Chapter 6: A Helping Hand
Sophie forced her eyes shut. It wasn't long until she heard Jack's agonized groans that she opened them to see the horrible sight that stood in front of her. The dark sand had taken over Jack's body as he twisted and turned in the floor. She couldn't move her body to do anything other than just watch.
Jack stopped moving and then his eyes met Sophie. He slowly extended his hand towards her and tried to reach her. "I'm sorry," he grunted. That one hand trembled in the air.
Sophie remembered that time Jamie told her about that time he saved the guardians with the other kids from the neighborhood. She didn't remember that day that well and each year it seemed to be blurrier in her memories. Jamie would hit his chest with pride, when he recalled that with just one hand he faced a black wave of Pitch's. Sophie had great admiration of such bravery, but wondered where that came from. Her mind came to rest when she concluded it was the fact that they were much older, and that bravery came with age.
"Help," Jack groaned with his hand extended out and with his other hand he crawled closer.
Sophie's vision blurred because her tears were too afraid to get out. The voice that tried to get out hid inside in fear. Her little foot took a step back and squeaked on the floor. Then, she ran as far as her little feet could take her. In the corner of the hospital, she hid, hugged her knees, and buried her head on her knees.
She heard her heart in her head it knocked, indefinitely. She tried to swallow her tears, but it only caused herself to tremble, uncontrollably. The clock ticked by uselessly, and soon her body began to ache. It begged for her to move. Still, there was nothing she could do to break her statue form to act like something more alive. The air grew warm and indicated someone was close by. She closed her eyes and hid herself in her own darkness.
"Sophie?" a familiar voice called out for her. The noise of footsteps got louder and the voice was closer.
"Is something wrong, dear?" A warm hand touched her shoulder. It brought some life and broke her statue form.
She forced herself to see the world again and saw Pippa's Mom. Pippa's Mom had kneeled down to meet Sophie's eyes.
"Is your mom-" she bit her lip, "come let's go."
Sophie's feet moved by themselves and took the warm hand of Pippa's Mom. Her hair was down, very close to her face, that she noticed the knots in it.
"Jamie?" Pippa's Mom tried to communicate to the boy who had his eyes lost on the blank wall in front of him.
"Where's Jack?" Sophie quietly piped in. The floor where Jack laid was empty with no signs of the horrible sight that was there before.
"Did you talk to the doctor without me?" Pippa's Mom demanded. Sophie wanted to run from the tense air around her, but Pippa's Mom held Sophie's hand too tight.
Jamie looked towards their direction. He opened his mouth, but then closed it. Once again, he looked blankly at the wall in front of him.
"What did the doctor say Jamie Bennett!" Pippa's Mom yelled in frustration.
Jamie winced in response.
Sophie tried to pull her hand free with her other hand.
"Jamie?" it was the first time Pippa's Mom spoke calmly towards the boy.
"MOM IS DYING!" Jamie yelled.
Sophie tried to cover her ears, but the other hand wasn't free, yet.
Pippa's Mom didn't respond but Jamie continued. "She n-needs surgery… it's the only thing that can save her but," He gasped for air, "it may not be enough."
Pippa's Mom didn't respond. The boy in front of her was red in the face with his fist clenched so hard that he broke his own skin with his nails. "Jamie I-," she managed to say with her other hand reached out towards him.
"No!" He shouted and ran outside towards the snowstorm that just begun outside.
"JAMIE COME BACK HERE!" she tried to run after the boy.
"Let me go," a small voice said. Pippa's Mom looked down and saw Sophie in tears. She had forgotten that the little girl was close by. Sophie hand was freed from the tight hold and she rubbed it as tears fell on both her hands.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that," Pippa's Mom said and cradled Sophie in her warm arms. She tried to look for the boy outside, but the snowstorm grew. It was hard to see.
A Winter Fearling walked around the snowstorm he had created and looked for the frozen lake. He had lost a little girl somewhere close to a frozen lake. That is all he knew. The thing the Winter Fearling didn't like that every movement led the storm to roar louder. It grew much faster when he swung his black staff around. He swung it so much he managed to bury a tree stump with the snow. This led him to have an admiration towards his handiwork. This feeling he wanted to repeat so he tried to move to the next thing to bury in the snow. Then, he realized he didn't just bury the tree stump, but buried his own feet. The Winter Fearling found something else he didn't like about his powers.
"Jack… Jack…"
He looked around to find the voice and wondered if it was the little girl he lost in the frozen lake.
"Jack!" the voice was thick with a heavy accent. He looked around and saw Bunnymund hugging his arms to warm himself from the cold. "Jack?" he stopped when he saw the Winter Fearling.
"Who are you?" the Winter Fearling asked comically with his feet stuck in snow.
"No… not you Jack," Bunnymund tensed and hated himself for not being there in time. "Um… come with me mate follow me," he reached his hand out.
Jack looked at it. "Get rid of him" The voices continued in his head. He looked away and tried to look around for the little girl he lost somewhere in the frozen lake.
"We can fix this," he begged and cautiously got closer towards his friend.
"Get rid of him!"
"Don't you remember."
"Darkness does get to them all, you know."
Jack positioned himself in a pose that seemed familiar and then attacked. He sent a massive wave of snow to Bunnymund. Bunnymund barely managed to dodge he rolled away from the situation and felt his boomerangs heavy. He tried to reach out for them, but nodded his head no.
"Jack, ya stronger! Ya the strongest of us all," another wave of snow hit him and once again he barely dodged.
"Leave!" the Winter Fearling yelled.
"Leave ya alone?" he questioned, "that is somethin' we promis'd we never do to ya!"
The attacks stopped and even the snowstorm calmed down. Bunnymund fought against the cold to get closer to his friend. The Winter Fearling reflected by looking at the cold snowy ground below him. He leaned heavily on his staff.
"Jack?" Bunnymund had a hopeful tone towards the being in front of him. He kneeled down next to his friend and put a hand on Jack's shoulder.
The Winter Fearling recalled a time when he stood on top of the frozen lake with the little girl he had lost. The ice was too thin. It cracked under the little girl's feet and her eyes were wide with fear. Fear. Jack touched Bunnymund's arm.
Bunnymund led out a sigh of relief, but then that grip tightened. He took a step back and saw his whole left arm swallowed in darkness.
"Jack! Jack?"Bunnymund couldn't speak anymore than that. There was no more air. Just the cold snow around him. He tried to fight back and look for his friend. Something hit him in the head and he fell down on the cold snow. He watched the darkness grow more as so did the snow. He was slowly buried along with it.
Bunnmund hoped that Jack would be free, and then he hoped a guardian would take him out of the winter storm. Eventually he stopped having hope.
This story took a darker direction with this chapter. I always knew when Jack became a fearling that's the direction the story will go.
I noticed how sad this whole chapter was. I added the whole Jack accidentally burying his feet in the snow as a little light with this sad chapter. Some parts were hard to write like Bunnymund and Jack (the Winter Fearling) encounter, but writing the dialogue between them was my favorite part. I liked writing Pippa's Mom for being my OC I haven't given her anything in awhile. The whole hospital scene was actually an easy write even if I had to rewrite it.
Anyway, thank you so much guys a review, a follow, and a favorite, they all put a smile on my face.