Disclaimer: I do not own the ROTG universe or its original characters. This story is written within the ROTG universe. The rest of the characters belong to me.

I'm quite amused that most of the reviews from last chapter thought the mysterious figure is Pitch. Let's see who or what that mysterious figure is, shall we?

Chapter 6: Wander

Once again, I find myself in a sea of flames. The fire around me were dancing wildly, crying and roaring. Then the flames reached out to me like it always did when I came here.

But unlike other times, I reached out for it as well. I no longer fear the fire since it can't hurt... No... it didn't want to hurt me. It was calling out to me. All this time, I was afraid of it because I didn't know what it wanted or why it kept trying to reach out to me.

I am the Spirit of Fire...

Those words rang in my mind. Even though they came out of my own mouth, I didn't really understand where it came from. It just came out naturally like it was a fact... a truth.

The flames wrapped around my hands fondly like a cat rubbing against its owner's leg, showing affection to their beloved master. I didn't feel any burn or pain on my skin. Only warmth and a connection.

Then suddenly, there was a piercing scream.

I jolted in shock and the fire withdrew back instantly. I was confused with what just happened and what the scream was. That's when I looked around and saw the fire squirming and trying to fight off the black sand.

It was back. The black sand that kept appearing and fighting the flames. The scream I was hearing was coming from the fire themselves. They were angry and in pain.

The fire continued to scream and roar as they try to chase away the dark sand, but the black particles didn't back off. The sand kept shooting into the flames and exploded. When it did that, the fire would be pushed back by the shock wave as if a bomb was set off. The sand would also dart into the fire and bind any flames that it could grip on before squeezing them until they dissipated.

Of course, the fire was also fighting back with their own explosions and shooting fire into the air at the sand like flame throwers. A wave of fire would rise and engulf the sand like a beast gobbling up its prey.

The battle was fierce and the cries of pain and agony were all around me. Right when the fire was screaming in pain, my head began to throb and my chest felt like it was being stabbed and crushed at the same time.

It hurts... it hurts so much... It was like something inside of me was being attacked...

While I was distracted by the pain, some of the sand began to slither towards me and I didn't notice until they were about to reach me. I tried to back away in fear, but they were already too close for me to get away. The black sand quickly wrapped themselves around both my wrists before I could react.

"No! Let me go!" I screamed in panic, struggling to free my wrists.

The sand began to swirl around my whole body, binding me as I struggled to get free. I could sense something cold, evil, and terrifying about them that sent my whole body shivering. My instinct was yelling 'Danger!' and 'Run!' like a siren.

"No! NO! Get away from me!"

It seemed that the more I struggled, the more sand began to surround me. I tried to thrash my arms and legs around, but the sand kept getting tighter and tighter. As I was thinking that this couldn't get any worse, right before my eyes, a mass of sand began to form into a figure. I froze in shock as the sand figure began to take shape of what looked like a boy. But not just any boy. The figure in front of me looked almost like... me.

I stared at the figure of me in horror. The whole figure was made of black sand, but the shape, the hair, the face, and everything else, it all looked like me! Except for the eyes. His whole eyes were completely black with emptiness like there was nothing there where the eyes should be.

I was so horrified that no voice came out of my mouth when I wanted to scream. I could only scream silently in my mind.

The sand figure suddenly had this wicked sneer on his face. Something inside of me told me that his sneer wasn't a good thing for me. The figure had something in mind for me... and I was quite sure it was something bad.

Then the figure slowly reached out to me and I felt my instinct screaming to get away, but I couldn't move from my bind. This ominous feeling and fear was overwhelming me that I almost wanted to cry like a terrified child. I have to free myself or that figure was going to do something to me and I didn't want to find out what it was.

"Let! Me! GO!"

Instantly, a burst of fire engulfed me and burned away the sand. I could feel the grip from the sand disappearing and a sense of freedom calming me down. Then the fire died down a little, but still surrounded me like a wall, protecting me from the black evil sand.

But within this wall of fire, I wasn't alone...

Out of nowhere, another figure stood with his back towards me. He seemed to wearing some kind of soldier uniform out of a history book. In one of his hands, there was a long curved saber, pointed toward the sand figure of me threateningly.

Lauf!

