Frozen Fire
Chapter Five: A World Without End
xXx
Holy shit, Sam's inner voice screeched.
She inhaled a wet, wretched breath as she gasped, ignoring the way the breath of air set her lungs ablaze. Her entire body convulsed in a shudder at the sight of the ethereal creature lurking just twenty feet down the grassy path, the ball of ectoplasmic energy she'd discharged from her weapon still a roiling sphere in its snow-gloved palm.
With otherworldly speed, the Phantom's head whipped around to glare at her. Sam's human eyes barely registered the moment that Phantom materialized before her in a burst of shadows and wispy tendrils of fiery green as the ectoplasmic charge dissipated, winking out into the night. Around them, the sirens continued to wail, the streets still bathed in the red lights of the drones.
She tried to remember then what she knew of this elusive ghost, but the compound's database of Phantom had been gallingly bare. The only thing in its file had been the shoddy footage retrieved from the facility in Wisconsin, when Phantom had annihilated Vlad Master's laboratory base in a display of immense power. Had her scanner still been functional, she wasn't sure she even wanted to know the exact reading of its ectosignature.
All she knew for sure was that Phantom was beyond powerful, and she was as good as dead.
She attempted to level the gun between its eyes, but her arm shook from the effort. She could see now in its proximity how closely it resembled a human man, with shaggy white hair that framed a face accentuated by a strong jaw and its luminous eyes. In all her years, of all the ghosts she'd faced and destroyed, she'd never seen one look so . . . human. It was disconcerting, especially as the creeping wrongness that usually accompanied the spooks settled in her very being, urged her to flee.
This was it, she realized. She was going to die.
She flinched as the Phantom reached forward and gently lowered her trembling weapon until it clattered to her feet. It looked away again, transfixed on some point behind her head.
"You need to leave," it said, its voice deep and commanding, which caused her to start because ghosts aren't supposed to sound like that. "Worse things are coming. Grab your kin and retreat to your bunker."
Sam stared uncomprehendingly. "What?"
The ghost grimaced and then it was in her face, eyes smoldering bright with fury. "Get. Out. Of. Here. Human," it seethed, lip curled as if in disgust.
Her years of training sang to her then. She swiftly grasped the ectoranium tipped knife from the sheath at her hip and slashed madly at Phantom's face in response.
Or, at least, she tried. It caught her hand in an iron grip.
"Enough," Phantom growled.
"Never," Sam spat, and swung out her leg in a kick.
But the ghost simply dematerialized and let her leg pass right through its torso before it returned tangible again. It yanked hard on the fist still held firm in its grasp, its hand over her mouth now, rage boiling into a visible tremor. It bared its teeth at her.
"You don't know what you're doing," it said lowly into her ear.
Sam did everything in her power to free herself. She kicked, she squirmed, she tried to bite—but the ghost ignored her. Its grip on her was vicelike as it held her, barely acknowledging her presence as it began to stare once again into the distant smoky haze beyond her head.
So, this was it, Sam realized. She was really going to die. Here, in the Phantom's steely embrace.
She wondered if her mom would miss her. Would she even notice? Would she be disappointed by the lack of new newspapers appearing amongst those piled in their little shared room? Would someone be there to care for her now that Sam could not? And Tucker . . . And the Fentons . . . Tears streamed down her face, both from the blossoming pain and the realization of her imminent death. The heaving of her whimpers burned like fire in her lungs
Phantom tensed when it noticed the tears. And to her surprise, it released her, as if they'd burned it. It darted away from her and watched her warily from a safer distance, but close enough that Sam could still see its face from underneath its cloak. Its head was cocked, brows furrowed as it studied her.
Sam couldn't help but wonder then just how much of this encounter was reality, or a result of a foggy delirium conjured by a body that was clearly slipping into shock, because she'd never seen a ghost act as Phantom had just then. Never had she conversed with a ghost, fought it, and clearly been overpowered by it, only for it to release her and retreat of its own accord.
A new and terrible thought intercepted her line of thinking then . . . maybe she was already dead, and the ghost had merely recognized her as one of its own? Sam shuddered and squashed that line of thinking immediately. No, she was definitely still alive. Though not for long.
She'd dropped to her knees the moment that Phantom had freed her, but she'd refused to look away, even though the prolonged eye contact unnerved her on levels she didn't even know she had. She forced in her eyes the strongest glare she could muster. Shakily, she returned to her feet and then spat blood onto the ground in Phantom's general direction. "Go fuck yourself."
Something akin to sorrow danced in Phantom's emerald eyes as it beheld the state of her body then, its gaze drifting the length of her before returning to where green mingled with violet. "You are badly injured."
