What I should have done was run. Turn on my heels; book it like nobody's business and go home. And I tried to. But my boots were sucked into the slushy puddles around my feet. Black tendrils whipped around my ankles before lashing out onto my legs. Gravity seemed to be against me, weighing me down like and anvil was tied to my back. Tobias only got closer as I stood there, numb from my waist down, trying to get the connection between my brain and my legs to start working again. I opened my mouth to scream, but sharp needles and pinpricks of pain shot through my throat and skull. I doubled over, holding my skull. White fairies dotted my vision.
A searing, hot pain ripped through my legs, making my vision blur and blacken at the edges. Something snagged onto the collar of my jacket and I choked out a warbled screech when Tobias' boots came into view. I was weightless. I couldn't feel the ripping pain in my legs anymore, and I seriously, honestly thought I was going to die from the pounding in my skull.
That was about the time I realized that Tobias looked like an ant.
Oh, yea. And I was flying.
Flying.
I know what you're thinking; Wow! Flying sounds really great! No. Not at first, anyways. I saw the ground shrink away from my feet, watched Tobias' black figure fade into the distance. My legs dangled over the trees, and I only kept going up-up-up. Soon, the buildings were below me, and the wind was howling in my ears. Laughter erupted in my head, and I knew it wasn't me. The tight feeling of fear in my throat was replaced with an itch to scream, or cry, or do something as the world faded into a gray fog.
"Put me down!" I finally managed to say, tears stinging my eyes. Nothing answered me. The wind continued to howl laughter as I raced through the air. "Putmedownputmedownplease!"
The world rushed up to me so suddenly that my stomach dropped at the sudden change in altitude. A shabby, lone rooftop came up to meet me and I thought I was going to crash. I threw my hands up to cover my face, but my feet gently touched to roof with an airborne lightness. My legs gave out and I backed against the AC unit. Pins and needles tickled my whole body and I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, willing the tears to go away.
Go away, go away, I told myself. "Breathe. Breathe." Something cold skimmed my knuckles and I jumped, pulling my hands away. Nothing was there. I was alone on the rooftop. I remembered how Mom breathed during yoga and tried to do that; in the nose, out the mouth. Nose, mouth, nose, mouth.
"Hey,"
I squeaked. The wind tickled the hair on my neck. Someone was trying to get my attention. But… but the rooftop… I'm alone.
"Hey, look at me,"
My knees shook, but I pushed myself up anyways. Yes… someone was trying to talk to me. I surveyed the rooftop, just as a fine layer of snow sprinkled down from the gray clouds. Pulling my coat tighter around me, I watched my breath come out in plumes of white smoke, willing myself to calm down. A snow flurry touched the tip of my nose, and I paused, a familiar song sparking to life in my memory.
Chestnuts roasting by the fire,
Jack Frost, nipping at your nose…
No. It couldn't… Flying… I turned back around, towards the AC unit. Blinking was like wiping away the smudges on your glasses; a little patch of air before me started to clear up.
The he was there, staring at me. Worn, faded jeans frayed at the ends. A regular blue hoodie, the hood pulled back away from the hair the color of the snow that fell around us, looking a little wind-blown, everything edged in a layer of glittering frost. The staff he held was gnarled and beautiful, lighting up with frost where he held it. He must have figured out that I could see him, because he smiled. Not a Tobias smile. A lovely, clean smile that sparked the blue in his eyes. A Jack Frost smile.
Jack Freaking Frost.
My knees went weak again, but I managed to stand on my own by gripping the waist-high wall that enclosed the rooftop. We stood there quietly; me, with my mouth hanging open in astonishment; Jack, standing there and smiling.
"You… You're…" My disbelief caught the words in my throat.
A crooked grin broke out across his face. "Jack Frost. Crazy, right?" He clutched his staff and leaned casually against it, like he wasn't some mythical character that just freaking proved that he existed.
I nodded, and then tried to make myself talk. "You did that? At the park, with–" Jack's icy hand covered my mouth gently. He moved so fast and only hovered in front of me, inches off the ground. The wary look he gave the abandoned rooftop made me scared. But the cool light filled his eyes when he was sure that we were alone.
"Don't mention him. Don't say his name out loud." He looked over the wall, towards the miserable people who didn't have a cap to protect them from the flurries of snow. His posture was care-free, and when he looked back at me, a playful, almost childish face looked back at me. This was a boy made of fun and light. It was beautiful against the anger and dark that was imprinted on me by Tobias.
Jack held out his hand. "I need to get you home." I didn't want to take my hands out of my coat pockets, but I relinquished one to the cold winter air. His fingers wrapped around mine; they were even colder.