A voice full of power and authority echoed around me. Did the voice came from the soldier guy? What was he saying? I couldn't understand him.

The sand figure didn't seem happy with being threatened with a saber because I could see his face twisting into a snarl. Then suddenly, he shot towards the soldier as if to attack him and at the same time, a whole lot of black sand came flying from around us and heading towards the soldier figure like a swarm of angry bees.

Verschwinde!

With a swing of his blade, the fire wall erupted furiously and then spread everywhere like a giant wave, chasing away the black sand. This wave of fire was more fierce, more hot, and more powerful. The black figure gave us an angry and frustrated glare before he dispersed into a flow of sand and flew away. The black sand was gone and the flame dance freely and happily.

Now that the freaky sand figure that looked almost exactly like me was gone, I turned to my savior to thank him, but when I looked up to where his shoulder was, I froze. The place where there should be a head was empty.

OH MY...!?

I was too shock and horrified to think of any candy names right now since my savior was... HEADLESS! LIKE NO HEAD WHERE IT SHOULD BE!

Wach auf, Kind

OH MY GOSH! HE'S TALKING WITHOUT A HEAD! HOW'S THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!

Erinnere dich, wer du bist

I had no idea what he said, but I felt like something was pulling me away and I felt my mind getting heavy. My body suddenly felt weak and I was close to blacking out, but before everything went black...

Bevor es dich findet…

My mind started to slowly wake up and I could start to hear some kind of clopping noise like the sound of hooves. I could feel my body starting to shiver when I realized how cold I was, but my body seemed to be lying on something warm. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't really soft either. Not to mention, it was bumping up and down as if it was walking. Wait a minute, am I lying on something... alive?

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the ground moving below me. My head was lying on something warm and fuzzy, so I raised my head in curiosity. Confused at what I was lying on, I found the back of the head of the thing I was riding on. It was a horse... a black horse. But why was I on a horse?... No, when did I even got onto a horse? I remember being on top of a burning building and I made the fire disappear... Then a floating man showed up and was going to attack me with his sand powers. I tried to get away and... that dream... Did I get knocked out? How long was I asleep? Where am I anyways?

I looked around at my surroundings and found trees everywhere. Definitely a forest somewhere. Was I even still in Blacksburg? The sky was a little dark, but I could see some light in the horizon. It seemed that it was almost dawn. How long did I get knocked out?

Brr! It was also cold right now. I tried to hug myself to warm myself as much as possible.

"Hey uh... Mr. Horse? You don't happened to know where we are do you?" Yes, I know. I'm asking a horse, but all I could think of doing right now was talking. Even if it has to be with an animal.

As I expected, the horse didn't reply. Of course, a horse can't talk. If it did, I'll be officially freaked out and crazy amazed by it. Besides, it's not like I'm the first person to try and talk to animals as if they seriously understood human language.

"Um, do you know where we're going?" I wasn't sure where the horse was heading, but it seemed to know where it was going. It wasn't too dark, but it wasn't easy to see either. I could barely make out a tree that was about ten feet from me. It took some time to get my eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Wished I had some light to see better. The darkness was creeping me out and the cold air wasn't helping me feel comfortable. Almost suddenly, I started to feel my body heating up like I was being washed over by warm air from a heater. It started from my chest and spread slowly throughout my body. Was I having a heart burn? Now I stopped shivering and didn't feel cold anymore. Oh? A new trick aye? Talk about discovering something useful at the right time.

We continued to ride like this for awhile until the sky started to get brighter. It was already turning a lighter blue with a little red and orange slowly spreading in the horizon. I'm not sure how long I have been riding, but my butt was sore and getting numb. Riding a horse without a saddle was not fun.

"Um... Are we like there yet... wherever we're going?" I asked just to break the silence for myself.

Just as I finished saying that, the horse suddenly stopped in its tracks and stared at something in the distance. I looked to where it was looking out of curiosity and there, shining through the trees, was a speck of light. It looked like it wasn't far and the way it glowed seem to look like a glow of a fire. Strangely, I had this feeling like the light was pulling me in. Something was there and I must go towards it.

"Uh... how do I get down?" I looked down at the ground. I wanted off, since my butt was too sore now to keep on riding on the back of the horse and the light didn't seem far. Since there wasn't a saddle or any stepping stool, how was I supposed to get off? The horse was huge!

