M: Magic, mistreat/mistrust, moody
A boy with bright white hair is seen walking the snowy and somewhat slushy streets of New York City. He is wearing a light blue hoodie, brown skinny jeans, and thin sandals despite the winter chill. He walked up some stairs and entered an apartment building. He stopped by the mailboxes and grabbed his mail.
An elderly woman near him asked, "Hello Jack. How are you today?"
Jack responded, "I'm fine Pep. And you?"
""As fine as I ever am Jack. Have a good day now."
"Thanks. Right back at ya.".
Jack continued up some stairs and entered his apartment. The apartment was sparse of furniture and it was quite small. He dropped his mail on the counter and walked to the small fridge. He grabbed his water and sat down on the handle of his futon. Grinning, he turned the bottle upside down but before the water hit the ground, it was frozen. Smiling to himself, he set the bottle down and fell back onto his futon. He lied there for a while and fell asleep.
He woke up to knocking on his door. Confused at who might be there, he went to open it. On the other side of the door was a tall man with grayish hair. Jack frowned and said "What are you doing here Aster?"
Aster replied, "We need your help."
"Yeah? And why should I help you?"
"Because it's about Sandy."
"What's wrong with Sandy that you need me?"
"We don't know. He's gone missing."
"What do you mean missing?"
"Exactly that. We don't know where he is and we haven't heard from him in a few days."
"Maybe he's just been busy. You know he gets when his patients need him. He won't stop until he can help them.."
"It's not that. He would've let us known."
"I still don't get why you came to me though. You guys stopped talking to me. You abandoned me. You didn't even let me explain. So why should I even help you?"
"Because it's who are you are Jack. You won't let someone be lost. Plus it's Sandy. You always liked him best."
"Of course I did. He actually listened to me unlike some people I know. I'll help, but only because it's Sandy. I'm not doing this for you or anyone else."
"Thanks Jack. We can meet at the usual spot tomorrow to discuss what we know about Sandy. See you at 10."
"In the morning? That's so early."
"No it's not jack. See you then. And please try not to be late. We have things to do afterwards."
"Speak for yourself. I make no promises." Jack closes the door and goes back to lay on his futon.
He thought he was done with this group but apparently not. You would think that after all he's been through with him they would leave him alone but nope. They came back. They didn't deserve his help. He was only trying his best. It wasn't his fault that everything broke. They didn't even let him explain. They just kicked him out and wouldn't let him come back. The only exception was Sandy. Sandy came looking for him and at first Jack was bitter towards Sandy but Sandy let him explain. Jack knew Sandy wouldn't be able to convince the others though. But at least one of them believed him.
Now, Sandy has gone missing. Jack hasn't spoken to the little man in ages but he has always wanted the best for him and Jack knew Sandy could care for himself. The fact that even the others didn't know where he was worried Jack. Sandy was not the kind of person to disappear. Not without telling someone. Jack didn't want to see the others tomorrow, but if he wanted to find Sandy, he would have to find out what they know. Sighing, Jack continued thinking but quickly fell asleep.
Jack woke up slowly. He turned his head towards the window and saw a lot of sunlight streaming through the window. Jack tapped his wrist and then flicked his hand and the timpe popped up. It was 10:02 am. Upon realizing what time it was, Jack quickly got up, grabbed his stuff and rushed out the door. He ran all the way to a bakery that he was supposed to meet everyone at. Jack quickly rushed to open the door and did a quick scan of the room. He found them sitting at the corner table near the back. He quickly walked towards them and took a seat. "Sorry, I'm late. I overslept. 10 am really is too early in the morning."
A woman with blonde hair and blue highlights answered, "Jack. You know 10 is not that early. In fact, it is quite late."
"But I see you haven't changed much Jack." said a rather large man with a white beard.
"I thought I told ya not to be late." said Aster.
"And I told you I made no promises." replied Jack. "So, what do you know?"
"Last we knew, he was simply leaving work in the morning and we were supposed to meet up for breakfast but he never showed up." the blonde replied.
"Where did you go to meet for breakfast, Tooth?"
"The usual place. It's not very far from Sandy's clinic so he can walk there. It should only ever take him 15 minutes."
"Did any of you ever go search in the general area of his clinic or the route between it and the restaurant?"
Aster replied, "Of course we did Jack. That's the first thing you do."
"Did you think to check any alternate routes?"
The large man replied, "No. We didn't think he would take a route different from his usual."
"Always check all routes, even if they are not typical North. I'm gonna go check them out. My numbers the same if you come up with anymore information. Bye."
Jack grabbed his stuff and walked to the sleep clinic Sandy ran.
