Chapter 11: The Battle of Burgess Pt. 1
Charlotte had never seen Mrs. Wilms freak out before.
The English teacher was cowered up against the blackboard, clutching her heart and whimpering. Jack set her down and Charlotte ran to her, helping her sit on the slanted ground, checking her pulse. "Mrs. Wilms? Mrs. Wilms?" she asked.
Weakly, Mrs. Wilms grasped onto Charlotte's sweater. She was as pale as Jack, maybe even paler. "Ms. Bennett . . . is that you . . . ?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's me!" Charlotte cried, students forming a semi-circle around her. "Can you hear me?"
"Y-Yes," Mrs. Wilms moaned. "What's going on? Is this an earthquake?"
"I—I don't think so. But, Mrs. Wilms, can you stand? Are you dizzy?"
"No, no, I'm just—" Mrs. Wilms's green eyes met hers. "I'm scared. I'm just scared, is all."
A lump materialized in Charlotte's throat. A teacher was admitting she was afraid. In front of her whole class! Chatter erupted behind her, and every comment nipped at her like a mosquito.
"What the hell is going on?"
"The vine—it just flew out of the ground—"
"That woman on the loudspeaker sounds insane!"
"We've gotta call for help! Does anyone have a phone?"
Charlotte looked to Jack, who was glaring out the window. "You should probably see this," he said.
Outside, vines were growing out of the ground and slithering up the brick of the school, encasing the building in pointy thorns that scratched against the window and left marks. Charlotte was slammed with the image of the window being her own skin, and her stomach dropped five stories.
"One thing's for sure," Jack said, eyes narrowed. "She doesn't want us leaving. Her or Pitch."
"Which means," Charlotte continued, "no one can leave. Unless we go to her first."
"The other Guardians will probably sense this. Or it'll appear on the Globe." Jack looked overwhelmed. Charlotte guessed it was because he was the only Guardian here, and he had a whole school of kids to protect.
The loudspeaker crackled again. "Sweeeeeeeeeeet pea!" the crazy female voice shrieked. "We're waaaaiiting! Your little friends won't be escaping any time soon unless you report to the main office!"
Charlotte covered her ears as the woman's voice struck her mind again. "Oh, screw this," she muttered, picking up her bag. "Jack, we're going."
"Wait. Like, right now?"
"Yup. The other Guardians will catch up . . . if they even know this is happening. You guys really should get walkie-talkies or something."
Jack nodded at her, and she hoped the determination that was etched into his features would replace the determination she was bluffing.
Charlotte waddled her way to the door that led into the hallway.
"Where are you going?"
She turned: David Glyndon was staring at her in confusion. She realized, in probably the strangest way possible and at the worst time, that she didn't know a lot about him—dark hair, bushy eyebrows, soccer team, Honors Pre-Calc with her. She didn't know a whole lot about anyone in her grade except for Serena and a few other girls.
David swallowed. "We—we should stay as a group. Stick together. We don't know what's going on here."
Fear radiated from him like a halo of it was hovering above his head. He wore the same expression as every other student in the class—bulging eyes, eyebrows kneaded together, lips smashed to form a line, poor posture. The darkness outside was casting shadows on David's face, dancing whenever he breathed. Everyone was afraid.
Afraid because of her.
"I'm the one she wants."
Wait. Had she really just said that?
"How do you know that?" David demanded.
"It's a loooooong story," Charlotte assured. She decided to throw a little caution to the wind—besides, maybe Sandy could put everyone to sleep after it was all over, make them think it was a dream? Unlikely. "But, look, I—I know what I'm doing. I know none of you believe that, but . . . just . . ."
Out of the corner of her eye, Jack was watching her carefully.
"Just believe in me."
The Winter Spirit gasped.
"I know for a fact . . . that belief will get you anywhere," Charlotte told her English class with a little passion. "It can help you achieve and see anything. We've got a lot to lose, and I think I know a way out of this. I just need you guys to believe in me, and I think I can solve this."
And like she had waved a magic wand, every one of the students, even Mrs. Wilms, seemed to relax a bit.
"Let her go," Mrs. Wilms croaked. "She seems to see a solution in this. Charlotte . . . I may not know what's going on here . . . but I do know this: we will believe in you."
Charlotte nodded numbly. An emotion she couldn't identify was crawling up her intestines and wiggling in her chest. The students she knew so little about, ganging together to trust in her. "Thank you, guys. I'll be back. Um—don't follow me."
Charlotte managed her way out of the crooked doorway. As her foot exited the room, the door was suddenly engulfed in thorns, blocking out her Lit class.
"I guess she doesn't want us followed anyway," Charlotte whispered.
Jack's back was to her. "What you said back there . . ." He faced her, eyes and cheeks glowing.
"Yes, that was inspired by you guys," Charlotte responded. "I think I'm starting to get it. About the power in belief and all." She looked like she wanted to say more, but bit her lip and stayed silent.