That's when I remembered that I can just fly. How did I forget that I could do that? So I floated on the horse and landed on the ground lightly, but... Ugh! My thighs were aching from muscle pain! It was so painful I just hovered over the ground out of reflex. Guess it wasn't a good idea to put my weight on my legs right now.

The black horse stared at me motionlessly. Maybe it never saw a floating boy before.

I looked at where the light was coming from and the feeling like something was calling me was still there. Then I felt the horse pushed me lightly with its nuzzle as if urging me to go.

"Do you want me to go there?" I stared at the horse.

The horse just snorted as if in confirmation and pushed me again.

"Alright. Alright. So pushy."

So I flew towards the light and as I got closer, the light started to get bigger and clearer. Also, I felt that something was missing and when I looked back, the horse was gone.

"Wha? Where'd it go?" I looked around and saw no sign of the horse anymore. Where did that horse go? I didn't even hear it walk away.

Now with the horse gone, I had no choice but to continue going towards the light alone. It didn't take me long to get there since I was flying. Upon arriving at the spot where the light was, I discovered what made the light.

It was a lantern hanging from a pole. It looked so sad and broken as it stood there among the trees around it. It was so out of place and lonely.

The lantern was kinda black and looked like a crooked cage with this sad face on it. There was a small flame lit inside of it as if it was about to go out, yet still managing to keep itself burning. The pole also looked kind of crooked since there were dents and bent areas on it. On the top of the pole, there was a figure of a cat with its back hunched up in an arc while its tail was stretched out with the lantern hanging from it by a chain.

Why was there a random lantern in the middle of the forest?

Feeling this strange urge to get closer, I walked up to the lantern and stared into the fire. It was so small, yet it was holding itself without going out. I didn't see any candles, so how was this fire even lit? Something told me that the fire wasn't just any fire.

My hand almost unconsciously grasped into the pole and when I touched it, I felt this feeling that this lantern was mine. I didn't know why, but it just felt... right. It was like I lost something and was able to find it again.

Almost instantly as I thought that, the hand that was holding the pole felt warm and the fire in the lantern suddenly burst out wildly, almost engulfing the cage. When the flame slowly calmed down, the lantern now had a mischievous grin on its face. The fire inside of it also grew in size from before. Now it looked like a proper fire inside a lantern.

Woah! Did I just press a switch somewhere and triggered a make over?

It must've been my powers or something. The lantern recognized the fire that flowed through me and the same went the other way around. Now I was sure that this lantern belonged to me.

Bi...

"Wha?..." I suddenly heard a strange sharp sound, but when I looked around, there was nothing there. I swore it sounded close, but I didn't see anything. What was it anyways? Maybe it was nothing and I was hearing things. After that, I didn't hear that high pitch sound again.

The sun was now peaking out from the horizon and the sunlight was spreading into the sky. In the distance, I could make out silhouettes of buildings. Most likely a town.

Therefore, I decided to fly over there since it would be faster to travel that way. I didn't know where I am, so best option was to find out in town. If I'm not in Blacksburg, then I'll just find my way back to it.

~Frost's POV~

The morning sun had rose into the sky and the people of Burgess were already waking up to get to work. Jumping into their cars or taking the bus. Those close to their workplace would either walk or ride their bikes. The usual adult stuff that adults do almost everyday. I never understood how they can stand working so much and not enjoy some good fun. It sounded awful and boring having to do this almost the whole week. I can't imagine having to do the same thing everyday!

This must be another reason why I sometimes feel different from the other guardians. They work all year around. Tooth and Sandy worked every night without a night off. Bunny and North work the whole year around even though their holiday was only once a year. They were always constantly at work and rarely time to really hangout and have fun like me. They do sometimes try to get together for special occasions, but it was only rarely.

I visit them from time to time, but most of those visit, they would talk a little before going back to work again. I guess this was what it was like to be an adult. Work and deadlines. No playing and fun time.

The only people I get to play and have fun with were the kids, but yet I still feel like there's this wall called 'being older' that separated me from the kids as well. I had the responsibilities of a Guardian of Fun and the Spirit of Winter. It's not like the work the other guardians does, but it was still my job to bring snow over certain areas every winter. That was like one fourth of the year? But sometimes, I go over spring to mess with Bunny's Easter for the laugh of it.

