A/N: Here's another chapter, and an informative one at that! At this point I feel as thought I'm teasing you with the whole Ethan/Sarah pairing, but you know what it makes it that much more fun. I wish I had a little more time to flesh out some of the story arcs, but time is of the essence. Were down to the final four chapters, enjoy! And feedback is welcome!
A Very Whitechapel Christmas
Chapter 6: Snow Wars
15th December 2012 (PM)
Coal stood atop of Whitechapel's city hall, his black wings were spread out behind him. In the moonlight they gave off a ghostly glow, he took a moment to admire them before focusing his thoughts on the matter at hand. Despite his best efforts and the destroyed reindeer statue the city remained full of light, happiness, and life. Yes there was some sadness in the air, but theses were all material things, his moment of triumph would come soon enough. The opposition had proven stronger than he anticipated, worse than that was the fact he needed more time to gather power for his plan. He looked again at his wings, Ethan and his friends had yet to discover the true powers of the feathers, but they might. And that was something Coal could not allow.
In front of him the Whitechapel Christmas tree was glowing, at the top was a single red and gold star. He could animate the tree; no he needed something that would stall for at least a day or two. He needed something that would run out the clock. Ethan was smart, there was a possibility he could figure out his plan, Coal had left enough clues behind. He thought of Ethan and how the feather had almost succeeded in killing him. Even the best laid plans had flaws in them. He hadn't factored the vampire in, she always followed him around, next time he would be ready for that problem. He thought of the vampires, perhaps they were the best course of action?
Coal shook his head, they wouldn't work. Erica had already broken free from his control, and would be the wary side. The other two would take too much effort to control. In addition he wanted to make a statement. What about the spellmaster?
The more he thought about it the more sense it made. The book that the boy always carried was the best way to buy time and ensure they didn't get in his way. He took off into the sky and a few moments later was circling the top of Benny's house, he could sense several strong enchantments around it, landing would not be an option. Instead he landed on a neighbor's house and watched for a chance to strike, he went through the feathers until he found one he liked- a particularly nasty one filled with anger, regret, and hatred.
For a moment Coal wondered if this was really the best course of action. He closed his eyes and tried to think of a time before the feathers, of a time when things weren't driven by hatred. For a moment the flicker of a memory came forward and was snuffed out again by the shadows within. There must always be a catalyst. The top window of the Weir house opened and the young teenager leaned out the window with the book in hand. Coal jumped forward.
Benny leaned out the window reading through the chants in his book, if he did this correctly the city would be covered in snow by sunrise. Behind him his cellphone began to buzz, Benny leaned back trying to reach for it. He didn't notice the single feather fall from the sky and fuse with his spell book. He started the chant over again, this time dark clouds began to gather in the sky. Snow began to fall.
Benny raised his fist in triumph. Tomorrow was going to be the best day ever.
16th December 2012
Ethan leaned back in the chair and massaged his leg, even though Evelyn and Benny had managed to close the wound it will hurt. He picked up the feather in his hand, and slowly turned it around. These things had the power to animate, held memories and what else? What about Erica? The feather didn't transform her, instead it made her happy. The more Ethan thought about it the less and less it made sense. He leaned back in his chair and looked out the window, it was snowing hard; so much for hanging out with his friends today.
The feather began to glow; Ethan picked it up in his hand and was immediately pulled into the vision. It was the same one he experienced days before: Alec waking up, running out to the forest, and then drowning in the lake. The vision restarted and the same series of events played over again. Ethan forced himself into the real world. He thought about everything that had happened, he pulled out a piece of paper and began writing them down.
"Maybe it's for the best you die tonight; it'll just be another memory to add to the ever expanding collection."
The mutated Santa.
"I've merely shown people what it means to suffer. Do you really think every single person in this world has a happy Christmas?"
The living Christmas tree.
"You cannot help what you cannot hope to understand."
The statue.
"Maybe in death those around you will learn what it means to be sad, and then forgotten."
Erica's sudden change in attitude.
"Then they will know what it means to be me."
Then it hit Ethan, everything made sense. The feathers held memories, but not just any memories those that belonged to people wronged or hurt someway on Christmas. In a way they were a supernatural storage for pain and suffering. The one left behind when the statue was stolen, and the one inside of Erica were different, they must have been feeding on the depression and negative emotions. It made sense especially considering the circumstances. When Erica confronted her own insecurities it must've broken the hold the feather had on her. The one left of the pedestal was never recovered, Coal must've come back for it.
