DISCLAIMER: Yeah, I know, I know they don't show up here, but I don't own Malice or any of its characters. They all belong to Chris Wooding.
So I hope you enjoy this chapter.
R&R!
CHAPTER THREE-
"Wynter," I hear a voice say. "Wynter, wake up."
I open my eyes and realize that I had indeed been sleeping. I see Jordan hovering over me. He seems to have recovered from his blow to his head, and he looks concerned. I touch my face. Tears are frozen there, like a mask. I break them off and toss them to the side. Jordan kneels down beside me.
"You alright?" he asks. I nod. He frowns. "You don't look alright."
"Im fine," I say, cursing my voice for quavering.
"No you're not," he decides, and sits next to me in the snow. I think it must be cold for him and am about to say as much when he shoots me a glance, warning me to keep my mouth shut. I can't win, so I let him sit. "Can I try something?" he asks after a pause, then adds, "You'll probably not like it."
"Okay," I say. I'm too miserable to care whether I like it or not. He reaches out tentatively and touches my shoulder. The frost spreads away from his finger as if a wave is pushing it back. My skin tingles where he touches it and I gasp. I reach up to my shoulder and pull his finger away.
"Sorry," he says. Then he shivers. I then realize how cold he must be, but I know next to nothing about warming up. I touch his shoulder gently. The frost on my fingertips fades and cold water seeps into his jacket. He looks at me. I look at him. He reaches up with his hand and takes mine off his shoulder. I assume that he is gently urging me not to do so and I lower my head. He lifts it with his hand, the one that isn't holding mine. Tears cloud my vision as I remember doing just that to Ays, not two days ago. I miss him already.
Jordan sees my tears and reaches out to comfort me, but them remembers that my frost will melt if he does. He looks frustrated and lets his arms drop to his sides. I reach out to him also, but hold myself back. If this is how it's going to be for the entire time we know each other, than it's going to be awful. I wonder if I should just turn on him and go back to Ays and Snowflayk. But I force the thought out of my mind. I lean against the tree behind me and close my eyes, frowning. I hear Jordan get up and pace nearby.
Cat and Sam come over to us. They both have brown hair and eyes. They are both exactly the same height, weight, and age. Twins. They have slightly arched eyebrows and a smile that is more of a sly twist of their lips, giving them a mischievous look that tells anyone within five feet to keep an eye on their belongings. Two of my crystal ornaments – gifts from Snowflayk – have already gone missing.
"Jordan," Cat says. "We should probably be on our way."
"Yeah," Sam says. One difference between them is that Cat talks a lot more than he does. "That awful nymph girl ain't gonna rest long before she's out for us."
"That awful nymph girl is Wynter's best friend," Jordan says defensively. "She has a name. Use it."
I reach out from my seat on the ground and touch his leg. He looks down at me. I shake my head. "They're right," I say, in a voice so quiet he has to kneel beside me to hear. "She will be out for you. You especially." I sit up so that we're eye to eye and put a hand on his shoulder. "We should be on our way."
He stand up and starts pacing again, leaving my hand hovering in the air. I close my eyes and hang my head, my eyes closed. My arm drops. Sam and Cat come to my side. Sam puts a hand on one shoulder, and Cat puts a hand on the other.
"Come on," they say gently. "Get up, now. We'll move faster that way."
I get up obediently, but I don't look at Jordan. I lead the trio out of the forest into Malice. And I freeze. But not from the cold. From the warmth. I am suddenly dripping wet as the frost that covers me melts all at once. My tears mix with the water and I run back into the forest. I hide behind a tree until the frost is back, and then I shiver uncontrollably until Jordan, Cat and Sam are all kneeling beside me, looking frantic.
"I'm fine," I say through chattering teeth. "I just ... I can't go out there. It's ... warm."
The three friends look at each other. "You can't hide us if you can't even go out there," Jordan says to me. I nod, new tears freezing to my face. He brushes them away, and the little ice droplets shatter when he flicks them. "Don't even think about crying," he says. I can't help it. I hug him. The boy who burned my trees is becoming my friend. I don't understand, but I find that as my frost melts ... I care less.
This boy could prove very, very dangerous.
I sit there, by that tree at the edge of the forest for a very long time, my arms wrapped around him. Eventually I pull away, horrified at myself, and dash up a tree. I refuse to come down for at least an hour, before he finally convinces me. He sighs and brushes away the new tears that have frozen to my face.
"You've got to stop crying so much," he says. His lips are most certainly blue, and his cheeks are red, small white dots forming in each one. Frostbite.
"And you've got to get out of here," I tell him. "You'll catch a cold, and you're getting frostbite. Please, get out of the Cube."
"But, you ..." He doesn't seem to want to leave. Which is frustrating, because I'm finding that I don't want him to leave either. If he had wanted to go it would have been far easier to convince myself that we aren't friends.
But, like it or not, we are, and I'm not really into abandoning my friends. And it would seem that neither is he. I chew my lip and shift my feet. I really don't know what to do. Should I go with him or not? The twins seem to be eager to get out, but he seems like he could wait a lifetime for my descision, and I hate him for it. If he tries to wait that long he'll freeze to death. And if I tell him that I'm not going ... I remember the look in his eyes the last time I abandoned him to fend for himself. I don't want him to look like that again.
I sigh and look longingly back into the forest. Then I turn back to him, steely determination in my eyes. "I'll come."
"But ..." he touches my arm and the frost melts at his fingertips. "You'll melt."
I look at him. "You wanted me to come. If you didn't you could've said so." I start to walk into the forest.
"No, wait!" He lunges forward and grabs my arm. I watch the frost melt, and am horrified to find that I don't care at all. "Please," he says. "Show us a way back home."
"Well, where's back home?" I ask, putting my hands on my hips. I notice how his breath clouds the air when he exhales. Mine doesn't. It's as icy as the air and wind.
"We ..." He hesitates, as though he realised something. "We want to go back to Earth," he finishes quietly. I find it harder to breathe, and my limbs freeze. I think I am trembling, but I can't tell. He brushes my arm and runs his hand down until it touches mine, and he squeezes my fingers gently. "Wynter?" he says quietly.
"Earth ..." I say. I can't go to Earth. I'll never be able to come back to the Cube if I go there. Unless, of course, it's winter there. "What's it like?"
He smiles. "You'd hate it," is all he says. "Even now. I mean, sure, there's snow everywhere and it hurts to breathe in, but ..." He sees my eyes go wide. "No ... Wynter it's nothing like this. I promise you'll hate it if you come."
I shake my head. "Just for a bit. Until I'm ready."
"Ready for what?" he asks, frowning. I look him up and down and raise an eyebrow.
"To come back," I say. He nods his understanding. I look past his shoulder at the rest of Malice outside. I don't know if I'm ready. But if he stays here much longer he'll catch hypothermia, and of course I'll feel responsible. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and step out of the Cube.
Well, here we go. chapter three.
I really have no idea where I'm going with this story...
Review please!
-The Demons.
