Chapter 7
(Cyndra's POV)
I jolt awake as something cold touches my arm. Ready to defend myself, I swing that arm up and around, throwing a punch at whatever was there, only for that punch to be caught in midair by the source of the cold touch I received earlier. I slowly open my eyes to find a very surprised Jack, who is still holding my fist, right in front of me. Whoops.
Quickly retracting my hand unto my own body, I steadily begin to blush as the realization that I had tried to hit Jack dawns on me.
"S-Sorry, J-Jack." I stutter softly, slowly sitting up while training my eyes on the Frost covered blue carpet under his feet, which are always barefoot.
After a moment of completely awkward silence, I glance up to look at Jack. He's smiling down at me, with eyes as soft as the beautiful snowflakes he creates.
Well, I guess I really made a fool of myself this time, and he'll act as if I have done absolutely nothing wrong.
"Cyndra, you can't blame yourself, and you have no reason to be embarrassed. I was only coming over to wake you up. And it seems like I should be apologizing for scaring you." His voice was soft, like the sound you would expect to hear from an angel, and the meaning behind his words is just as sincere as ever.
A small smile appears on my face as the light blush on my face turns darker.
"Well, ummm, I, uhhh, need to get ready, so, ummm, if you wouldn't mind so much as to stand outside my door for a bit, I should do that."
I say those words a little awkwardly, but I hope, and think, Jack gets the point, which happens to be 'Get out or else".
I stand up, beginning to walk over to my closet. Jack just smirks at me, hovering slightly, then jumping up and landing gracefully on my bed, cross legged. He reaches for my hand, grabbing hold of it before I even take two steps from my bed.
"Nope, you get to come with me." His smirk grows even bigger.
"But, Jack-"
"Nope."
He opens my door and drags me down stairs, showing to me that we were the only ones at home. A bazillion protests are steadily streaming out of my mouth and an equally forceful 'Nope' follows each one.
"You get to come with me, so stop protesting. It's doing you no good because you can't win against me this time."
His smirk grows even bigger than before, making it almost into a teeth showing smile. Well, I can't argue with that, can I?
I shut my mouth as he drags me outside the front door, scooping me up, bridal style, and begins to fly, causing the front door to slam shut and lock from the quick displacement of air.
"Well, here I am again. No clue where I'm going and in your arms. The only two things wrong with this, though, are that I'm in pajamas and that I haven't eaten since Thursday morning and it's Saturday. Jack, are you at least gonna tell me what's so important, or maybe even where I'm going?"
I look up at his face, questioningly. He glances down and me as I feel him stop flying and the sky seems to settle in one place around us.
"You haven't eaten in two days?!"
His face began to fill with worry, and care.
" I didn't really have a chance to. I have been with you, remember?"
A slight smirk slips onto my face.
"Oh yeah, ummm, Home?"
"Yes, take me home before I starve in your arms, Jack."
It was very dramatic and filled with sarcasm. And the look on his shocked face has to be the funniest thing I have ever seen.
"Oh, come on, Jack. I was kidding. I really need to go back home, though."
I glance back up at him. He is smiling slightly, and I can tell that he's thinking about something.
"Alright, home it is"
He turns around, flying me back home, faster than he was flying when he was taking me to wherever he was taking me from my house.
Flying close to my bedroom window, Jack has me pull it up and open it, since he left it unlocked, and since it is our only way back into the house since when we left the front door shut and locked.
Climbing quickly into my bedroom window, Jack walks across the room and sets me down on my bed, walking back over to the window.
"Cyndra , I need to do something while you get dressed and eat. Will you be alright on your own for a few? I promise I will be back soon."
I nod and soon, all that is left of Jack's being in my room, is the steadily fading frost on my window. I'm left alone. Again. I guess he does have something important to do. Something more important than hanging out with friends. He is a Guardian after all. I should have expected him to leave, but I really didn't want him to. Being a Guardian must me a ton of hard work, even for the Guardian of fun. I guess even fun has to have a moment of seriousness here and there. And you can't always have fun and just blow things off, or a pile of things grows up in front of you until you get overwhelmed with what you have to do.
