Chapter 2: I Summon a Demon for a Popsicle

Bad.

That's all I could say. Bad.

Do I even interact with her? The son of the boogeyman and the daughter of Jack Frost shouldn't even be friends. Is that what's gonna happen? Us? Friends?

I should be running far far away. Hell, I'd take being a punching bag for Jerry and his gang. For some reason, my feet remained planted on the ground like invisible chains bounded me to the terrain, unable to move. It feels like my heart is ready to jump out of my chest and start sprinting. I feel like I've forgotten how to breathe.

She looked at me with worried eyes and slowly approached me.

"You don't look so good", she said. She turned to the direction the bullies ran off to, then back at me.

"They're gone now", she sighed, managing a light smile. "They won't hurt you anymore."

Finally, I regained strength and turned from her. I started to stomp through the steep level of snow, hoping to get away.

"Hey wait!"

Oh no.

I heard her feet quickly crunching in the ground behind me. "Where are you going?"

Don't answer, Charlie, I thought. Don't answer.

I continued down my path, yet she still followed.

"Listen", she panted, "I know what you saw there was...freaky, but-"

She dashed quickly in front of me, bringing me to a halt. "I swear to you, I'm not gonna hurt you."

I quirked my eyebrow. She remained still, and nodded while raising her own eyebrows. That's when I completely curved around her and began walking again. Again, she kept following me.

"I, um..." She tumbled on her words. "I, uh, well...please keep this a secret, okay? I wanted to help you and, well..."

My hands were clamped onto my arms against my chest as I avoided several dry fallen trunks and branches that have fallen on the ground.

"...I had to do it." She still stayed on my path close behind me and huffed through the frigid air. Then I ceased to hear her own footsteps.

"Are...are you afraid of me?" she asked softly. I stopped and looked back at her.

"Very", I replied sternly. Her shoulders sank and her bulging icy eyes averted to the snowy ground. Her eyebrows furrowed as she held onto her arm.

"Oh, I'm...I'm sorry", she said softly. "I-I didn't mean to scare you..." She heaved a deep breath. "I wish..."

Her voice lowered to a whisper, but audible for me to hear it. "I wish I wasn't such a freak."

Nice one, Charles.

I made her feel unwanted near me. That was accomplished but...was it right? I should keep walking. She'd stop following me now, but it didn't settle inside me. I bit my chapped lip, and sighed a cool cloud that disappeared into the snowy sky.

"I'm a freak too."

The words escaped from my dry lips, and Winter shook her head.

"No you're not."

"Yeah, I am."

"You're not as weird as me. Everyone thinks I'm weird."

"Everyone thinks I'm weird too."

The conversation kept going, and I was unable to stop what I was saying. It was dangerous to be this close right now, but...she shouldn't be ashamed for who she is.

She squinted at me as she jerked her head up. "Are you kidding?"

She brushed some silver hair out of her eyes. "You just saw snow come out of my hands. Nobody else can do that."

I shrugged. "I think it's pretty cool."

Her face relaxed as she tilted her head. "Really?"

I managed a dry smile. "Yeah."

She beamed and grinned warmly.

"Thanks!" She exclaimed. "Nobody has really said that to me before."

She delicately brushed a strand of her white silky hair behind her ear.

"I'm Winter", she said as her cheeks tinted a light shade of pink.

My smile remained. "Charlie."

My mind was so conflicted. It was risky enough to reveal my name yet, at the same time, it was nice to be with someone who's as different as me.

She waved ecstatically. "It's nice to meet you, Charlie!"

I sheepishly waved from my crossed arms.

"Hi, um", I stammered, "thank you for saving me back there."

She shrugged joyfully. "It's no problem."

Winter began digging the tip of her shoe into the ground. "Sooooo..." She then threw her hand out in front of me.

"Do you want to be my friend?" She asked.

I sharply sucked in a large cold breath. My heart started racing again, and my hands clutched harder onto my arms. I shook my head rapidly.

"Y-you really don't want to be friends with me", I said quickly.

"Yes I do", she answered, knitting her eyebrows. "You're really nice, and you think I'm cool. I think you're pretty cool too."

