Frosted (Frosted #1 | Jackunzel)

{ Chapter Five }

The room Jack looked into was dark as night. After countless minutes of useless watching, he was almost tempted to believe this was just an abandoned tower after all—maybe the thread lead even further than this after all. Even though the isolation of the place was a bit suspicious to say the least, Jack had no way of knowing whether this was what he'd been looking for now that the thread was gone.

So, the way he saw things, there was no harm in double checking.

But just as he was about to propel himself inside, the sound of a door opening and clicking back shut made him shoot back over the window's ledge. There was a squeak from somewhere around him. Close. Jack pressed himself against the wall beneath the window, glancing around for the source of the tiny noise.

It didn't take him long to find it, not at all. Jack spotted her immediately.

"Baby Tooth?" He breathed in utter disbelief. And, surely, the sharp-nosed fairy fluttered in front of him, a tiny hand lifting to her hummingbird-like chest as she struggled to catch her breath. With the golden feather on top of her head, she was practically a miniature replica of Toothiana... Which Jack suspected was the very person that had sent Baby Tooth after him in the first place. He decided to question her later, if he needed to. There were more pressing matters at hand now.

It was subtle, but Jack could hear the soft sound of shuffling footsteps inside of the tower. Slowly, he brought himself up to peer over the ledge again, hands curled on either side of his head. When he noticed the room was still drowning in darkness, he tried hard to activate the night vision ability in him that he knew he didn't possess. He wasn't really surprised when it didn't work.

He was surprised, however, when a match suddenly sparked to life within the black. It felt almost as if his hard focus had conjured up a miracle. Jack could see the shape of a girl in the faint glow of the flickering light, with bright blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. She lowered the match to light a candle, shook it out before the flame could reach her fingers, then brought the candle down to the floor with her. There was a thump as she reached under a bed and pulled out what looked to be a small book. Jack watched as she sat against the bedpost with it in her lap. It took him much too long to note that her shoulders were shaking. She's crying, he realized, something in his gut wrenching. It was a feeling he'd come to associate with his talks to the moon. But there was something slightly different with this one, a pull of energy he couldn't exactly pinpoint. Still, there was no doubt this was who the thread had been leading to; Baby Tooth's shiver beside him proved it thrice over.

Looking back at the girl's curled form, Jack suddenly realized that she wasn't praying for the Guardians like she had before. It made him hurt to think about how many times she'd suffered in silence while no one was there to listen. How many others had done the same thing?

With the swirl of a finger, Jack called forth a flicker of cold to bite at the air. Out of it, a single snowflake formed and swayed down toward the believer. It was a hard task, keeping it solid and true as it got closer to the heat of the candle. When she didn't immediately glance up at it. Jack sent a chill her way to rush her notice—and she did. Notice, that was. And the way her sorrowful features quickly melted into a bright, hopeful wonder was something Jack would cherish forever.

He'd seen kids, even some parents, charmed by the sights of snow before, but this was something else entirely. How must it feel, seeing the beauty that was snow for the first time in ones life? Even in his short human existence, Jack didn't think he could've bared the thought of a life without winter. There was so much greatness to snow, so much beauty, and blissfulness, and fun. The cold made one feel alive in a way warmth never could.

Jack gently pushed at the flake, watching, with great satisfaction, as it landed and vanished onto her exposed wrist. She gasped when it made contact, then jumped in time with Jack when the door suddenly burst wide open.