The hallway was a garden of thorns: they protruded from lockers, the floor, and vines of them ran across the wall, basking the hallway in dim green shadows. The hallway was slanted slightly, just like her classroom had been, and Charlotte struggled to keep her balance as she got to her feet.
Jack floated next to her, high enough off the ground to that his chest was next to her head. "I'll keep the lead," he suggested. "And you give the directions. You never know what's hiding in these shadows, considering Pitch."
Charlotte nodded, wishing she had the metal bat from her closet now. Jack plopped to his feet and crept down the hallway slowly, staff raised in case of attack. Charlotte kept behind him, eyes darting back and forth between the lockers and the thorns. It was like her school had been transformed into a thorn garden funhouse.
"Left," she whispered when they finally got to the end of hallway.
All the doors were boarded up with vines and thorns. Charlotte could hear shouts and cries and bangs as students and teachers tried to find a way out.
"As of right now, I don't think they're in any danger," Jack murmured. "They could be seriously used against you later though."
"Beautiful," Charlotte huffed. "When I found out who's doing this, I'm going to—"
The words were caught in her throat as the loudspeaker beeped again. "I can sense your arrival, Second-Sighted One. Like the budding of a flower after water, sunlight, and love . . . I'm coaxing you to me, coaxing you out of hiding and into the light. I can't wait to meet you. I've heard great things."
"I'm sure you have," Charlotte muttered.
"Have you ever heard the story of Sleeping Beauty, Second-Sighted One?" the female voice asked, curious. "A king and a queen, desperate for a child. They later had a beautiful baby girl, and she was a beloved creature across the kingdom. They threw a feast for her, and invited everyone, even the twelve fairies—except for one, the thirteenth: a mean, spiteful fairy they feared. Well, that thirteenth fairy showed up to the party uninvited and, in a fit of envious rage, cursed the baby princess to prick her finger when she turned fifteen—even though her age changes with stories—and die. Oh, but the good fairies wouldn't allow this to pass! So they altered the spell to say that she would sleep for a hundred years instead.
"Eventually, the prophecy came to pass, and the little princess did prick her finger with a spindle and was cast into a deep slumber. Following her were her parents, the castle workers, and all the animals. Everyone fell into a deep, unbreakable sleep, and hedges of briar roses started to grow, inching closer to the sky as the years passed, soon swallowing the castle in thorns and roses. The curse was only lifted when, many years later, a brave prince broke through the thorns and awoke the princess, waking everyone else up as well. They got married and lived happily ever after."
Charlotte made a face at the ceiling. "That explains her choice of attack. And here, after all this time, I thought it was Sleeping Beauty's evil twin sister that was the one who broke the curse! What a plot twist."
"She spoiled it for me!" Jack pretended to whine.
"It's okay," Charlotte assured with a smirk. "The book is waaaaaay better anyway."
"You know, I had heard that," Jack played along.
The loudspeaker cut off.
"Finally," Charlotte grumbled. "Anyway, take the next left, the main office is right—" Suddenly, the ground crumbled from under her and Jack. Charlotte was falling, and then she was landing on something weak and prickly; the whole thing had taken less than ten seconds. Charlotte coughed and groaned at the pain in her back and butt. She blinked into dust and croaked, "Downstairs."
Evil laughter hit her ears. "Finally! It's you!"
The main office was composed of three desks and a tiny hallway that led into the principal's office. But now the desks were knocked over except for the middle one, a hole busted into the back wall, letting in snow and wind. A woman stood on top of the desk. She had a thin, wiry body and short red hair, wearing a regal green and white outfit. Charlotte though she resembled a tall elf.
The woman smiled down at Charlotte. "So you're what all the fuss is about."
Charlotte scrambled up, noticing that huge pink flowers were bursting from the floor, and that she had fell into one. She back up onto solid ground and met the woman with a glare as Jack leaped to stand slightly in front of her. "Lemme guess: Sister of the Earth?"
"Observant. The name's Xylan," the woman said, clicking her tongue against her teeth.
"I'm not going with you." Charlotte's voice shook, but not with fear. "Mother Nature has to get that through her thick skull—I'm not a threat to you people!" She threw her hands up. "I can't even build a successful sandcastle without messing it up somehow. Please explain to me exactly how Mother Nature thinks I could affect her in any way?"
Xylan blinked at Charlotte with surprised lime-green eyes. "You really don't get it, do you? You're very precious to her. She hates you most of all, Second-Sighted One."
Charlotte's hands fell beside her. "Well, that's . . . great. That's freaking great. A lunatic I've never met actually hates me. Fantastic."
"She doesn't need to meet you to hate you," Xylan said pointedly. "You're a human; that's reason enough."
Charlotte opened her mouth to retort, but Jack demanded quickly, "What are you doing with Pitch Black?"
"Hello to you too, Jack Frost." His name was pronounced with a sneer. "Regardless, Mother Nature has invested in his acquaintance—but because of you Guardians significantly weakening him last year, he requires strength." Xylan smirked. "So we've come here to scare up some power for him. Fear apparently reeks from this building because of all the frightened students . . . courtesy of me, of course. And we figured we would pick you up along the way."