The only person who would understand me was no longer here. He would know what it was like having to be responsible for a season since he was the Spirit of Fall and controls fire while I control snow and ice. Though we were elementally the opposite of each other, we still got along. We were both mischief by nature and love having fun. Playing pranks here and there for laughs. Heck! We were teenagers when we passed away and we still act like it in our afterlife. We weren't kids, but we also weren't adults. Just in between.

Jack O. Lantern was the best friend a spirit like me could have, but he was gone. It was lonely not having someone who share the same interest and understand what it was like having responsibilities at the same time. It's already been so long, but I never stop wishing that the outcome of the last battle would be different and that I would still have my best friend with me.

"Jack?" a voice called me.

"Huh?" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked down from the tree that I was sitting on. On the ground, I found Jamie and Sophie staring up at me. "Oh, hey Jamie. Hey, Sophie."

"Jack! Jack!" called Sophie, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Morning Jack," greeted Jamie. "We'll be meeting with Monty and the others in town. You coming?"

"Sure. Not like I have anything to do anyways," I agreed. What was a winter spirit like me supposed to do in summer? I could've gone to the beach and freeze some waves, but it was too far away and I didn't feel like making such a travel.

So we went off into town by foot. I would prefer flying, but carrying two kids into the air will cause an uproar if any adult saw us. It would've made it onto the front page of the newspaper and every news channel within a day. 'Two kids found flying in the air!' or something like that.

After about ten minutes, we met up with Cupcake, Caleb, and Claude at an intersection somewhere in town. Caleb must've said something to annoy Cupcake, because the girl was giving him a rough rub on the head with her fist and her arm locked around the boy's neck. It wasn't anything serious from the looks of it, because all three of them were laughing and smiling.

"Say that to me again, bub," grinned Cupcake while still fist rubbing Caleb's head.

"Hahaha! Alright! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" cried Caleb, laughing hard.

"Hey guys! 'Morning!" greeted Jamie. "Monty and Pippa aren't here yet?"

Cupcake finally let go of Caleb as we walked up to them and all three of the kids greeted us with "Hey!" and "Morning!"

"Nope. Haven't seen those two yet," Claude answered Jamie's question. "Looks like we have to wait on them."

"Monty probably woke up late again and Pippa had to drag him out of his bed," thought Caleb. "Not the first time he did that."

Since Pippa's place was like right across the street from Monty's, sometimes that girl would stop by his place before joining us later. There were also a number of times, that Pippa had to go into his room to get him out of bed since Monty was a heavy sleeper and would sleep pass their meeting time. I almost had a heart attack one time when Monty's alarm clock went off and it was loud! I was snoozing on a tree nearby when it went off and I literally fell off! Good thing I could hover or I would've broken my neck from that fall.

Then in that moment, it occurred to me that I didn't even know what the kids were planning today, so I asked, "So what are you guys up to today anyways? Going to the park again?"

"No, not today," answered Jamie. "We're going to find a gift for Abby."

"A gift for Abby?" I stared at them, confused.

"Yeah, it was Jamie's idea," added Cupcake.

"We were kind of worried for her and we do kind of miss her too. Especially, Sophie," Jamie pointed out.

"Abby! Abby! Gift!" cheered Sophie, jumping up and down excitedly.

"So we thought of getting her a gift to cheer her up. Though, it probably won't do much, you know, with her brother gone and forgetting everything that happened," Jamie scratched his chin, a little embarrassed.

"But we still wanted to do something. Even if it's only a little," Caleb piped up.

"I really like that girl," Cupcake stated. "She was tough for her age and she reminded of me."

"We all like her, Cupcake. Not just you," corrected Claude.

"We were thinking of visiting her, but I don't think our parents would let us go all the way to Virginia. Not to mention, they'll probably start asking questions like how we knew a girl from another state in the first place," explained Jamie. "So we all decided that getting her a gift was the best idea."

"Wow, that' really nice of you guys," I complimented them, amazed. They only knew Abby for only a day and already they shared such a strong bond. "So what are you guys planning on getting her?"