So he was feeding on negative feelings; the more he thought about it the more things seemed to make sense, especially considering the method of attacks he was using. The idea was further enforced when Ethan thought about the items and locations in questions. They needed to be public figures, something that had an impact on the society. Erica was the only exception, she was just an example of how close he could get to them.
His thoughts went over to Coal, he was using this emotions and memories to manipulate objects to his advantage. It was only when they either destroyed them, or the feather that control was broken. Coal's wings were covered in feathers, was it possible that each and every one of those was capable of animating objects? How many years of misery did he have at his command? Ethan shuddered.
So his ultimate goal was to stop Christmas, but why? Was it to absorb the negative emotions or something else? The boy often spoke about being forgotten, maybe there was something they had missed. Ethan thought about Alec, was that part of a plan to eliminate him, or was there was deeper connection? He felt like he had more answers than questions. The feather was glowing again, Ethan held it in his hand. If it was filled with negative emotions and memories was it possible to change the purpose and perhaps power? Only one way to find out.
Ethan found Alec getting ready for his journey to find Santa, instead of watching Ethan reached out to stop him. He didn't know what to expect, especially considering he'd been an invisible specter the last few times. When he touched the boy's shoulder the room shuddered and began to loose focus. The boy looked at him and pulled back in fear.
"Who are you?"
"Listen you can't go out into the forest," said Ethan. "You'll die out there."
"I know," said Alec as he put his cap on. "You don't think I know that, this is my fault. I made my family miserable. I'm the one who ruined everything for them, and this is my punishment- to live my death over and over again. You don't know anything about loss, you have a sort of innocence to you."
Ethan didn't know how to respond. It was true, compared to plenty of people his life was good. The room was beginning to come back, and he knew time was of the essence.
"You don't have to live like this," said Ethan as he followed behind Alec. "By living in this loop you're giving into the hatred. I know you feel guilty about the pain you've caused your family, I did something like that just the other day. Here, take my hand and I'll show you."
He held out his hand and Alec gave him a strange look before taking it in his. Ethan thought about falling through the ice, and then of Sarah saving him. He showed him the arguments they had, and how now they were closer than ever.
"The past is the past. Yes you caused your family pain, but you have to move past that. It's been nearly eighty years since you died on the ice, it's time for you to forgive yourself. You were a kid that night when you went out, you didn't mean any harm. If you can't see than then you'll experience the pain of death over and over again. I'm not sure you even know this, but your anger and hatred are being used by others."
Ethan showed his visions of Coal, then of the destruction that often followed him. There were flashes of the destroyed houses, the smashed reindeer, and finally of the strange sadness that was overcoming the city. Alec pulled free of his grip and took a step back, he looked sad.
"He made you destroy the Whitechapel reindeer?"
Ethan nodded. "We didn't have a choice, it's what he wanted us to do. And as much chaos as he's caused he's also brought me and my friends closer."
Memories of Rory, Erica, Benny and Sarah surged forward. Out of all of them Sarah was by the most overpowering. Again Alec shook himself free of the older boy's hand, though this time it was different. He was filled with a comforting warmth he hadn't felt in a long time. The room was coming back into focus.
"You need to remember the happy times, yes there are dark times. But letting them control you and forcing yourself to relieve them is terrible. I know you think you can't fight the pain, but you can."
"How?"
"All you have to do, is remember what made this time of year so special. Yes something bad happened, but you've already been punished for it. Keep remembering the good times, and this-" Ethan motioned to the room. It was full of light and warmth, sitting around the fire was none other than Alec's family. "Is what happens."
Alec was crying now, Ethan motioned for him to join his family. The boy took one last look at him, and Ethan waved goodbye and took a step backwards.
He was back in his room, the feather on his desk was giving off a bright color. When it faded Ethan was rewarded with a bright white feather. If it was possible to free the feathers, then was it possible Coal wasn't as bad as they had all thought? Ethan looked out his window again, the snow was so heavy he couldn't even see the front lawn. He pulled out the gifts he bought, for Benny a new shirt with a video game design on it, for Rory a book about Santa Claus, Erica was getting a new set of headphones, and Sarah she was getting something special. The door opened and Jane walked in.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Haven't you heard of knocking?"
"Yeah, but it's just you. Anyway are you wrapping your gifts?"
"What if I am?"
"Then let me help, you can't wrap at all."
Ethan tried to think of a counter argument, he had none. Jane was right, he couldn't wrap to save his life. He spent the next half hour getting lessons on how to wrap gifts from Jane. When they were done his sister looked confused.