Sam's chest rattled wetly. She did her best to sneer, even as her knees shook, and gravity beckoned for her return. Sleep, she really needed to sleep. When had she gotten so tired? When had the world started spinning? And more importantly, why hadn't the ghost killed her yet? She was as good as dead, anyway. Her wounds were now a tether, one that began gently tugging her towards a sweet and painless abyss.
"Just do it," she rasped.
"Do what, human?"
"Just kill me and let's be done with this." She refused to drop the ghost's stare, even as those furrowed brows rose high into its shaggy hair and its eyes widened. Had circumstances been different, she might've laughed at the aghast expression that morphed the ghost's features.
Phantom's response was interrupted by a freezing mist—colder, somehow, than the already chilled air. A tendrilled vapor escaped the ghost's mouth, and then the burning fury returned to its eyes, burned them brighter and brighter.
She didn't have the energy to resist when Phantom lunged for her with its inhuman speed. She barely registered the blur of its ghostly form as it hurtled towards her—and—
A roar of rage pierced the air behind her, louder than the wailing of the sirens, and then her left shoulder exploded in agony as teeth sank into her flesh, right to her bones.
Sam screamed, just Phantom forced her aside and sent her teetering on weakened legs and into the dirt. The fire of her lungs roared with the blood rushing through her veins and from the gaping wound on her shoulder. The thunder of her heartbeat was deafening, effectively drowning out the ghostly battle that had commenced in the air above her.
Her violet eyes wide, Sam watched in a daze as Phantom tangled midair with a giant beast of teeth and red eyes. No, a dog, she only dimly recognized, when she noticed the short tail and the spiked collar. They writhed together in a violet dance, the ghost dog's jaws, dark with her blood, snapping relentlessly as Phantom held the beast at bay, then Phantom's hands grasped the beast's mouth and forced its jaws shut, teeth clacking loudly through its snarls.
"Cujo," Phantom commanded, "Enough."
The ghost dog thrashed against the hold on its jaws, but Phantom's grip was stronger. Then, Phantom's hands began to glow a brilliant blue and a muzzle of what looked like ice formed around its face and bloodied snout, binding the canine's razor-sharp teeth together.
Sam's vision was swimming, her world disjointed and fragmented. She rolled to her side, choking on her blood and barely able to breathe, but somehow, her numbed hand fumbled for the ectogun that lay nearby. She couldn't feel it in her hand and yet somehow it still felt impossibly heavy. In fact, everything was heavy, the deathlike tether pulling further and further, down and down. When had everything gotten so . . . dense? It felt like her bones were forged in lead.
With a reserve of determination, she forced her broken body to sit upright. Slowly, her eyes traveled up the large form that now loomed above her, barely made sense of the new monster that eyed her with what could only be predatory delight in its amber eyes. It was another bipedal beast, though less humanoid than Phantom, with white fur and a translucent arm encapsulated in . . . Was that ice? She frowned blearily as she tried in vain to identify the creature observing her with its six glowing eyes. Or was it four eyes? Two? She squinted as multiple images of the same beast twisted together.
She raised her weapon. She had just been about to pull the trigger when the amber-eyed monster spoke.
"Please!" it said in a resonant voice, sharp canine teeth flashing red in the light. "Please don't shoot, human girl, I beg you. I do not mean you any harm. I only mean to assist Great One." Its eyes were pleading, large paws—one of fur, the other of ice—splayed wide to indicate its defenselessness.
Sam stared. Her body swayed, unconsciousness creeping closer and closer.
"I know most of the ghosts out there are horrible and evil . . . But one of them clearly isn't, because I'm still alive. If there's one, maybe there's more? Maybe we're wrong about a lot of things."
Sam felt her finger depress the trigger of her weapon, but a wriggling bout of uncertainty kept her from firing.
"Maybe we're wrong about a lot of things."
Even in her delirium, Sam could remember that conversation she'd had with the compound's resident loon, could still see the steely conviction that had blazed in the blind girl's eyes as she'd spoke. Sam hadn't believed her then, and certainly didn't believe her now, but . . . well, it's not like she was walking away from this fight alive anyway.
"Maybe we're wrong about a lot of things."
Damn you, Paulina, Sam thought. Her ectogun whirred loudly as it powered down and fell to her feet with an audible fwump. The silence that followed was nearly palpable with disbelief, but Sam didn't notice. Her vision became a clotted mess of thick blood and white stars, a red film that left her blind. She waited there, wondering when the ghost would finally kill her.
But the blow never came.
Instead, she collapsed. And, gratefully, she welcomed the blanket of darkness that enveloped her.
xXx
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Her consciousness swirls around her.
Fading in . . .
. . . Fading out.
She is cold, encased in the freezing arms of death as she shivers violently.
Her body is swathed in something soft.
Darkness again.
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xXx
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Words now, flitting in and out.
" . . . Something has happened. . ."—"What do you mean she . . ."—". . . we are in need of you at . . ."—". . . what happened out th . . ."
