InsaneJournal

Halloween was over and the November chill had taken its hold across the north-eastern part of the country. So much had happened in the last few months and while her father had been present for their binding ceremony, he had done it under protest. He may have loved his daughter, but to him, she was an outsider of the family. Her grandmother had been the only one willing to back her up. Lux had pushed her family into a corner—they had no choice but to help her in their predicament. The Warrens were a proud family and yet she couldn’t understand why or when or how they became so detached from the rest of the families. Prior to the accident everything had been fine—what was so different now? Perhaps the answers lied in the past. How far in the past was anyone’s guess.

During her time at Harvard, she had spent many restless nights cooped up in the stacks looking for answers and when that proved fruitless, she went to the source—Salem. She learned a few secrets there, but there had been a few books she had not been able to get her hands on and perhaps now she could. John may have seen her use her new ability and yet she had only shared the cliff notes with him at the time. Deep down she knew she couldn’t keep the truth from him any longer and the best way to share that truth was to show him, which is why they were on this little road trip. It felt good to get out of the city and this was the first time she would be able to share her home away from home with John.

The car hummed softly as the engine had put her to sleep somewhere in between the border of Vermont and Maine. She seemed completely at ease without a care on her mind. Every stress line and tense muscle had vanished. The cold glass could not fight off the sandman and when the car finally came to a stop, she refused to move. A soft whine was muffled behind pursed lips as she felt a warm hand nudge her awake. Groggily her fists rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“How long have I been out?”

The words were tangled with a yawn as she adjusted the cream colored and coarsely knit, oversized sweater she was wearing. Blindly, she rubbed her palms against the dark colored fitted jeans she wore.

It had been several years since she had been back to Salem, and now that she was here memories flooded back—it felt like yesterday. Nothing had changed as tourists milled about the sidewalks. Remnants of the Halloween festivities lingered all around the town, but then again Salem was always a center for the haunting hour. A small pout would form as emerald hues looked down at the half empty Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup.

“Unfortunately, we’ll have to stop for more later.”

When she came to Salem for the first time, Lux wasn’t sure what she would find. It wasn’t like her family left a road map—at most she had expected to find their names it the town census. Information about their families witchcraft practices wouldn’t, shouldn’t, exist, but there could have been other avenues. From her studies she knew there had been other families in Salem who practiced magic—if she could track them down, perhaps she could find living relatives with their own book of shadows.

“I did—turn right here.”

She leaned forward and pointed towards the street just a few feet ahead. Traffic was packed, but this wasn’t unusual for the time of day.

“We need to go towards the old town hall…”

The firm squeeze of her hand caused her to pause as she looked over at him. His smile was reassuring and she hadn’t realized until that moment how nervous she had truly been to come back. He had always blamed her for leaving Crescent Cove to come here. The idea of Boston and anything associated with it brought back emotions neither of them wanted to relive. Of course, she wasn’t entirely in the wrong as his aloofness towards her pushed her to the brink of insanity. He didn’t still hold a grudge—that much she knew, and yet she couldn’t help but wonder if any part of the wound was still open. Mentally she shook her head as she reached across the middle compartment to press a soft kiss to his lips, which then hovered a mere inch away.

“I applaud your foresight.”

Appreciation and amusement lingered just below the surface of her dark hues as she gaze turned down towards those lips of his. She couldn’t help the playful note in her tone as the tip of her tongue sailed across her lower lip just before the light turned green. The car turned as she sat back in her seat.

“I figured we could start there to get a foundation. We can cross reference names we found in our family’s book of shadows and figure out who they associated with. I only got so far the last time I was here since I only had my family’s book to work with.”

She shined in her element—research was she strong point after all. With the car parked, she opened the door and snapped it shut behind her. The strap of her leather bag was pulled over her shoulder. It contained notes, books, and other necessary materials she would need to complete the task at hand.

“You did remember to copy all the names mentioned in your family’s book right and pick up the lists from Eva and Alvaro? I was able to get Belle and Harmony’s.”

She nodded along as she did a mental checklist of everything she would need. Lux couldn’t help the scholar inside her—it thrived on this kind of adventure, the pursuit of knowledge. While she didn’t pursue archeology as a field, she had always found it fascinating. History was her bread and butter and it could unlock clues to their future.

“We should check to see which names are repeated on each list, and then we can check those first.”

The bag may have been heavy, but the youngest Warren ignored her burden. Their shoulders brushed up against one another as they took to the stairs leading up to the old town hall. At the sound of his lowered voice, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“We’re supposed to be researching, what makes you think we’ll have time for a dip?”

The slight reproach in her tone was good-humored at best as she nudged him with her shoulder at the wink. This would be their first weekend getaway alone without the others.

“I know, but it’s still worth a shot. The last time wasn’t a complete and total loss, so who knows.”

