Snowfall

Chapter 7

The next few days go by in a blur.

Every time I see the snow outside I can't help feeling the sting of his icy glare..

We haven't heard back from the guardians as of yet, and I'm starting to think they aren't going to come.

Jamie says they work with Jack, so he's probably already told them everything. Maybe they just want to stay out of it, or maybe they're trying to avoid me too..

A sigh escapes my lips as I lean my head against the glass of my bay window. I can feel the icy temperature from outside as a fog spreads over the window, covering the clear night sky.

The dreams haven't stopped. I have them every night. Always the same emotions overwhelming me and waking me up with my heart aching in the darkness of my room.

Just thinking about them makes my stomach clench and I feel nauseous. They just feel so real..

My stomach clenches at the thought and I move to hug my knees to my chest in an attempt to make the pain subside.

I don't know how long I sit there, but I'm suddenly woken by a loud thud coming from the other room.

It takes a second for my fuzzy brain to comprehend the sound but I'm up on my feet and at Jamie's door in seconds.
I take a breath before lightly knocking. A sleepy looking Jamie slowly answers the door and ushers me into the room.

Standing at the foot of his bed is a giant blue kangaroo, a humanoid hummingbird, a small, round, golden man, and what looks like a massive biker in a red coat with a black fur hat.

We all freeze upon seeing each other.

Are these the guardians?

I'm not sure what I expected, but this definitely wasn't it..

After a few moments of deafening silence, I take a step forward.

"Hi," I send them a small wave and friendly smile "I'm Rose.. you must be the guardians Jamie's been telling me about."

They still haven't moved as they just stare at me, frozen.

Is this going to be like what happened with Jack? I don't know what I'd do if-

My thoughts are interrupted when the kangaroo starts talking.

"So, it's true then." He says in a thick Australian accent.

"What's true?" I ask quizzically.

"Yer back." He glares daggers at me as I try to figure out what he's talking about.

"Back..?"

"Don't play dumb with us, we all know who you are!" He continues "Jack told us you were back, we just came to see fer ourselves. What are you up to this time, and why have you involved Jamie?"

"Up to?" I ask again, so many questions float around my head. It's like the more I find out, the less I know..

"Right, that's enough!" He starts toward me "Are ya workin' alone, or is that stinkin' shadow in on it too?"

"Shadow?" I'm at a loss for words "what are you talking about?"

They must have finally registered my look of confusion as they all turned to look at one another as if having a silent conversation.

"Look," I started, tired of getting yelled at by every new person I meet "Jamie thought that you may be able to help me figure out why Jack seems to hate me so much."

They all gave me shocked looks as if I'd just grown a tail and sprouted wings. I felt my confusion turn to annoyance as they once again turned to 'converse' amongst themselves.

"Are you going to help me, or not?" I whisper-yelled, my annoyance finally getting the better of me "If you all just came here so the kangaroo could get all riled up and hurl angry questions at me, like I'm some kind of criminal, then why bother coming at all?"

This time, I was the one glaring at them as they all looked at me with varying expressions of shock, confusion, and annoyance.

"Did she just-" the kangaroos' words caught at the end as he tried to even his breathing "did you just call me a kangaroo!? I'll tell ya somethin-"

"Bunny!" He was interrupted by the massive biker who had placed a hand on his shoulder, eyes still on me "look at her."

His Russian accent caught me off guard, and my fury quickly turned to discomfort as I felt five pairs of eyes on me. I did my best to keep my eyes up and facing them as he continued.

"I think she really does not know what we are talking about." He finished, surprise evident in his voice.

"That's not possible!" The humanoid hummingbird spoke loudly, her anger evident "If she didn't remember, I would know about it."

The round, golden man made a few flashing images over his head. They moved so quickly I couldn't make them all out. Snowflake, moon, staff-

"That's different!" The hummingbird stated adamantly "Jack lost his memories when he became Jack Frost. She," she pointed an accusatory finger at me "didn't die."

"Well, then how can we know if she's tellin' the truth?" The kanga- bunny, asked.

They all turned back to me. The giant biker took a few steps toward me, cracking his knuckles menacingly.

I instinctively took a step back, his presence extremely intimidating.

"Stop!" Jamie rushed between me and the Russian biker. "She's telling the truth! I know it!"

Everyone turned their attention to the small boy blocking the giant man's path. I felt my heart squeeze at the sight of him trying to protect me. Taking a step forward, I bent down to his height and enveloped him in my arms. I could feel him shaking. Out of fear, anger, or sadness I couldn't tell.

"It's alright, Jamie." I whispered to his trembling form "they're not going to hurt me, we're just talking. Right?" I sent them all a pointed look. I could stand their interrogations, but I wouldn't let Jamie get in the middle of all this. Whatever this was..

"How about we move all this to my room?" I asked, looking to each of them individually "Jamie has school in a few hours."

"What? No!" Jamie protested "I want to know too!"

"I'll fill you in in the morning" I tried to reason "you have to be up in a few hours and look at you, you're exhausted."

Although there was no denying how tired he was, he still seemed adamant about being a part of this conversation.

"I'll be fine." I added "You know the guardians," I gestured to the four figures in the room "they won't hurt me."

That seemed to calm him down and I was able to guide him to bed before quietly ushering the guardians across the hall into my room.

Now, to get to the bottom of all this..