"Not really sure yet, but we thought of getting something from the candy store and some flowers from the flower shop. That's usually what my grandma gives my family when one of us gets sick," explained Jamie. "And sometimes she would get a toy for me or a doll for Abby. Grandma loves giving out gifts and it always makes me feel better."

"Lucky! Our grandparents just make us drink tea when we get sick," complained Claude, pouting.

"So how are you guy's going to deliver it? Give it to the mailman? Post office?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Well, actually, we were hoping you would give it to her for us," explained Jamie. "Since, you know, you visit her often and you get there faster than the mailman."

"Oh so I'm the delivery boy?" I smirked playfully. "Well, nothing's faster than Jack Frost's Airmail delivery service. Will even delivery through harsh and fierce blizzards!"

"Wait, don't you make blizzards?" thought Claude. "Your a snow spirit, so can't you just not make a blizzard?"

"Yes, kido. Yes, I can, but then it won't sound as epic."

~Will's POV~

Okay, so I found out I am in a town called Burgess and it's somewhere in Pennsylvania. What I want to know is how the heck did I end up a state away from Blacksburg?! Though I'm glad I didn't end up in an entirely different country. Just imagine if I find myself dumped in China or Africa. It would be a huge pain to get myself back to the U.S. again.

Right now, I'm standing in front of a stand full of magazines, comics, and maps inside of a convenient store that I found. It was the first store I discovered once I was out of the forest.

From what I found out from these maps, Pennsylvania was located north of Virginia. I know where Burgess was in Pennsylvania, but I don't know where Blacksburg was in Virginia. I know it's somewhere southwest somewhere, but I didn't know exactly where specifically. There were only maps of the whole United State, Pennsylvania, and counties in Pennsylvania, but no Virginia. Now how am I supposed to get to Blacksburg without getting lost on the way?

"Um... excuse me." I heard a child's voice, definitely a girl's, nearby and ignored it. Not like she was talking to me anyways since nobody can see me.

Don't they have a map of other states here or this was all they have?

"Uh... hey." I heard the girl's voice again.

I guess she was trying to get someone's attention. It has nothing to do with me, so back to thinking. Maybe I should check another store. Might find a place with Virginia's map there.

"Maybe you should try tapping him." This time it was a boy's voice.

"Are you sure it's a good idea? He looks like he's thinking hard about something." Back to the girl's again.

And for goodness sakes! Can the guy those kids are trying to call answer them already! I can clearly hear them calling from all the way over here as if they were right next to me! I turned around out of annoyance and curiosity of who the guy was that was ignoring the kids and discovered...

... two kids standing right next to me with curious stares... which seemed to be aimed at me.

...

Huh?

I looked around side to side and then behind me to check if there was any other people around, but there was only me in that area. Wait, does this mean...? I turned back to the kids again and found that they were still looking at... me.

"Are you kids talking to me?" I asked, not sure how to react to this. These kids can see me? But... why? The only person who can see me was Irwin, so does that mean there were others who can too? But then how does this seeing thing even work?! Is it just random or is there a rule to it?

"Well, yeah," confirmed the girl, who had a short and even reddish-brown hair and brown eyes. "You're the only one here we're talking to."

Oh smores! She responded! She can hear me! Keep calm Will! Keep calm!

"So... uh, do you... want something from me?" I asked, pointing to myself.

"Well actually, we were just wondering why you carry around a lantern with you?" asked the boy, who had short blond hair, blue eyes, and thick red glasses. He pointed at the lantern pole I was carrying with interest.

"Oh this thing? It's a... It's a... prompt?" This was all I was able to come up with while I was panicking. Now that I think about it, who would carry a lantern pole around town like nobody's business?

"A lantern?" The girl stared at me suspiciously.

"It's part of a costume?" I lied.

"But it's still summer," stated the boy.

"Yes, I know. It's for a costume party," I lied again. Why do they have to ask so many questions? Why so curious?!

"But isn't that real fire? Is that even allowed in here!?" demanded the girl, eyes wide upon realizing that the lantern was running on real flames.

"Uh, no! It's a very realistic fake fire thingy that I installed into the lantern. This thing runs on... batteries! It just looks real!" Gah! What am I saying?! The lies are getting more and more stupid!