I hesitated, staggering back into the snow.
"N-no, I'm not!" I could hear the volume of my voice raising. "I-I'm full of trouble!"

"So am I", Winter replied, still holding her hand out. "And...if you said you're a freak, then...we freaks gotta stick together right?"

I struggled to tell her that I'm not who she wants to hang out with. I'd put her in danger. I'd hurt her feelings. I'd scare her. Yet, she still persisted, and I felt like everything was spinning.

It's because she doesn't know who I am.

Before I could yell at her or tell her to leave me before she makes the worst mistake of her life, I saw a large figure slowly trudging and looming over us. Many figures, actually, were coming for us.

I thrusted my hand and pointed behind her. "Look out!"

Before she could turn around and do something, Jerry grabbed her by her hood and looked at her as if he was grabbing the fur of a puppy and looking into its eyes.

"You really thought you could get away?!"

His herd circled around us like some sacrificial circle, and two of his friends grabbed me by the arms and hoisted me up. I thrashed and kicked, but I couldn't loosen from their grip.

"Let me go!" I hollered, but my attention was focused on Winter. She gritted her teeth at the bully, and tried prying off his meaty fingers off her sweater. She looked fearless, yes, but I could sense her growing more terrified by the minute as she relentlessly kicked and shouted.

"Let. Go. Of. ME!"

Jerry turned to me, smirking as he pointed at Winter.

"I see you found yourself a little girlfriend", he snarled. "A very bratty-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Winter had unzipped herself from her sweater and fell on her feet. She spun around and kicked Jerry in the shin.

"AH! SUNNAVABITCH!"

He roared in pain and grabbed onto his leg as Winter rushed towards me, but was held back by some of Jerry's friends. The main bully got back his strength and grabbed Winter, holding her into the ground. She began struggling again, but Jerry's grip was stronger this time. I could feel my face burning and my heart throbbing. I thought my hands were on fire. Jerry fumes and snapped his head at me.

"You're next!" He grunted, still holding Winter down. "And as for you..." He turned back to Winter. "Your parents obviously haven't whooped yo misbehavin' ass before. Well, I'll do em a favor!"

Winter was almost whimpering now as Jerry's fist rose above her.

"This will teach y'all!" Jerry exclaimed. "You NEVER MESS WITH ME!"

Winter turned her head away, ready for the impact. Yet, before she shut her eyes tight, her glossy eyes met mine. I saw the fear in those eyes, and I hear my own heartbeat in my head. I felt so enraged that I couldn't stop the dark dust escaping from my palms.

"Yo what the fuck-"

Jerry's friends quickly released me as a dark cloud circled around me. Jerry looked up, his grip loosening enough for Winter to push him off. All their eyes were on me and the storm of dark sand forming behind me. I could feel my vision growing darker as the wind blew faster around us like a hurricane. The dark cloud soon grew knife-like talons with scaly limbs. The creature snarled its long fangs that were as sharp as the horns on its head. Its large, bat-like wings slowly rose above its head with its golden, menacing eyes peering down at the crowd of cruel boys.

Jerry jumped back as his gang stood behind him. He began swimming his way through his group, away from the monster. I could feel his fear. I could practically read him like an easy book. I could see what he feared.

"You're a coward", I sneered. Jerry looked into my dark eyes, his own bulging out of his head. He planted heavily, frozen in place.

"You control this group because you're so insecure. You want them to do whatever you want, and you don't want your friends to see who you truly are: a wimpy, little boy who can't take a simple line of criticism. You compliment yourself, you cocky idiot, because deep down, you know you're NOTHING, so you make others feel like THEY'RE NOTHING!"

The words kept coming out of me like I was turning and reacting each page of Jerry's biography. I could see his legs trembling and some tears brimming at the corners of his eyes as his friends look towards him with questionable looks.

"Now, you will NEVER HURT ANYONE EVER AGAIN!"

An expression of terror still rested on each of their faces, but it was especially frozen on Jerry. They didn't say a word. Their mouths were gaping at the glaring gargoyle ready to attack above me.

"You're not saying anything", I stated, "because you know that I'm right." I tilted my head while staring deep into Jerry's petrified eyes. "Don't you?"