Jack started by searching all around the building to see if there was anything out of place or unusual. It may have been years since he's been here, but he would still be able to recognize any differences. It's not like any of them changed at all. Just as Jack was about to leave the area to search the streets, he found an unusual substance. Crouching down, Jack looked at it and determined it to be some form of black sand. He grabbed a bottle of water out of his bag and gently poured it over the top of the sand. He then froze the water and carefully picked up the newly formed ice sheet. As long as it stayed near him in his bag, it wouldn't melt. He could show it to the others later. For now, he would search all the possible streets Sandy could have used to get to the restaurant.
Meanwhile, Aster, North, and Tooth were talking about Jack at the café still.
"I just don't get why he is always late! He knows what time we expect him. He is so irresponsible to be late like this all the time." Aster complained.
"It's just the way he is Aster. You know this. Some people are always late. It's a part of them. Stop complaining. At least he is willing to help. I didn't even think he would be willing to help after what we did." North replied.
"Yeah. But he is doing it for Sandy. Not us. He chose to leave us. But he didn't want to leave Sandy." said Tooth.
"Do we even know why he left?"
"Not really. I think he blamed us for something though."
"We'll have to ask him when we get Sandy back."
"Definitely. Anyway, we should probably go look around. Maybe he went to his apartment or something."
"That's a good idea. Let's go."
The three of them got up, paid for their drinks and left to go see if there were any clues at his home.
On the streets, Jack found a lot of the black sand. He felt that it was important and he knew he should tell the others but he wanted to figure it out on his own. He knew he could do it, he just had to find all the dots so he could connect them. Jack was able to follow the sand on the side streets and in the alleys. It appeared to be a trail but he wasn't sure where it was leading to. He followed it all the way to a building.
The building was dark in color and the entryway was in the alley. This seemed sketchy to Jack. He knew he should tell the others and he was just about to text them when he thought he heard his name come from the other side of the door.
Jack stood for a moment wondering if he actually heard his name when he heard the same noise. It reminded him of someone. He quietly opened the door and was surprised it didn't squeak. He looked around but there was not much to see because it was so dark. He made an ice light in his hand and used it to search. The building was full of hallways and rooms. Jack opened all the doors to the rooms but they were always empty.
The hallways also had a lot of turns and intersections and Jack was unsure if he would be able to find his way back out. Finally, Jack found a door that led to an entirely different area of the building, the basement. Jack quietly went down the stairs and noticed that this floor did not have any rooms or hallways. Jack walked around the perimeter of the room but didn't find anything. He walked across the open space in the middle and he found a trap door.
Setting his light down, he got down on his knees to open the trapdoor. However it was very heavy and it took a lot of his strength to pull it open. When he did get it open, he fell backwards and the door hit the ground with a loud bang. Hoping no one was nearby to hear it, Jack climbed down into the trapdoor entrance and began to go down the ladder. The climb down seemed to last a while until he finally, reached the bottom. There was only one direction to go, so, naturally, he went that way. There were no side tunnels as he went along. It appeared to be one long straight tunnel. As he kept going, he heard some kind of shuffling noises. He wasn't sure if the thing the noises belonged to were a friend or foe, so he tread carefully.
At last, he started to see the glow of a yellow light. Still cautious, he walked closer to the source of the light. When he reached the light, he was excited. It was Sandy! He found him. Jack quickly walked towards Sandy and gently pulled the blindfold off of him. Upon him seeing that it was Jack, Sandy smiled a big, wide smile. Jack quickly froze the ropes on Sandy's wrists and ankles and broke the ropes. Then Jack quickly then helped him up. Sandy needed a little bit of support walking at first but he quickly regained mobility.
They began the long walk back up to the streets of their city. Once on the streets, Jack texted them and simply said 'I found him. I'm taking him back to his apartment. See you there.'
As soon as they received the message, they all rushed to Sandy's apartment.
As soon as they got there, they knocked on the door and Jack answered it. He told them, he's sleeping in his room but you can take a quick look at him. Just don't wake him. he needs his sleep."
The three quickly tucked their heads in and saw him sleeping peacefully on his bed. Satisfied, they sat in the living room.
Once seated, North said, "We need to talk, Jack"
"About what?"
"About what happened all those months ago. The reason you left us." replied Aster.
"I didn't leave. You abandoned me and left me to my own devices."
"Why would we abandon you Jack? One day you were hanging out with us and the next you weren't talking to us anymore. We just want to know why." Tooth said.
"I stopped talking to all of you because you never believed me or believed anything I said. You didn't trust me!"
