Sandy

Time stretched on in grueling moments, each longer than the last. But there was no movement, no sound. The mist just stared blankly at me, the wind whipped my hair sideways, and the snow pelted my face.

A shadow flashed by. My entire body tensed. The vague shape grew closer… and closer. I was seconds from snapping a whip, but skidded to a halt as Tooth came into view.

"Sandy!" she shouted as she landed on the roof beside me. "Are you alright?"

Relief flooded me, followed by disgruntlement. I was about to scold her for breaking the Man in the Moon's rules by coming to find me, but then I noticed the memory cylinder in her hands.

She drew closer and knelt down. She placed the cylinder in my hands. I turned it over and scrunched my brow in confusion. Pitch's face was on the side.

Tooth gently rested one hand on top of the cylinder and met my eyes. "We could use them to prove he tricked you," she murmured.

I glanced up to where the moon would've been if it wasn't hidden behind the storm. A flicker of hope stirred in my heart.

"No you won't."

A chill ran up my spine. I twirled around, my whips already forming, but my stomach dropped.

Pitch was standing on his cloud of black sand, holding up the form of Aila gagged and mummified in nightmare sand so tightly she couldn't move. The only way I could even tell it was her was a sliver of her face peaking out.

"Hand them over," Pitch snarled, spitting each word.

Tooth gasped behind me. I glanced back to see dozens of nightmares appearing from the mist. We were surrounded.

"She doesn't have all day!" Pitch exclaimed.

I barely had a chance to wonder what he meant. A blue bolt splintered through the air between us, and a freezing gust of wind blasted snow into our faces.

Pitch just barely managed to melt down into the shadows before the ice skewered him, and that left Aila to careen over the edge of the building.

I leaped after her immediately. The surrounding nightmares flooded the roof around me, Jack, and Tooth, blocking me from the ledge.

Without pausing for a moment, I vaulted into the air, flipped over the closest nightmare, and clamped my hands over the sides of its head. It transformed into a giant bird of dreamsand just as I landed lightly on its back.

The bird threw its wings open, knocking the other nightmares back, and I ducked down against its neck. We surged over the edge of the building and plummeted along the glass walls.

Aila plunged below us, wailing. Lights and buildings flashed by, but it all blurred together as my vision fixated on Aila. I sat upright on the bird and rubbed my hands together to create a ball of dreamsand. I lifted my thumb, using it to aim, then pitched. The ball hit her back, instantly forming a brace around her chest. A parachute unfurled above her. She jolted to a halt.

I released a breath of relief. I hopped off the bird, allowing it to return to the child who dreamed it, and hurried after Aila.

The window beside me exploded. Black sand erupted from the shattered glass, and I turned just in time to see Pitch slam against me.

The two of us barreled across the sky. Pitch tried to rip his memory cylinder from my hands, and I barely caught it. He seized me by the collar of my robe and slammed my back against a skyscraper. The window cracked under the force.

Before I could even raise my hands, Pitch slapped his palm against my head. My brain spun. Everything faded to black. I glanced down at my body. Everything, from my robes to my skin, was black. I was a nightmare. I was my own nightmare.

I snapped back to the present when I felt Pitch's memory cylinder tugged from my hand.

I grasped for the cylinder, but nightmare sand bound my arms to my sides. Pitch grabbed my shoulders and heaved. He thrust me down the side of the building, tearing through the windows. Glass shattered, ripping at my back.

I clenched my teeth and felt heat build up through my arms and to my fingertips. Dreamsand burst from my palms. The nightmare sand encasing me exploded, and Pitch flailed backwards. His memories plummeted.

We exchanged a glance, then both dived for the cylinder.

The city grew closer as we plunged through the frigid wind. Cars honked and colorful lights gleamed through the haze of snow.

A gold glint caught my eye, and I caught a glimpse of the cylinder as it clanged to the sidewalk between throngs of hooded pedestrians.

Pitch grunted, sending me a vicious snarl, then pushed ahead.

Red hair appeared among the crowd. I watched with dread as Aila forced her way through the horde below. She snatched the cylinder off the ground, glanced up at the two of us with her jaw jutted in determination, and sprinted down the sidewalk.

My heart began to pound.

Pitch and I raced after her, speeding past buildings and all kinds of Chritsmas decorations that lined the roads. I struggled to keep my eyes on her, but once in a while she would disappear between groups of people. I just barely caught a glimpse of her skidding around a bend. She disappeared behind a building.

Pitch whipped around the turn. I veered behind him just in time to see him sneer at me over his shoulder. He melted down into the shadows.

That left me standing in the town square. The plaza was covered with Christmas lights, and in the center stood a massive Christmas tree. And of course, there were people everywhere.