"What no gift for Sarah?"
"I have a gift," said Ethan as he got up slowly. "Promise you won't tell her?"
"I promise, you have my word."
He limped over to hid desk and pulled out a golden locket, it shimmered in the light.
"No way," said Jane as she looked at it. It was in the shape of a heart, she opened it. There was room for a picture. "I thought Sarah couldn't take pictures."
"She can't but I have a way to work around that," said Ethan confidently. "Think she'll like it?"
"If she doesn't then mom will have to fire her." said Jane as she laughed. "How's your leg feeling?"
"It hurts a little," said Ethan as he sat on his bed. "But I'll be ok in a few days. Is there anything you want for the holiday?"
Jane smiled. "When Sarah brought you home that night, I realized that all I really wanted was to keep our family together."
Ethan smiled and gave his sister a big hug. Christmas was one of the few times their sibling rivalry came to a halt.
"So even if I got you that really cool music box you wouldn't want it?"
"I wouldn't say no to that..." They began to laugh. The rest of night they spent thinking of gifts for their parents, it was starting to feel like Christmas again.
17th December 2012
Ethan was jolted awake by his cell phone, he searched for a few moments and gave up after it stopped. It starting buzzing again, in his morning grogginess the sound seemed to come from all over the place. After a few minutes he eventually he found it underneath the wrapping paper. The message was from Benny.
"Look out the window!"
Ethan got up and looked out, down below was Erica, Sarah, Rory and of course Benny. He opened his window and was greeted with a rush of cold air. The entire city was coated in a fresh blanket of pure white snow, the storm had finally stopped. On the street his friends waved to him.
"Get down here!" called Benny. "Or you're going to miss all the fun."
A few minutes later Ethan limped out of the house and found that Jane had joined the group. He gave them a confused looked.
"Are you ready for the most intense of all winter rituals?" asked Benny as he looked at each and every one of them. He clapped his hands together and carrot appeared. "It's time to start the annual snowman building contest."
"Snow man building contest?" asked Sarah as she gave the boys a strange look.
"Every year the kids and teenagers of Whitechapel get together and build snowmen. It's not a real competition, but it sure it a lot of fun. When it snows enough we get a text from whoever organizing it," said Ethan as he held up his phone. "I got the message last night from Benny who strange enough is the one who planned it this year."
"Thanks to a little spell of mine," said Benny with a cocky smile. "Now which one of you is ready to create the best snowman ever?"
"Sounds like fun," said Sarah. "What does the winner get?"
"Bragging rights, and this!" said Benny as he pulled a snowman trophy out of his bag. "It's based on popular vote, and last year yours truly won!"
They set off in the direction of Benny's block.
Sarah watched Ethan limping. "Are you ok?"
"I'll be fine," said Ethan as he rubbed his leg. "How are you feeling?"
"My hands and feet are already healed, it's the only good thing about being a- a vampire. Look at all the snowmen."
Already kids had lined the streets with snowmen, Sarah grabbed Ethan and together they headed off. Rory looked at Jane. "Let's show these fools how it's done!"
"Yeah!" said Jane as she gave him a high five. Benny looked at Erica.
"Since everybody else is working together…?"
"I guess," said Erica trying to act disinterested.
Ethan and Sarah chose a spot in front of Benny's house to build their snowman. Together they managed to get the basic shape down, and soon they set upon adding the details. Ethan watched as Sarah carefully placed the rocks on the top of the snowman, she was taking so much care to make it look nice. He let out a little laugh.
"What's so funny?" asked Sarah
"It's nothing."
"Come on, you can't laugh and then not tell me."
"It's you," said Ethan suddenly realizing how it sounded. "Not you, but how much care you're taking to make the face. It's kind of cute."
Sarah was bright red now. "Ethan the other day when we were attacked by the statue you were going to tell me something, what was it?"
This time it was Ethan's turn to blush. He kicked the ground sheepishly.
"I-I wanted to tell you that I care a lot about you." Ethan grabbed both her hands in his and looked her in the eyes. "And that you mean a lot to me."
They stood like that for a moment when both Ethan and Sarah began to lean in. Before their lips could meet someone screamed in the distance. They were followed by several shouts and roars.
"What was that?" asked Sarah as she pulled away from him.
"I don't know," said Ethan suddenly worried. "Let's go!"
Everyone along the street was looking for the source of the commotion when a group of small kids suddenly appeared at the end of the street. They were running, when a moment later several mutant snowmen appeared behind them.
