Chapter Text
Jackson Overland was a quiet and sneaky child, growing up on the streets of Burgess, Pennsylvania.
I suppose you get that way when your parents raise you Wiccan. The majority of families Jackson came into contact with at school and in his neighborhood were Christian or Catholic, and once they learned that the Overlands were Wiccan, well, Jackson and his little sister Sophie suddenly had a lot less friends.
In fact, they no longer had friends at all.
Normally, kids in such positions would turn on their parents for alienating them from other children and families. Not so the Overlands.
Instead, Jackson and his sister took to sneaking around the neighborhood in their spare time (which there was indeed a surplus of) and frightening the families that had shunned them for their religion.
He and Sophie got very good indeed at hanging out of trees, popping up behind bushes, and sneaking through creaky fence doors.
The Overland parents got quite a few complaints once the neighbors caught on.
Sure, they did give their children stern talking-tos, said that they simply could not continue on bothering the entire neighborhood as they had been.
“You know, Mom, we wouldn’t have to entertain ourselves like this if those silly close-minded bigots would learn to accept other people like their God told them to,” Jackson quipped one time after a particularly long complaint from Mr. Ferreira two houses down.
He’d stood in the doorway, a foot from Mrs. Overland’s face, bad breath and spit flying from his mouth as he yelled about how that freaky witch boy had ruined his cabbages, nevermind the fact that it was mid-December and his cabbages weren’t in bloom anyway.
“Oh, what are you, Jack, the religion police?” Mrs. Overland shot back at her son. “You’re just as bad as them, you know, taunting them for being rude, it’s really quite hypocritical of you!”
Jack rolled his eyes so far back into his head that his mother feared they may pop right out of his skull.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Jackson, you know playing tricks on everyone all the time is mean.”
“Whaaaateverrr,” Jack groaned. He smirked then, his way of showing his mother that he took what she was saying to heart, even if he didn’t necessarily agree with it. Eighteen-year-olds are strange that way.
Jack turned around and grabbed a coat. “I’m taking Sophie out to skate on the lake, okay, Mom?” he said as he walked away.
“That’s fine, so long as you’re actually going to go skating.”
Jack made a gross sort of vomiting noise in response.
“Be careful!” Mrs. Overland called as she heard the back door swing open.
“We will!” Jack’s voice shouted back.
Not an hour later, as the shadows began to grow longer, Jack was standing on the lake, watching his sister’s eyes brimming with tears as the ice began cracking beneath her skates.
“Jack… I’m scared,” Sophie said, her voice trembling.
“I know,” Jack responded calmly. “I know… but you’re gonna be alright. You’re not gonna fall in.”
The gears in his mind were turning full speed, desperately thinking of a way to get his little sister to safety.
A glance to the right showed a strange, curved tree branch of sorts, and suddenly he knew exactly what to do.
“We’re gonna have a little fun instead.”
“No, we’re not!” shouted Sophie. She gasped as the ice cracked more.
“Would I trick you?”
“Yes, you always play tricks!”
“Well, alright,” he conceded, deciding to be more careful with her in the future.
“Well, not this time. I promise. I promise, you’re gonna be fine.”
Jack caught her gaze, made sure she could see in his eyes he was telling her the truth.
“You have to believe in me.”
Sophie smiled slightly at that, and Jack bounced right back into his normal joking demeanor.
“You wanna play a game?” he asked his sister, beaming at her. “We are going to play hopscotch! Like we play every day,” he said, as if she needed reminding. Hopscotch was a silly pastime in between pranks on neighbors and schoolmates, a way for Sophie to join in on her classmates’ fun even though they excluded her. Jack was more than happy to play with her; anything for Sophie.
Anything.
Jack took a deep breath.
“It’s as easy as one –“ – a step right – “- two –“ – another step – “- three!”
Jack grabbed the strange branch and used it to yank Sophie off the cracked ice and toss her back towards the edge of the lake, where the ice was thicker and they could walk safely back to land.
At least, that was the plan.
Sophie tumbled across the top of the frozen lake, stopping just before the bank, smiling and laughing, shocked yet completely unsurprised how her brother had saved her, until she saw where he now stood – exactly the spot he had just saved her from.
“Jack, no –!”
But it was too late. Jack hadn’t realized where he was standing, and in his excitement he took a step forward, wanting to run and grab Sophie and carry her back home to warmth and safety, when with one final, earsplitting CRACK!, the ice finally broke apart and Jack was swallowed up by the dark, icy depths.