Authors: Ashlynn Monroe
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When Fabian had asked around about Phoebe Penn, the reaction seemed mixed. Anger, pride, fear, protectiveness, he saw it all in the eyes, words, and actions of the townspeople he spoke to. Stories of how she helped the sick or dying came from the majority of the people who talked about her, but a few people told him she was bad to the core because her ancestress, a witch who had reportedly cursed them all centuries ago. Older folks seemed to think all the bad they’d seen over a lifetime in Willow Lake was her family’s fault and as she was the last adult in her family line, the blame lay at her feet. Fabian did not buy it; there was no darkness in her. When he learned she’d went from foster home to foster home, and the boy’s father was worthless and his family was among those who thought she was evil; his heart went out to her. Anyone else would have let all the pain and darkness make them dark, but not his blonde angel. His thought stopped him in his tracks, when had he started to think of her as his?
Fabian
knew he wanted to see her again, just to make sure she’d recovered. A woman working at the little grocery store told him Phoebe worked at Margie’s Diner.
****
Phoebe’s head was pounding. She wanted to go home, but she had to make the money. Putting on her game face, she drew from her inner strength and did her best to hide her weakness. Judging from her excellent tips, she was doing a good job of hiding her agony.
Jana
knew something was wrong, but Phoebe just smiled and shrugged off her employer’s concern. Everything was moving along nicely until she heard a commotion from the back of the room. Looking through the crowd, she saw two women fighting. A tall brunette threw the first punch. Phoebe looked around desperately for Jana and when she saw her, it was clear she was busy and hadn’t seen the women. Another punch flew as the situation escalated. Phoebe was small, but she was fierce when she wanted to be.
Rushing into the fray, she put her arms up and screamed. “Not
tonight ladies, take it outside.”
Her words had no effect as the women pulled hair and slapped out at each other.
Phoebe was trying to control it before it wrecked a very profitable evening. She really needed those tips. Grabbing onto the shorter redhead and pulling her off the brunette, she thought she had it under control until the brunette launched herself at Phoebe. Stars twinkled in front of her eyes as the woman smacked her in the head with her hand, hard.
****
Fabian saw the large crowd and wondered if it was a mistake to try to talk to Phoebe here. When he walked in, he noticed several animated groups by the door stopped talking and just stood gaping at him. He was very out of place in his tailored suit it hadn’t occurred to him he should’ve dressed more casually. Nervously, he smoothed his tie. Seeing Phoebe, he watched her as she turned and took off quickly towards the back of the bar. Traveling after her, through the crowd, he suddenly realized where she’d gone. Two women were physically fighting and he could see his tiny angel making a beeline for them. What was she planning to do? To his horror, he realized what she was going to do, too late. She began to pull the smaller one away until the bigger one turned on her, attacking her.
He saw her holding her face
feeling blinded by rage as he picked up his pace towards the wild women and the little witch.
Just before the big brunette could slap out at her again, he grabbed her arm and she gave him an angry look. Fabian worked out often and his tailored suit hid the strength beneath. Realizing that he was not as weak as the waitress was
, the brunette backed off. The redhead fled as well. Fabian went over to his angel. She’d definitely have a black eye in the morning.
“What’
re you doing here? You should be in bed.” His voice held a note of exasperation.
Fabian tried to lead her outside
, she resisted.
“I have to finish my shift. As you can see, it is busy and I can’t just run off, th
is place pays your rent payment.” She spoke with anger and stubbornness. “Just go back to whatever brought you here, Mr. Sterling. Oh, and thanks for helping me again, you have to stop that, I’m losing my street cred around here.” Then she smiled brightly and he watched her weave back through the crowd to take an order from an impatient looking man without missing a beat. He grumbled with annoyance, but had to admit to himself, he was impressed.
What kind of a job
was this for someone like her? She should be a nurse, or a doctor. With her gift, she could just travel the country selling her audience with the ill. Why did it matter to him? He decided he couldn’t just rush off or the local gossip would really get going so he sat down at the bar and ordered a beer. He was not really a down-home beer kind of guy, but as he stood there taking in the lively room he realized it was a good place to see the real people of Willow Lake in their natural habitat.
****
Knowing Fabian watched her was making her twitchy. What was he even doing here? She was sure he’d not come in before. In his expensive suit, he looked a touch over dressed and seeing the looks he received made her smile. He seemed oblivious to what an impact he was having. Jana walked past her muttering about how he was bring down the property value of her bar stools and it was true, as busy as the place was it was usually impossible to get a bar stool unless you arrived early. Jana kept giving him deadly looks. Fabian had two stools on either side of him vacant. Phoebe’s heart hurt for him for a moment, he was just as much an outcast in the town as she was. And for the exact same reason, heritage.
As the night began to wind down
, she noticed Fabian was still there. What was he playing at? He had been talking with several locals and it seemed people were no longer cringing in his presence, even if he did hold the majority of their mortgages and jobs in the palm of his hand. With the rush, she had never taken her break. Her eye hurt, her body ached, and she felt relief her shift would be over in a few hours. Putting the tray of empty beer bottles on the counter for the bus boy she turned and her eyes caught his, just at the moment the band started to play a slow traditional Christmas song. He stood and walked over to her.
“Will you dance with me
, Phoebe?”
“No one else is dancing.”
She felt the heat in her cheeks.
“I don’t care; will you dance with me
, Phoebe?” He didn’t look a bit concerned. She wished she had his kind of confidence.
“We
’ll look ridiculous, this isn’t even a dancing song, and it’s a Christmas carol.”
“I don’t care; will you dance with me Phoebe?”
