Chapter 22
Receive what cheer you may. The night is long that never finds the day
-William Shakesphere, Macbeth
Down the staircase, they went without making a sound. Yet, the ship creaked as if it anticipated their movements as if they were inside a breathing giant made out of wood. The light from Tooth's wing shined against the wooden archway of the long hallway that twisted and stretched in the flickers of lights like a living belly of a snake.
"It looked smaller outside," Pitch grunted. It didn't seem like he had his work cut out for him. Tooth settled down and comfortably tucked her wings behind. Back against her was simple just wooden walls. As the last light from her wing began to dim, she conjured a fairy light that shoots up and down in excitement like a firefly.
"Let's go. We don't have much time." She said grimly.
Up above the basement, Jack, Sandy and Jamie sneaked around as if they were in a spy movie. Jamie couldn't help grinning as Jack motioned with his hand, having already ice created visor and a makeshift ice gun. Sandy followed suit with his own spy suits and silently laughed. They already scouted the front deck and it was empty as the school after the final bell tolled. Now, they decided to check the back deck, hoping to find any hints or clues about whereabouts of the kidnapped children.
Rounding the corner to the back deck, they heard an unmistakable creak in the hazy grey darkness. They froze like deer herds in the headlight. Sandy raised a single finger on his lip and Jamie covered the sound of his breath with his hand with fear in his eyes. The creaking sound came closer, and then closer. Jack raised his staff high above his head, ready to strike whoever was coming around the corner. All at once, the creaking stopped. A pin dropping silence filled the air until out of the blue, a war cry that ricocheted off of Jack's eardrum.
"AHHHHHHH" the black figures cried out in the dark in unison. They crowded Jack and began to pummel him with tiny hands and feet. Jack laughed in relief.
"Hey, stop, stop! We are here to rescue you!" Jack claimed, trying to calm the crowd of kids. Some halted with shining eyes while others ignored Jack's plea and continued to whack him with all their energy they could muster. It wasn't until Sophie whistled that the children calmed down, some looking around in confusion.
"Sophie! You're safe! Oh, thank goodness!" Jamie cried out. He ran to hug Sophie and Sophie snuggled in his arms in pure joy. Jack's heart melted looking at the reunion and Sandy created hearts. "But, where is mom?" He glanced around.
Sophie shooked her head. "I don't know. I woke up in a metal box!"
"You aren't hurt anywhere?"
"Nope!" Sophie rubbed her eyes tiredly. "But I want to go home now." The other kids began to also yawn in fatigue. Some were on verge of crying, no longer able to hold out they yearning for the comfort of their homes or familiarity. Yet only one was silently staring at them with an intense gaze.
"We will get you all home. We promise." Jack said. "Hey kids, watch this!" He somersaulted in the air in swirls of ice and landed lightly on his toe, creating ice spectacles in the air that soon rained gently on their nose. Children laughed and giggled while others were in awe. One by one, Sandy put them to relaxing sleep using his sand to swirl gold in between their eyes. Soon, all children were sleeping soundlessly, except one. The one with acute gaze simply stared at Sandy's gold sand drift into tiny particles. Then, the kid slowly smiled at Sandy's confusion. His eyes shone with a darkness that could only be found in a void.
Pitch glanced up to the ceiling. He thought he heard a scream and detected just the tiniest sliver of fear.
"What is it?"
"I thought I heard something. Must have been my imagination."
Tooth's forehead creased. "I really hope nothing happened."
Pitch shook his head. "It's probably nothing. This place doesn't reek of fear," he paused, "yet."
They walked down the narrow hallway. Soon, they approached a single door that was painted blue with a rusted hinge. Tooth exhaled tension and she turned the knob. The door creaked open and what laid in front of their eyes made Tooth widen her eyes in terror while Pitch creased his brows.
"Well, this was a bigger problem than we thought." He mumbled.
In front of them stretched an enormous grand room that had a high wooden ceiling supported by four wooden pillars. For a moment to any spectating eyes, they would see pitch darkness and some shapes. Yet in the dark, as the eyes adjusted, faces loomed and floated without bodies like a head detached from the body. On closer inspection, their bodies were covered with black strings that stretched out like webs. Each body was hanging from the ceiling in a cocoon-like structure that wrapped them with obsessive protection. The black web-like string stretched endlessly, filling the room with suffocating ominous presence. Hundred or more still counting faces were pale yet peacefully in deep sleep.
They were all adults.
Tooth covered her mouth to prevent a gasp from escaping. There were too many of them. Too many adults trapped all in endless sleep. She imagined their loved ones wondering where they have disappeared off to for years to come, always wondering while they relieved their own past memories before time stopped for them.
"What are they trying to do with all these adults I wonder." Pitch pondered out loud. While he pondered with breaching fascination, Tooth reached out to touch the strings with trembling hands as if she was bewitched. In her mind, she had a single goal: to let the adults return to their loved ones, families and friends. They did not belong here to sleep endlessly but to live and make memories.
But, Pitch knew it was a trap. A spider waited for its innocent prey to come and tangle in its web. He knew. He used the same tactic in the past.
"Don't touch them!" Pitch shouted.
But it was too late.
The strings vibrated like a guitar and the vibration travelled upward and spread more vibration along with the wide connections of the spider web. Soon, the entire room was vibrating and the very ground they stood vibrated as if the sleeping giant was woken back to life.
Then out of the darkness, the black strings shoot out as quick as a slingshot.
