There was only a black pit. No light, no sounds, no movement. There was nothing. Jack slept, still and silent, curled up against the base of a curved beech tree. The umbrella of leaves canopying over him like a blanket. His breaths came out in small puffs of white air. To anyone who could have been watching, Jack was perfectly asleep. However, something in his unconscious mind was bothered. Where was his dream? He saw nothing but a void of darkness. The backs of his eyes. Was it just an occasional occurrence? Sure, Jack had had a dreamless night before, but this was different than going to sleep and waking up. He was aware of his missing dream, and as soon as he realized it, he plummeted into the pit.
Jack's heart dropped and wind slammed against his face. Black feathers suddenly streaming around him. Suddenly, a loud caw rang in his ears, and a scissor sharp beak flashed inches away from his eye.
Jack gasped awake. He breathed heavily, hunched over on the ground. Sweat rolled down his neck. His frozen blue eyes jumped to the crook in his white knuckled grip.
"What was that…" he managed between breaths. His pocket rustled and Jack relaxed as it was only Baby Tooth that flew out from his hoodie. She too looked restless and distressed. Jack shook his head. "You too, huh?"
Baby Tooth responded by squeaking.
"That was scary… But I don't understand. Was that something Sandy did on purpose?"
Baby Tooth squeaked and shrugged her shoulders. Jack drew his gaze to the ground and fixed on a crescent shaped silhouette by his feet. The moon beamed through the leaves of the beech tree and illuminated it. A large, black feather the size of Jack's forearm. He nudged the feather with the tip of his crook and a shock went up his arm. With a yelp he dropped the crook and cradled his hand. The remainders of an electric buzz tingled in the tips of his fingers. Jack stared at the feather in shock, and slowly climbed to his feet. Baby Tooth watched him in concern, settling on his shoulder. He took up his crook again.
"We need to tell Sandy."
Carried by the wind, Jack skipped over the town of Burgess. Other than the street lamps, small creatures that rustled behind houses, and a barking dog, everything was quiet. With Baby Tooth fluttering beside him, he landed on a tall rooftop. A shiver had gone up his spine for a moment, his senses of alarm flaring. Crouched, he surveyed the street. The dog had stopped barking and there was an eerie sense of calm. Something caught Jack's eye in the neighboring building. A figure in a black hoodie glided in the corridor on the other side of the window. It could have been any ordinary human, but a doubtful feeling built in the pit of Jack's stomach. He jumped to the other building and peered inside. He couldn't see the black hoodie anymore.
"That's weird…" He whispered to himself. Jack pried the window open and silently slipped inside. He followed the corridor in the same direction as the black hoodie. Rounding a corner, the corridor opened up into a series of rooms. The floor felt waxy underneath Jack's feet and he passed by a few seating benches and a bed on wheels. It appeared he was in a hospital.
"This is wrong," Jack muttered. "Who would be wandering around a hospital this late at night?" He kept moving through the hall of doors, peering into each one with every door that passed. He spotted a young boy with tubes in and out of his abdomen, a woman with a swollen belly, one room had two people covered head to toe in white bandages. A shiver ran up Jack's spine. He wasn't fond of hospitals. He felt the repercussions of the blizzard he had caused in spring of 1968. Many retirement homes had lost several patients because of the sudden temperature drop. It had all been in fun and joking. But it was only after the snow had settled that he realized the gravity of what he had done. He swallowed nervously and kept moving.
At the end of the hall, one door stood slightly open, and a faint glow of silver shone from inside. Jack lept towards the door and peered into the room. His eyebrows furrowed at the sight before him. In the hospital bed was an elderly man, sickly thin without any color. Sitting on top of the bed was the black hoodie. Jack couldn't make out their face, and crept into the room. The black hoodie turned out to be a thin, pale girl with long, grey hair cascading around her face and shoulders. She held a long, wooden staff in her hands that was pointed at the old man. Jack realized, as he made his way into the room, that the silver glow was being emitted from the tip of the staff. She drew the staff away and a thin, silver line flowed from the man's forehead.
The line began to gather in front of her into a large silver mass. The flow stopped and the mass formed into an image of a young man in his twenties, dressed in a button up shirt, a vest, and a pair of slacks. He sat cross-legged opposite of the black hoodie. He exhaled deeply and looked at the girl with kind eyes.