Sighing she felt a bit trapped, but she let him lead her to the dance floor.
Standing
in his arms, she smelled his aftershave and the masculine scent seemed very distinctly his. When he pulled her close, she stood stiffly. He felt strong and she noticed his body belied his sedentary desk job when she felt the muscles beneath his clothing. Blushing, she hoped he had no idea what she was thinking. When she looked up into his face, she saw the dark intensity in his eyes. Fabian Sterling was a dangerous man. He made her long for things she’d sworn off years ago. He made her wet just dancing in his arms. They were still dancing when the music had stopped, neither of them noticed until a drunken man stumbled over to them and said, “You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.”
Horrified she re
alized it was closing time. Had they really been out there looking at each other for two hours?
Embarrassed
, she said a hasty goodbye and fled to the safety of the kitchen. Jana told her to head out because she didn’t get a real break.
“But I danced for hours?” Phoebe had taken too much of a break.
“Oh Honey, that was part of the entertainment. The gossips will be coming in here for sure to see if they can spot you and Sterling again. You too smoldered so hot I was glad I have fire insurance.”
Phoebe’s face
burned hot with embarrassment. Grabbing her coat, she left. Near tears over her confused feelings and humiliation, she almost didn’t see Fabian standing out in the cold snow. Cheerful Christmas lights blinked illuminating his face and what she saw made her breath stop. With her gift, she could feel his aura, and she felt his deep true feelings. Fabian Sterling was not just looking for an easy roll in the hay with a local girl, there was definitely more to it than sex. Nervous and unsure if she should entrust her heart to him, she wanted to just run to her car and drive off, but she wasn’t cowardly enough to take the easy way out.
Stepping up to him, she was prepared to talk but
not for his next actions. Fabian pulled her to his arms and kissed her deeply. She let him swirl his tongue into her mouth and she sighed and returned the kiss. Usually she was not very excited about that type of kiss, but Fabian tasted exotic and he was very good at what he was doing. She completely gave into the sensation and it wasn’t until the dumpster lid rattled that she realized how public their kissing was.
She was just about to tell him
she needed to be going when the dishwasher came running outside shouting for her. Taking Fabian’s hand, she dragged him into the employee entrance with her.
“This is J.T. and
Joss and we have a special clip we promised you at the beginning of the show. That’s right folks we have finally found our proof of the witches of Willow Lake. Not only do we have the video folks, but we know who she is and where she lives. A real witch has been right under our noses all this time. Joss, I think she used her magic on us so we couldn’t see the signs.”
“That’s right J.T. I have felt her evil powers and I think
she’s been draining my life force at night while I sleep.”
Phoebe starred in horr
or at the little television the dishwasher always watched sat on a high shelf above the commercial dishwashing machine. Her heart sank and she knew just as the others knew those goons were talking about her. Her annoyance with the comparison to a succubus distracted her for a moment. Her curiosity as to their proof out weighted her annoyance.
“Here it is folks your Christmas present from your favorite paranormal investigators.
Joss, roll the clip.”
To her horror
, she saw herself saving the little girl from the car accident. Every moment caught on grainy camera phone video.
What am I going to do?
As she watched, the video unfolded and she saw her body fall weakly into the snow and everyone just looked at her, doing nothing. Then she saw Fabian was there for her and she blushed as she watched him rescue her. No one had ever rescued her before and she felt something around her heart crack. Taking his hand she squeezed it, whatever was between them at the moment was something she’d never experienced before and she was not sure how to process it.
After the horror of her impromptu television debut, the obnoxious neighbors then started to take calls. She hoped they only had one fan. However
, it seemed everyone was staying up late because they took call after call about her evil deeds and witchy ways, the things people were saying about her were entirely false, she certainly would have remembered sucking blood or giving a man have erectile difficulties with the evil eye. What kind of people watched this show?
Looking horrified
, she glanced at everyone in the room. No one spoke. She prayed they too didn’t think she was a monster. Gregg Benson was the first to speak and he threatened to kill the nerdy bastards, his words brought the assembled group to a frenzied rabble. Threats of going to their apartment and lynching the nasty little men joined in the railing against the television network allowing the idiots to have airtime. Phoebe used her love for her supports to radiate peace and soon she had calmed the angry mob. Crying and exhausted, it was Fabian who took her into his arms and Phoebe felt something she hadn’t felt since she was a child, protection. It felt very nice and she did not care who saw her letting this man hold her. They should be adversaries, his ancestor burned hers at the stake after all, but she felt the healing of their connection a balance restored to the karma of the town, it would never be free of the curse, but the feelings they held for each other seemed to cleanse some the darkness and blood covering the town’s spirit.
Fabian took out his cell phone and asked her for Ivory’s number. Without questioning why
, she mumbled it to him. He dialed it into his cell phone, but did not hit send. Looking around him, he spoke with the authority his Sterling roots seemed to give him. “I’m taking Phoebe to my home. I don’t know how many people are going to have seen this, but I do know this could turn ugly.”
No one argued with
him. He led her to the door and as soon as they stepped outside, he dialed his phone. It was late but Ivory answered in a sleepy voice.
“This is Fabian Sterlin
g, there has been a problem, and those geeks living next door to Phoebe have ousted her to Willow Lake. I want you to keep the boy at your home, hidden. I don’t think it is a good idea for either of them to be out for a while until this can be swept under the rug. We don’t need a witch-hunt all over again.”
He listened for a
while, and then said goodbye and hung up the phone. Looking at the worn out woman, he spoke quietly. “She said she was going to drive Simon to her house tonight and lock up for you. Ivory agrees you should probably stay away until this thing goes away.”