"Wind," Jack pulled me gently against him and kept his arm respectfully around my lower back. The biting winter wind prickled against my face, whipping Jack's hair around in an almost lovingly manner. "Let's go."
We rose into the air, slowly at first, the ground falling away from out feet. Then – we didn't get too far from the buildings –Jack held me tight against him and leaned back, floating like you would on the surface of water. Wind jerked us forward. It was fast, but not as loopy and harsh as when we were making our escape. Now, we glided over New York, the skyscrapers disoriented, leaning out away from the streets as we rushed overhead. The air was colder up there, and I clung to Jack. Fear gripped my stomach and my heart jumped into my throat as I watched the ant-like people and cars fly by in streams of color. I think Jack's arm tightened around me, but I'm not sure; I was too worried about falling to my death on the pavement below.
My apartment building came into view, and I realized how old it looked against the glass-metal skyscrapers around it. The building was slumped between two office complexes, its faded yellow paint reminding me of a sunflower growing through the cracks in the sidewalk. Windows were arched in that old fashioned plantation kind of way, though the pavement around it brought you out of 1910's Georgia. The iron gates were newer, the elevator just added a few years back, and it lost some of its charm with the matching pair of marble lions out front.
Jack flew me over the building towards the back, where my balcony protruded over the pitiful community garden. I mentally checked to make sure the curtains were closed before we landed; him on the iron railing, I on the balcony itself. He sat on his toes, holding his staff out in front of him and balancing perfectly. Ice twined like white ivy from his feet, looping around the railing. Nervous, aware of how close I was to him, I took a step back.
"Thanks," I mumbled, not trusting my voice. Jack nodded, the grin still loosely hanging on his face.
"Be careful, okay?" What I could only hope was genuine worry filled his eyes. "Guys like that are–"
"Douches?" I put in.
He chuckled, leaning on his staff. "Yea. And really, really dangerous."
I nodded, and pressed my back against the glass door. Jack looked at me hard, like he was searching for something in my face. Then he stood up on the railing with ease, staff in hand. Turning, he lifted a foot off the railing before jumping off entirely. My stomach dropped and I ran.
"No, wait!" Clutching the railing, I leaned over, almost knocking my forehead against his. Jack's head popped up, level with the railing. He floated below, casually hanging there in mid-air.
"What?" The tone in his voice was curious, not annoyed. But something crossed his face – impatience, I guessed – as he waited for me to continue.
I realized I had been staring too long into his blue eyes – the color of the sea before a storm– and clear my throat. "Why… what are you doing here? With me?"
A moment passed us in silence. Another, with him looking up at me. Then he said, "I'm here to protect you. And right now, that's all you need to know."
He started to fly off. I called to him again, and Wind pulled him around to face me.
My stomach fluttered – butterflies? – and I slowly asked my next question. "What if something like…" I didn't want to finish it. Fear gripped my heart at the thought of Tobias. "What if that happens again?"
The distance between us was fair, but he floated down to face me again. Clasping his hands together, a soft blue light broke out through the space between his fingers. When he opened them, a simple ice necklace laid across his palm, perfect clear circles strung together in beads of white that reflected their surroundings on their surface. He unclasped the necklace, and I stepped forward.
"Break one of the beads. Think of me."
I blushed and hoped that he didn't notice as he clasped the necklace behind me. It was cool and heavy against my chest, and brought me peace. I touched it gingerly. Jack backed away, floating again above me.
"Don't hesitate to call," he said, as he flew off into the gray clouds. A gentle shower of snow began to fall, but I watched the clouds cover the thin hole he had made when he flew through.
Suddenly I shivered. Then, sneaking one last glance up at the clouds, I opened the glass door and walked into the living room.
Mom whipped around, eyes wide. "Good God! I thought you were a burglar."
I thought of the most plausible lie, saying, "I walked in, but you were so busy painting you didn't notice."
Mom glanced at her painting, almost complete, to the door, then to me. She looked dazed, half in, half out of her painting trance. "I'm sorry honey."
Shrugging off my coat and removing my scarf and cap, I laid them on the coffee table and headed back towards my room.
"Did you get milk?"
I mentally face-palmed myself. I couldn't have just asked Jack to stop by the supermarket? But I turned slowly, tiredly, and shook my head. "Had a longer walk than expected."
She nodded, as if she knew. But she didn't. She couldn't. "Alright; I'll get some later."
I nodded, and bothered to leave my door open as I fell into bed. I prayed that none of this, the flight, Jack, was a dream.
I woke in the middle of the night, finding one fist clasped tightly around the necklace. None of the beads broke. None melted in my palm. Slowly, I drifted into the twilight of awake and asleep. My last thought was of how I never told Jack where I lived.