"Has the time finally come?" He asked her. The girl nodded.
"I've come to take you with me," she replied. Jack was startled by how young she sounded. She couldn't have been older than he was when he died. The man shut his eyes.
"Does this means I will be with my wife?"
"The truth is," the girl started, and suddenly Jack felt the change in the air. Tension had risen. "I don't know where you go. That, the king has already decided. I just bring you there."
"Ah, I see." The ease had slipped away from his face. The girl bit down on her bottom lip.
"What is your name?" she asked the man.
"Alex," he answered. "Alexander but, only my mother calls me that."
"Alex, I cannot decide the fate that waits for you once you cross over for that has already been decided. But if you know in your heart that you will be with your wife, you must let it carry you there. Let it fill your spirit strong, and when you open your eyes, she will be there. That, I can surely promise."
A small smile appeared on Alex's face.
"Even if it were true, it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice. Thank you, reaper." He closed his eyes once again, and the silver ghost called Alex disappeared. The girl hopped down from his hospital bed, took up her staff, and raised it above her shoulder. A glint made Jack's eyes widen as he realized the staff wasn't any ordinary piece of wood. It was a scythe.
"No!" Jack shouted as she brought down the blade. It sliced through the old man's chest, where a burst of light escaped. Alex appeared once again, this time standing in front of her. The reaper re positioned the blade, waiting. Alex gave her a nod and closed his eyes.
"No, don't!" Jack shouted again, this time moving forward, his arm outreached towards Alex. The girl slashed her blade. The image of Alex cut in half and faded away. Jack froze, a mere foot away from her. He was breathing heavily, the image of her blade cutting into the old man's chest tattooed fresh into his memory. Jack's grip tightened around his crook but before he could raise it to aim at her, he found the blade of her scythe hovering dangerously close to his throat. Her hood was pulled low over her face, but her grip was strong, and Jack stood frozen.
"I don't know…" she began, her voice tinted with threat and the hints of an accent that Jack couldn't place. "I don't understand how you can see me, nor do I know who you are, but you should not have seen that." The blade drew ever so close that it brushed the skin of Jack's neck. Jack swallowed carefully, feeling his grip loosen. He slowly raised his arms.
"I didn't mean any harm-"
"I could hear the anger building in your chest from a mile away. Don't pretend you had no intentions to attack me just now."
She was right. Had it not have been for the scythe, Jack would have put her in the same position as he was in now. He exhaled slowly, trying to peer at her face.
"I meant that I wasn't planning on doing anything to you until I knew you were safe. What was I supposed to do after seeing you slash that man's chest open?"
"You weren't!" She shot back at him. "No one is ever supposed to see!"
"Why not?" Jack asked suddenly, and the girl found herself unable to answer. Jack could see her chew on her lip.
"It doesn't matter. Anyways, I don't owe-" suddenly, the girls hood was yanked towards the window and she struggled to pull it back down. Baby Tooth had flown in from outside in order to defend Jack from whatever misfortune would have befallen him. "Let go!" the girl shouted. With a swing of her arm, she managed to slap Baby Tooth away like a fly, releasing her hood. Jack felt his stomach do a somersault. The girl's face was incredibly thin and paler than Jack's own skin. Her eyes were pupils of pearly white like a blind man, and whites completely black. The skin around her eyes were red, like they had been bleeding, and when she opened her mouth, she had a row of needle-pointed teeth.
The girl struggled to pull her hood back over her face. Jack snapped out of his trance when he realized that she was heading for the window to escape.
"Wait!" he shouted, "Who are you?!"
She was gone, disappeared into the night, but the whisper of her voice floated in Jack's ears. He wandered over to the old man. There were no signs of the blade anywhere. The only difference was the EGK was at a flat line. With the realization of the man's death, the word bouncing around in Jack's ears became clear.
"Thana... Thana... Thana..."
Baby Tooth reappeared by Jack's shoulder, squeaking with concern.
"I'm okay, but..." he stared out the window. "I think we have another problem now."
Baby Tooth squeaked, pointing out the window. Jack nodded, gripping his crook.
"You're right. If anyone would know anything, it would be North. But we still have the dream. We should find Sandy first."