Exiting the closet, she smoothed out the wrinkles of her navy-blue flared short dress, humming softly to herself in the process.
"Willow," a voice whispered near her ear. Startled, she spun around and instinctively lashed out, striking him across his chest with a soft wail, inadvertently dropping her black chunky Mary Jane pumps.
"You could knock, you know," she breathed irritably while picking up the shoes.
Jack looked at her unfazed.
"Yeah, but this way is much more fun," he replied with a brief smile before going expressionless again. Willow rolled her eyes as she put on the shoes and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To Fahima's room to ask if she can help me with my hair," she mumbled, glancing back at Jack, who looked rather dashing in his white formal shirt. "You said yesterday we would visit your grandma's grave today." She frowned, noticing a momentary grimace on his face.
Since the recent meeting with Death a few days ago, Jack had started to distance himself from her, acting colder. That's why she was surprised when he told her they would visit his grandma's grave yesterday after celebrating Aina's birthday.
"We don't have time for that, let's go now before it gets too late." Jack urged, waving her over with a grunt. Raising a brow, she picked up the bouquet of white flowers she had plucked earlier from the garden and headed over to him. Instead of taking his hand, she handed him the flowers and reached up to straighten his black tie.
"I'm surprised we are allowed to go, I thought it would be too dangerous to get so close to your own grave." she mumbled, reaching for his hand, not noticing that his blank expression faltered a little at her words.
He let go of her hand the moment they stood on a path in the cemetery. A few people walked past them without noticing their sudden appearance, indicating they were in the veil. Jack waved for her to follow as he walked down another road.
"Where are we?" She looked around, surprised over the beauty the place held, as she looked at a chapel in the distance.
"Fairgreen cemetery," he replied, coming to a halt, and his eyes softened. Willow turned her attention to what he was looking at and saw a black-haired woman in her early thirties and a boy a few years younger than Peter standing by two tombstones. Willow shifted her gaze to the tombstones and saw the name on one of them.
Jackson Silversmith, birth May 13 1985, death August 10, 2002, beloved brother and son.
"Caine sweetie, put the flowers down." the woman smiled at the child who placed a bouquet of roses in front of each tombstone. Her baby blue eyes glistened with tears as she placed a hand on Jack's tombstone and croaked, "Gonna be a while before I can visit again." She reached down and put something beside the flowers before leading the kid away with a hand on his shoulder. Jack stared at them until they were out of sight.
"Was that...?" Willow whispered.
"Alice, my sister." he replied with a soft smile before walking over to the graves, with Willow following closely behind. Willow placed the bouquet in front of the tombstone bearing the name Grace Silversmith. Meanwhile, Jack reached for what Alice had left.
"You okay?" Willow asked softly, putting a hand on shoulder, but he kept staring down at what Willow now saw was a picture. It was a picture of Jack and what must be his little sister and grandma on the beach. Willow recognizes the black velvet necklace with a pearl Grace has on, and touches her own surprised.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He croaked, slipping the picture in his pocket. "Why wouldn't I be?" He offered her a cocky smile, but she could see the pain in his eyes. Without thinking, she pulled him into a hug. At first, he was tense, but slowly he relaxed and put his arms around her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered against his shoulder, gently rubbing his back. Out of nowhere, he abruptly pulled away from her embrace and positioned himself in front of her protectively. His tense posture eased when he saw Ian approaching.
"That was a stupid move Jack, after what Death told you-" Ian's voice was a low blend of anger and concern as he reached for them before Willow could even ask what was wrong, they found themselves in the garden by the mansion, and Ian pulled away from them as he continued to scold Jack "-You know damn well that you've been told to stay away from them. You can't keep going against Death like this Jack, one day he will not be this merciful."
"Woah wait what? What is going on." Willow looked from Jack to Ian as Jack quickly moved away from her.
"Jack has been told more than once he can't go anywhere near his family, he's to young a reaper for it to not be a stupid idea. And that also means spying on his sister by his grave." Ian growled, his eyes harsh, but even Willow could see the fear hidden underneath the anger.
"Are you serious Jack?" She turned her attention towards him. "Lord throw some brains from the heavens and let one smack Jack in the face." She pressed the bridge of her nose with an exaggerated sigh.
"Sorry" He flashed them the most charismatic smile she had ever seen, and if it wasn't for the fact she was mad at him like Ian, she wouldn't have been able to resist it.
"Don't go and use my own weapon against me," Ian grunted, pointing at him warningly. "I taught you that smile and it won't work on me."
No, but it might work on me, Willow thought.
"Jackson Silversmith," their heads snapped toward the low, growling voice, seeing Darlia storm their way with red eyes. "Now you've done it!"
"Shit." Ian and Jack mumbled in unison.
The earth began to rumble, making Willow's eyes widen in surprise, wondering for a second how Darlia did that as it abruptly stopped.
"No no no. You are not gonna stand there smiling sweetly at me young man," she hissed, pulling Willow towards her. " you are grounded! You are gonna stay in your room until I say so and no Willow."
Jack opened his mouth but Ian jabbed him in the ribs with a warning glare.
"No Willow?" Willow asked confused, getting gently pushed by Darlia down the path to the house.
"No willow," she grunted, before turning to look at the boys. "And Ian, I better not catch you sneaking into his room either!"
"Yes ma'am" Ian nodded as Jack begrudgingly vanished, probably to go to his room.
" these young reapers are gonna be the second death of me," she sighed, locking arms with Willow and pulling her along. " I'm sorry you have to be pulled into this, Darling." She patted Willow's hand.
"I'm sorry Darlia, I didn't know-" she began but Darlia waved with a grunt.
"Of course you didn't Darling, I'm not blaming you the slightest," her words trailed off for a second and she got a soft expression. "Neither do I blame Jack, he's young. But one day Death isn't gonna be this merciful and I won't be able to protect him. He's gotten so many chances already. At some point they will run up." She whispered the last words before clearing her throat and giving Willow a smile.