Sorry for the late update! I've been busy still updating this story though.
Chapter Eight: Windows and Doors
The fearlings created a shadow that crawled on top of North's Workshop. That little light from the sky could no longer go through.
Tooth felt lost in the scale of the army above them. It was as if she was lost at sea and begun to drown slowly as the water dragged her down. A warm hand touched her shoulder which brought her back to reality.
"We prepared for this," North assured her.
She nodded her head in agreement and curled up her fist ready for a fight. There was a strong ceiling window that protected them from Pitch. The yetis were ready to protect the place and so was she. There was no time for fear if fear was what they were fighting.
"Greetings to what is left of the all mighty guardians," Pitch's voice echoed and made the glass above vibrate.
This struck a chord for Tooth. She tried to restrain the anger that had built up inside her. "Using us to fight one another, and kidnapping a child! This is low even for you!" she growled.
Pitch's voice chuckled, "I'm the one above you now."
Tooth gritted her teeth. In her head she imagined landing a punch on Pitch's face. Ending all of this chaos. Still, the globe behind her reminded her how weak they were compared to Pitch. She saw the dark sky clear up only to bring a dark being, forward.
"Jack!" Both of them yelled.
"No, no, don't go outside," Pitch appeared next to Jack, "stay behind this window safe from my fearlings. Especially this one. This one possessed the bunny, actually. Quite a wild one."
The Winter Fearling hand trembled as it held up the staff and pointed it at the guardians. The world around him began to spin. It was becoming harder to aim at them.
"What are you doing," the voice had returned to haunt him.
"What are you doing?" Pitch asked and the voice faded.
"Give her to me," Jack demanded.
"Of course but first destroy them," Pitch pointed down at them.
He felt he lost gravity when he looked down, but he had to find her. The little girl he had lost in the frozen lake, and he had apologize for losing her. The memory hung over his head of the little girl covered in ice and those terrified eyes. Those eyes and then she screamed. She ran away from him when he reached out to her.
Jack nodded his head and held the staff with his hands still as ice.
"Move out!" North yelled. They both jumped in different directions. Jack destroyed the glass as the fearlings quickly began to get inside the Workshop.
Pitch's job was done so he left. He traveled back to his lair. The failed fearling stood in front of him. Sandman was completely consumed by the darkness, but yet it left him immobile. Like, there was a battle inside him that left him weak enough to be almost dead.
Then, next to the Sandman was the globe that showed the works of a successful fearling, Jamie. Each step Jamie took, each eye that saw the boy, or breathed the air Jamie breathed in, was no longer a light. Then, he noticed something the lights were coming back, slowly. One daunting detail threw him back, the darkness in Jamie was smaller.
"What?" Pitch yelled and shook the globe with his hand. His greatest creation had suddenly grown weak. Then, he looked at the failure, Sandy, and had an idea.
Sandy awoke from a long sleep, but still felt tired. Pitch once again stood in front him and surrounded him with darkness.
"You are still fighting even though you know I already won," Pitch chuckled to himself. Behind that laugh he was trembling. He had awakened Sandy when he removed the darkness out of the Guardian of Dreams. Also, his mind wondered what happened to Jamie that caused that change, but then realized if Sandy was added to his army victory was surely his without Jamie.
Sandy continued to make a defiant expression. His eyes were hard, but wrinkles began to form under.
"That Jamie created a fearling. You probably know him his name was Jack Frost," he laughed.
Sandy's face broke for a second, but continued his strong expression.
Jamie opened his eyes. Slowly, his senses came to him. He felt pain in his back and moved a bit to comfort himself. Then, his eyes rested on a family picture of a younger Pippa and her mother on a camping trip. It came to him that he somehow fell asleep on the couch. Memories flooded back about the conversation he had with Pippa. Then, he had clocked out probably from the lack of sleep. Another sense hit him, the strong smell of something warm and sweet.
He made his way towards the kitchen. Pippa's Mom served pancakes and put them on Sophie's plate. "Merry Christmas, Jamie," Pippa's Mom said when she realized Jamie was there.
"Merry Christmas," he replied. Sophie looked at her plate, sadly. She stabbed her fork into and swallowed, miserably. Jamie sighed.
He sat down next to Sophie and put his hand on her shoulder. She didn't react and continued to eat. Most likely, Sophie was mad at him. A plate was put in front of him and he ate. It was hard to swallow.
"Merry Christmas," Pippa arrived and hugged her mom. She sat down next to Jamie and gave him a reassuring smile.
"We'll be going to the hospital soon, so don't worry about that," Pippa's Mom put a hand on Jamie's shoulder.
