It's been more than a week, I know, but here's chapter 3! Whoo!

Chapter 3 Something in the Air

Astrid hadn't realized she'd been so hungry. She walked back into the cavern feeling much better than when she had walked out. Time didn't pass equally between the two world and she often forgot that. When she was in the spirit world she became like the spirits. She left her physical being and the requirements it needed behind.

Thank Thor for Hiccup. Sometimes he surprised her with how thoughtful he could be. Although when he was absorbed in his work she might as well be talking to herself. She scoffed as she thought of that ridiculous flight suit he'd been working on. That was a disaster waiting to happen.

She stretched before she sat back down. She wasn't used to being so sedentary. Her muscles ached from the inactivity. She hadn't noticed until she had picked up an axe in the shop. It had been much heavier than she thought it should be. She complained but then she realized it wasn't the axe that had gotten heavier. Her arms had gotten weaker.

She'd have to change her schedule to get more exercise or she'll start to gain weight. The idea sent a horrible feeling into her stomach.

Astrid decided that she would go back into the spirit world and help the boy then she would leave the cavern and go for a run. Or maybe she would do riding with Hiccup. Ever since she started this spiritual diving she hadn't seen much of him other than at mealtimes.

Astrid sat on the floor when she was content with her plans. She relaxed and closed her eyes like she had done a hundred times before. The physical world gently loosened. She waited for the sensation of falling and was by now prepared for the chilly spirit world air. But it was not pleasant at all. She was plunged into rushing cold, like being swallowed by freezing waters. The chill penetrated her very being.

She was yanked away from herself, from the cave, from Berk. A dry grasp pulled her downward through the darkness at an alarming rate. A quick panic set in and she tried to pull herself out of the spirit world but she couldn't.

Something was different. Something had changed. It was much darker than it should be. The darkness was thick and swarmed at the edge of her vision. It was cold and she felt a delay in her movement.

At last she came to a stop. She was thrown into the ground outside of an old house. She recognized this place. It was the memory of the boy she had been helping. But something was terribly wrong. The memory had turned into a nightmare. The house and the darkness around it oozed with sinister whispers and flickering shadows.

"Hello?" Astrid asked toward the house. The boy should be right inside. That is where she told him to wait.

No one answered.

It was a vicious silence that rang back. Those whispers could be coming from anywhere at any distance. She turned and turned but didn't see anything. The whispers grew louder and louder until they were screams and wails. Thousands of spirits trapped in the in-between were crying out in fear, confusion, and pain.

"Stop it!" Astrid yelled at them, hands over her ears.

With a sudden whoosh the air grew quiet. Astrid uncovered her ears. The voices hadn't left. They had decreased back into whispers.

"What?" Astrid asked the darkness. What in Thor's name was happening? She had only been gone a few minutes and this entire place was in turmoil.

There was a shuttering inside the house, quick footsteps on creaky floors. Astrid ran to the door. The air had changed. It was so empty. It left her with a horrible feeling of floating.

She tried to pull the door open but it wouldn't budge. The wood looked like it hadn't moved in ages. It was dry and battered and she could see mildew and mold in several places. She put all her weight onto the handle and it finally gave in and creaked open.

The inside was worse than the outside. The smell nearly knocked her over. It looked like it had spent a decade at the bottom of the sea and was left to dry and rot in the sun. The hearth was cold and empty. Ashes were scattered about and mixed with growing fungi.

Astrid flinched at the sound of a muffled sob. It was coming from the back through a narrow hallway. Taking her time Astrid made her way over the creaky floors. The boards whined and cried and moved under her feet and every step felt as though it could give way.

She wished Stormfly was here. Having a dragon beside made her feel invulnerable. And this entire house was giving her a horrible feeling.

She followed the occasional sob to a backroom with a closet. She walked carefully to the closet doors which looked like they could crumble at the slightest touch. She gently pressed her ear against it. The sobbing was coming from inside and by the sounds it was a child.

"Are you alright?" Astrid asked through the doors.

