THE TIME LINE OF THE BOOK HAS BEEN ALTERED TO FIT THIS STORY- the book ends somewhere in late November, but I changed the time line so that the book ends closer to February because this story takes place in winter.
I was inspired by a scene in Riverdale, episode 13. You don't have to watch the episode to understand this, but I was inspired by it, so I do give credit to that show.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Daniel honestly wasn't sure where Herman came from.
One minute, Daniel was walking home from school (his bike had a flat tire, so he'd left it at home that day, and he wasn't riding the bus to avoid a still angry Mollie and Rohan), and the next, Herman Plunkett, who's supposed to be dead, is standing in front of him.
Daniel panicked. Herman was smiling a grin that meant he was up to no good (was he ever not up to no good?), and he was almost within arm's length of Daniel.
Daniel back tracked and sprinted in the opposite direction of both Herman and Daniel's home. The vroom of an engine alerted him of Herman following him, and Daniel cut through the woods, where the car couldn't follow him and bolted deeper into the collection of trees.
He wanted to scream for help, but what was the point? He was in the woods where there was no one around to hear him anyway, and each footstep meant he was getting farther and farther away from the nearest neighborhood.
Daniel burst out of the trees and continued running down the road he found himself on, kicking up clouds of snow as he went.
"Help!" He wailed, even though he knew there wasn't a single house within ear shot.
Herman's car rumbled behind him, gaining rapidly, and Daniel sought out another place Herman couldn't follow him in the car.
Tangle Creek.
As it was the middle of winter, the creek was covered with a sheet of ice and over that, a blanket of snow. Daniel sunk in the white powder up to his knees as his sneakers hit the ice.
Daniel dashed across the creek, trying to reach the other side as fast as possible, when he heard a car door slam from behind him.
Daniel ran faster, but adding speed also increased the force his feet hit the ice, and Daniel didn't notice the groan the ice gave as his feet hit it, nor did he see the small fissure appear under the snow.
Daniel had just reached the middle of the creek when a heavy weight collided with his back, knocking him off balance. Herman may be small and old, but he was not weak, and anger only increased his strength. After all, Daniel had ruined his whole plan to control the Supers of Noble's Green and had nearly gotten him killed; that was bound to induce incredible amounts of rage and send the elderly man chasing his chance at revenge.
Daniel's chest struck the ice, and their combined weights was too much for the thin layer of ice. It crumbled and dissolved with a thunderous crack, and Daniel and Herman plunged into the frigid water.
Daniel could barely see anything. The blanket of snow that had fallen on top of the ice also provided a sheet of darkness below; little sunlight snuck its way into the waters under the frozen surface.
Daniel searched for Herman before kicking his way towards the hole in the ice, where sunlight reflected off the water and allowed a small amount of light to see by.
He was too late.
Herman appeared in the light and smiled maliciously at Daniel before scrambling through the hole and onto the unbroken surface above.
Daniel's limbs cut through water like a butter knife through cement, the current dragging him in every direction but up.
At last, Daniel reached the surface, his lungs begging for oxygen, and his body yearning for warmth. He reached for the spot of sunlight...
His hand hit ice.
Panic consumed him as Daniel frantically searched for the hole but only found ice and darkness as far as he could see (which wasn't far).
Daniel glanced through the ice and saw the warped form of Herman kick snow over the circle that had once been Daniel's only exit.
Daniel was completely swallowed by darkness.
How had Herman done that? How had he closed the hole?
Herman had stolen powers. The meteorite contained those powers, including the ability to fly, super strength, and much more. Daniel wouldn't be surprised if Herman had stolen some poor kid's ice powers years or even decades prior. If Herman still has the meteorite in his possession, he'd likely still have the powers, too.
And now he was using them to kill Daniel.
Daniel's lungs burned, and the current swirled around him, yanking him to the right and twirling him, almost like a sick dance. Daniel's fingertips glided along the ice ceiling, occassionally curling into his palms to form a fist and pounding the ice. It may be too thin to hold the weight of a thirteen year old boy for too long, but it was too thick to be punched clean through by a mostly ordinary teenage boy.
Daniel felt guilty about it, but he wished he could borrow Eric's powers right about now.
How long had he been under here? More than a minute, maybe even more than two. He was running out of time.
Daniel's vision started to turn black, and it wasn't because of the darkness surrounding him beneath the frozen surface.
But then he saw light.
Daniel turned to see a little girl with her hair in ringlets and a bright light surrounding her, almost like an aura, floating towards him.
He recognized her...
"Gram," he murmured, bubbles fluttering out of his mouth before he clamped his lips closed again. He remembered the girl from the picture beside the article about the St. Alban's fire. Eileen Stewart as a little girl.
She smiled and reached out her hand.
Daniel's world felt like it was imploding. His head ached; his lungs burned; he couldn't take this agony anymore.
He took her hand and opened his mouth, inhaling the freezing water and feeling it slip down his throat and into his stomach and lungs.
Strangely, that was when it all stop hurting.
Daniel heard a splintering sound in the distance, but he barely registered it as his suddenly depressed Gram vanished from view, the darkness of unconsciousness finally flooding his vision.
The last thing he felt were two hands wrapping around his upper arms, and a cold brush of wind hitting his cheek.