"Then why did you bring it into the convenient store? Isn't it inconvenient to carry that thing around?" wondered the boy.

"I'm here looking for batteries," I lied again. For goodness sakes! Stop with these questions! I feel like I'm being interrogated like those police shows!

"So what batteries does it ru...?" The boy started to look fascinated.

"Double A's," I quickly replied.

Oh don't tell me you're one of those nerds that get excited over things like this?! You already have the appearance to fit that title!

"So what are you going as?" wondered the girl.

"A... creepy... hooded figure... that carries a lantern around?" Ugh! Stop Will! You're just digging your own grave! Dig any deeper and we'll end up in China! Just leave me alone already! Damn kids!

"If you're looking for batteries, then why are you in the book section?" asked the boy. "And holding a map?"

For the love of...! That's it!

"I'm trying to find a map to get back to Virginia, 'cause I somehow managed to land my butt here in Pennsylvania by accident and I'm just trying to get home! Now are you nosy brats done with your questions yet!? 'Cause I am DONE!" I shouted with a strange anger rising in me.

Both the girl and boy were taken aback in shock at my outburst. The boy quickly cowered behind the girl in fear. Their eyes were wide and their faces paled as they looked at me fearfully.

And now I feel like trash...

My temper started to disappear and a sense of guilt and shame overwhelmed me. Sure, I was getting frustrated with all those questions, but I shouldn't have yelled at them like that. I'm not even sure where that anger came from.

"Oh shi... I'm so sorry about that," I quickly apologized. "I don't know what got over me. I guess I was getting stressed from trying to get back home that I just... blew up," I tried to explain and this time it was the truth. "I'm Will, by the way. And you two?"

The two kids looked at each other with nervousness for a second before turning back to me again.

"Pippa," answered the girl.

"I'm Monty," replied the boy.

"We're sorry for being nosy," apologized Pippa. "It's just that we got curious when we saw you with a lantern, that's all."

I guess kids their age would be curious at about anything.

"Yeah. We know someone who used to have a friend that carries around a lantern, so it just caught our attention," added Monty.

"Wait, there is someone else besides me who carries around a lantern?" I stared at them in disbelief. For some reason, I suddenly felt really curious and wanted to know more about this guy. "What's he like?"

"Well, we never met the person, but our friend knew him and talks about him a lot. We also knew that person's sister and hung out for a little while," explained Pippa. "The guy was supposedly a prankster like our friend. They both hang out together a lot and they're both Spi..."

Then Monty suddenly elbowed her lightly, causing Pippa to go silent. That made me look at them suspiciously.

"...Special friends!" piped up Monty while the girl had this look when they were caught saying something wrong.

"Yeah! They were special friends!" confirmed Pippa.

Special friends? Why does that sound... like there's a hidden meaning to it?

"So how did you end up here from Virginia? Isn't that like a few states away?" asked Pippa. It seemed like she was trying to change the subject.

"It's actually not that far away from our state. It's more like one state, but there is a small portion of land where Maryland and West Virginia overlap in between Pennsylvania and Virginia," Monty helped explained to her.

"Smart kid," I complimented, a little impressed by his knowledge. "Can't really say how I got here, but I'm trying to find a map of Virginia. But for some reason, they don't have it here at this store. Know any place that might have more maps?"

"Maps? Maybe the gas station?" suggested Pippa, thinking hard. "Bookstores, library, the old drug store a mile from here..."

"What about the post office? It should have a lot of maps there and it's only five blocks away," thought Monty.

"That sounds like a good place to check out. They do deliver stuff almost everywhere, so it makes sense," I commented.

After that I thanked the kids for their help and left the store. The kids went in another direction since they were supposed to meet up with some friends and they were very much late to their meeting time. For me, I walked to the post office and hoped that I can finally find the maps I'm looking for.

But I still wondered along the way why those kids are able to see me when no one can so far, except for Irwin... Wait, wasn't there that boy? What was his name? Kirt?

Back at the burning apartment, he talked to me and I was able to touch him and the girl without having my hand go through them like a ghost. So what does this mean? Kirt wasn't able to see me before, so why then? Can he see me if I meet him again?