I walk over to my closet and pick out my clothes for the day. My favorite, brand new, blue jacket, my pair of black converse, which have ice blue shoe laces, a baby blue T-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and mis-matched socks.
Throwing my clothes on I waltz downstairs, sliding on the railing as I go and spinning gracefully to a landing at the bottom.
Throwing a piece of bread in the toaster, I walk over to the cabinets and pull down a bowl, a spoon, a butter knife, a box of Honey nut toasted oats, and a small napkin. From the fridge I remove the butter and the milk.
Making my breakfast I waltz over to the table and sit down, buttering my toast as I go, and begin to start on my appetizing breakfast, since I haven't eaten in two days.
Finishing up, I walk past the living room and out the front door, taking my key and locking the door back as I leave.
"I think I'll just sit out here on my front porch and rest," I mumble to myself, while mentally adding, 'while I wait for Jack to return.' Sitting down in a comfortable chair, I look into the forest not far from my house, watching and waiting for any signs of Jack's return.
Sudden flashes of blue rip through the forest, triggering me to think of Jack. "Maybe he's back." I whisper softly, remembering all of the time I've been spending with him. I think he is the most awesome person in the world, being my friend, and an immortal Guardian of fun and Winter. And he really is a great friend. I miss him and he's only been gone somewhere around 30 minutes.
Remembering the flashes of blue, I jump from my chair and run to the forest, following the now recurring flashes, which appear only feet away from me.
The flashes lead me towards the lake, still recurring only feet away. Stopping on the ice, the flashes take on a new shape and color.
In their place stands an innocent looking, tall, girl, with wavy pitch black hair. She's wearing a very long, deep purple, trench coat and pitch black pointed boots, with a very smirkish smile on her gray face. Her eyes are black with red pupils and her hair drapes down to her knees. She seems like a sweet person. I wonder if she knew I was following her.
"Well, hello, dear, dear, Cyndra. Nice of you to accompany me to this here lake. I was wondering if you would like to come with me." Her smirk grows into a kind smile, her eyes softening to where it looks as if she is sincere.
"Who are you? How do you know me?" My voice was steady and calm, portraying none of the fear and anger I felt inside.
"I'm no one, just an old friend of someone you may, or may not, know. And it looks like you have fallen prey to my very well set trap. You will regret following me Miss. Wolf. I promise you that."
Her voice rasps at me, causing me to tremble with fear. What have I gotten myself into? What does she plan on doing?
"Well, Miss. Wolf, since you were wondering, I think you ought to know that you will be lucky if I let you die, when I finish with you, and you will have no utter clue why. I'll make sure not to tell you." She laughs. It wasn't pleasant like any of Jack's laughs, it was evil. Worse than any laughter you can possibly imagine. Worse than any sound you can possibly imagine. Taking scraping your nails on a chalkboard and multiplying it by infinity will not even compare to the horrible sound coming out of her mouth.
In my daze of horror, I didn't notice the words that the girl spoke to me. They were mumbled and in a different language anyway. Then I feel like I am burning, like I am on fire, with no way to put it out. There are no flames on me, just the sickening feeling of being burned, with my skin turning red and becoming black where it is burnt. I let out a sickening, blood curdling scream, that I realize no one but the girl can hear. It was as if we were surrounded by completely soundproof barriers. My screaming grows in volume until I can longer even mumble, my voice is so gone. My skin burned, but the feeling of being on fire was gone. I watched as the girl walked towards me, with a smile on her face, not even attempting to help me. It was as if... No, no, no, no, no! She couldn't have, but she did. She did this to me, and I can't even threaten her for what she is doing.
Suddenly I watch as her form shifts into that of a gigantic wolf, bigger even than a large bear. Magic, shape-shifting, what else can she do? What is gonna happen to me. The giant Wolf-girl rushes straight towards me, raking her claws down the length of my body, leaving bleeding wounds in their place. Taking another turn towards me, she rakes her claws across my face, leaving a bloody mess. By now, I'm in so much pain I can't even begin to think. Changing back into her true form, the girl walks over to me, kicking me in the head. Seeing stars from the kick, and seeing black from the loss of blood, I fade into unconsciousness with the sound of her evil laughter following me into my dreams, turning them all to nightmares.