Then he felt nothing at all.
"Clay, man, we're not any closer to finding this rock thing, and it's been over a year! Don't you think it's time to give it up?" Bud asked.
"Please, Bud, do you know me?" Clay demanded.
Bud frowned. "Yes..."
"Then you should know I don't give up on anything, including finding that rock!"
Their argument was interrupted by a loud yell, and they turned, looking between the trees to see that new kid, Theo Plunkett, punching the ice covering Tangle Creek.
"What are you doing?" Clay called, curious and irritated by the loud noise.
"Daniel went under!" Theo yelled in return. "Help me!"
Only vaguely understanding what he meant, Clay and Bud raced across the ice, which amazingly held their weight.
Clay and Bud appeared beside Theo, and their eyes widened upon seeing a blurry combination of colors below the ice, which Theo had scraped the snow off of. A blue shirt, a black hoodie, blue jeans... and sandy brown hair.
Clay wasn't one to play hero, but he was no killer. No way was he about to let a person die, especially not the kid that saved them all from the Shroud the previous year.
Clay roared and punched clean through the ice, ducking as splintered shards of crystal showered over the three of them.
Daniel didn't rise to the surface on his own as he continued to float just below the surface, motionless.
Clay wrapped one hand around Daniel's right upper arm while Theo did the same with his left, and together, the teens heaved Daniel onto the frozen surface.
Theo leaned down, placing his ear directly above the younger boy's mouth.
No breath ghosted over his skin.
Theo pinched Daniel's nose and blew air between Daniel's pale blue lips, feeling the dangerously cold skin of the lifeless boy.
Theo pressed on Daniel's chest, nearly crying at the thought of the first boy- really the only person- to welcome Theo to Noble's Green (since almost everyone else had seemed weary of him for some reason) dying in his arms.
Theo repeated the actions, and just as he was inhaling into Daniel's mouth for the third time, the boy sputtered and coughed, water spurting out of his mouth and into Theo's face, but the older boy didn't care. He only cared that Daniel was alive.
Daniel was too weak, exhausted, and oxygen deprived to offer any stories or explanations, so Clay lifted the surprisingly light boy off the ice and took a few steps forward. Bud and Theo followed him as they carried Daniel in the direction of the closest house (which happened to be Theo's).
Theo unlocked the door and stepped aside to allow Clay and Bud inside. The eldest boy quickly started a fire, turned up the heat, and gathered every blanket he could find.
"We have no idea how long he was under; I wasn't exactly keeping track," Theo explained as he wrapped the slumbering boy in the twenty something blankets, "but it was a long time. I don't know much about hypothermia, but I do not want him to get it."
Clay nodded. "Bud, go call Eric. He'll call Daniel's parents and all that."
Bud nodded and withdrew his phone from his pocket to call the Super.
"So what happened?" Clay asked.
Theo shrugged. "I don't know all of it. I was walking home from school when I heard Daniel yelling for help. I saw this car chasing him, and I watched as he ran out onto the ice to escape.
"An old man got out of the car and followed him. The man was angry; I don't know why, but I've never seen anyone so angry. He tackled Daniel, and the ice broke underneath them.
"The man came back up a few seconds later, and he touched the water, and... I almost didn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. When he touched the water, it immediately turned back into ice. The man got back in his car and drove away, and that's when I snapped out of it and tried to break the ice."
Bud walked back over.
"Eric's on his way," he informed them. "He called Mollie, and she'll bring Daniel's parents here."
Clay opened his mouth to respond when a groan caused all of them to spin around to face the boy lying on the sofa.
"Ow..." Daniel mumbled, hand reaching towards his chest, which was probably singing with agony after so long without oxygen.
"How are you feeling?" Theo questioned.
"Chest hurts," Daniel replied. "Cold, but otherwise, okay."
Daniel tried to sit up, but Theo and Bud rushed to push him back down.
"Woah, easy there, tiger," Theo laughed. "You drowned. You need to relax."
Daniel nodded, too tired to even think about putting up a fight.
The door burst open, banging off the wall, and a girl raced inside faster than the speed of light.
"Mollie," Daniel whispered as the said girl pulled to a stop beside him.
"Geesh, Mol, I know you're worried, but you could've gone a little slower," Rohan muttered as he entered the room, dizzy from Mollie's speed.
"Daniel's parents were both out, so my mom called them, and they should be hear soon. Rohan and I came on ahead," Mollie explained, not tearing her eyes away from Daniel.
"What happened?" Rohan asked as he knelt beside his friend.
"Herman-" Daniel began, but he didn't get the chance to finish because Eric, Louisa, and Rose appeared in the doorway.
"Daniel!" Rose squealed, running over and gently taking his hand (Louisa probably warned her to be careful beforehand).
"Hey, Rose," Daniel smiled. "Anyway, guys, the Shroud's back," Daniel told them, confusing Theo, who they had apparently forgotten was there. "Or more accurately, he was never gone."
"Don't worry, Daniel," Eric said, taking his other hand, not caring about the possibility of losing his powers, and stared the boy hard in the eye. "We'll handle the Shroud just like we did last year. Together."
For the first time in a long time, Daniel didn't feel alone.
Just a sweet little one shot I thought of. Hope you liked it! Please leave a review! Bye!