Snowfall

Chapter 6

"Jamie.. who was that?" I whisper

It's been a few minutes since Jack left and I've managed to calm myself and Jamie down. We're both sitting on his bed cross legged, facing each other.

"His name's Jack. He's Jack Frost, the spirit of winter." Jamie states as though it's a totally logical explanation.

"As in the 'Jack Frost nipping at your nose' Jack Frost? He's real!?" I question, even more confused than I was to begin with.

"Yeah! He's a guardian! He works with the Tooth Fairy, Sandman, Santa Claus and Easter Bunny to protect the children of the world." Jamie gets up and starts searching around his room for something.

"Of course they're real too." I deadpan "Protecting the children from what?"

Apparently he finds what he's looking for and sits back down on his bed, placing a book between us.

"I'm not really sure who now, but before nobody could find any Easter eggs and everyone kept having nightmares! Apparently the Boogyman was trying to get rid of them by making people stop believing in them."

I feel a shiver at the word Nightmare.

He starts to open the book and I realize what it is.

"I didn't know you sketched." I smile.

"Yeah! I started after we helped the Guardians defeat the Boogyman." Jamie begins to ramble.

I stop listening as I get the feeling we're being watched. I glance around the room but I don't see anything but shadows. I still get a chill down my spine, but decide to just attribute that to the night's strange events.

"So, why is he so angry whenever he sees me?" I ask, interrupting Jamie just as he was talking about going on a sleigh ride.

"I have no idea! I really thought he'd be happy to see you!" Jamie whisper yells "I mean, the only believers he has are kids, so I figured if he had a believer that was already in college he'd be super happy!"

I giggle despite myself. Jamie's just so adorable. He still has the enthusiasm of a little kid when telling stories.

"Do you know anyone who might know?" I ask hopefully. I don't know why it bothers me so much, but I have to know why he keeps acting this way towards me.

"Well, you could try asking the guardians." Jamie shrugs, looking up at me.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" An amused smile spreads across my lips. "It's not like I can just find them in town, and I don't think I'd be able to go to them."

"Maybe we could get them to come to us." Jamie exclaims, jumping up and searching through his bedside drawer.

I can't help but giggle at him. Such a busy body.

He pulls out a small glass tube filled with what looks like the gold fairy dust you buy at craft markets.

"This is Sandman's sand." He explains "Jack said that if I ever needed help from the guardians, I should just sprinkle this outside and they'd come to help."

"Magic sand. Really?" I sigh. Now I've seen everything.

"Come on!" Jamie grabs my hand and pulls me to the window.

"Ok ok," I laugh "I'm coming."

I bend down so that we're the same height as he opens the vile and throws it out the window.

"Is that it?" I ask. I figured it would be more-

There's a sudden golden glow outside as the sand speeds off in a ribbon towards the moon.

It's so bright.

I had no idea it was a full moon tonight.

I guess I stopped paying attention to it once the semester started.

I smile at the memory of me staring up at the moon at night. It's glow always seemed to draw me in. Like an old friend saying hello.

"Jamie?"

We both freeze.

I completely forgot we were supposed to be quiet! We've been talking normally for who knows how long?

Emily walks in and pauses as she sees us both standing next to the open window.

"Hi Emily." I greet awkwardly "I know Jamie's supposed to be in bed, but we were just so excited to see the moon!"

I turn to glance back outside. "I used to be obsessed with it back home."

I hear an indistinct sigh from Emily.

"Well, I suppose Jamie would have been awake anyway." She says, joining us in watching the moon "at least this way he won't switch off the torch and pretend to be asleep."

"You know about that!?" Jamie exclaims.

We both laugh at his surprise.

"Well," I say, moving from the window "I should probably get ready for bed. I have varsity in the morning."

I give Emily a smile and ruffle Jamie's hair as I leave the room.

I have a lot of thinking to do..

*Time Lapse*

I hear an amused chuckle as I tighten my grip.

"You can open your eyes now."

Reluctantly I open my eyes and a pair of bemused blue orbs look down at me. My body is tense as my arms wrap around him tightly.

"I won't let you fall, do you trust me?"

I take a steadying breath before forcing myself to relax. Then, reluctantly, I look down.

The late night city lights glisten against the freshly fallen snow. My breath hitches as I watch the light twinkle through the air like flecks of silver are floating down around us.

"It's beautiful.." I gasp, entranced by the sight before me.

"Yeah, it is." I turn to beam up at him and realize his orbs are fixed on me. My face turns warm as the image slowly starts to fade.

Opening my eyes, I see the darkness of my room. Moving to sit up, my face feels wet.

'Am I.. crying?'

My heart is heavy as I remember the soft blue orbs gazing at me. How content I felt despite the cold arms around me.

It felt so real..

I bring my knees to my chest as the pain intensifies.

'Why do I feel like this? I don't understand.'

Suddenly my breathing becomes unsteady as the tears start to fall from my eyes. I do my best to keep quiet as to not wake anyone.

"I'm sorry.." I whisper between sobs, heart growing heavier with every word.

"I'm so sorry.."

My consciousness starts to go fuzzy as I slowly rock myself in bed. Repeating the same words over and over again.

After a while I start to wonder,

Who am I apologizing to?

What did I do that makes me feel so horrible?

Until, finally, everything fades into nothing.