Wolf & Witch the Untod Series

Samantha had been starting at the faded, plastic glow-in-the-dark star stuck on the ceiling for the last five minutes. " Sorry," she finally mumbled to the boy next to him. But her voice sounded out of place, swimming in the silence between them. " Me too," Jesse said, sitting up. " Do you wanna try again?" " I think we should take a break." They both stared at each other at the moment. Jacob's eyes searched Samantha." like... Break up, kind of break?" "...yeah," Samantha briefly as she climbed out of bed and started putting her clothes back on. In a weird way, she felt like a weight had lifted off of her chest. " Wait, what did I do wrong?" Jacob said defensively. " Nothing," Samantha paused. " It's not you." " Really?, Samantha? You're gonna pull the 'its not you, it's me' thing on me?" "Well-" "Its always the other person when people say that!" Samantha shifted uncomfortably before leaning down to her shoes on. He didn't know what to say. She just didn't want this to be a thing. " So just because I don't want to beat you like some sickoh, when we're-" " wait, what?" Samantha snapped. How dare you to even think about making that kind of a leap?" " I just don't know what you want from me," Jacob said, showing up. Her hands as she drifted closer to the door with a downhearted expression. ... The weight, the felt like it had been lifted? Yeah! That came crashing back down like an old back TV on a stand bought from Walmart. Suggest wanted a little more... She can't explain. PASSION, maybe? And what's worse, is that Samanthas's chest was aching, like she wanted to go home. But they were. But they were in her bedroom..with her books, and posters, and crystals ,and altar, and the lingering scent of the aphrodisiac Scents... Yet somehow Jacob had made her feel like she wasn't welcome in her own expanse. A break. That was all Samantha wanted right now. She sighed, as she finished lacing her high-top boots. "Sorry," She repeated, and she meant it,even though she wasn't sure if Jacob had heard her. A few moments later, the screen sliding door slapped close behind Samantha as she cleared the front porch just behind Jacob. She didn't think about locking it. Nobody in expensive sight really locks their doors. " There you are. I was wondering when the two of you were planning on showing up for dinner?" Samantha's cousin Alecia, said from the sidewalk. Jacob blew past her without a word, and climbed into his Jeep. "Okay, 'hi' to you too," Alecia said, before giving Samantha a raised brow. " My mom and dad at your place already? " Samantha said as Jacob drove off, barely tapping her brakes at the top sign at the corner of their street. Alecia nodded. Her dad was an Interstate trucker, so. He wasn't too much. But when he was, it was tradition for the family to come over for tyrant Erickson's famous gumbo. Samantha couldn't begin to tell anyone what all her uncle put in it, aside from the Cahun Holy Trinity. But she could not easily eat. Her weight in this stuff and too much comfort food sounded perfect for her right now. "Soooo... We just not gonna talk about that?" Alecia wondered, motioning towards the now vacant curb. Samantha shook her head and started towards her house. Minutes into their walk, Alecia pulled Samantha's attention from the pavement beneath her boots to the line of the trees on the right side of the road. " That looks cool!" It has been humid and rainy the last couple days. And Samantha managed to smile as she observed the fog hugging the slope of the tall, skinny Aspens. " Yeah that looks cool! She agreed, spotting a glimpse of Holtzen's house nestled back in between the trees. Alecia nudged him." Mrs. Holtzen was at the salon today. They're celebrating their golden anniversary soon." "Damn," she breathed, "that's fifty years, isn't it? Fifty years... Samantha could hardly imagine that. He'd only been dating Jacob for two years, even though it felt like it'd been much longer. " yeah. Some of their children's and granddaughters are coming this weekend to visit them." The idea brought a genuine smile to Samantha's face." I bet they are excited." She imagined it would be hard having your children and grandchildren living out of state like the Holtzen family did. Her grandparents on her mom's side lived in town and Alecia's place was only a ten-minute walk from her place. She grew up with her cousin feeling more like an older sister, and had a great relationship with her aunt and uncle. Just the idea of being away from her family, or the coven in general, caused her anxiety about being alone. When they arrived at her cousin's house, her dad was sitting on the front porch with her uncle. Each had a beer in their hand and broad smiles on their faces. " Hey, there you are!" her dad said, waving as Samantha and Alecia came through the front yard. " You both better get in there and get ya something to eat before it's gone," Tyron added. Before she even reached the front door, Samantha was hit with a familiar smell of her aunt and uncle's house. Her mom grew the herbs in her garden, then gave them to her sister, who dried them out for use. So, their house permanently smelled like sage, mint, lemon balm and lavender. The moment