There was a sharp inhale and the sobbing was halted immediately. She could feel his spirit through the door. It was the same boy she'd seen just moments earlier.

"Is that you? Are you okay?" Astrid asked. "It's me, don't you remember? I was only going to be gone for a little while. I came back, see?"

"You aren't one of them?" his timid voice whispered back.

"No." Astrid said. "But who are they?"

The closer door was pushed gently open so that the boy could see her through the gap. When he saw Astrid she heard him gasp. He pushed the door open and scooted over.

"Get in before they find you!" he said. He motioned with both hands.

Astrid crawled into the little closet and knelt down beside him.

"Close the door!" the boy cried.

She pulled the door closed. What light there had been was extinguished. She could barely make out the boy's face.

"Who are we hiding from?" Astrid whispered. Even in the dark she could see how nervous and shaky he was. He was holding his knees and rocking back and forth.

The boy didn't answer her question but instead made a sobbing whimper.

"Why did you hide?" Astrid asked again.

"Because I was afraid." He said.

"What were you afraid of?" Astrid asked.

But the boy couldn't answer. He shook his head and buried it in his knees.

"Can you tell me what happened when I left?" Astrid asked.

"I was waiting like you told me to. I was waiting and then everything got cold and I couldn't see. Mean people started screaming and they chased me and I hid in here." The boy said in a sobbing whisper.

Astrid didn't know what to do. She did know that she wasn't going to sit and hid in a closet. She pressed a hand against the door and pushed it open.

"Where are you going?" the boy asked.

"Stay in here. I'm going to look around." Astrid said with a reassuring smile that the boy did not return.

"Be careful." The boy said. When Astrid had crawled out of the closet the boy pulled the door back shut.

She stood back in the house and tiptoed to an open window. Outside was bleak and dark. A mismatched village of home and cottages loomed in the darkness. It was as if hundreds of memories had crashed together. Whatever pleasantness the spirit world had had was gone. It had been thrown into disarrayed and violent madness.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

Astrid froze at the window. Those were footsteps. Distinct and careful footsteps on the rickety floor of the hallway. She hadn't been moving and the boy was still hiding so those footfalls belonged to someone else. She turned slowly to peer back down the hall. It was too dark to see anything.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

The footsteps were coming closer. Astrid swallowed her fear and took a few steps toward it. She stood in the hall's beginning but the darkness was too thick. She could see it swarming like flies, like the black ink Hiccup trades for. Something was moving on the other side, crawling through the shadows.

"Hello?" Astrid asked. It had to be a spirit. If it was not a spirit then what was it?

She was answered by a dry raspy cough. Nails scraped along the wooden floor and rough skin dragged across it. The dank air was sucked into an inhale. Astrid took a step back. Was it her eyes or was a dark shape emerging from the shadows?

And from the shadows it came. A thin human shape made of shadows, dripping blood along the floor, a face twisted and ruined, thrust itself toward her with a horrible cry.

I don't belong here!

Astrid barely had time to throw her arms up in defense. The monster came at her and she felt the ground knocked from underneath her. The floor hit her hard and she was stunned at the impact.

I don't want to die…

"No!" Astrid yelled. It was surrounded her and pinning her down.

I want to go back. Show me how to go back!

It shook her violently. Hard grips on her shoulder were tearing into her. A heavy pressure was squeezing her, pushing her downward. It was an attack on her being and the malice seeped into and frozen her core. Everything around her began to shake and darken and Astrid feared the worst. Horrible screams surrounded her and threatened to drown her.

She tried to fight it but nothing seemed to work. She was being crushed. She couldn't scream. She couldn't move. The darkness was swallowing her.

I know that was a lot short than my chapters generally are but I am going through the worst writer's block I've ever had right now. It's this weird cold snap that completely sucked the juice out of my brain. Revising this chapter took almost three hours. It's a nightmare.

I had the rough draft of the second part of this chapter but I can't revise anything else right now. It'll be up eventually. Maybe later this week. I don't know.