Unintelligible murmurs.
Her eyes open and she is greeted by a muddled kaleidoscope of colors and something odd and white that lines her vision.
She blinks, and with the briefest moment of clarity she sees green eyes that are somehow familiar, but she can't remember why. They come closer now, glowing and flecked with the slightest hints of blue.
Then the pain returns and settles heavily along her limbs. She allows herself to succumb to the darkness once again.
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xXx
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A strange feeling.
Cold.
So much cold.
Infinitely cold.
It numbs the pain, but now she's hurting from the frigidity. It sears her skin like frozen fire.
She feels as if she's in a world that does not end.
So, she closes her eyes.
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xXx
Samantha Manson crawls happily along the edge of the glowing green dome. Her pink dress is quickly becoming icky with stains—but she doesn't care!
The dome is pretty, she thinks. Her small hand digs into the earth where she grasps handfuls of cool mud and heaps of silky green grass. She falls back on her diaper bottom, chubby legs splayed out beneath her as she traces a muddied hand through the air where the glow is at its brightest. She giggles as the dome zings her, sends funny tingles up her arm. It tickles, it tickles, it tickles! Her giggles turn to laughs.
Attracted to her fun and laughs, a cute doggie comes bounding along and Samantha sees the most peculiar sight she ever saw. There, standing before her on the other side of the dome is a funny-looking green puppy. It is see-through and is sniffing the air where Samantha's hand has just been. Its silly teeny-tiny tail wags and Samantha laughs again, amused by just how funny-looking it is.
The puppy pauses, cocking its head to the side as it listens to her laugh. Then it jumps and its paws land against the side of the dome. Its tongue flops out of its mouth as it smiles and yips at her, with the teeny-tiny tail still wig-waggling around.
Why doesn't it fall through? Samantha thinks, perplexed by the sight. Unlike the puppy, when Samantha extends her fist to touch the glowing green wall it passes through like magic! She sticks her hand all the way through, giggling once more at the tingles it sends up her arm. The puppy begins to sniff her hand curiously. That tickles more than anything and Samantha laughs even more loudly than before.
The puppy barks again and then licks her hand. Its tongue is silky and slimy, and Samantha thinks it is the most amazing thing she has ever felt! She claps her hands and crawls beyond the dome and towards the puppy. The puppy makes more happy sounds, bouncing around and wiggling its whole bottom. The two play together then, chasing each other and having fun.
When she stops to catch her breath, she reaches for the puppy. The puppy does a little dance of joy and rolls over onto its back. Samantha gleefully pats its chubby belly.
Today was the best day ever!
"Sammykins!" Mommy suddenly yells. "Sammykins, where are you?"
Samantha smiles and picks up the strange green puppy in her arms. Mommy will love him too! she thinks cheerfully. Maybe we can keep him!
She is so excited to show Mommy, but when Mommy sees her with the puppy she screams.
"Samantha! Samantha, no! Oh my god! Jeremey! Somebody, somebody help!"
Samantha doesn't understand why she is screaming, but then other people are screaming too! Suddenly she is ripped away from the puppy and it hurts. Mommy grabs her and cries, pulling Samantha tightly to her chest and that hurts too. Why is everybody so sad and scared? Over Mommy's shoulder she sees the puppy get chased away by her father and other angry men with glowing guns, its teeny-tiny tail is tucked between its legs as it runs away yelping.
Samantha truly doesn't understand. Tears begin welling in her eyes.
Why do grown-ups gotta be so mean?
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The dream—or was it a memory?—swirled, trancelike, then faded away into the deepest recesses of her mind.
As she woke, her thoughts seemed to regain a semblance of their former clarity. The pain was now a phantom ache spread amongst her entire body, and her breaths came easily, no longer hindered by the fiery pain in her lungs. She lay there, relishing the ease of her breathing and a mind no longer shrouded in confusion. Yet the world was dark, and memories eluded her. Where was she now? What had happened to her troop? The reactor?
Had that encounter with Phantom and the other ghosts actually happened, or had she dreamed that, too? And if it had happened, how the hell was she still alive?
Her fingers twitched, and her breath hitched as she felt something odd and soft beneath her fingertips. She listened, but the world around her was brimming with an unnatural stillness, not the beeps and bustling of the compound infirmary that she'd normally anticipate waking up in. And the texture of the fabric beneath her was much too soft to be her own bedding. And while her body was warm, the air around her was absolutely frigid.
Sam's heart began to race.
And then she opened her eyes.
A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for a shorter update this time! I actually did this intentionally because I think this is too pivotal of a chapter to jump around in perspectives. I felt like it had the most impact on the shorter side of things. Hope you all like it!
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story! It is SO appreciate, you really have no idea.
-Roar