Jack tightened his grip on his staff and Charlotte breathed out suddenly through her nose. Encountering a strong Boogeyman was not on her check-list of things to do today.
"But while that's going on . . ." Xylan swayed her fingers, and the pink flowers splurted a twinkling violet gas. Drifting up, it met Jack's nose with full force, and he coughed twice before tumbling to the floor.
Charlotte, back against the wall, caught Jack's body. She slapped his cheeks lightly, heart hammering. "Jack? JACK?"
"Relax, he's just out cold." Xylan released a loud laugh. "See what I did there, Second-Sighted One? Aren't I funny?"
"No, you're a freaking flower lady with a dumb haircut, a thing for Sleeping Beauty, and a lousy sense of humor!" Charlotte exploded, arranging Jack's unconscious body behind her on the ground protectively. "Now leave my school alone and get lost!"
A serene smile remained on Xylan's lips as she peered down at Charlotte condescendingly. "Insulting an Elemental Sister is not a smart decision, little girl. After all, as the Sister of the Earth, I am in tune with the ability to read the details of the outside to discover things of the inside, like the rings of a tree stump . . ." Before Charlotte's eyes, Xylan jumped from the desk and was suddenly in front of her, not a hair out of place. She grabbed Charlotte and spun her around, holding her in a bone-crushing embrace around her shoulders. She breathed in, murmuring, "Ahh, yes, just as I expected. So much weakness, yet so much fire. Longing, confusion, insecurity, anger, loneliness . . . regret? Hm, and for something relating to the Guardians, how interesting . . . Ugh, you have hints of that wrench on you, such a shame . . . You see, sweet girl? There's no such thing as a closed book. How strange for Mother to crave someone so . . . brittle. For you, there will be no prince to crash through the haze and kiss you awake though, like the story of Sleeping Beauty. You possess a great power, the beautiful power of sight. And that's why you have suffered so much . . . because you can see."
Charlotte, speechless, tried to break free of Xylan's embrace, but the Sister of the Earth held on, but not roughly—she seemed to actually be hugging Charlotte with tenderness.
"And that's why you have suffered so much . . . because you can see." What did that mean?
Xylan's body being ripped away from her awoke Charlotte from her revere. She watched as the Sandman tugged the Sister of the Earth away, golden whip around her waist. A huge sleigh was parked outside, and North, Tooth, and Bunnymund were climbing out to join Sandy near the hole in the wall.
Sandy smiled reassuringly at her and a sand image appeared: a hand gesturing her over. She grabbed hold of Jack's limp body from under his armpits and dragged him through the pink flowers to the Sandman, who had put Xylan to sleep. Sand flowers were dancing above her head.
"Sandy!" Charlotte cried, overjoyed to see the Guardians.
"Charlotte!" Tooth grasped Charlotte's hands in hers, worry on her face like newly grown feathers. "What's going on?"
"I see alert on Globe," North said, swords drawn. "And—and Pitch is—is here?! Vat is happening?"
"Mother Nature woke him up, or something." Charlotte squeezed her hands together after Tooth had let her go so that she wouldn't suck her thumb. Not the time, Charlotte. "Whatever you guys did to him last year . . . it's not happening anymore. And—and he's here with her"—she jabbed a finger at the sleeping Xylan—"to make him stronger by scaring my entire school."
To describe the emotions that crossed the Guardians' faces at the point was something Charlotte immediately decided was almost impossible. Their expressions were created by a terrible mix between fright, despair, and shock (with a dash of outrage for Bunnymund and the least of all three emotions for Sandy). But Charlotte couldn't believe how discouraged they looked, like Pitch was the playground bully who had returned from suspension to finish the job.
Suddenly Tooth's hands flew over her O shaped mouth. "My goodness, what happened to Jack?"
"Um—those pink flowers aren't just there for decoration, let's just say that," Charlotte replied. "How can we wake him up?"
"I've got this one," Bunnymund volunteered, a cheeky echo to his voice. He asked North to hold Jack upright, and as the Winter Spirit hung in North's arms like a puppet, Bunnymund jump-kicked Jack in the stomach, waking him up and sending him to the floor with an "Oof!"
"Haha!" Bunnymund cheered. "That kangaroo-like enough for ya, mate?"
"Uuuuuuugghhhh," Jack groaned. "That settles it: next Easter is going to be the coldest, whitest one yet."
"You make one snowflake that day, and I promise you—"
"HEY!" Tooth yelled.
Jack and Bunnymund looked at her, surprised.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a trapped school, filled with innocent children, with one of the Elemental Sisters asleep a few feet away from us, and Pitch Black slowly regaining enough strength to possibly fight back up in the sky, even though we thought we had locked him up for good last year! So if I were you two, I would stop wasting my energy on squabbling with each other and focus it more on protecting the children and making sure Charlotte isn't taken to Mother Nature!"
With a huff, Tooth zipped outside with an amused Sandy and North to spy on Pitch.
"And that," Jack said as he stood up with the help of his staff, "is why you never piss off the Tooth Fairy."
