Chapter 20
Hypothermia
-Jack-
"Where is she?!" I yelled throwing a mug of frozen hot chocolate across the room in frustration. The handle shattered against the rock wall, but it brought no satisfaction.
It had been a month since we'd seen any sign of her, a month since I had heard her in my head, a month and suddenly she seemed to stop existing. North wouldn't let me leave to go find her, knowing in my unbalanced state I would probably freeze a continent solid.
The search was going agonizingly slow since we had no idea where to start other than the ominous mental hospital I had heard in my head. Sandy and Tooth had started at her parent's house and worked out from there. Still they had made it outside 200 mile radius and nothing yet. We had decided to widen the search to regular hospitals as well.
Looking into the mirror of my room I could see how bad I looked. My white hair was ragged and came to hard icy points. My face was in a perpetually scowling. Line dug into my face at harsh angles would probably never fade. Bruise colored circles under my now nearly white eyes gave them a menacing appearance.
The image in the glass angered me beyond recognition for reasons that I did not know. I was supposed to be the guardian of fun, yet I haven't felt anything but worry and anger since Aurora dropped off the face of the earth.
Before I could stop myself my fist collided with the glass in front of me. Time seemed to slow down as I watched the cracks spread in a jagged spider web across my reflection. Lines broke my face into shards and glass embedded itself into my knuckle causing dark blue icy blood to splash against the reflective surface.
Hissing in pain, I turned away from the shattered mirror, clasping my now injured hand to my chest. Trying to examine it through the now gushing blood. Glass daggers protruded from the knuckles, gleaming in the soft light of the room.
Suddenly the door to my room burst open, snapping my head to the gaping door, my gaze fell on the bulky form on North. He seemed excited and acted as though he had been running. "Jack! Sandy he..." he stopped mid sentence seeing my blood soaked hand. "What happened to your hand?" His accent turned what into vut.
"It's nothing." I shrugged his concern away trying to shield it now with my uninjured hand. "What is it North?"
He looked unconvinced but continued anyway, "Sandy found her."
That statement was enough to awaken my speed. I had my injured hand wrapped around my staff before I realized I had jumped over my bed.
"Where is she?" I demanded already in front of him.
"She's in a hospital, not far from her parents' house." He said halting my advance out the door. "The sleigh is ready. We're all going." Placing a heavy hand on my shoulder with a slight smile.
"Okay." I said thankful. For what I wasn't sure. We headed off for the slay, and for the first time in forever I felt hope that I was going to finally see her.
Though now that my anger had subsided I felt a fear creep up my spine. A feeling I remembered from the morning I had heard her in my mind, but had since gone dormant. It was a foreboding feeling growing in the pit of my stomach that seemed to drive what little hope I had from me.
"Please be okay." I pleaded under my breath so North couldn't hear me.
It wasn't a long walk to the sleigh and everyone was already there. Bunny didn't look thrilled at the idea of flying again.
Exiting the swirling vortex of color the snow globe had opened, North skillfully landed the sleigh on top of the hospital. I did everything I could to keep from freezing anything, including leaving my staff on in the seat.
We quickly made our way into the hospital through the front door, Sandy lead us to her room. What happened to her that would send her to this place? I wondered while the over sanitized scent of the hospital burned my noes and the supposedly calming colors swirled uneasily in my sight.
-Aurora-
The sound of the heart monitor flat lining followed us into the dark. Footsteps echoed among the loud obnoxious sound as the black hole swallowed us and closed. 'Probably the nurse.' I thought vaguely.
After falling completely through the hospital floor the sensation of falling ended. Gravity had become static and I could no longer tell what was up or down. I was vaguely reminded of those SciFi movies where the artificial gravity was shut off at the flick of a switch.
The silence was deafening in its intensity and the darkness around us felt like the deepest ocean pressing on me from every angle. I could barely lift my chest to breathe. I had never been particularly scared of the dark. Yes I heard voices and I knew the scary stories told around camp fires were for the most part true, but I never felt fear just a vague recollection of nervousness.
Yet now I could feel the fear bubbling within my chest. My grip tightened on the solid form I clutched to but couldn't see.