I frantically scrambled back and forth, searching for any sign of Aila. There was nothing… no blaze of her red hair or flash of her green dress…

Just as my heart began to pound, I heard the clanging of armor behind me.

"Tell me where she is!" a stern voice demanded. I whipped around, and there was Queen Beckett, surrounded by soldiers of the Isle. The woman marched up to me, and I crossed my arms sternly.

"She has to come back. You don't understand… she—"

"Sandy!"

Bunnymund and North bounded from the shadows and skidded to a halt beside me.

"Where is Pitch?" North demanded, brandishing a sword.

Beckett's face suddenly twisted. She forced herself between us. "Listen to me! Bring me Aila immediately, or I have no choice but to take drastic measures."

A scream erupted from the center of the square. Each one of us whipped around, and there was Aila. She was underneath the Christmas tree, and Pitch had her by the arm, dragging her into the open.

I leaped into the air, but something seized my ankle and slammed me to the ground. Hands pressed my shoulders into the stone. I could just see out of the corner of my eye as one of Beckett's soldiers pinned me. Beckett hovered over us and commanded the soldier, "Take care of him. I'll handle Aila." She glanced down at me. "I'm sorry... I did not want it to come to th—"

North barrelled into her, knocking her to the ground. Immediately, he was surrounded by soldiers. Bunny leaped into the fray after him.

"Go!" North yelled to me. "Go, Sandy!"

I forced myself sideways and blew dreamsand into the face of the soldier holding me down. He lurched back, wiping his face, then collapsed beside me in a deep sleep.

I raced to Aila. Seconds before I leaped into action, Pitch pulled a hand out of his robes. He held up a memory cylinder. I staggered when I noticed my face on the side.

Pitch curled nightmare sand around my memories. "How would you like to join your stranded wife?" He taunted. The black tentacles squeezed my cylinder.

Aila belted out the most enraged screech I had ever heard from her mouth. She cracked Pitch in the head with his own memory cylinder, then slammed her knee into his stomach.

Both of our memory cylinders clattered to the sidewalk and rolled down the steps.

Pitch tossed Aila back into the tree. He melted into the shadows, and his silhouette raced after the cylinders.

I rushed to Aila to help her out from the tangle of branches and spiky pine needles.

"Your memories!" she cried. "We have to get your memories!"

I followed her gaze just in time to see Pitch snatch both our cylinders off the ground. He victoriously lifted them up with a guffaw.

I sprung down the steps and shot a small dreamsand arrow. The dart exploded in Pitch's face. He staggered backwards, coughing, as the memory cylinders tumbled out of his hands and directly into the busy street.

Icy cold terror filled my veins. I slapped my hands over my face, and Aila screamed, "No!"

The two of us dashed down the steps. Pitch sent a glance back at us and clenched his teeth. Just as I was nearing the street, he conjured a ball of nightmare sand and hurled it towards me. I didn't even have time to gasp before the sand exploded over my face.

I was black again. Every part of my body had been stained. My heart started to pound against my chest.

But then Aila appeared. She reached out to touch me, and I lifted my hand to meet hers.

It was like an infection. The dark tarnish spread from my hand to hers. I ripped my hand away, but it was too late. It travelled up her arm, through her entire body. And then she began to crumble—

"Sandy!"

I snapped awake to the blinding light of a truck. I slammed down to the ground, and the bottom of the truck just barely grazed my hair. I felt a powerful gust of wind whip over me.

The wheels passed, and, from the ground, I could see one of the cylinders.

The truck disappeared, and I crawled the rest of the way. I grabbed the cylinder, but did not even get a chance to see whose it was.

I caught a glimpse of something in the corner of my eye and rolled sideways. Pitch's scythe skewered the ground inches from my head. He grabbed the memory cylinder, desperately trying to tug it from my hands.

I latched on tight. He lifted my entire body, then slammed me down multiple times. My head cracked against the pavement, and stars burst in front of my eyes, but I clung to the cylinder.

A blaring horn pierced my ears. Another truck was barreling towards us. Pitch lurched backwards, dropping me again.

This time, the cylinder tumbled from my hands. It rolled just out of my reach. I heaved myself sideways, just barely escaping the truck's massive tires.

A sickening crunch filled the air. The truck sped by, and the world suddenly seemed to go in slow motion.

I found myself staring at the shattered remains of the cylinder laying in the wake of the truck.

What did it feel like to lose your memories? I tried to recall something— anything from my past life, but all I could feel was panic. I staggered to my feet and stumbled towards the twisted golden metal, feeling as if I was crawling, dragging and scraping my legs across the asphalt with every step.

I fell to my knees. In gruelingly delayed movements, I lifted up the half of the cylinder that hadn't been crushed and turned it over in my hands.

The world began to move again. The traffic light above us changed, bathing me in red light, and the snow continued to fall.

They were Pitch's memories.