Her discoveries may have been the last of what she could glean from the old town, but it was still worth a shot. The private eye’s information only went so far—this cousin of hers was still a mystery and not a good one. The old town was hadn’t changed as the census books would be found in the lower basement when the records hall was located. Once her pass had been slipped clipped to her bag, she turned right at the front desk—the stairs were just off the main hallway.

“I was looking for information about our families—specifically about what they were doing here when they lived in Salem. Anything my hands could grab on to would have satisfied me back then.”

It had been faint, but she could tell the present conversation was currently touching on a sore point. Blindly she reached over and tangled her fingers through his own as she gave them a squeeze.

"I might not be able to alter the past, but I'm glad I get to share this with you now...even if research isn't your strong point."

He may have attempted to step out of the way, but the palm of her hand firmly connected with his shoulder. Lux tried to contain her shout of indignation but unfortunately a low growl managed to escape her pursed lips.

“You are such a child Irvine.”

Despite her mind being half asleep just moments ago, Lux was quick to rise towards the occasion. Several libraries had taken to digital representations of the information stored in their coffers, but Salem was only just in the process of converting everything over. The genealogy section was one of the few collections that had yet to be scanned into the memory banks.

“It’s not that bad—after all, old books have a certain charm to them.”

She inhaled deeply when she entered the room the librarian directed them to and the smell of musty old pages greeted her senses—it was relaxing. Her fingers itched to feel the smooth pages and worn leather bindings. Each large tome had been carefully placed on its proper shelf as it was filed away for safekeeping. Very few people ventured in this area outside of scholars and genealogists. In their case, they were here for both.

“I can grab the books we need since I’m the only one qualified to do so, and you can cross reference the names, alright?”

A glint of excitement gleaned in her emerald hues as she slowly turned around in the middle of the room. She was like a child at Christmas time that opened her present for the first time. The petite brunette had spent hours here, and she had loved every minute of it despite her desperate search for answers. She was in her own personal heaven at the moment and if she remembered correctly, the books she needed would be located a few shelves down.

Her eyes rolled towards the heavens—John could be overly dramatic when he wanted to be.

“Be careful. The last thing we need is your snort on an irreplaceable volume.”

It was like old times again. While John was never one for books or history, Lux had no trouble admonishing him for his lack of interest in the finer aspects of their craft. Performing a spell was only half the battle, and that was why she was the only one in their Circle to discover the hidden aspects of her abilities. Those same abilities were still growing, still changing, and still evolving—to what? She wasn’t exactly sure, but one thing was for certain, those abilities drained her. The more she practiced, the less tired she became, but unfortunately for her, the youngest Warren could only do so much. It wasn’t enough to defeat the shadows that lingered around each and every one of them, yet perhaps the more she honed her abilities; the greater their chances grew.

“Bum.”

A smirk curled at the corners of her lips as she stopped turning in the direction she needed to go. The lighthearted banter was amusing, and she couldn’t help but feel as thought things were finally on the right track between the both of them. As John would compare names, Lux would dive into the stacks of books. Lithe fingers reached out to gingerly touch the leather binds as emerald hues scanned the gold lettering on the side. She was looking for three particular volumes—the Salem census during the 1600s, a book on Salem pedigree and church records, and lastly a book on convicted and suspected criminals of witchcraft. That was always the best place to start and luckily Salem’s record keeper at the time did an impeccable job at documenting everyone. Any reference to any of those volumes would also suffice.

Time ticked on as she found herself loaded with a pile of books—she was used to carrying a heavy weight, but unfortunately she was already boggled down with the bag she should have deposited on the table earlier.

“John, think you could help me back here for a moment?”

Her voice sounded slightly strained as she attempted a balancing act.

He managed to stabilize the falling stack before it hit the ground. Perhaps she had been a little too hasty in grabbing everything she could possibly find on the shelves. It was addicting—one book led to another and then to another until finally she ended up with a good portion of books on Salem during the witch trials. Most of the groundwork had been originally completed several years ago, but there was still more to find now that she had more information to go on. By the amused glint in his eyes, she knew she had gotten a little bit carried away. The large leather tome on top was promptly removed and placed towards the side—she could come back for that later.

Lux didn’t have much time to protest as he took her bag and grasped her hand firmly in his. Her arm was practically pulled out of her socket and she was lucky that the books decided not to fall to the floor in that moment.

“Hold up, you’re going to make me drop all this.”

She snapped back as her chewed down on her lower lip. Lux held onto the books between her arm and her chin as if her life depended on it and soon enough they were back at the main table. Exhausted, she dropped the books down with care just before her curiosity was peaked. He had made some progress and as he spoke, her gaze followed the lines’ path. Their families were a tangled web, which wasn’t surprising. She had always known that to be true, but to finally see it in front of her was another story.

