Race Of His Life

Chapter 14

Another heart-piercing scream echoed throughout the place and Jack whipped his head around, seeing a Nightmare having Jamie's hand in its mouth.

"NO!"

Hearing his scream, the Nightmare turned its head and walked towards him, Jamie's hand still clasped between its teeth. It spat the hand out and sprinted towards Jack.

Suddenly, a shadow flashed before his eyes and that was the last thing Jack saw.

.....

Taking deep and ragged breaths, Jack looked around and realized that he was still in his room in the rink and not in a weird dark place.

He looked down at himself, wearing only a pair of shorts, his body covered in sweat. He patted his arms and legs to check if he was really tied in ropes or if that was just in the dream. There were no ropes but Jack couldn't shake off the sensation of the ropes on his arms.

He didn't remember the dream completely but a few scenes played in his mind, enough for Jack to remember what his dream- or for a better word, his nightmare- was about.

Was that really just a dream...? Is Jamie really okay...?

Jack bent forward and held his head, trying to get rid of the horrible images of Jamie attacked by the Nightmares. He remembered the last Nightmare which had come running towards him and his eyebrows furrowed in thought when he remembered the final shadow.

What was that...? The horses felt like a dream but the shadow felt real...

Just then, Jack saw the silhouette of someone flying past his window.

He quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed his staff, approaching the window and throwing the curtains aside. He looked around and blinked in surprise when he saw Manny standing in the middle of the rink.

The heck is he doing down there at... 4 A.M. in the morning?!

Jack quickly ran downstairs and successfully hid behind a bush from where he had a clear view of the man.

Manny was looking up at the sky, breathing fast as if he had been running. He was holding his cane in his hands, the lower end pointing at the air in front of him.

Jack continued watching in wonder as the lower end of the cane glowed and Manny drew something like a circle around the rink, an outline of the rink glowing in air, just a few centimeters above the ground. He stood on the circle and the minute his feet touched the light, the width of the circle widened until it looked like a race track. 

Manny took a deep breath and started flying over the track. He started out slow but as he continued flying laps around the track, his speed picked up and when he finished his third lap, there was a sudden burst of energy which knocked Jack back. He quickly recovered and looked around but Manny was nowhere to be seen. He suddenly looked up and saw Manny shooting up towards the sky.

After reaching a certain height, he turned around and continued flying in the same direction by flying backward. And with another burst of energy, he flew towards the ground and landed smoothly.

Jack watched with a dropped jaw as Manny waved his cane around and the glowing track disappeared.

What the heck was that speed...? I almost couldn't follow him with my eyes...

As if he sensed another person, Manny suddenly looked in his direction and Jack scrambled backward to hide from his view but ended up slipping and fell hard on his back.

"Whoever is hiding out there, come out this instant," Manny ordered.

Jack hesitated but decided it would be better to show himself rather than getting caught by Manny forcefully.