Third chapter

Next chap will be three years into the future

Jack came by the next morning, just checking to see if her body had been found yet. When he arrived, she was still lying there, under a layer of snow. A little of her arms were showing, and he noticed they were almost completely white. He heard someone coming towards the lake and looked at the friends she had been with the day before. He looked at her and noticed she moved again. The snow moved a bit and revealed some of her hair. Then he saw one of the kids walking right through her. Then she started to move like she was waking up and rolled onto her back. She sat up and the snow fell off her. She looked around and was shocked to see the teens there.

"Why…" she mouthed and stood up and Jack noticed that her entire body looked like it was frozen. Her hair had turned white and she was wearing what looked like a bunch of sown together pieces of cloth in pale colors. Jack stood and looked at her as she looked around, seemingly completely confused. Then it looked like it clicked in her head and she looked out at the lake.

"No…" she said and the others seemed like they started to wonder why one was missing.

"Anyone seen Tempe? You'd think she'd be the first one here" a girl with short red hair asked. She looked around and the others seemed to be wondering the same question.

"No, I haven't seen her. She seemed so excited to skate"

"I wonder if the ice is even thick enough" a boy with black hair said and looked out on the lake.

#So her name's Tempe, or at least her nickname…# Jack thought and looked at her. Tempe looked at the guy going to the lake and widened her eyes. She ran there as fast as she could and slammed her hands on the ice. The boy took a step out on the ice and she looked at him. Jack looked at it with curiosity and leaned against his wand. The boy didn't fall in and stepped around on the ice and walked out to the middle. Tempe looked away from him and shut her eyes tight. The boy leaned down, looking like he'd noticed something. He wiped away the snow and yelled in surprise.

"What's up Kyle!?" the others asked and he looked at them.

"Guys… Tempe…. She's here…" he said with a wavering voice and the others looked at him in horror.

"You're kidding… right?" One of the other guys asked and he shook his head.

"I need something to break the ice with!" he yelled and one of the girls threw him a big branch. It landed not long away and he took it. He looked at her face for a bit before looking for a proper spot to break the ice. Then he slammed the branch into the ice and it broke. When he had made a sizable hole he began taking off the ice. He was very careful to take it off and even more careful when pulling her up from the water. The girls screamed and hid their faces in their hands.

"That can't be… how? Why?!" one of the boys asked and looked out at Kyle.

"I…I…" he stuttered and two boys walked out on the ice towards him "she's so cold…" he said and stroked her cheek.

"We gotta get her to land…" one of them said and looked at him "I know it must be hard…"

"We need to get her to Ms. Jones… and Rose…" Kyle said and the three took her body gently on Kyle's back, making sure she wouldn't fall off.

"I'm sorry…" Jack looked at the girl still sitting with her hands on the lake, a tear trailed down her cheek. She sobbed and looked at the others. It didn't seem like they could hear her at all. Jack decided to soar behind her, to try and talk to her. The group that had gathered to have fun, now carried around a dead body. One of them gave Tempe her jacket, to make it look less suspicious when carrying her. The girl got up from the lake and looked after them. She turned around and bumped into Jack. She looked at him for a full three seconds before screeching and slapping him.

"Hey, what was that for?!" he asked and she stepped back.

"How… you… why…" she said and a cold gust of wind blew. She looked in its direction and then back at Jack. Another cold gust of wind, and she vanished. Jack stood and looked at felt his cheek. It was stinging.

"Why would she slap me? And just how did she become a spirit?" he asked into the air.

End of chapter