This is the second part of the dream I had. There is still one or two more parts to go before the dream ended. There was a lot of vivid imagery, I have to say. And I won't deny that some of what happened was embellished a bit (like dialogue), but 90% of this is straight of the dream I had.

I got a review! Yay! I'm glad you like it. Hopefully you'll stick around to hear the ending!

-In Amber Clad

The summer waned away, and finally gave into the colder seasons. Of course, that was partially Jack Frost's doing. It was not yet time for snow, but there was frost on the windows, on the grass on the front lawns, on the cars parked out front. Jack had made his way around the world in one fast trip. After three hundred years of experience, he knew his way around and how to get it down quickly. He could have let the natural weather patterns take their course, but he was getting tired of sitting around. After months of watching those children, nothing had happened yet.

Then why was this ache in the back of his mind? This feeling of dread that just won't go away? He made his way back to the house on the oak decorated street. The leaves had turned and filled the lawns with red and orange. It was evening again. The setting sun seemed to make the colors brighter. The second thing he noticed was that the car was missing in the driveway. Normally the parents were back from work at this hour.

Jack drifted down on the wind and set himself on Zell's window cill, which had become his favorite perch to watch over them when they played out in the street, on the odd chance he didn't want to play along. Staff in hand, he pushed the window open. The lock was broken, as it had been when he first arrived. The room was dark, with only the sunlight streaming in. He hopped down and looked about. The bed had been made. Where was the girl? Did she stay at school? Of course not, what kid in their right mind would want to stay at school? That feeling on the back of his neck tingled. To be safe, he readied his staff and stepped quietly through the hallway. He checked the other rooms to find no one was there.

The house was empty again. Jack was a little put out. The family had long since unpacked their moving boxes. Everything had its place, even the calendar on the… wall. Jack walked up to it and looked at the date. It was the second weekend of October. There were seven days circled red on the calendar, from Friday to Friday. It was labeled, "Fall Break Vacation." Jack let out a sigh of relief and smacked his forehead.

"Of course, Jack, how could you forget?" he said to himself. "Where did they go again?" He looked around again and found papers of a bay-side resort. He knew that bay. He'd flown over it many times, so he recognized the aerial shot immediately. With that, he was upstairs and out the window (closing it behind him to not let the spiders in). The wind swept him away and off into the night he went.

The dream switched then. It was not from Jack's perspective for a small while. I could see things like an invisible camera that hovered over the children. They were walking back to the resort along the boardwalk. It was night, and the city lights were bright as day, even from the other side of the water. This city reminded me of San Diego, because of the bay, but the trees and fences and street lights looked more like a London park. Across the water, there was a huge ferry. It was nearly as large as a cruise ship, but not nearly as tall. It stretched out across the water, slowly being pushed by unseen motors. The most distinctive feature of this ferry was the spinal like structure on either side. It was just like those steel arch bridges that allow trains to pass over ravines and rivers, but it was painted white and decorated with lights. I knew there were many people on that ferry. I could tell that it was used not only for transportation, but also as a pleasure cruise. You could almost hear the music across the water. That is, until the explosions roared out.

The city erupted in blazes. Enormous fireballs hit skyscraper and building, trees and boats. That wonderful ferry that had been the center of my attention for some time was no exception. It too was hit, and from where the children were, you could only see the fire and hear the roar. There had been people killed then, I'm sure. I'm sure they screamed and maybe jumped into the water if they could, but from where I was, I could only see the fires and the smoke and the ferry breaking apart and sinking into the bay.

I was so focused on what was happening, I had forgotten about the children. I was Jack again. Two of the children were beneath me, shielded by a wall of ice. Jack breathed heavily, frightened for them and exhausted from travelling so fast. It was a while before he had the will to stand and observe the damage. The two he had saved were the youngest, and they cried from confusion and terror. The other… where was Zell?

"Stay here," Jack told them. He didn't have to tell them to, they were too scared to move. There was a large crater not too far away. This was the blast he had protected them from, and just in time too.

I want to take a moment to say that this isn't the first time I dreamed about an attack on this particular bay. War broke out in another dream of mine, and as far as I can tell, it happened on the other side where all the sky scrapers were. I never found out who was attacking, but in both of these dreams the army was very quick to respond. I'm guessing because this bay was based off of San Diego (according to dream logic) that there was already a Naval presence in the city, and that could also be why it was a target to begin with. The Navy was the target and the citizens were the victims.

Victims indeed, as Jack drew closer to the crater, there were two dark lumps smoldering near its edge. It didn't register to him at first, but the horror of it struck him hard. He had lived for over three hundred years, and had seen his fair share of the results of war. Heck, he probably was in London during the Blitz, to bring what happiness he could to the children that slowly filtered out to the countryside. This family however, he knew this family. The two corpses there he knew. Where was Zell?

"Zell?" He called out desperately. "ZEEEELLL?" He called and called her name, but he couldn't find her. He looked around the entire crater, to the edge of the trees and grass that hadn't caught fire, but she wasn't there. Before he flew upward for a better view, he heard a coughing sound. It was from a child. He followed the sound to the water's edge. He tossed himself over the edge and landed on the sand and stones to where Zell was crawling soaking wet out of the water. She sputtered and tried to breath. "Hang on, I'll get you up." He took hold of her and flew back up to the boardwalk. As soon as he set her down, Zell's brother and sister ran to them and hugged her.

The scene began to fade scene, and I only caught glimpses and feelings of what happened next. They stayed by the crater only long enough for Zell to dry off her clothes. The children knew their parents were gone, and Jack had not the heart to apologize for not saving them too. They did not blame Jack. Somehow they were grateful, sad, frightened, but still grateful to him. Because he was the only "adult" they knew, or at least recognized, they trusted him. He told them he would protect them, so he would stay. He would stay with them.