Learning to Bow

Bath time with Jack

When I was reduced into a more manageable sniffling mess, Willow helped me to my feet. Ashamed, I wiped my nose on my sleeve and with Jack, was led to the kitchen. She sat me at the table and got a washcloth from a cupboard. With it she knelt down to Jack's paws and started to scrub the blood out. I hiccuped, the remnants of my emotional fit still evident.

"Why doesn't he change back?" I asked, my voice forced into strange emotional intonations. I looked down to Jack. 'Not that I don't prefer him in his scruffy form,' I thought to myself. I resisted the urge to rub him behind the ears. It was still Jack, I had to remind myself.

"They can't," James said entering the kitchen. "They shouldn't have shifted so soon after the last time. They won't be able to shift again for a while." I realized he was talking about Cassidy as well. I saw the dark wolf strut into the kitchen, her crystal blue eyes vibrant in comparison to my memory of her duller human ones. She stared at Jack for a moment before turning to James. James nodded. I tilted my head to the side.

"What?" I asked. They were communicated with their supernatural telepathy thing. I was kind of jealous.

"Cassidy thinks the danger isn't over, so if you don't mind," he paused, looking at me intensely, "we think it's best if Jack stays with you." I frowned, looking from him to Jack, who looked at me, his eyes big with hope. I sighed.

"Yeah, that's no problem," I said, "I guess." Jack yipped once. I looked down at him, confused. "What did he say?" I asked. James paused, as if contemplating what to say.

"Nothing, he's just happy I suppose that you've accepted." I almost believed him, had Joseph not chuckled in the corner. I flashed Joseph a suspicious look and a glare at Jack. Jack looked away from me, not able to meet my eyes.

"So, what are we going to do about the package?" Marilee asked. I felt my stomach twist in realization that it wasn't over.

James sighed and turned to me. "It has your name on it, Ara. I'm going to open it. You don't have to be here for that." I widened my eyes. My name? And why wouldn't I want to be here when he opened it?

My imagination took a turn for the worst in that moment, all sorts of horrible, grotesque things climbing from the package. James opens it, and maggots poor through the seams. It's filled with bloodied body parts or a toxic poisonous gas.

I shook my head. "I want to know what's inside." Especially if it was meant for me. James watched me for a few moments and nodded. Jack nudged my leg with his nose. "I'm fine," I said. I'm sure no one in the room believed me, but Joseph walked into the kitchen with the package in his arms. James pulled a small knife from a drawer and sliced open the tape, pulling apart the flaps. His eyebrows scrunched up confused. "What is it?" I asked nervously.

"Clothes," he said. I frowned. That didn't make any sense. I stood up and walked over to the package and sure enough, a part of dark blue pants sat at the top. James reached in and removed them. Under was a uniform shirt of some sort, with a patch sewn in. I tilted my head and stretched out my arm to pull the shirt from the package. I turned it over in my hands as James pulled out the last item. A police hat. I sucked in a breath from surprise at the name tag reading, "Oliver, Tim."

"What?" I gasped, holding the police shirt in shaky hands.

"Ara, what is it?" James asked. I turned to look at him, my mouth slightly a jar from confusion.

"I--" I started, not sure what to say. "It doesn't make sense." I looked back down at the uniform. "I mean, I think I know whose clothes these are, but it doesn't make sense." I felt a shiver of dread travel down my spine as I wondered what happened to the man who had worn these clothes.