"Really?" asked Benny as he ran over to Ethan and Sarah. "Mutant snowmen?"
He created a fireball in his hand, Sarah and Erica ran forwards. Behind them several snowmen came to life. Kids began running in all directions, things were getting out of hand. Ethan unsheathed the knife from his jacket, and plunged it into the closest of the snowmen. It let out a roar before turning into a puddle.
Jane was cowering next a house when Ethan finally made it over to her. Rory was fighting off as many as he could to keep her safe.
"This is the stupidest thing ever," said Rory as he punched the face of the closest snowman. It burst into dust. "One minute we have the coolest snowman and the next it's trying to eat me. It would be so cool, if it wasn't so scary. What's going on?"
"I have no idea, but I'm willing to bet that Coal is behind it in some way."
Another batch of snowmen was upon them, Ethan swung his knife at each one. Benny was on the other side of the street keeping as many kids safe as he could. They were outnumbered, it would only be a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.
"I'm sure I've seen this is a comic somewhere," said Benny as he blasted a snowman next to him. "Any plans on how to stop them?"
"You said this was thanks to you," said Erica as she kicked one of the monsters back. "What exactly did you do?"
"All I did was create a snowstorm, sure it was a little stronger than I thought it be. I only brought the snow!"
"Way to go!" screamed Sarah as she picked up a shovel and cut one of them in half. "Thanks to you we're going to be eaten!"
"I didn't bring the snowmen to life!" whined Benny as he used a spell to freeze several of them. "I brought the snow here; maybe what's his name is the one doing it!"
"We can't fight with one another now!" said Ethan. "We have to focus on stopping them. Benny can you cast a spell to make it warmer? If it stays this cold then we'll have to cut each and every one of them down."
Benny nodded and opened his spell book, when he did Ethan felt the feather in his pocket go warm. Was it possible? Ethan pulled the book out of his friend's hand.
"Hey!"
He closed his eyes, he could see Benny's emotions built into it the spell book. A moment later he was swimming through the thoughts and emotions within. He began to search for the foreign feelings- the ones of hate, loss, and anger. The feather was buried at the base of everything, and unlike the others he encountered in the past, this one was giving off a dark and malevolent feeling. It was almost alive. Ethan reached out to touch it when it zapped him, he felt pain run through his entire body.
Benny blasted another snowbeast and looked at his friend, Ethan was in some kind of trance. Sarah, Erica and Rory were all back to back, and they looked exhausted. Time was clearly of the essence and it was ticking against them. Benny used several more spells, the kids were either in awe at the fight or in complete shock. What ever the case Benny stood in front of them, nothing was going to get past him. He heard Jane chanting spells behind him.
"Don't worry Benny, I'll help you." Benny smiled, they weren't going down without a fight.
Inside the book Ethan was doing his best to fight off the feather's defense. There had to be something he could do, the longer he took the worse things would be getting. Bracing himself Ethan charged forward, he grabbed onto the black feather and felt it fill him with hatred and agony. Ethan struggled to hold onto his own thoughts, Sarah was the strongest memory he had. He used it to shield himself, and using the last of his energy he smashed the hatred with his hands. The voice from within ripped at his mind.
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" It was a man screaming. Snow was flying all around him, in his arms he cradled something small and fragile. "I DIDN'T MEAN FOR THIS TO HAPPEN!"
The attack was so powerful and sudden Ethan felt himself plunge into nothingness. He was struggling to hold onto his memories, but it was being drowned out by the anger and despair of the man. Eventually even his memories and thoughts of Sarah and Benny began to fade.
Benny closed his eyes preparing for the snowmen to bear down on him, when the attack never came he slowly opened them. Ethan was still kneeling on the ground, but a strange darkness was flowing from the within the spell book. It surged in all directions, each and every snowman suddenly burst. The strange shadow gathered above the kneeling boy and let out a wail of pain before dissipating. Sarah, Erica, Rory, Jane, and Benny ran over to Ethan.
Benny was the first to reach him, he knelt at his side and waved his hand in front of the boy's eyes. He was in some kind of trance.
"What's happening?" asked Jane. "Is he going to be ok?"
"I don't know," said Benny as he pulled his book free from Ethan's hand. "I think he's in a daze."
Ethan floated through the nothingness, in the distance he saw Sarah, but he couldn't reach out for her. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" The pain from the man's voice hit him like a physical force. Sarah became even more and more distant until at last there was nothing but darkness.
Sarah began to scream as Ethan's body fell to the ground in convulsions.