"Hang on Aura." I heard Pitch say, but his voice sounded far away to the blood rushing through my ears.
Suddenly light opened up around us and gravity's pull threatened to yank me from pitch's grip to the floor under my back. My room at my parents house was dark but the moon shinning through the window illuminated the room like the sun compared to the black void I was just floating in.
He lowered me to me feet before quickly flipping the light switch. The sudden changes in brightness were making my head ache and spin slightly. My eyes watered leaving me temporarily blinded.
"Get dressed quickly." Pitch demanded softly. "We have to keep moving."
I obliged without hesitation or objection when he phased through the door. He knew more of this than I did. Even if ghosts and spirits were with me throughout my life, wraithes were different. They were torturous creatures that thrives on blood and pain in the darkest of places.
Looking to the nightstand near my bed I seen the glittering glass of the golf ball sized snow globe North had given me What felt like yesterday, but at the same time a lifetime ago.
After changing and grabbing a backpack full of clothes,and the tiny form of travel tucked safely into my pocket, I was ready to leave. I had put on my Nothing More band tee, ripped up jeans and my skeleton hoodie that I had worn to the institute. My wardrobe hardly ever changes just comprised of different colors.
I looked in the mirror and gasped at what I saw. I knew most of my muscle mass had rotted away, but looking at the reflection I couldn't see anything of who I used to be. Snow white skin, bedraggled black hair with sickly and discolored tips. My silver eyes were dull and had sank back into my skull. Every bone in my body seemed as plain as a nursing skeleton model, having only the thinnest layer of skin covering the surface.
It wasn't hard to imagine the figure in front of me laying in a coffin, arms crossed over her chest, and eyes close to feign sleeping. While row after row of loved ones cried for the loss.
Shuddering at the thought, I had to turn away feeling bile rise in my throat. It was hard to believe the last time I had seen myself was a month ago in the hair salon. My tips were bright blue, and my hair shined a black blue in the light.
How things could change so fast.
I felt my disgust shift slowly to anger in my head. Its acidic taste eat ever so slowly through every inch of me. Rage aimed towards the doctor that did this to me, towards my parents for giving them the opportunity, and towards myself for letting them back in. I should have learned from past experience that they don't change.
The human sickness is being static. No matter how much you try to change, to move forward, to hide the past, it always comes back. You can feel it's hot breath on the nape of your neck, hear its echoing footsteps in your shadow.
He was there, waiting for my steps to falter, for a moments hesitation. I could feel his three clawed blade brushing the skin of my shoulder. Though despite this I wasn't afraid, I was enraged.
I'm sick of running, sick of hiding, sick of surviving. Its my time to fight, my turn to live. I had been doing it all my life. From my parents to stay out of straight jackets and padded rooms, from bullies that broke bones and left welts, and now from the wraith that had never truly been left in the past. Now I'm going to face him head on.
"You ready to go?" Pitch's voice broke me from my blood rage.
"Yeah," I strained to keep my voice even. With my jaw set and my now shaking hands clenched in a white knuckled fist, I could feel blood being drawn from the skin of one of my palms as I tried to calm my anger.
"Okay then," Pitch said, "let's get moving."
Warm liquid trickles down my fingers and dripped into the carpet. "Okay." I agreed taking his offered hand with my uninjured one.
The floor fell out from under us and we plunged back into the shadows of his world.
-Jack-
I soon found myself utterly lost in the maze of vaguely green hallways. Thankfully Sandy seemed to know exactly where he was going. The signs we passed through the twisting passageways grew more and more foreboding as our group traveled through the bowls of the hospital. "Cancer ward" "Trauma Center" "Long term care unit" "ICU" and finally "Coma Ward."
I knew very little of the health care in the world, but I knew what 'Coma" meant. My heart dropped into my stomach, making me feel sick. Sandy began pointing at a room enthusiastically. My pace quickened instantly, But then a noise started coming from the partly open door that caused my blood to run cold.
A extended shrilled call of a flat lining heart monitor.
"No" I whispered in disbelief as a rounded the corner. My eyes flitted around the room looking for any sign of Aura, finally resting on the bed. I heaved a brief sigh of relief as my icy eyes fell mover the empty bed, blankets discarded on the floor and the sensors to the heart monitor hanging loosely off the side of the bed.
