I'm sorry that this took so long to update (I've had a lot to do lately) but at least it's up now! :) Warning: this chapter gets a little...darker than my other ones. But I'm sure it isn't even that bad. I'll probably go back and change some stuff later but right now I'm too lazy -_-'. Lol, R & R! ;)
The Dark
I sprinted over to the window. "Jack!" I yelled after him, but he was already gone. Leaving nothing but a soft, cold breeze in his wake.
He...can't make it snow? I looked up at the gray sky and felt a surge of panic. Something's wrong, I thought. Really wrong.
My gaze shifted to the drawing on my desk. I had drawn Jack with his staff over his shoulder and one hand in his hoodie pocket. His mouth was turned up into a smirk and he had one eyebrow raised. How I was able to get such an accurate description of him from just one glance two days ago, I had no idea.
But this wasn't the look he left with, he looked nervous, worried, even a little bit scared. He had the same expression back at the lake too, when he saw the ice melting, the only ice I've ever seen melt in twenty-five degree weather.
"What's happening Jack?" I whispered to the sky. The wind howled a response to me and brushed against my face.
The house phone suddenly rang, making me jump and my heart beat quicken. I ran to the kitchen, picked it up off of the base and looked at the screen. Dad, I thought bitterly. Why the hell is he calling me now? This is probably the most he's ever called in one day.
I didn't even let the voicemail pick up before I pressed talk then pressed end right away. There was no way I was listening to a word that came out of his mouth, especially over the phone. If he wanted to talk to me, he could come do it in person. A couple minutes later he called again and I did the exact same thing. Ugh, I thought as the phone rang for a third time. I need to get out of here.
I grabbed my backpack with my sketch book and my pencils then walked back out into the exhilarating cold. I was already used to it though from standing near my open bedroom window. At that moment, the cold felt more comfortable then even my own home.
I turned and walked to the town square, where I then sat on one of the benches near the town Christmas tree. The cold seeped from the bench and through my jeans, making me shiver.
When I got comfortable, I took out the sketch book and looked up at the gigantic, now decorated tree towering above me. I loved this view. It made me feel happy, exited and even reminded me of waking up on Christmas morning, to see all of the presents under the tree. That...was the first taste of true magic I've ever had, and I'll never forget it.
I took out a pencil and I drew with these things in mind: searching my backyard to find colorful eggs hidden in the most random places, remembering a good dream I had and not being able to wait to tell my parents, and even losing a tooth only to wake up and find a quarter in its place under my pillow. Then lets not forget watching the snow silently fall outside and making the wait worth it when I jumped head first into it. I didn't know why I was thinking of all of those things right then, but it made my heart feel lighter, the way magic always seemed to do.
When I finished the drawing, I tore it out of the book and held it up to examine my work. I'm usually better at drawing people than objects, but I had to say this one was actually pretty good. The tree had strand after strand of multi-colored lights, topped with sparkling garland and ornaments, then the big, shinning star all the way at the top. I had even colored it in to add to the effect that the tree itself gave off.
The only thing that was different from the original was what I had put under the tree. Presents. Five, different colored, presents. Each of them had one word written on them and they were what I thought children should never have to live without: dreams, hope, wonder, memories and fun. They're the gifts we all deserve.
I smiled at my creation as I stood up to stretch my stiff muscles. I had no idea how long I was sitting there, but it was long enough to make my body start to go numb.
A strong wind suddenly kicked up and my paper flew out of my hand. I grabbed for it but it was already out of my reach. Damn it, not again! I started to run for it but it always managed to stay about a foot in front of me. If Jack is doing this on purpose, I swear to God I'm going to stick him in a heater!
The chase took me to a border of trees, leading into the forest. I stopped, hesitant to run in because the sun was already setting. My paper flapped and blew past the trees like it was taunting me, then started to disappear as it got deeper in. I knew I shouldn't go in but I wanted that paper back, so I pushed through the trees and continued to run after it.
I managed to catch up to the paper and lunge for it but it was like someone was jerking it away from me. That tares it. He's going in a heater.
A few steps later I lunged for it again, but my foot caught on a tree root and I fell on my face. Grimacing at the stinging pain, I looked up to see my paper fly away and disappear into the woods. I wasn't getting it back now. Damn.
I sat up on the twig covered ground and then realized just how little I could actually see. The trees blocked out most of the sunlight in the middle of the day, so during sunset it was much darker. The forest had a very eerie feeling to it when it was like this.
I grabbed onto the trunk of the tree next to me and I used it to pull myself up. My leg was hurting me but I could tell it wasn't broken or anything, I just had a big cut and it was bleeding. I poked a finger through the rip in my jeans and hissed as I accidentally toughed the wound. As I steadied my feet, I cursed myself for being stupid enough to run into a dark forest for a drawing. I could have just re-drawn it.
I sighed and looked back in the direction from where I came, or at least where I thought I came. It was so dark already that no matter which direction I looked, the trees all looked the same. Great, I thought bitterly. This day just keeps getting better.
As I started walking back in the direction I thought I came from, the air around me started to feel different. It was crisp and cold when I ran in, and it was still cold if not colder, but now the air wasn't thin by any means. It had started to become very thick and muggy, and started to give me the feeling that it was pressing down on me.