(Jack's POV)
Snow is falling steadily around me as I quickly fly from Cyndra's house to the North Pole. Cyndra probably didn't like me leaving too much, but at least she has something to do while I'm gone. North is probably angry with me since I haven't seen him in over a week. I was supposed to go back to the pole on Thursday, And now it's Saturday. North will probably just yell at me anyway.
The bright sun beat down on the snow, giving it the effect of sparkling. It is amazing what a little ray of light and a light snow can do.
My thoughts immediately turn back to Cyndra. She is absolutely amazing and her heart is absolutely pure, even though she's constantly left alone. Like she is now. Because I left her. Well, there I go again. Messing something up. I hope she forgives me for leaving her, but I really needed to see if North had anything he needed me to do, before I got into a load of trouble.
I stay silent, thinking only to myself, throughout the entire trip to the pole.
Landing on North's front step and walking into his workshop, I am greeted by a worried Bunny, or should I say Giant Talking Easter Kangaroo.
"Where've you been, mate. You was supposed to of been here two day's ago. Where were you?"
"I see nothing has changed since I've been gone. The Easter Kangaroo still seems to care so much about me. I've only been visiting a friend, somewhere."
I smile a huge smile as I see Bunny trying not to be angry with me. It's so easy to make him angry, it just makes me wanna laugh.
"Now, look here, Frosty, You've got a job to be doin' so I expect to see you doin' it." His voice was still angry with me, but I could tell he couldn't do anything.
"Or what, Easter Kangaroo?" His eyes flash at my answer. A smile flashes on my face.
"Bunny, Jack, good to see you. Bunny, why are you here?"
"I was looking for Frosty, over there. He seems to not have been here or anywhere for a few days. Seems he's just been out having fun." Bunny glares at me as he says it. I stick my tongue out at him, before turning back to North to see if he had anything for me.
"Jack, make sure you are helping de children. They will need you. Make sure you do what you are supposed to do as a Guardian, then you can have fun. Other than that, you free to do as you please" It was simple, but also simply an order. I am helping a child, though, so they can't get totally angry with me.
Thinking about Cyndra, I fly off back towards her house, watching the scenery below me change from that of the North pole, to that of Everville, Michigan. Fly next to Cyndra's unlocked bedroom window, I crawl into her house and down the stairs. Cyndra wasn't in her bedroom so she had to be downstairs, right?
Wrong. She is nowhere in the house at all, and her front door is locked. Where ever she is, she must have left through the front door, taking the key, and locking it back.
Finding soft footprints on her front steps I see evidence of her departure. Where could she have gone?
Following her almost invisible footprints in the snow, I find that she took her well known path to the lake. Following her footsteps further, I reach the lake to find a tall girl running away from something. Looking over to the location I guess she was running from, I see a body laying on the frozen over lake, surrounded in a steadily growing pool of blood. Worried it's Cyndra, I rush over to find that my fears were right, and that it is a very torn up, burned, and bleeding Cyndra.
It looks like she trying to scream, but she has no voice left to scream with. She has been tortured and abused and left here with no mercy.
What had she ever done to deserve something like this? I look down at her, not noticing the snow falling harder around us.
She must be having nightmares, but Pitch isn't behind this. He can't be, we put him away with his own fears. He can't be back. SO who would do this? Who DID this? When I get my hands on them I swear I'm gonna-
My thoughts are interrupted by a soft sigh from Cyndra. Her nightmares are gone and it seems as if some of her pain has dissipated. She's covered in a white layer of snow, but she's not freezing. What could have possibly happened to her?
Slowly the white snow surrounding her starts to turn pink and then red, changing to the color of her warm blood.
Making a cold ice blanket coated in snow, I wrap it around cyndra as I carry her sleeping form to the pole, flying even faster than I did when I flew her home this morning. She needs to be there now, but all I can do is bring her there and hope that I make it in time. No, I won't even think like that. I WILL make it there in time, and I will get to hear her sweet laughter and soft, caring voice again. I will get to see the cute blush that spreads across her face when she's around me. I will get to help her just like she was trying to help me when I needed her to, and I WILL NOT let her down.