My brief respite however was quickly washed away with confusion. Where did she go? We were right next to the room when the machine started sounding the alarm. She couldn't have left the room without us seeing her. A quick inspection of the window in the room showed that it didn't open at all.
The guardians had followed me in and was scanning the room in various stages of shock and confusion, followed closely behind by a group of nurses who were ready to help their dying patient. Their faces mirrored ours as realization washed over their face. They turned out the door quickly as they came to, I assume, sound the alarm and start searching the hospital.
While the humans began combing the hospital, we searched the room. Nothing really seemed to make any sense, unless she had the snow globe that North had given her before she disappeared.
Just as I was about to voice my contemplation, Sandy began to move about erratically, trying to get our attention. Black sand filtered through his golden fingers.
"Pitch." I growled through clenched teeth.
-Aurora -
After another fall through the never ending void that was Pitch's way of travel. We came out on top of a building under was appeared to be a flood light. With a quick glace around me I realized I could see the hospital we had just escaped from.
"Why are we here?" I asked in confusion. Hadn't we just left this place.
"I felt something." The boogieman said in calm contemplation. "I think your friends are nearby." Scanning the night sky with his golden hawk like eyes. My heart hammered in my chest as I began searching as well.
"There isn't any lights on the roof of the hospital," Pitch finally broke the silence of the night. "Wait here." he commanded sharply. Before I could utter any sort of protest he evaporated.
I fingered the tiny glass orb in my pocket, as I stood alone on the roof in the bright cone of yellow light created by the light overhead. My gaze fixed on the shadows surrounding the ring of light. They seemed to writhe over themselves like many inky tentacles fighting for supremacy.
"Why are you doing this?" Venom laced my words as I spoke directly to the shadows. I knew he was there. He always has been.
"You" came a gnarled reply, deep and groaning Reminding me of the creaky house I found him in. The voice caused my hair to stand up on end, memories of that voice flooded my mind as more adrenaline was forced into my system.
"I was only trying to help you!" I shouted defiantly at the darkness. "Why do you want me dead?"
"Not dead. No" I could almost hear the smirk in his smug words.
"Then why?" My voice faltered with a hint of confusion.
It was quiet for a moment before the swirling shadows offered a reply. "Power" it growled happily around me. The voice suddenly had no tangible source but appeared to have surrounded me. "with your power I can continue my work"
Realization fell over my features and drained the blood from my face. A menacing cackle erupted from all around me. "You can't stay in the light forever."
A long count of silence hung in the air as the wraith swirled around my bubble of light. My stormy gaze fell to the gravel at my feet.
"I'm not going to let you use me to hurt anyone else" I declared quietly,not looking up from the structure beneath me, suddenly knowing exactly what I had to do.
"You don't have a choice." The intangible voice cackled at me.
"Yes I do." I said pulling the tiny orb from my pocket. In a quick motion I threw it against the pebbled roof. A flash of multicolored light erupted from the impact point and I fell into the portal.
-Jack-
We had retreated from the hospital heading back to the rocket powered sleigh. My blood boiled with rage as I puzzled over why Pitch would take Aurora. What was he planning and why did he seem so fixated on her?
I had been looking at the ground, in a vain attempt to contain seething anger, as we made our way back to the roof. I barely managed to stop myself before I ran into North's frozen form. Stepping around him, my anger temporarily forgotten as bewilderment washed through me. "What is it Nor..." I trailed off as my icy eyes traced his line of sight. A tall menacing form stood by the sleigh with his ashen hands up.
The once forgotten fervor blazed to life again as I stared at the boogieman in front of us. "What did you do with her?!" I demanded loudly of the shadowed figure. The others seemed to break out of their momentary befuddlement and began to advance on Pitch.
"She's safe." He responded backing up showing us his palms, trying ineffectively to pacify us. "I'm trying to help her. She's in more danger than you know."
"Yeah, From you" I spit a response, as my fellow guardians began to encircle him like wolves around a helpless deer.
"No I'm not going to hurt her." Pitch implored fruitlessly with a quick somewhat panicked glance around himself. "I'm trying to get her to you, Frost." He yelled out one last attempt to stave off our bloodlust.
