Frozen In Love

Chapter 28

I'm so glad that you awesome people like this story enough to continue to read, comment and vote! I can't believe this has passed 500 reads already- that was my milestone for my first story! So here is another chapter.<3 L xx

28

(JACK)

            Of all the possible things that could have bought me back to consciousness, those words were the last thing that I expected to hear. Alice’s voice somehow seemed to reach over the towering flames, causing each and every being stood within the clearing to stop where they stood and remain frozen.

            Hearing those words was like watching that sunset. A dramatic finale heralding the coming of the twist in the tale, the secret finally being bought to light. Good finally about to triumph.

            And, as Kyle would say, it was about bloody time.

            As I listened, eyes still closed, those words began to have a physical effect on me. They seemed to clear the smoke from my lungs, dull the burning I felt all over so that I could think clearly. It was as if each one was a presence I felt in my head and in my heart, strengthening me and pulling me slowly together. I swear I could even feel my power surging inside, rising to the surface, ready whenever I should need it. It would be finished in a few short seconds; Alice just had to read those final words…

            ‘…with…’ she stuttered painfully, and then she began to scream. Long, agonised screams of pain escaped her lips, mingling with the sizzle of singing flesh. She was burning, dying, unable to do any more for me. With her last choking sob, she pressed her lips to mine. Seeing her so weak and beaten made my heart clench, overcome with devastation. It gave me the final surge of power. Power enough for my lips to form the final word.

            ‘…ice!’

            In that moment, I was strong. I was fighting, eyes burning their rightful silver.

            I was Jack Frost again.

            Gathering an unconscious Alice into my arms, I shot up into the air, spiralling and twisting with the sudden ferocious wind that came to my aid. In that one burst of power, I doused the fire completely.

            Holding Alice tightly with one arm, I unleashed my anger down upon the clearing with no mercy, showering everything in shards of deadly, pointed ice. As they struck the fleeing figures, they were pinned to the ground, struggling like dying flies as their lives ebbed away.

            Still, I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I rained the frozen splinters down until there was not one single inch of ground uncovered. Every mirror shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, breaking apart as the Mask lost all view of their attacker.

            I did not stop until no movement could be detected at all. All down there were either dead or dying, weak or wounded. In the end, this was the penance they deserved for all the lives they had taken. I knew in my heart that I would one day feel a dreadful guilt, but at that time I only felt whole, like my purpose here had fully been served.

            Well, almost.

            Regaining control of myself, my mind’s eye shot to the figure hanging limply in my arms. None of this would have been possible without Alice. But now she was barely breathing, heartbeat far too slow. She was slipping away.

            Anger fuelling my actions, I looked up at the sky in desperation. Was this my penance, for being who I was? I too, had taken many lives. Was Jack Frost doomed to lose everyone dear to him because they had no choice but to die to save him?