. A roundish-shaped man hurried over, grabbing his arm and calling out to him.

"Sebastian, are you okay?"

Sebastian's eyes blinked, staring at the mother. And at that moment, for some strange reason, he'd imagined her drooling as she yelled at her son just as the portrait did, yet in the back of his mind, he knew that wasn't reality, simply how he felt as he watched the woman yell at her child. She stared back, mortified at the two working at the shop that day, having seen the escapade before hurrying off, which might mean a lost customer. Sebastian let out a deep breath. "No. I'll go ahead and go to the back room as you suggested."

He took a seat yet didn't crack open the book until Richard brought him a cup of tea, and he took a sip, closing his eyes and relishing the taste as well as how the tea did help to relieve the migraine. His grandfather squeezed his shoulder. "Cassie Nightingale made that blend, by the way."

Sebastian frowned, setting the tea down. "Was it as if she knew?"

"What?"

"Never mind," he said, thinking he didn't want to know. He looked down at the book, frowning at the book.

"Something the matter?"

"I kind of picked randomly."

"Means you're in for an adventure, no?" his grandfather said.

"Perhaps," Sebastian said, cracking open the book on classic American films, wondering how that came to be in his grandfather's small shoe. Still, another memory occurred, this one in black and white, as he sat in an almost empty movie theater watching a movie about a witch and her Siamese cat as she fell in love with a mortal at the risk of her magic.

And then he was back in the shop, staring down at his fingers at the summary of a movie made and released in 1958 called Bell, Book, and Candle , which was also the name of Cassie Nightingale's shop, almost as if—for the summary of the movie matched what he remembered seeing. Yet, he didn't remember ever going to a movie theater to watch a black-and-white film.

Sebastian swallowed, then got up, drinking the rest of the tea as another feeling came over him. He let his grandfather know he was leaving, although it was already almost closing time—he wasn't sure where the time had gone, almost as if he'd zoned out. And he stood outside Bell, Book & Candle until nearly closing time to not bother the woman's customers, never once looking up as he waited across the street on a park bench.

And he walked right in, not looking up once as he pulled back his left sleeve and showed Cassie Nightingale the tattoo, saying, "I need your help."