Author's Note: Wow! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited, and followed this story. I really appreciate it! Just as last time, I would really like it if I recieved thoughts from you guys. As a writer, I would like to know what you readers think! Thank you so much, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians.
Chapter Two
A scream echoes through the house and my eyes pop open. I fling my snowman printed comforter off of myself, barely registering the shock of cold that envelopes my body as I rush out of bed. Forgetting my glasses, I almost ram head first into my door frame, but skittle around it at the last moment. As I race down the hall to find the source of the shrill shriek, my mind conjures different scenarios that could have caused the cry, all equally as terrifying.
I skid to a halt in front of my brother's room and fling the door open, bracing myself for something horrendous to be on the other side. Instead, I am greeted with Henry jumping up and down around the room, hollering about a snow day. My jaw almost drops to the ground.
"Are you for real!?" I screech, just about ready to strangle my little brother, "I almost had a heart attack because of you!" I jut an accusing finger out at him, attempting to scold the nine year old brat. Alas, he doesn't even have the decency to acknowledge that I am standing in his doorway. I stomp towards him and grab him by the shoulders, whirling him around to face me.
"Oh, hey Cam!" he chirps, as if nothing out of the ordinary had transpired in the last five minutes, "guess what!" he continues, grabbing my hand and leading me towards the window, still bouncing on his heels.
"Guess what….guess what?" I echo, after my rude awakening I was not in the mood for anymore surprises, "that's all you have to-"
My brother interrupts me before I could finish. He pushes me from behind, practically squishing my face against the glass of his window.
"Look!" Henry exclaims and clasps his hands together, "isn't it awesome?"
As I peer outside I stifle a small gasp, I don't need my glasses to see that the street below is concealed under a blanket of crispy snow. The flakes continue to fall, swirling down in flurries as they attempt to cover the many imprints of boots that litter the side walk.
My lips tug into a smile at the sight, but I turn away to face my brother once again.
"Yeah, I guess you're right kiddo," I reply, forgetting the fact that I was upset with him a couple of moments ago.
I smirk and ruffle his shaggy brown hair while his hands go up on reflex as an effort to shield himself.
"Hey!" he protests, pushing my offending hands away, "no fair!"
I hum absentmindedly and steal a glance at Henry's alarm clock that reads 'seven thirty a.m.'.
"Are mom and dad up yet?" I ask, going over to sit on his bed. I pat the space next to me as an invitation for Henry to come and join me. He jumps on beside me and the bed lets out a loud creak.
"Yeah," he begins, sitting down on his knees, "they woke me up to tell me that school was cancelled before they left for work."
I am about to reply when he cuts in again.
"And," he emphasizes, a grin that Cheshire would be proud of spreads on his face before he continues, "mom said that I could invite James and Cody over."
I have the urge to slap my forehead, my mother officially hates me. The last time my brother invited his two friends over they almost turned the whole house upside down and guess who was stuck cleaning up the mess? Yours truly.
I groan, and if it's even possible his grin grows wider.
"What is it?" I dead pan and cradle my head in my hands, massaging my temples.
"And," Henry starts again, "dad gave me money so that you could go to store to get us chips and anything else that we need." He finishes smugly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You have got to be kidding me, dad did not say that." Great, now my father was against me too, what did I ever do to deserve this kind of punishment?
"Well," he drags, "he didn't actually say that you had to get everything we wanted, but it was implied."
I let out another moan of despair and hang my head. There goes my day of trying to get something productive done. I hop off the bed and begin heading towards the doorway.
Just as I am about to leave I look back at my brother who is still sitting on his bed and grinning like a maniac. I sigh and give in, "fine, but just this once Henry." I lean against the door frame to watch his reaction. His eyes light up and he jumps, fist raised into the air.
"Yes!" he shouts with a huge grin present on his face. I laugh as I retreat back into my room. Even though Henry can sometimes be an obnoxious brat, he, like everyone, has his sweet moments that make it hard for me to ever deny him of something that would make him happy.
After triple checking that my brother and his two friends would be alright at home without me, I tighten my wool scarf around my neck, adjust my earmuffs, and open the door to outside. A bitter wind nips at my face as I step outside into the winter wonderland. I close the door behind me, pocket the key and begin my long walk to the grocery store. Under normal circumstances the walk would only take me fifteen minutes, but seeing as there was about five inches of snow on the ground I will be lucky if I make it in half an hour.
My breath comes out in small puffs as I walk down the snow covered sidewalk, past various shops all decorated for Christmas. I smile and wave at some kids that rush past me with their friends, some carrying snowballs and some just with lumps of snow in their hands. None the less, they hurl the snow at one another, shrieking and laughing as the some of the bitter cold substance manages to touch their exposed necks.