"We have always trusted ya!"
"No. You didn't. Scenario 1. I was late to Asters easter party because I was helping out Jamie. One of the neighborhood kids, but none of ya believed me. You just thought I was late again. You didn't trust that I was telling the truth or that I was helping Jamie."
"That was one time."
"Scenario 2. I came to visit you all when you were hanging out with Tooth when you noticed something in my pocket. You forced me to reveal my memory box despite it having nothing to do with you. It was my personal belonging and you had no right to demand what I was carrying at the time."
"Fine. That may have been wrong but those were only two scenarios."
"There's more where those came from. I helped Pep many times as well as Jamie, you never believed me when I said that was what I was doing. You never trusted me with your secrets despite knowing me for months especially since I trusted you with some of mine. Plus you never liked my magic. I don't even use it that often. You should have known that."
"Sure. Maybe I was afraid of your magic but only because I don't like the cold."
"That's not the real reason and you know it, Aster. Just accept that none of you fully trusted me. And Sandy was the only one to listen to me."
With these words, Jack left, but he left a little bit of ice on the handle of his chair, a reminder that he was there. The rest of them sat in silence. Finally, Tooth spoke up, "I didn't know he didn't trust us. And we always listened to him."
Just as Tooth said that, Sandy walked out and he angrily signed, "No. You guys never listened to him. You always talked over him and never let him finish. I'm surprised he didn't leave sooner."
"But Sandy, he never had a lot to say." North replied.
"That's because you never gave him a turn to speak! You should be lucky I'm even talking to you now after the way you treated him."
"Do you really mean that Sandy?" Aster asked. Sandy nodded.
"If that's the way you feel, we'll just be going now. We'll see you another time. Get well soon Sandy."
The three of them left. Sandy texted Jack asking him to come back. He made sure to tell him the others were gone. Jack arrived soon after meaning he didn't go far.
"How are you doing Sandy? Did you sleep well?"
Sandy nodded with his thumbs up. He then began signing, "How are you Jack? I heard the tail end of the conversation you had with the others. I'm sorry I never met up with you afterwards."
"I'm fine Sandy. It was all in due time. And I knew you meant well. You always tried to make them include me. They were just too stubborn to listen to you or me, and I actually could speak." Jack responded with a smile. "What happened anyway? How did you end up in that warehouse? Someone had to take you. You didn't tie yourself up. I imagine."
Sandy shook his head and signed, "It was some guy who said his was name Pitch Black. That's probably not his real name so. But he got me from behind with some weird black sand. He used it to keep me groggy. Luckily I was coherent when you found me. He probably got there shortly after we left so he could drug me up again. But he said he took me because he felt I was competition in the sleep business and he wanted it all to himself. But I knew it wouldn't work. I knew people would notice I was missing and I was right. Thanks again for finding me."
"Of course Sandy. Whoever this pitch guy is, he won't mess with you anymore." Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a pendant made of ice. It was in the shape of a cloud and was a shimmering blue on a chain. "Here. I made this. It should protect you from the sand that this guy used. I was able to get a hold of some. He left it everywhere. But the sand should not have an effect on you anymore."
Sandy took it and put it on immediately. He could feel the tendrils of Jack's magic curling around him and it made him feel safe. Sandy smiled and hugged Jack. Jack smiled and hugged him back, saying, "I'm glad you like it Sandy. Anyway, I better get going. I've got things to do but you know you can always stop by. You know where I live."
"Right back at ya."
With these parting words, Jack walked out the door and left a little bit of invisible magic in the doorway. Anyone who walked by would be able to feel it and know the person in there is protected. Jack smiled knowing Sandy would be safe.
A/N: Yo! Guess who's back! Its a me! A lot has happened to me since I've last updated. I finished my sophomore year of college and I did one semester of it abroad! It was the best semester ever! I went to Dublin, Ireland. I could honestly ramble on about it forever because I loved it so much and it makes me miss traveling all the time. I also visited London and France while I was in Europe. If you wanna hear my in depth story, just ask! I love talking about it so I will happily oblige.
Anyway, I am back at my home university and I am taking a writing class. Sort of. It is a teaching with writing but one of the things I am expected to do is to write everyday and I have been. So thats how you get this update. Plus I have another to be posted immediately after this one! That means DOUBLE UPDATE! Woo! Who would have guessed. Don't forget about my tumblr. The link is in my bio. I post extras, and answer questions, and reviews, and what not.
Also, O is done, it just needs to be edited. I hope to have it up in the next few days or so. So you can look forward to that!
As always, this was edited by my sister. I hope you enjoy!
Read, review, and enjoy!