I faltered at his words. "Where is she then? Why isn't she with you?" The other guardians seemed to pause as well holding their breath.
"She can't be in the dark." He explained hurriedly, I scoured his hawk like features for any hint of a lie. "There is a spirit latched to her that wants her dead. I can show you where she is. Just KEEP HER IN LIGHT AT ALL TIMES. PROMISE ME!" The conviction in his voice startled me out of my rage. The demon in front of me legitimately seemed worried about her well being, and was making demands that didn't make any sense. If he wanted her why was he trying to convince me to keep her in the light?
My mind whirled with these questions and more as a rainbow of colored light burst forth from the center of the roof directly in between myself and the boogieman. The portal stretched open it's colorful maw and spat Aurora, tumbling on to the roof. Landing on all fours, her wide sunken eyes shot panicked glances around the roof.
Aurora's POV
Tears burned my eyes as I scanned my new surroundings. The radiant light of the portal closed all too soon, swallowed by the perpetual darkness. I could already feel the shadows gathering around me, preparing to sink its fangs into my frail skin.
Adrenaline coursed through my system making my senses sharp, however my weak body itself was starting to tire rapidly. I didn't have long till it gave up completely, bile rose in my throat as I forced myself to stand.
I stood in the center of the roof Pitch, was behind me and I was completely surrounded by other creatures, some I recognized, Like North and Sandy, from previous encounters, other I vividly remember from my nightmare I had so long ago.
Finally my eyes fell on Jack, shocked by my sudden arrival, he seemed almost frozen in place. Which was probably good, my resolve began to crumble as I started at him. Every fiber of my being was demanding, screaming at me to run to him, He'd make it all go away. He was safety, security and love. I stayed rooted to the roof, as the build up of tears began to blur my vision.
15 short feet was all that separated us on this desolate rooftop. My gray green eyes took a moment to memorize his form one more time.
An immeasurable count of silence took hold of the area, even the wind was holding it's breath, as I felt the shadows begin to condense around my feet. The hour glass was running out of sand.
Jack finally breaking out of the trance that had fallen upon all of us He began to make his way towards me. An ichor tentacle began to slither up my leg, sapping my energy and snapping me out of my trance.
"Stay back!" I snapped at jack holding my hand up to halting his approach.
"Aura, what's wrong?" He asked as he took a tentative step forward.
"He has me Jack," A tear fell from my eye finally clearing my vision slightly. "I'm not going to let him hurt anyone again." My gaze fell to the gathering shadows at my feet, their forms were beginning to consolidate as another tentacle reached out to grasp at me. Claws began to rake down my back, the familiar burn of salty sweat began, I could taste the blood on my tongue.
I meant Jack's frantic eyes as the shadows that were only visible to me threatened to engulf my tiny frame. My mind made up I found an odd sense of comfort in what I was about to do. 10 stories separated me from the pavement, somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered if this was going to hurt. Echoed memories of free running injuries, dulled by time, came to mind.
"I love you Jack... and I'm sorry."
As the words left my lips I turned and sprinted for the edge of the building with my remaining strength. Having to rip my legs out of the quicksand of shadows. I heard the calls of my friends behind me, calling my name, beckoning my to stop. There was no time, I couldn't be selfish now. If I stayed I they were in danger.
My foot hit the decorative edging of the building and I sprung from it. My body turning in a roll under instinct alone, I knew there was no rolling out of this fall.
Wind roared in my ears as a plummeted to the sidewalk. The ground rushed to meet me even though time seemed to slow.
"No!" the demon that latched itself to me bellowed in my ear as we fell.
'I win' was the last thing in my mind before my body collided with the ground.
END BOOK ONE
- Author's Note-
Man I never thought I would ever finish this story. Nothing like a quarantine to get me writing again. I appologize to any of my readers that may start reading this again. This took far too long, I have no excuse. I knew the story I wanted to write, but I just couldn't sit down and put it into words. I'm going to continue this arch in the next book, as I really do want to continue this story.
I hope some of my original readers forgive me and I hope they enjoy the conclusion of book one.