“Here you mean?”

She pointed to a name, Kincaid, scribbled on one of his notes. The name wasn’t familiar, but there were several mentions of it in the Irvine, Steele, Larson and Parker lists. Why would four of the six families mention a name if it didn’t hold some relevance? There had been no mention of it in her family’s book, which she found strange.

“What makes you think there’s a connection to my family? There’s no mention of the name in our book. You would think there would be if they were.”

The palm of his hand felt warm as it practically seared through the fabric of her sweater. She attempted to focus on the conversation, but wound that proving to be increasingly difficult. A fog developed in the recesses of her mind and all she could think about was the way his thumb traced a pattern of small circles across whatever bare skin he managed to find. The distance between them closed and she couldn’t help herself—her head turned towards his as the tip of her nose barely grazed his check. He inhaled the sweet mixture of cologne and fresh soap.

“I…I’m not sure. Why would they want to keep…”

For the first time Lux found it increasingly difficult to finish a thought. Whatever the thought was, it was important. Her forehead leaned forward against his as long lashes whispered closed.

“…it from us?”

John appeared to have more of his wits, yet for some reason she was experiencing some kind of blockage. It was almost as if the information didn’t want to be found and she didn’t care in the least. All she could seem to concentrate on was John and just how close they were standing to one another. The petite brunette simply nodded along as she bit down on her lower lip. The room felt as though it was growing increasingly humid and stuffier.

“Is it getting warmer in here or is it just me?”

Her body twisted against his own as the back of her legs brushed against the table. He lifted her with ease in that moment causing her feet to dangle inches above the floor before he deposited her right there on top of the surface. Her arms easily fell on top of his shoulders as their lips played with one another. There were no soft nips or gentle caresses these were bold and demanding. The sound of the door snapped shut but was barely registered in her subconscious. The petite witch was consumed with a hunger that she just couldn’t seem to quench—all she wanted was John and nothing more.

Soft moans were barely audible behind heavy kisses. The tips of her fingers would curl around his neck, as her nails would bite at the exposed skin. Hips would find themselves sliding forward as he pulled her closer—their bodies molding into one another. Those same hands moved of their own accord finding their way underneath the collar of his plaid shirt and as her hands went across his broad shoulders, his shirt would go with it.

The hiss of cold air sent a shiver up and down her exposed porcelain skin as he tugged her sweater up and off her small frame. Her usually faculties were dead to her at the moment and while she was never one to care much about other people and their anti public displays of affection motos, Lux realized that John preferred to keep this part of their lives to themselves. It wasn’t a bad thing, but this had been a first for them—something she never would have thought he was ever interested in. The brunette wasn’t about to complain and didn’t even consider doing so.

Her bold nature had taken its hold, which is why she didn’t even hesitate. Lithe fingers found themselves wrapped around the edge of his belt as she tugged hard. The buckle quickly gave way as it was released and pulled free, which was followed by a swift pop of a button and a firm yank of the zipper. Her heartbeat pounded rapidly against her chest as she pushed the hem of his jeans down. A wicked little smirk had appeared as her hand found its way past his boxers only to wrap around him. There was no doubt in either of their minds as she was met with his immediate approval. She drank in his kiss as her tongue shamelessly slid across the roof of his mouth, while her hand would travel purposely up and down his length.

Her jeans would follow suit and before she knew it, she was roughly tugged off the table and twisted around. The clothes were kicked to the side as his hand forced her down across the counter. Her hands wrapped around the edges just as he entered her, which caused a moan of satisfaction to escape from her lips and her spine to arch away from him. Each kiss felt like a brand across her back as her hips naturally rolled and pushed back against his momentum creating the most delicious friction. It didn’t matter that they were in the basement of the town hall—all that mattered to her was to feed the hunger that burned in the pit of her stomach.

She felt the strap of her bra drag across her shoulder as she involuntarily took a quick intake of breath. Those lips parted slightly as every nerve ending sizzled with a growing desire. Her smooth curves glistened underneath the overhead lighting as her head was tilted as far back as it could go—resting against his shoulder. Their bodies were molded perfectly against one another as her knuckles turned white from the force of her grip.

She didn’t care that their research was now scattered across the floor—all she could think about was the way her body retracted to his own. Every inch of her body would give and mold with each thrust, as he was bringing her to a higher plane.

He tugged at the strands of her hair and she acquiesced—their lips sealed together as if they needed the other in order to breathe. Her increasing moans were muffled by the sinful kiss as she wantonly allowed him to have his way. Her knees grew weak, but his strong hold kept her from falling towards the table or ground. He was her anchor as she simply borrowed his strength. She forgot about breathing, she ignored the outside world, and she definitely neglected the reason for their visit. It was strange—they had come here with a specific purpose and now it was as if their reason never existed.