"Thank you for everything," Jamie managed to say.
"You're welcome," she said happily to what she felt was a deserved thank you.
He forced himself to eat. The food was good, but his worries took away all the taste of the food. Somehow, he finished one pancake. Somehow, he managed to do things. He managed to get ready for the hospital as his fingers trembled as he put on his clothes. Everything was dark for a second as he made his way through the door. He wanted to slam it shut when he walked outside, but-
"Jamie, see you soon," Pippa said. He looked back and saw her sitting on top of the floor next to Sophie. She had a doll in her hand. The fireplace glowed behind them.
"See you soon," he nodded his head and slowly closed the door. He didn't want to lose sight of Pippa and Sophie playing dolls. It was a funny sight of Sophie explaining her illogical imagination to the factually filled Pippa. The door was closed outside was Pippa's Mom in the car. He rushed inside. They drove away from the house towards the hospital.
Pippa's Mom put on the radio. Jamie tried to listen, but his thumping heart made it hard to hear. The pancake began to hurt his stomach. The windshield wipers went back and forth so fast his stomach began to backfire on him just by their sight.
"Jamie!" Pippa's Mom noticed this and stopped the car.
Jamie ran out of the car and began to vomit. He walked back to the car as if nothing had happened.
"Jamie, you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he answered because it was easy.
Again, they began to drive. For some reason, Jamie felt there was a battle that went back in forth inside him. As if something was ripping him apart.
They made it to the hospital. The bright rooms and the strong lemon scent made Jamie dizzy. Pippa's Mom put an arm on his shoulder and her terrifying expression returned.
"Don't talk to the doctor without me again, mister," she didn't need to yell to get her point across.
"Yes," Jamie nodded his head.
They both walked towards the Doctor who began to explain to them about Jamie's Mom. Pippa's Mom listened attentively, and nodded her head which each sentence the Doctor finished.
Jamie on the other hand couldn't stop feeling the whole gravity of the hospital in him. As if he held the ceiling up for everyone. The Doctor left them which each word not able to make it into his ears.
"All right, Jamie, let's sit down," she said and gestured to the seats.
Jamie lazily followed and collapsed in the chair, exhausted.
"Jamie everything is going to be okay," she tried her best to be reassuring.
"Thanks," he answered.
Still, there was a sense of darkness in the air. He thought of the doctor operating his mom. The possibility that she wouldn't survive. Death could be one breath away. It could be standing next to his mother.
"Jamie, I'm going to get some food want to come," she snapped him out of his trance.
"No, I'm fine," he couldn't imagine eating anything else.
"Alright, I will bring you the food. Call me if you need anything, Jamie, I won't be gone for long," she put her hand on his shoulder, then picked her bag, and walked away.
Jamie watched the clock and was amazed how fast time went. His thoughts seemed to take him somewhere else where time went much quicker. He felt his throat dry and stood up towards the water fountain.
There was a door that separated him from his Mother. Beyond that door there were rooms and one of them she was in. He looked back at the time. The operation was a long one. How long was he told it was going to last? He wiped his mouth and watched the door. There was a window in the door it was small almost insignificant. Inside all one could see is someone in a desk typing on their computer, and all the rooms with their doors closed further away. He glanced at the window and saw someone run. The person at the desk jumped. Out of the many rooms inside there was a door open. The stillness in the room disappeared it was just chaos. The room what was inside that made everyone panic? He recognized the doctor in the opened-door room, and he felt his heart drop.
The woman in the table saw him and shouted at him something inaudible through the window. There was barely any noise anymore. No sound from the air conditioner, or the silent voices of the people in the waiting room. Just the sound of his quick breaths.
Something inside him was going to explode. He rushed outside just guided by his feet. Somehow he ended up on the roof of the hospital. He slammed the door behind him and felt he was going to break it. It was better to be away from everyone he felt he was not safe for anyone. Was his mom dead? He looked down at himself and saw his feet were consumed by dark sand.
"Wh-what is going on?" he asked. His body was being consumed by darkness. He tried to brush it off, but then it grabbed his arm. Had death looked at the time and put a hand on his mother?
Thank you so much for reading this.
Jamie's darkness is growing we'll see what happens. Also, Sandman returned still in a bad state. I actually cut this chapter short, because I felt this was the proper cliffhanger.
Also, to clear up if anyone didn't understand Jack described the little girl screaming and running away was alluding to something that someone did. Not going to say who maybe you have to reread this story (clue: not this chapter) to find the person that screamed and ran off. There's a reason!
Reviews are appreciated.