she got the front door open, a small form trotted past Samantha's legs and led the way into the kitchen. The fluffy tabby cat announced himself with a few quick meals, tails held high, clearly expecting to get some sort of threat. "Samantha," her uncle called from the sink. " Sorry, Aunt Pebby," Samanntha said, quickly scooping the tabby up into her arms. She knew her aunt didn't particularly care for animals being in the kitchen. "It's fine, hun, I'll open a can of something for him in a second," while Samantha's mother pulled out bowls for her and Alecia." you can put it out on the porch." " Thanks," Samantha shouted, heading back towards the front door. The orange and white cat had been an almost constant companion of Samantha's for the last four years, and no one really gave her any grief over it.'Trouble' had belonged to Samantha 's late best friend, so it wasn't hard for anyone to understand why she'd be so attached to the cat. What no one else knew though, save for the man who'd help Samantha do it, was that the spirit of Henry Tennessee was the only thing inhabiting the felline body. Trouble was Henry. No one else could hear Henry except for Samantha, because she was the one who performed the ritual. The ritual wasn't a practice that their community condoned. So, no one, especially her parents, could ever find out what she'd done. " Here's an idea, Mrs. Peterson, and you eat on the porch and I'll eat at the table, Henry's voice suggested in a place of 'meows'. It had been a rough adjustment- talking to a cat. She had made the mistake many times of conversing with Henry regardless of who was around at first. People thought she'd lost it. Her mom had even dragged her to the doctor a couple of times to see a shrink. Those few months were awful, but she learned to save their conversation for when they were alone. Samantha sat Henry down outside the screen door and returned with a small can of tuna her aunt had parted with. Once Henry had begun eating, Samantha strode back inside to get herself some food. The gumbo was incredible, as always, and she and Alicia both ate until they were miserably stuffed. After her dad and uncle went inside, Samantha's grandparents arrived to eat and play poker as well. Despite getting a few good hands early on, Samantha wasn't very focused on the cards. Her thoughts keep stubbornly drifting to the Holtzen house. After several months of Texas Hold 'Em, Samantha went with Alicia to hang out in her room. She was feeling a little better, But since she wasn't constantly texting with Jacob, Samantha didn't know what to do with her hands without her phone on them. So, she sat on her cousin's bright, teal comforter, playing with the glowing hair clip that looked like a predator's smile when it's open and close. Maybe it could eat her problems.... She didn't know! "You low-key should stop focusing so much on this," Alecia suggested as she leaned over, bunching up her tight, bunching up her kinky curls close to her forehead. " Breakups are kind of a big deal". " You know what I mean, you went through some shit." She blinked at her nightstand. "Henry's disappearance had nothing to do with Jacob, " she argued, watching her look around for something. " Look, it's nothing to be ashamed of, Samantha," She said, before turning and spotting the clip in her hands. Realizing that had been what she was looking for, she handed it over, and she continued. " Hooking up serves a purpose for a while, but you're ready to move on." What's up with it? Was she just broken after what she had gone through to keep her best friend? Did she only start dating Jacob so she could feel like someone would pick up her pieces? Samantha cringed. That sounded awful... " You know what I think you should do?" Alecia asked' "What?" " Stop worrying about boyfriends and relationships for a little while," she recommended while securing her hair with the clip. Samantha rolled her eyes. She was 18- finding a boyfriend wasn't exactly a top priority thing, but it still felt pretty important to her. " Meditate, practice some spells, spend some time alone ..." practice some spells comma spend some trailed off a sheep focus on her reflection in her vanity mirror. " get back for being you for awhile." Samantha grinned, despite herself. " I'm single, isn't that part kind of given?" " You're still going through the party at the Creek on Saturday night, right? Samatha asked as she watched her take a drag. Alecia laughed. " That doesn't count as alone time." "Yeah," Samantha drawled, snickering at herself. She was joking, of course, she may have been emotionally ready to let go of Jacob, but adjusting to being alone was still frightening to her. Samantha admittedly hadn't thought about how drastic of a change it would be, going from constant texting, and talking and hugging and adopting to just nothing. She didn't think it would end after the initiative. It hurt.... But she knows it was needed.... For both of them. The social situations or catnaps prevented Samantha from conversing with Henry. Alecia was always cool and chilling and talking. And she was certainly never shy about telling her what she needed to hear. Her cousin is very open-minded and very thoughtful towards her.