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A quick note: Heh, wow. I think I went into "review shock." I checked my email today and found loads of reviews waiting for me! Sheesh, all I went and did was spend the night at a friends house, and you guys went crazy. LOL, j/k, j/k...
Chapter 5: Breaking the Ice
Sam slowly opened the door, glancing up and down the hall before quickly stepping out and making her way downstairs toward the kitchen. She opened the door and was barely three steps inside when a ghost flew up dressed as a cook. She gasped, jumping back and nearly expecting the ghost to tattle on her, but she didn't.
"Hello, deary, would you like a cookie?" The ghost held out a chocolate chip chocolate cookie and a glass of milk.
"Thank you, but I was hoping I could get some dinner before I had dessert." She smiled weakly, taking the cookie but refusing the milk. "I won't eat or drink anything that comes from an animal."
"Oh." The cook tossed the milk aside, and Sam winced as she heard the glass shatter. The ghost then held out a salad and a glass of water. "That better?"
"Thank you." Sam smiled shyly and reached for the salad.
"Stop!" Jack flew through the wall into the room. "You know what Daniel said, Lunch Lady!"
"I can't let the poor deary go hungry," the cook said, pouting.
"She's not a prisoner, Dad." Jazmine flew in after Jack, smiling at Sam. "If she's going to stay with us, she needs to eat."
Jack sighed. "All right."
"Thank you," Sam whispered to Jazmine as she sat down at a small table and began to eat.
Alone in the shadows, Daniel watched as the young woman named Samantha talked and laughed with his parents and sister. At that moment, the despair gripped his heart so tightly that he had to move away. How could a woman so wonderful ever come to love someone like him? He flew into the west wing, into his room where items lay blasted aside and torn to pieces. He floated over to a table where a mirror rested beside a glass case holding a single, floating red rose. A single petal slowly fell, floating like a feather to land upon the table as a tear trailed down the young man's cheek.
"She'll never see me as anything but a monster," he whispered, head bowed.
Sam walked with Jazmine and Madison on a tour of the castle. The young woman was extremely interested in everything they showed her but stopped when they passed by the west wing. On the wall near the hall leading to the wing, a portrait hung of a young man with stunning ice blue eyes and raven hair. Sam could have sworn she recognized his face, but she couldn't place it.
"Who is this young man?" Sam asked Jazmine.
Jazmine and Madison exchanged a glance but didn't answer. "Let's go to the library," Jazmine said suddenly.
"Oh, yes, we have so many books in there!" Madison cried, obviously excited.
They both wandered away as Sam followed, but they never noticed that the young woman had stopped and walked back to the forbidden corridor. She walked down the hall slowly, as if expecting one of the ladies to return and usher her away or Daniel to appear and yell at her and scare her away. She reached the huge double doors and the end of the hallway and slowly pushed one of them open so she could enter. It looked to be a room of some kind, perhaps living chambers at one time. But now, the furniture was in pieces and singed in places.
Sam walked slowly through the dark room before a soft pink light caught her eye. It was a rose encased in a glass dome beside a mirror. She lifted up the mirror first, gazing at the metal carved around the piece of glass before setting it aside and turning to the rose. It was beautiful, glowing, and looked as though it were dying. A single petal was resting on the table. She lifted the dome encasing and reached out a hand to touch the rose. A white-gloved hand grasped her wrist, and she gasped, looking up into angry emerald eyes.
She pulled out of his grasp, backing away as he returned the dome to it's proper place with gentle care. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm. I was just curious."
"Get out," the young man growled, both hands still resting on the dome encasing.
"I-I didn't want to… I wasn't—"
"Get out!" he roared, firing a strange green beam at her from his hand.
She screamed and ran from the room, passing Jazmine and Madison as she ran for the door, throwing on her cloak. "I don't care if I made a promise, I can't stay here!"
"No, Samantha, don't go!" Madison called out, but the young woman ignored her as she disappeared outside into the snow.
Sam mounted Phillipe and turned him toward home, urging the horse into a gallop. A wolf howl reached her ears, making the Clydesdale panic and pause. She reached down and stroked his mane, whispering soothingly to him, but the horse wouldn't calm as a pack of wolves surrounded them. A wolf lunged at the horse, and Phillipe reared up, dropping Sam into the snow. She grabbed a nearby branch in an attempt to ward off the wolves, and poor Phillipe had gotten his reigns caught in the tree.
Giving up on the horse, the ghostly wolves went after Sam, jumping at her only to shy away when she swung at them. She let out a cry as one of the wolves tore the stick from her grasp, and another leapt at her, making her fall back in the snow. She gasped, raising an arm to shield her face as another wolf leapt at her, but he was thrown aside by a glowing green ray. Sam watched in amazement as Daniel flew at the pack that had attacked her, retaliating with his own blows. A wolf leapt forward and swiped at Daniel who pulled away and shot another green ray. The wolf was thrown into a tree with a yelp. The others ran with howls and whines of defeat.
Sam stood slowly as Daniel turned to face her, breathing hard. One hand gripped his chest, green blood seeping between his gloved fingers from the large swipe the wolf had dealt him. His green eyes closed slowly, and he fell forward into the snow with a groan. Sam moved to Phillipe, untangling his reigns from the tree. For a moment she stood beside the horse, hesitating. She looked back at the unconscious ghost boy lying in the snow. She stepped toward him, kneeling at his side. She gently touched his shoulder before unclasping her cloak and putting it around him.
Daniel didn't know how he had gotten back to the mansion, and he didn't ask. Now, he sat in an arm chair before the fire, his arm crossed over his wounded chest. He was still breathing hard, and it felt as though each breath brought liquid fire into his lungs. Sam stepped toward him with a bowl of steaming water. A rag was soaking in it. She set the bowl on the side table and sat on the foot rest nearby. He turned away, knowing she would try to tend to his wound.
"Let me see it," she said.
"No."
"Daniel, don't be stubborn." She pulled his arm away and dabbed at the wound.
He let out a yelp of pain and pushed her away. "That hurts!"
"Just stop moving, and it won't hurt as much!"
He hesitated. "If you hadn't run away, this wouldn't have happened."
"If you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away!" Sam argued, crossing her arms and glaring at him.
He glared back then looked away, reluctantly letting her pull his arm away. She began dabbing at the large scratches gently. His free hand balled into a fist, but he showed no other signs of pain. She looked up at him, but his face was still turned the other way.
"By the way," she said slowly, "thank you, for saving my life."
He turned to her, studying her for a moment. A small smile graced his lips, and he said, "You're welcome."
A/N: Well, I wrote this chapter almost as soon as I finished Chapter 4. Now, it's 2:24 in the morning, but I doubt I'll be going to bed anytime soon. I just have so much to type! I certainly hope you all know what sacrifice I'm going through for you! Review 'cause you love me, and I'll update sooner!
By the way, I posted this chapter on Fanfiction at 6:55 pm on the 12th, okay? Just so there's no confusion about my author note above this one. I was 2:24 when I typed this chapter, and it's 6:55 when I post it. Okay? Okay.