~At the burnt down apartment or what's left of it~

After the night that the apartment building was burnt, it's structure was left abandoned, but it was still standing. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but a few people were still sent to the hospital to recover from the incident. Everyone seemed to do fine since most of the residents were able to get out in time...

...Except for two children. They were in the burning building for far too long and breathed in too much smoke. The boy was still recovering, but his health seemed to be safe for now, but the girl... she hasn't woken up from her slumber.

The poor little girl was in a coma due to breathing in too much smoke and she hasn't shown any signs of waking up, causing the parents a lot of grief and worry for their child. Who knows when the child will wake up or if she would ever wake up at all.

For the apartment, many were left homeless so they had to find another place to reside. The building itself was still being discussed what was to be done with it now. Inside, it was too dangerous for normal people to enter due to the damages done by the fire. Some of the support could be weakened as well and can breakdown with the slightest vibration. Only the professionals were allowed inside.

A group of CSIs were brought in to investigate the cause of the fire. They were scattered all over the place in group of twos so the investigation would go faster. One duo was roaming around inside one of the apartment's rooms, which happened to belong to the old landlady.

"You found anything yet?" called out one of the CSIs, a brown hair man, who was flashing his flashlight all over the living room.

There were so many ashes over the floors and walls. There were also piles of burnt furnitures and other items that were damaged from the fire lying here and there. The air was also a little hard to breathe, but it was not dangerous to the point of having to wear a mask.

"Nothing but burnt sofas, tables, and rugs," called out another CSI, who was a long blond hair woman. She was walking around and checking the place for any clues to where the fire might've come from. "It seems that the landlord's room had more damage than the other rooms. This might be where the fire started. Now we just have to find the source."

"I'll check the kitchen, you check the bedroom," told the male CSI, before he walked into the section that was supposedly the kitchen.

"Got it," replied the female CSI. Then she walked into the bedroom where she found what was left of a bed and a dresser. As she was looking around the room, she felt this sudden chill and she began to shiver. It couldn't be the temperature since it was like an oven in here, but she couldn't help feeling something cold and ominous from behind.

Sqeeeeeaaaaakkkkkk...

Suddenly, a creepy squeaky sound like when a door hinge squeak open and the woman quickly turned around in alarm. Standing by the wall was an old antique-looking wardrobe made of wood that had lovely detailed designs carved on it.

The CSI would've admire the beautifully crafted wardrobe if not for the odd feeling coming from it. She felt that something wasn't right about this wardrobe and it took her a few seconds to realize what it was.

The wardrobe wasn't damage at all. It looked old, but not harm. Very much in good shape... too much to be considered normal actually. Not even a burn or scratch on it. It was like the fire didn't even harm it at all. Maybe it was made to be fireproof? Though as beautiful as the decorative carvings were, there was still this strange and creepy feeling coming from it.

One of the doors was open slightly, which must've been the cause of that squeaky noise earlier, but the woman couldn't see anything inside. The CSI slowly walked over to the large wooden furniture to examine what was inside from curiosity. As she stood in front of it, she slowly stretched out her hand and grasped onto the handle before opening the door.

There was nothing but old woman clothes and shoes inside. Nothing out of the ordinary. She opened the other door to see the other half of the wardrobe and it was just more clothes. So far, nothing suspicious whatsoever.

Then she heard something that made her whole body jolt and she almost screamed in shock. From inside the wardrobe, there came a cry of a little girl.

Mama...

Thank you for reading. Please comment or leave feedback or suggestions.

Thanks to RainSonata for helping with editing and proofreading.

Fortunately for you guys, my friend was finally free and proofread it in time for today. Chapter 7 is not done yet so don't expect to see any updates next week or for awhile. I'm writing it, just little by little when my brain is up for it and school isn't piling up on me, which is currently is right now.

Also, if interested, I uploaded some sketches of Jack O. Lantern back when I was still trying to design him. The pics are on my DA gallery in ROTG fanfic Jack O'Lantern folder. Has pics of Lantern with some hair covering his right eye and prompt ideas. There's also an old design of Cinder when I first made him a mindless doll with no memories, but later changed it to the Cinder we have now since he was much easier to write in POV form then a character that doesn't have any feelings or thoughts of his own. Then there're some Wisp sketches and a layout of Lantern's home under the oak tree that's on the cliff.