I begin to hum, 'Let it Snow', as I attempt to catch a snowflake and when I do I greet the icy coolness of the flake when it touches my tongue with glee. I release a happy sigh as my eyes dance around the scenery around me. The bare trees all tremble with the added weight of the snow on their limbs. One tree branch can't handle the added pressure so with one particular blow of the winter wind, a lump of snow falls from the branch onto a pedestrians head. I cover my mouth with my red mitten to stop a giggle as I watch the said business man scowl up at the tree.
I am about to turn the corner when I notice something out of the corner of my eye. I stop in mid-stride and spin on my heel. I let out a loud gasp which causes a couple of people to give me a second glance.
"Sorry," I mutter, and begin to push past a couple of pedestrians, advancing towards the figure that caught my attention. There! Strolling not even a couple of metres in front of me is a teenager wearing a strikingly familiar blue sweater and carrying a ridiculous Shepard's staff.
It is the same boy from last night!
"Hey!" I call, waving my hand in the air as an attempt to get his attention, "you with the staff, uh, thing!"
He whirls around and points an accusing finger at himself, questioning if he is the one that I am referring to.
"Yes you, with the white hair!" I walk closer to him, trying to ignore the strange looks that people are beginning to give me.
His face takes on a very confused look, as if not believing that I am talking to him. He glances around himself, double checking that I am not talking to the person behind or near him.
I approach him and he begins to back away slowly, that's when I notice he isn't wearing any shoes.
"Aren't your feet cold?" I ask, completely oblivious of the fact that he is staring at me open mouthed. Have I mentioned that I am incredible at starting conversations? One of my many specialities: right after my amazing ability to deduce the most obvious things.
"You can see me?" he finally blurts out. My eyes widen and then squint down into slits. Was this guy on drugs?
"Um," I begin, slowly realizing that confronting this possibly crazy boy may not have been my best idea ever, considering that the first time I thought I saw him was jumping from roof to roof.
The chatter of the people walking around us drowns out what would have been a very awkward pause. I shift from foot to foot before replying, "yeah, listen, I think I might have made a mistake, sorry to bother you!" I rush out, before quickly whipping around and briskly walking away from the dumbstruck teenager.
"Wait!" I hear him call out from behind me and I pick up my pace while balling my hands up into fists inside of my mittens. Why did I have to talk to him? Couldn't my blatant curiosity just shut up for a couple of minutes? I cringe as I hear him call out to me again so I turn my long quick strides into a slight jog. Jeez, this guy was a nut job: who in the dead of winter wears no shoes, no jacket, and carries around a stick? Clearly not someone who was sane, but what if he was homeless? The thought of that causes my heart to clench and I almost turn back around, but I batter my sympathetic subconscious down and continue jogging up the street.
At this point I am extremely lost in my thoughts about this mysterious boy that I fail to notice that I am jogging right past the grocery store, when I do realize, I am about to turn back when I collide with an achingly hard surface. Embarrassingly enough, I slip on the snow and land right on my back. A steering pain shoots up my spine to my head and I let out a groan that sounds more like an old man wheeze. I attempt to regain my footing, but with my currently spinning head I manage to almost fall again, but at the last second someone takes a hold of my elbow and straightens me upright.
I look up to thank the person who had helped me up and when I do I am met with a broadly smiling face.
"I'm Jack!"
"Ah!" I shriek, springing back a bit, "what th- argh what are you doing!?"
My face turns a beet red, embarrassed that the boy that I was running away from had helped me. I brace myself to resume my run again when he replies.
"Well, I saw that you were about to fall, so I helped you!" he replies cheerfully, leaning a little bit on his staff. I try give him a sheepish grin but that turns out more like a grimace. That's when I realize that he's not actually standing.
He's floating.
My mind goes blank, I feel the temperature drop in my body, and I do what any other rational girl would have done in my situation, I scream bloody murder. I sprint as fast as I can away from the boy, alien, creature thing, or whatever he is without looking back.
The adrenaline pumps through my body as I rush past stores and houses. The only thought racing through my mind is that I have to get away from this being. I had never seen something, heard, or even thought that something like him could exist! Was the universe playing one huge joke on me? The 'Mess with Camila's Brain Game', as if I didn't have enough going on already! No, let's just throw in a floating boy with a Shepard's hook in the mix too, that will lighten her up!
I don't even notice when I reach my house. I scramble up the porch steps and with shaking hands, fumble around in my jacket pocket to find the house key. A feeling of relief washes over me when I feel the familiar grooves of the key in my hands. I insert it into the key hole, rush into the house, and slam the door shut. I slide against the door until I am sitting on the floor. My thoughts are a scrambled mess, and I could feel the beginnings of a pounding headache emerge.
My brother Henry interrupts my thoughts as he yells down the stairs from his bedroom, "Cam?"
"Yeah?" I croak back, shutting my eyes tightly, and pressing my palms tightly to my cheeks.
"Did you get our chips?"