The darkness around me did the same, it seemed to creep towards me like it was hunting me, only adding to my growing anxiety. It's just getting dark, I told myself. There's nothing there.
The moisture in the air made my lungs feel heavier with every breath until I was nearly gasping for air. I started to feel light-headed and leaned into a tree, hoping that once I did so I would be able to breathe again. This isn't what happened though.
I started to cough violently and cupped my hands to my mouth, I could feel my lungs constricting like they were trying to purge something out of them. I leaned forward and placed one had on the tree for support, the other hand was still plastered to my mouth. My throat was burning as I let out a final cough and felt saliva splatter against my hand, my lungs instantly felt lighter. As I took my hand away from my mouth, something wasn't right. My hand felt heavy, just like my lungs just had and even in the almost nonexistent light I could still tell that it wasn't spit in my hand. The substance was thick, already seeming to harden against my skin, and looked jet black.
I let out a scream and pressed my hand to the tree to try to rub the substance off, but it wouldn't work. Whatever was on my hand felt like plaster and if anything it was gluing me to the tree. I jerked both hands away, looked down at them and screamed again when I saw that there was more black gook on my other hand too. The air was still as thick as pea soup and my lungs had started to feel heavy again.
My head shot around looking for somewhere to go but I couldn't even see the outlines of the trees anymore, all I saw was black around me. However, as I looked down at my feet, I could still see the outlines of twigs and leaves scattered along the ground. How is this happening?
My head shot back up to look at where the trees should have been and a new thought crossed my mind followed by yet another surge of panic. The black surrounding me looked almost...solid...almost... like a wall.
I ran forward with my hand outstretched, waiting for myself to just run right through the trees, but I ended up colliding with what felt like a vertical wall of mud. My arm completely sunk in and the harder I tried to pull myself out, the deeper my arm went. I let out a shriek that even I didn't know I could produce. The black mud oozed and started to travel further up my arm and even over my shoulder.
I began to hyperventilate, only being interrupted by coughing fits as my lungs continued to fill up with the black liquid. I was gasping violently for air but all that served to do was make me cough. My legs gave out underneath me and I slumped forward, my arm still in the wall. The mud was still creeping across my body, it pressed against my chest and was suffocating me even more.
My eye lids started to droop shut and I felt so unbearably cold. My legs gave out and I slumped to the ground, the leaves and twigs cracking and crinkling underneath me. The arm still in the wall felt like it would rip off under my weight but my mind was already so far gone that I didn't care.
I could feel my conscious mind slipping away from the lack of oxygen, the darkness consuming me... taking me somewhere I knew I didn't want to be. Is... this where I'll die? Like this?
There was a loud cracking noise as I felt my arm suddenly break free. The rest of my rag doll of a body fell to the ground but I managed to get one eye open.
"Cassie!" A familiar male voice yelled.
I looked back in the direction of the wall and Jack was standing there, light from his staff illuminating his worried looking face. In the light I could also see a mist floating around Jack, a black mist, the wall that was consuming me was shattered to pieces at his feet.
Jack ran over to me and helped me sit up. At his cold touch, I was able to get a little bit firmer grasp on consciousness. He held me by the shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. "Are you hurt? Cassie?"
I tried to answer him, but I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. I fought to keep my eyes open as I lifted my heavy arm and pointed a finger at my throat, hoping to God that he understood me.
Jack looked around at the black mist and let out a noise that sounded almost like a growl. His voice was calm though when he told me, "It's going to be okay, I promise. Just don't fall asleep okay?" I coughed a reply and Jack raised his hand, touching his fingers to the base of my throat. "Just relax, all I'm going to do is loosen it up so you can cough it out. This'll be really cold but bear with it."
Before I could even think of replying, a burst of blistering cold air seemed to shoot down my throat and into my lungs. I could feel the black liquid in them freezing solid and when I started to take in more short raspy breaths, it was like I was breathing rocks. Jack then stopped the flow of air and as my body heat began to warm up the frozen mass, I could feel it begin to crack into pieces. Sharp pieces.
I leaned over and coughed violently, the shards of ice and black gook coming out after painfully scratching up my lungs and windpipe. When all of it was out, I rubbed my aching throat and let out a very scratchy, "Thank you." Jack didn't say anything and grabbed my arm that was covered in the black mud. He again froze it and it shattered off of me, all of it. Then, taking me by the hand he pulled me to my feet. I was still weak but being able to breathe again was slowly starting to bring my strength back.
"We need to get out of here." Jack said, darkly. "Before it-"
The black mist started to swirl around us and before I could react Jack started running forward, still gripping my hand. We sprinted out of the entrance Jack had made but as we continued to run I kept falling all over myself. I glanced back behind me to find that the mist was chasing us! It was actually chasing us!
"Damn," I heard Jack whisper under his breath. I could feel that he was trying to pick the wind up... but it wouldn't get very strong.
Giving up on his first plan, Jack reached into his hoodie and pulled out a red and white snow globe. He said something to it then threw it out in front of us. A huge rainbow colored hole opened in the air and I was about to scream when Jack yelled, "Don't let go! Just keep running!" And we ran into the vortex. Then darkness consumed me again. My eyes closed, and I fainted.
I like I said before, I'll probably change some stuff later. Probably just some small things but... Idk. And I think you guys are going to like where I'm going with it ;). Thanks for all of the awesome reviews and keep leaving them! :)