Quickly landing again on North's front step I louding swing open the front door and run into the room. North is standing there to one of the yetis, probably Phil, and hasn't noticed me yet.
"North! North, I need you! Now!" My voice was very loud and sang with worry as North turned to face me and the red covered snow wrapped around Cyndra.
"Jack! What has happened? What happened to girl? Why is she hurt?" His voice rang with only slightly less worry than mine.
"Never mind that, Jack. Just follow me into the hospital part of the pole. Immediately." His voice was now full of leadership, they way I am used to hearing it. Slowly I was led into a part of the workshop I have never been in. It was filled with white rooms, sterile cleaning areas, and bright white just everywhere.
North led me into an empty hospital room, quickly walking back off to find a nurse to take care of Cyndra. I wait quietly as I feel regret for leaving Cyndra. If I hadn't of left, she wouldn't have gotten hurt, and if she wouldn't have gotten hurt, she wouldn't have to be here in a hospital at the North Pole. This is all my fault. Every bit of her being hurt is my fault.
I put my head in my hands just before I hear North's loud, tromping footsteps enter the room, followed by a gasp from a nurse and the sound of quick running.
Lifting my head I see the nurse trying to get the ice off of Cyndra. It wasn't thick ice, only thin enough to wrap around cyndra, so I could carry her. Seeing Cyndra limp and bleeding there on the hospital bed makes me feel even worse. I put my head back in my hands, mumbling curses to myself, waiting for North to tell me what to do. Nothing. No sound is made other than those of the working nurse. Glancing up I discover that North is no longer in the room. Looking over at Cyndra I wince as I find her covered in fluffy bandages, from head to toe. At least with her slightly cleaned up it doesn't look as bad, but it doesn't look good either.
She has no skin showing, except that of her lips and nose so that she can breathe, and what I can see is that her lips and nose are badly burned and steadily bleeding from a deep scratch on her face. I watch as she winces in her sleep, whimpering and trying to cry out. No sound other than the whimper escapes her. I walk over to her and place a cold hand on her head, watching as her body relaxes slightly from the coldness of my skin. I wince from how much pain she must be in, and I was only gone around 45 minutes. I shouldn't have left. This is my fault.
A silent tear slips down my face freezing as it reaches my cheek, slowly falling off from the cold. Placing my whole forearm across her forehead, I watch as her body relaxes even more, making me feel even worse. Standing there, watching her as she begins to sleep peacefully, is almost worse than when I returned to the guardians Easter morning to find the eggs destroyed and everyone distrusting me. This time someone I really cared for was hurt and there was no telling why. We may not even get to know how.
"Sorry to interrupt your thinking, mate, but I think you have got a little problem here." Bunny's voice was soft as he entered the room, seeing me standing over Cyndra, watching as my arm stayed on Cyndra's forehead.
"Hello, Bunny." My voice was almost too quiet. It was soft and held none of the cheer and vigor it normally does.
Bunny's eyes softened even more. "Jack, what happened to her? Do you know?" Maybe the kangaroo, actually does care.
"I don't know what happened. I left her for less than an hour, to come back and find her a bloody, burned mess. I don't even know what happened to her." There held no fun, no anything in my voice. It was as if the world had dropped from its normal place and filled with sorrow, hurt, and pain.
"Jack, mate, please don't tell me you blame yourself. You couldn't have known this would have happened." He's trying to reassure me. It's not that easy.
"It wouldn't have happened at all if I hadn't have left her. She would be perfectly fine if I had just stayed with her. I don't even know what happened, but she's hurt-"
"Mate, don't blame yourself, or I can make you stay away from her. Although it seems like the cold seems to be helping her."
"How can I not blame myself? I spend two days with her, leave her for less than an hour, and she winds up in a hospital bed, badly burned and bleeding so much she's become unconscious.
"Mate, there's nothing you can do but watch over her, now. Well, besides keep her cool since her burns are inflamed."
Eyeing me before he leaves, Bunny walks over, placing a hand on my shoulder, and walks out of the room.
And again, I'm left alone to watch over Cyndra. With nothing but a hope that she will be alright.