The Redemption of Stingy Jack

Chapter Eleven

He looked even creepier during the day, and he stood still with an almost confusing and pathetic look. Maud couldn't believe her eyes. She stepped down, eyes glued on him, heart pulsating.

"You again?" Maud wondered.

"What, you know this creep?" Lyn asked, at the top of her voice, eyeing Maud in disbelief.

"I don't... know him." Maud was confused.

"I caught him sleeping right there." She pointed at where Jack stood, which now looked messed up with broken and wilted pumpkins everywhere. "I didn't know how I missed him on my way out. What the fuck is he doing here?" She asked Maud, obviously considering the stranger as a portent full of possible danger.

"What are you doing here? Halloween's over!" Lyn yelled, not moving closer to the creep in an old suit with a big turnip in his hand.

He didn't say a word still. Only standing there, poised to defend himself if either of the girls decided to attack. His glowing eyes moving left and right, and they were starting to cause a scene which some passerby were beginning to notice.

Maud still couldn’t wrap her head around what was happening, memories of last night flashing before her eyes.

"Why did you... why did you come back?" Maud asked, one foot closer than she was before to Jack. Jack slowly dragged his gaze off the one who seemed to be more violent, and faced Maud. His breathing was still slow and heavy like last night, and he lowered his lamp.

"I have no place to go. And I still don’t know how and why I can be seen by people." He uttered, voice gruff.

"We don't fucking care. Just piss off!" Lyn yelled again, surprised Maud was trying to have a conversation with him instead of yelling like she was. Apparently, she’d been buried in the quicksand of ignorance.

Jack gave Lyn a glance, and then he was back at Maud. She looked like one with a kind heart, and one who didn't seem too frightened to see his hideous look.

"Throughout my entire existence, I have been accustomed to living in the woods. Being the ghost that everyone claims I am." Jack said. "But now, I feel, strange and... different. I don’t... I don’t know why I’m back. And why I laid unconscious here last night."

"Oh God." Lyn sighed, eyes rolling, and she walked away from the roadside to stand beside Maud.

"I don’t know how this happened." He pointed at himself, and Lyn and Maud assessed him again. So did some passersby who didn't seem to last long, minding their business. "But… I assure you it’s for a reason. And if it’s not too much trouble..." His glowing eyes bore into Maud's who seemed to have been listening all along. "May I be allowed to stay here. For the first time in centuries, I can feel cold. And it is warm here." Jack almost chuckled, pointing his hand at the makeshift bed beside Lyn and Maud's apartment.

Lyn groaned, obviously finding it all unbelievable. Diverting her eyes, Maud gleaming in turn. This was quite a lot for her to take in. She heaved a sigh and slid her gaze back to Jack. Eyes gleaming with pity, and confusion. He was saying something about centuries, being a ghost, and how warm their yard made him feel. Who, or what, was this man in the suit, and why was he here. She definitely wanted some answers, and so she made up her mind. Lyn wouldn't like it, but she was sure she'd come around eventually.

Maud sighed, obviously confused by what she just heard. "Come inside."

Lyn's eyes widened. "What are you doing, M?" She pulled her shoulder, so she'd meet her eyes. "What are you doing inviting a stranger into our house? We don't know who he is. Or what he is?" A protest wavered on her lips.

"That's what I'm about to find out," Maud said, with a straight face. She watched Lyn gape in utter surprise, half choked by a rising paroxysm of incredulity. With only a few moments to spare, she then stormed inside. Maud sighed, and she turned around.

Jack didn't seem to hesitate, even though he took his steps gradually. With his lamp in his left hand, he walked in after Maud. One of the reasons why Maud was even able to tie Jack to a chair the previous night, was because even though he looked outdated, he didn't smell bad. He had some faint incense smell emit out of him, and his pumpkin head smelled like the fruit itself. His lamp was surprisingly warm, and she wondered where the light drew its energy from.

Maud gave Jack the same chair she tied him in last night to seat in. He was at the center of the living room, the coffee table right beside him, and Maud in her favorite swivel chair. For a moment there, they both sat in pervasive silence, with thoughts rummaging through their minds. A muscle in Maud’s jaw twitched as she surveyed the man from the previous night.

"Got any... ale?" Jack asked Maud, after his one-minute gaze around the apartment.

"Ale?" Maud's brows furrowed. Jack slow nodded, eyes on her. "We don't... have ale. We've only got... wine." She added, not expecting him to consider it.

"That oughta do." Jack replied, now expecting Maud to go get it for her.

They both maintained steady gaze, until Maud budged. She got up and nipped down to the kitchen area. She could hear the faint noises Lyn made in her room, and she ignored it. She reached for their little wine cellar, and pulled out a bottle of red wine. She placed it on the countertop, and then reached for a wine glass. Then she pulled open the kitchen drawers to shuffle for a corkscrew. She got the three items and brought them to the living room, where eager Jack sat patiently.

Jack grabbed the wine first, ignoring the cup and screw. Surprisingly, Jack dug his index finger hard enough into the bottle, forcing the cork inside. He took a swig of the bottle, and Maud was just there, staring in disbelief, eyebrows drawn together. Jack didn't seem to notice or didn't care. He kept drinking. Maud sighed, and went back to her swivel chair, dropping the wine glass and corkscrew on the coffee table.

She allowed him take one more swig, into his rugged mouth opening, and then she asked. "Why won't you take off your mask?"

Jack pulled the bottle out of his mouth, eyes fixed on Maud. "I’m afraid, I can’t. It’s my face."