Seventeen-year-old Rapunzel has been locked up in a tower ever since the Plague arose in time with her birth. When Gothel, the only mother she's ever known, takes her demand for freedom and usefulness much too far, Rapunzel sends a desperate plea to...
"Jack?" One of them said. The voice was muffled, almost unintelligible. Chirpy. Worried. Tooth. "Are you alright?"
The box on the ground slipped into the pocket of his sweater.
"What is that, behind him?"
Jack turned to his left, faster than he felt, and lunged forward, blade drawn and aimed at Tooth's surprised form. A single swing of Nightlight's staff sent him crashing against the castle wall. The hallway swam as he saw Nightlight bend to take Rapunzel into his arms, Tooth watching him wearily. She turned her gaze back to Jack when his body moved back onto its feet. He didn't know what he was doing. He didn't particularly care.
Pain flared in his head as the claws dug deeper. Jack winced. Fell to one knee.
Hands slipped under his arms, pulling back with a groan until he felt himself become weightless. We could really use Sandy right now... He wasn't sure if the words were thought or voiced.
We have to pull it off.
What is it.
Who is it.
When Jack opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was blurred cobblestone as he swayed over a hard shoulder, arms hanging long toward the ground. The hard corners of the box dug into his stomach.
Rapunzel, Jack thought. Where was Rapunzel? What had Nightlight done to her?
There was another, newer part of him that hissed in response.
Pain. It flared again in his head until Jack took a breath and let go to his thoughts.
His body twisted to the side, quick enough that the person carrying him did not have time to react. His feet caught him before his shoulders could hit hard ground. Wild eyes—Nightlight's and Tooth's and Flynn's, who'd been the one carrying him—met his.
"Jack, please," Tooth said, hands raised. Freesia hovered beside her. "We're trying to get you help!"
There was something within him that itched when he looked at Tooth. Her feathers were too bright. When Jack raised his hands, sleet—cold, wet, and miserable—shot toward the birds' wings, so dizzyingly quick that Jack barely caught sight of the hand, the entire arm resting along the length of his own. It was a dark shadow, half within his body, half submerging, and it was clinging to him like a second soul desperate to claim Jack as its own.
It sent him into a panic.
Jack fought against it, push push pushing, but its claws had already sunk too deep in his sorrow. He was hovering above his body now, watching as the darkness at his back rolled the cramps out of its—Jacks—muscles while it used him like a puppet. Too late.
It was too late, twice over now.
It plucked his staff off of the ground where Tooth had dropped it. Twinetender turned black where the shadow's—Jack's—hand met its body. The black was like a plague against the wood, infecting it with an energy Jack could only associate with Pitch Black. But this was different, still. It had a mind of its own, and though the evil felt like that of Pitch's, Jack knew it wasn't of his making. Not this time.
This... This thing, it was something completely different, yet eerily familiar. Its mind pried at Jacks, invading him entirely... and Jack had let it all happen. He turned Twinetender toward Tooth and sent a second, more powerful shot of sleet her way. She should have drawn her twin swords against him. She should have fought before—
By the time Jack and the shadow registered the muffled footsteps, it was too late. A flash of yellow leaped over him just as he'd spun around, taking grasp of his sweater and sending him crashing onto his back. A round face hovered above him, auburn hair framing it like a halo. Strong palms pressed hard against both of his temples. Before he could think anything of it, a flash of bright white light consumed his vision as Katherine opened her mind wide for him to see.
.
.
.
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(July 29th, 2018): Boo. Did you see it? Did you see the sticker on the cover? Guess who won first place in the Flavored Awaaaards??! Das right, you're looking at her. Well... Her writing. ;)
If you have the time, you should definitely go check them out, as well as the other winners! :) Give em some love. Meanwhile... Any guesses about what Katherine has to show Jack? I'd love to know! (PS: I finished writing the last chapter two days ago. 3:) )
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