I squinted at all of them, disgusted at each person. Finally, I whispered,

"Boo."

The ferocious gargoyle screeched as it soared down to the group with outstretched claws, a trail of sand drifting from its wings. The crowd finally ran and screamed in horror as the gargoyle chased them through the forest.

At last, I was finally able to grasp onto myself again, and I fell to my knees, panting. The dark sand began to fade away, and the wind blew more gently through my raven black hair. I thought I was alone again, until I forgot someone laying on the floor before me.

I turned and saw Winter, her eyes the size of baseballs. She didn't moved, only stared at me. She was there the whole time. She saw everything. Now, she knows everything.

"You're..." she tried to say something, but quickly shut her mouth.

I frantically pushed myself back with my feet, away from her. I stared at the ground, peering down at my hands clutched into the white blanket. I...I did it again. I did it again.

My hands tightened into fists with my fingernails digging into my palms. "Now...do you see?"

I avoided her glance. "Do you see why we can't be friends?" My face still felt like it was burning, but my eyes began to feel the same as well.

"You're the good guy." My voice starting quavering as warm tears glided down my cheeks. "I'm..." It became more difficult to hold back the tears, but the bottle that trapped so many of my emotions finally shattered.

"I'm the bad guy!"

I started sobbing, feeling my chest grow heavier as I sat in my pool of mixed emotions. I wanted to punch the ground over and over again, or scream at the Man in the Moon for allowing this to happen to me.

"I'm the bad guy", I croaked, hunched over the ground. "I'm a monster. If we were friends, I'll hurt you. HE'LL hurt you."

I brushed the never-ending tears from my cheeks. "Stay...just stay away from me..."

I heard her brush through the snow, and I was expecting her to run off. However, I just heard those sounds growing nearer, and lifted my head to see Winter slowly approaching me. I jerked back, and she stopped slowly.

"You're not a monster."

I shook my head as I squinted at her. "Yes I am-"

"No", she stopped me. "You're not. You're not the bad guy."

"But I made them scared of me", I sobbed. "They're scared of me. I'm the real bully."

"Charlie", Winter said gently, as she sat near me but far enough to give me some space.

"You saved me", she said, "you were nice to me, and made me feel better, but then you used your powers to save me.

"Pitch uses his powers for bad. You...you used them for good." She leaned closer to me. "Maybe it wasn't a very happy way of doing it, but you did something good. Pitch doesn't do that.

"My mom would tell me that my powers are a gift. I couldn't see that until I found you. Your powers are
a gift. You can use them for good."

"Why can't you see?" I nearly snapped. "Why can't you see that I'm evil!"

"I just don't see you as his son."

My body froze when she said that. It felt like I was in complete and utter darkness before, but now, there seems to be a single fleck of light growing near me.

She smiled warmly. "Trust me", she said, "I wouldn't be here if I knew you were as bad as him."

The tears that continued streamed downed my cheek were now a mixture of joy and sadness.

She sees me, not as the son of Pitch Black, but as someone else. She really sees me. She sees me.

Winter nodded softly and moved closer to me. She then tucked her arms around my chest and squeezed me lightly.

Winter Frost was hugging me. Winter Frost was hugging me.

"It's okay", she whispered, her warm breath brushing against my ear.

I slowly wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer. Despite being someone who manipulated ice and snow, she was warm with silky hair that smelled like fresh dew drops hanging off blades of grass. My tears seeped into her snowflake-covered sweater. For once in my life, I felt hopeful. I felt like something good was finally coming into my life.

"Thank you."

That's how I became friends with Winter Frost: the best and worst mistake of my life.

WOW! I HAVEN'T POSTED ANYTHING FOR A MONTH! GREAT JOB, AUTHOR! Seriously y'all. Sorry for making you wait this long. But now SUMMER IS HERE! THAT MEANS MORE UPDATES (unless writers block wants to take over me). I'm excited to bring in the new chapters for all that are waiting, and I'm more excited to read the stories on Post Your Stories Here cuz I'm pretty behind on those. Thank you all for taking your time to read this and waiting so long for this to come out. Hopefully I can make a schedule for each chapter since each one seems to come out in different lengths. Anyways, thanks again and stay tuned for more!