Ten Years Later

"Leila!"

She spun around at the shout, trying to find it's owner. There it was, her best friend, Annie. Ann's dress was shimmering in the moonlight, and her bouncy brown curls glowed like caramel. She had a face that Leila envied, red pouting lips and big, brown, doe eyes that could melt any guy's heart.

"Wasn't that awesome?", she asked excitedly. Behind them the music of the school dance continued. Leila had been stupid enough to go, without a date, and with her over enthusiastic best friend. Oh, the glory.

"Yeah. . ." She tried to sound happy, but in all reality, the dance had sucked. The DJ had only played pop songs, and the cheerleaders had taken the dance floor to show off their routines. Not fun at all in her opinion. Plus, the whole dress thing wasn't exactly a shimmer of light in her mind. The damn thing was currently making her freeze her ass off as they walked along the sidewalks to their houses.

She had pulled Annie out of the crowds of their fellow students and told her that she had wanted to leave. Ann had shaken her head and Leila had given up and left on my own. Only now it seems that she had followed her.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I know that you're not the most social person, but I thought you'd like it at least a little." She tried to apologize for something that wasn't her fault. Leila just didn't like being around a lot of people. She shrugged Ann off and kept on walking in silence.

Silence. That was what sh craved. She needed quiet so she could think, or just exist. To feel the wind against her cheek and just enjoy taking a step, feeling her muscles curve to move her foot and place it in front of her. Existing was something so simple, yet she loved it.

Ann continued to try and make a conversation with her, but she stayed silent. Not that she wanted to hurt her friend's feelings, but she just didn't feel like talking and disturbing the peace of the night. The full moon was out and shining down on them and it had snowed two day ago, leaving the town covered in a blanket of the white stuff.

They came to Ann's house and she stormed off to the front door, obviously peeved that Leila hadn't talked to her at all during the walk. Oh well, a problem for another day. She walked on, and enjoyed the beauty of the night.

On her way she passed the town square, decorated for Christmas which was in a few days, and turned to walk down her street. As she walked, out of the corner of her eye, she saw what she thought was, a figure jumping off the roof of a building.

She glanced again, pausing for a moment before running towards the building. The person had jumped into an alley between the two buildings and she ran to it.

"Hey, are you alright?", Leila called out loudly as she reached the alley. Peering into it, it looked like it was empty, just a few empty trash cans and an old mattress leaning against the wall. Maybe she had just imagined the figure? "Anyone in there?"

'I must be going crazy.', she thought to herself. She got no answer, and turned around with a sigh. And jumped.

"Hey, were you talking to me?"

Standing before her was a bizarre looking boy. Silver hair danced in the air haphazardly and pale skin gleamed in the moonlight. He was dressed in a blue sweatshirt that appeared to be covered in frost and brown pants that were laced at the bottom. In his hand he held a staff that he leaned against.

"Um. . . yeah.", she murmured as she took in his appearance. "Are you alright? That was a long fall."

The building was at least three stories, so there should have been no way he could be standing if he had fallen.

His eyes seemed to widen. "So, you can see me?"

She nodded and noticed he was barefoot, how the hell could he be in this weather with just a sweatshirt and no shoes?

He laughed, "You seem a little old to believe in me, how can you see me?"

He was starting to annoy her now, she had just wanted to be a good humanitarian and see if he hadn't fallen to his death. She didn't want to be playing mind games with him.

She snapped, "I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. I was just looking to see if you're okay. And to tell you the truth, you're starting to freak me out."

He seemed taken back by the outburst and shook his head. "Sorry, sorry, it's just a little odd for someone like you to see me. I'm Jack Frost." He smiled widely.

Now she knew he was playing some sort of a mind game with her. Jack Frost didn't exist, that was like believing in the Easter Bunny. She scoffed, "Does it look like I was born yesterday? Get out of my way buddy."

"Wait, listen to me, I didn't mean to-"

She tried to walk past him, but he grabbed her wrist.

Agony. That was what it felt like. A burst of pain in the back of her head. Her vision started to darken as she started to see visions of her family dying before her eyes and her house being burnt to the ground. Other horrible images flooded her mind.

"Hey, are you alright?"

The guy who claimed to be Jack Frost jostled her out of whatever state she was in. She guessed he had seen her grimace in pain or something because he was looking at her in concern. He was still holding her wrist and she realized that his touch was freezing cold. She snatched her hand back and held it to her chest to warm it.

"Yeah, I need to go." She turned and walked away from him. As she passed shadows on the walls of the buildings they were between, they seemed to reach out to her. She started to jog, this was getting very scary. A burst of pain and now shadows were moving. A stroke? No, she was too young for that.

"Wait! Listen, just let me take you back to your house, you don't look well enough to be walking around on your own." She looked up and saw that the boy was floating above her.

Okay, so maybe he was Jack Frost. And maybe she wasn't too young to have a stroke.

"I'm alright, just leave me along okay?", she shouted at him. He shook his head and started to float towards her with his arms outstretched. Too close.

She lifted her hands in alarm as he almost touched her. An explosion of darkness appeared out of her hands and seemed to hit him. He went flying into the statue in the town square.

She stood there gaping. What the hell was happening?

He got up from where he had fallen and looked at her in astonishment. Something in her brain snapped and she started running down the street, praying with all her might that he didn't follow her.

She made it to her house, huffing and panting as she turned the knob. Slamming the door behind her, she leaned against it.

She raised a hand to her face, there was still darkness coming from it. Little wisps of shadow were emanating from the center of her palm. Oh god what was going on?

Hello my dear.